Under the Sea
by 999nomead
Summary: Coming Soon.
1. D

**October 19, 2015**

**I apologize for the hiatus. This was not caused by school or writer's block. I have a growing doubt that began when I was writing Arc 2. This doubt prevented me from finishing my draft of the latest chapter. ****This doubt in my story was caused by my fear of plotholes and the ideas I have gained this year.**

**I have been rereading this fic and already notice some oddities: the Bikini Bottom government's lack of a response after the reef blower explosion, the unknown fate of Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff's relationship, Squidward's lack of concern for his world's future after _Squid's Day Off _, and the slow start of SpongeBob and Sandy's relationship.**

** Regardless of the irregularities, I feel like this story is more of an anthology instead of a fully fleshed out story (the Arcs don't each have a specific theme). I feel like most of the characters in this story are not fully three-dimensional and suffer from the two-dimensionality that afflict most cartoon characters. Especially SpongeBob, Sandy, and the five thugs, since their traits barely change throughout the fic. Squidward, however, is by far the most well-written since he receives the most development.**

**During the hiatus, I gained plenty of new ideas that I would like to implement into the story and its lore. However, these ideas conflict with what was already established.**

**I am also very aware of the amateurish writing style of the earlier chapters and the many spelling errors that litter this fic. The early chapters have not aged well and my current writing style is much better than the style I had when I wrote those chapters.**

**Do not assume that I have abandoned this fic. I am merely trying to improve its quality to a much more presentable level. I may sound like I am my own worst critic, but I consider writing to be a form of art so I take it more seriously than the average fanfic writer.**

* * *

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 1: Help Wanted**

* * *

The sun rose through the shrouds of the oceanic abyss. Its rays glinted off the floor of the ocean.

The sea was teeming with rich, diverse, anthropomorphic sea creatures.

The light of morning seemed to shine the most on an underwater town called Bikini Bottom.

The residents began to stir from their slumber and began to go out to their daily jobs. The town restored its status as active after the activity of the night.

Footsteps.

S-S-S-S-S

Stomps.

An octopus known as Squidward walked along the street in a sour mood, in his signature deadpan face. One of his tentacles was holding a certain hat that was considered employee uniform to a certain restaurant. He had poor fashion sense with a plain brown shirt as his casual wear, although he views such clothing in a polar opposite light. His opinions and talents are far more superior in his eyes but he can not escape reality. People don't like him and Squidward constantly rants and put them down when they shine, appropriate punishment for being unappreciated. However, he carries much intelligence. He knew as of now that his job of working as a cashier in the most popular fast-food restaurant in the sea, the Krusty Krab, was a choice of desperation out of unemployment. He knows he's constantly unhappy with the job, obtaining money and putting it in the cash register instead of in his wallet.

Another micro-step in the long journey to escaping the Krusty Krab and entering success.

*Sighs* "Another day of this insanity in that dull and inartistic dump they call a fast-food restaurant." He kept walking until he stopped at the front door of the dining establishment. 'Let's get this over with.' He turned around and faced the distant horizon, at the same time he put on his employee hat which had the trademark anchor. Squidward folded his arms and waited for his boss.

The establishment behind him is in a state of very poor condition. Years of questionable business practices leaned it's ugly head for all to see. The building looked like a century-old lobster trap but it was designed like that on purpose before it became a restaurant. The wood was very frail and it could be a matter of seconds before another repair was needed on the ceiling or floor, both were covered entirely in the ancient wood. Glass covered the front, left, and right sides of the restaurant, several tables in the shape of steering wheels used for ships and barrels for seats could be observable. An opened clam sign on a stick said 'The Krusty Krab' in red paint. The place screamed cheap, the boss himself was a retired pirate.

Then, the sound of scrambling crab feet became subtly louder every second.

Squidward looked up to see a silouhette beyond the horizon.

"Mr. Krabs, as always..."

9:00 AM was just around the corner.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Ahoy there Squidward!" Mr. Krabs walked to Squidward and saluted him in such a manner as a pirate would do.

Squidward rolled his eyes, he seemed bored. "Hi." Squidward replied with the enthusiasm of a robot.

Mr. Krabs was a crimson crustacean. With pointy eyes sticking out of a hardened, aged shell and claws that would prove very useful in combat, he was in his mid-life years. Years of being in the pirate business lead to infinite amounts of experience in the subtle ways of ripping people off their money and long stories of such schemes he could tell. His clothes seemed a bit old and out of date, a prime indicator of his personality. Ever since he was a child he was fascinated by money and swam in greed. Looting treasure and saving money gave him a satisfaction that only people with extreme avarice could desire. His needs for material wealth lead to him constantly saving his money, the fear of being poor was too great. The prices of food in the Krusty Krab was enough of an early warning for such behavior. Mr. Krabs tries to pursue goals in life with endless determination, even if they are related to greed. The crab was in a cheerful mood and was grasping the keys to the entrance of the Krusty Krab. Fantasizing his potential profits for the day.

A golden key glistened in the sunglight, swaying in Mr. Krabs' claws.

He inserted it in the keyhole and unlocked the door.

CREEEAAAAAK

The door slowly opened.

Mr. Krabs immediately walked in and flipped the sign behind the door from CLOSED to OPEN. He took a deep breath, he came to enjoy the smell of grease that bombarded his nostrils. The crab smiled. "Another day of money!" He walked to his office and shut the door.

Squidward groaned and walked slowly to the cash register. The machine itself was on top of an old boat, once again fitting the charming theme of 'cheap' to the restaurant. The octopus sat down and took out a book to read, attempting to outlast the burden of waiting for customers.

The environment became still and silent, a relief to Squidward.

'Way better than cooking at the grill.' He thought to himself rightfully so. He was the only employee in the restaurant, giving him dual status as fry cook and cashier. He preferred cashier due to his poor cooking skills and the simplicity of the role.

S-S-S-S-S

'Thirty, Thirty One, Thirty Two..."

Mr. Krabs counted yesterday's profits with enjoyment, he was in his office. There were a few seats, a desk, and the knooks and crannies he leaves his money in. He was considering the specific chores and special duties Squidward would partake for the time being. "It's been two months since the glass outside was washed, gotta show my ship with pride." He then abruptly put his money in his desk and opened the door, double-checking how clean the glass was. He saw graffiti on the glass, a sneaky vandal must have done that during the night.

*gasp* 'Not on my watch.'

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward noticed Mr. Krabs eyeing the windows. 'Oh boy.'

"Squidward! Go fetch a towel and bucket and clean that graffiti on the double!" Mr. Krabs shut the door and returned to his money.

Squidward got up and opened the door to the neatly-organized kitchen. He grabbed a bucket and poured it with water from the sink. He grabbed towels from a table.

Marching back to the main room Squidward was prepared to wash off the grime. In the middle of his march to the doorway, an eerie prediction entered his mind when he saw the 'help wanted' sign through the window. He stopped in the middle of his walk. 'Hmmm...'

"Do I hear any washing? Get back to work!" Mr. Krabs muffled voice echoed throughout the building.

'Never mind, it's highly unlikely...' *groan* Squidward seemed mildly annoyed.

S-S-S-S-S

He opened the doors and gently slid out to the outside world. Taking precaution that his bucket of water won't spill. Squidward dropped the bucket to the floor.

The graffiti said 'LOSER' with Squidward's face on it.

"Oh Neptune do I hate doing this." He put a towel in the water and began rinsing the graffiti. With a steady pace he withered down the air paint. After putting some effort in the force of his brushes, the stains finally gave way.

The deed was done.

He wiped his brow. "Phew."

A gentle breeze coursed through his body.

Squidward relaxed and smiled at the fact he can now go back to his reading.

Until a sudden shadow could be seen at the edge of the horizon through the reflection of a window.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes earlier...

S-S-S-S-S

A snail slept peacefully...

...under a pineapple under the sea.

The room he was in was an odd spectacle (let alone the house). With strange furniture such as a foghorn alarm, triple matress bed, and a treasure tchest scattered across the room. Many other rooms would definitely fit the theme of weirdness.

The snail himself was sleeping on newspapers.

Until...

**HOOOONK! HOOOONK!**

CLICK

A square yellow sponge immediately jumped into action and shut the foghorn off. He yawned.

This youth is known as SpongeBob. He is one who yearns for life. Always finding the positive out of the negative, the good out of the evil. As you can tell by his usual facial expressions he has an optimistic view on life. In his mind and heart, he is Peter Pan. The eternal youth. He lacks much in maturity and decides to act on impulse, which can lead him to becoming annoying. However, he never means to annoy someone on purpose to begin with. He acts selfless to the people around him and that itself is a redeeming quality. At the end of the day he always has to fix what he has done to others and find some way to make up for it.

SpongeBob stepped out of his bed, in his underwear.

The snail was wide awake, drowziness filled his eyes. Grumpiness filled his mind.

He looked at SpongeBob.

"Todays the big day, Gary!" SpongeBob had a wide smile on his face.

"Meow." Gary nearly droned.

SpongeBob immediately climbed on a ladder on his bed. Like a squirrel climbing on a tree he reached the top with breakneck speeds. SpongeBob was then jumping on a diving board with enthusiasm. "Look at me, I'm-" He made a huge jump and soared up like a rocket. The force to the jump was strong enough to pull his underpants off. "Naked!" SpongeBob then locked on target and dove to a certain part of the floor.

He flew like a missile.

Disaster was looming around the corner.

Gary showed signs of concern as SpongeBob succumbed to gravity.

Plop!

He landed on his hanged clothes with sniper precision. His face emerged from the clothes. He was in his casual attire of a red tie, white shirt, and brown pants with a belt. Topping it all off with shiny black shoes. "Got to be in top physcial condition for today, Gary."

"Meow."

He bolted to a door, twisted it open, and slid down a slide at the speed of a bullet. He was in a massive library where shelves of books and ladders reached to the ceiling. SpongeBob then ran down to an entrance of a dark hallway, once he got midway through he immediately turned right and faced another door. He quickly opened it and ran in, more out of fear of the dark than urgency. 'Better put a nightlight there next time.'

S-S-S-S-S

He ran into a mini gym. However, it seemed to be of the type used in kindergarten. A banner that said 'I Love Pain' hanged on the wall. There was a blue mat in the center of the room with a barbell balanced by animal dolls that were light in weight. Other goofy equipment was organized neatly throughout the room. SpongeBob wasn't an athlete in terms of physical strength.

He took a deep breath and faced the challenge awaiting him. He walked to the center and eyed the barbell. He took a few more deep breaths to prevent too much anxiety from escaping, it would only hinder his physical performance. He sticked out his chest.

Gary peeked from the door, panting and sweating as if he just did an exercise regiment of his own. All the snail did was simply catching up with SpongeBob.

Spongebob gripped the barbell tightly.

'I can do this.'

'I can do this.'

'I can do this.'

"RRRRGH!"

With all the strength he can muster from his muscles, he tried to lift it up. Arteries showed in his face. His face contorted in concentration. Sweat ran down his brow.

The barbell was lifted by two inches.

**SQUEAK**!

The barbell was dropped on the floor.

A deep sigh from SpongeBob.

A pause.

"I'M READY!" SpongeBob yelled. He dashed back out of the hallway at blinding speeds.

Everything was a blur.

He dashed through the kitchen, through the living room, and opened a door.

S-S-S-S-S-

He was outside standing on his front lawn. He took another deep breath.

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

While he was chanting his announcement he was running down the street. He was facing forward and was confident at where he was going.

He passed a certain rock.

S-S-S-S-S

A chubby pink sea star was sleeping comfortably in a bed.

The room was very dim. Strangely, all the furniture including the bed were made out of sand. A dark brown, circular surface was the ceiling.

This person lives under a rock, an odd and not very bright choice for a home.

Everything was peacefully silent except for the snoring coming from the sea star.

Until...

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

A muffled scream could be heard outside.

The sea star's eyes flung open. He yawned. He took off the sand blanket. He apparently was only wearing light green shorts with purple flowers on them. He walked quickly to the center of the living room.

He crouched down...

and jumped hard to the ceiling.

CREEEAAAK

The rock flew open.

The sea star was stuck to the rock on the way up. He could see SpongeBob, his best friend, go off down the street towards a particular fast-food restaurant. "Go SpongeBob!" He cheered.

He then slowly teetered off the rock...

"Whoa!"

and collapsed to the floor.

The rock closed above him.

The sea star is well known for his lack of intelligence. This however never prevents him from having sudden bursts of enlightenment, his I. Q. varies wildly in certain spans of time. His absolute lack of manners only makes circumstances worse. However, this gives him a relaxed attitude since his ignorance gives him bliss and gives him the groundwork for thinking things through (if he's lucky). The sea star constantly idles around his home and is unemployed, getting money from his parents.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stopped running. He stood still and marveled at what was in front of him. He saw the Krusty Krab in all of its glory. Sparkling before his eyes like the gates of heaven. "There it is. The finest eating establishment ever established for eating. The Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty. With a 'help wanted' sign on the window! For years I've been dreaming of this moment! I'm gonna go in there, march straight to the manager, look im straight in the eye-" SpongeBob narrowed his eyes. "Lay it on the line and..."

Suddenly SpongeBob realized the likelihood of being hired. The majestic look of the Krusty Krab didn't help as it made the intimidation far worse. He was only 22 years old, he just finished college, and did plenty of odd jobs after that. This was the only reason he could afford a decent home. Unlike many people, SpongeBob just couldn't find his talent and he doesn't even know his own capabilities. He probably won't be hired since the boss might think he is one of those people who lounge around and do nothing all day like Squidward (SpongeBob clearly knew Squidward worked there). "I can't do this!" He slowly turned around with a disappointed face. He looked at the ground as he walked away, forgetting employment until he can brush up on his skills so as to experience that special moment later on. It wasn't impossible.

He abruptly collided into a large pink belly. He looked up. "Uh, Patrick!" For sure, the sea star was there. His arms were crossed and his brow was raised.

"Where do you think you're going?" Patrick stated in a stern voice.

"I was just-"

"No you're not. You're going to the Krusty Krab and get that job!"

SpongeBob paused a bit to collect his words. "I can't, don't you see? I'm not good enough!"

Patrick kept a firm look at SpongeBob as he leaned in and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Buddy, I know you can do it. C'mon, you only live once."

SpongeBob futilely tried to turn around, once he did so he took a step with wobbly legs. He then immediately turned to face back at Patrick, still too hesitant to take action. SpongeBob sighed. He looked at the ground, not giving eye contact. He frowned.

"This isn't the SpongeBob I know! He would've tried and at least see some sunshine in the end." It was a miracle, Patrick had a surge of inner wisdom. "Ever since high school you said you wanted to work at the Krusty Krab. You got excited every time you saw it, thinking of what you could do if you worked there. You worked hard through school so as to have that special hat on your head."

A pause.

"Buddy, this is your chance. Take it."

SpongeBob felt pressure the magnitude of that of the bottom of the ocean if he was a land dweller. His limbs shook violent like they were experiencing mini-earthquakes. Sweat ran down his face. His mind shut down and it was now only fight or flight. SpongeBob was about to take the 'flight' decision until he realized Patrick was stil standing there.

"Then I have to get it out of you." Patrick smiled. "Whose first words were 'May I take your order'?"

A light bulb in SpongeBob's head lit up. "M-mine were..."

"Who made a spatula out of toothpicks in the wood shop?"

The memories surged through SpongeBob. "I did." He stood resolute, courage began to envelop him.

Patrick was about to say something...

...but had a brain fart.

His intelligence returned to that of an idiot. Patrick's face visibly contorted as he searched through his mental library to find another thing to say to encourage SpongeBob. "Who's a, uh, who's uhh..."

SpongeBob looked confused and surprised.

Patrick found the right words. 'Aha!' "Oh! Who's a big yellow cube with holes?"

"I am!" SpongeBob smiled and spoke with enthusiasm.

"Who's ready?"

"I'm ready!"

"Who's ready?"

"I'M ready!"

"Who's ready?"

"I'M READY!"

Patrick's 'counseling' worked like a charm.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale and began his chant once more.

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

While doing that, he ran straight towards the Krusty Krab with determination. It wasn't so far away now.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned around and focused on the approaching shadow in the horizon. He winced when he heard the faint chant of a particular voice which belonged to a certain abomination. Only one thing stood out in his mind. He groaned. "Oh no, SpongeBob. What could he possibly want?"

The voice became more clear as the yellow sponge became further visible.

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"GO SPONGEBOB!"

"GO SPONGEBOB!"

"GO SPONGEBOB!"

"GO SELF!"

Squidward tried to figure out why SpongeBob was running towards the Krusty Krab. He turned around and saw the pleasant 'help wanted' sign. He then thought of his most horrifying nightmare coming true.

SpongeBob would work alongside him in the Krusty Krab.

His prediction might possibly become reality. His heart beat went up exponentially. A sweatdrop ran across his face. 'Oh no. Oh Neptune no...' He had to take action. He opened the entrance to the Krusty Krab with fury and ran inside at top speeds.

He knew one person to contact.

S-S-S-S-S

"MR. KRABS!"

Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs was pleasantly sniffing his money. He wanted to keep a good eye on Squidward so he looked out through the ordering window which was right behind the cash register. Mr. Krabs jumped at the sound of Squidward's screaming.

Squidward stopped right in front of him. "Hurry Mr. Krabs, before it's too late, I gotta tell you about-"

**SLAM**!

The doors flew open.

"Permission to come aboard, captain!" SpongeBob stated with a booming voice.

Squidward slowly and steadily turned his head in horror.

Mr. Krabs went wide-eyed.

"I've been training my whole life for the day I could join the Krusty Krew..."

A pause.

"And now I'm ready." SpongeBob took a step forward slowly as if he just landed on the moon. Right before his shoe touched the floor, his shoe made contact with a loose nail sticking out of the ancient floorboards.

He tripped.

'Uh oh.' SpongeBob thought. He collapsed face-first to the floor.

As he did that Squidward and Mr. Krabs watched him with extra attention.

SpongeBob's absorbent skin absorbed the fall. He then abruptly bounced up to the ceiling.

**CRASH**

GROAAN

The wood of the ceiling shook from the vibrations.

After sticking on the ceiling for a few seconds SpongeBob once again fell back to earth. Once he touched the ground he immediately bounced to a window and then to the adjacent one.

All hell broke loose.

He bounced from tables, barrels, a pole, a few doors, the floor again, and nearly hit Mr. Krabs.

A gasp escaped from Mr. Krabs.

Squidward jumped to the boat and Mr. Krabs followed suit.

Their eyes peered beyond the edge of the wooden boat and carefully watched the rest of the chaos unfold.

As that happened the building shook violently from constantly getting hit by SpongeBob.

Eventually, SpongeBob decelerated each consequtive bounce. He hit the floor and spun like a spinning top.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs stood from where they hid and walked close to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stopped spinning and laid there on the floor. "Heh heh. Oops." He smiled. "So, uh, where do I start?"

Mr. Krabs sighed. "Well lad, it looks like you don't even have your sea legs."

SpongeBob recognized who he was talking to. "Mr. Krabs please, I'll prove I'm fry cook material. Ask Squidward, he'll vouch for me." He then looked at Squidward, his apparent 'friend', with hope.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward briskly walked away from SpongeBob. They faced each other and looked like they were about to begin a long conversation that would determine the fate of SpongeBob's career.

Squidward took a deep breath. "No." He smiled.

Mr. Krabs winked.

They were about to pull off a cruel scheme on SpongeBob. They quickly walked back to SpongeBob.

"Well lad, I'll give you a test, and if you pass, you'll be in the Krusty Krew!" Mr. Krabs smirked.

SpongeBob stood up and paid attention.

"Go out and fetch me..."

SpongeBob took out a notepad from his pocket and prepared a pencil, ready to write down anything.

Mr. Krabs thought of the most ridiculous things to scavenge. "A, uh, hydrodynamic spatula..."

SpongeBob wrote as fast as possible.

"With um, port-and-starboard attachments..."

Intense scribbling from the sponge.

"And, uh...turbo drive!"

SpongeBob jotted down the last of the notes.

"And don't come back til you get one!" Mr. Krabs searched through his pockets until he found an employee hat.

Time froze as SpongeBob witnessed Mr. Krabs putting a hat on top of his head.

It sparkled, it was brand new.

SpongeBob took out a mirror and looked at his reflection. He marveled at how perfect the hat looked being worn by him. He put the mirror away and made a wide grin. "Aye, aye captain!" SpongeBob made a military salute. SpongeBob read his notes while speaking. "One hydrodynamic spatula, with port-and-starboard attachments, turbo drive, coming right up sir!"

"Carry on." Mr. Krabs waved.

SpongeBob turned around and headed out the door with enthusiasm and excitement. He felt as if he was knighted. SpongeBob ran as fast as a bullet and could no longer be seen through the horizon.

"We'll never see him again." Mr. Krabs turned to face Squidward. He felt relief.

"You're terrible. A hydro-what?"

Mr. Krabs made a deep pirate laugh while Squidward laughed by his nose honking.

Soon it ended.

"Alright. Back to work." Mr. Krabs made a command and then continued to sniff his money.

Squidward sat in the boat and continued to read his book.

Unknown to them, a threat was brewing on the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Some time later.

S-S-S-S-S

A group of buses were driving down a road. They drove past a sign that said 'Bikini Bottom'. The buses were driving at high speeds that were exactly the speed limit. Inside them sat hordes of hungry anchovies. Making hundreds of meeps every second.

The group of anchovies all gathered to have potentially the biggest feast they've had in a long time. Before they knew it, the buses were in downtown Bikini Bottom. A few honks from other boatmobiles could be heard as the buses swerved left and right.

The drivers were desperate to get those meeping demons off the bus.

The discord reached a breaking point. "Hey! Hey! Please! Passengers are to stay seated and put their hands out the window!" One of the extremely irritated drivers shouted.

The anchovies reeked of ignorance and were stubborn to behave.

The driver groaned.

The buses passed by a few more businesses until they found their target. The driver smiled as he finally saw his destination over the horizon. Soon he would be spared of hearing those accursed meeps.

The Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The very faint sound of a meep could be heard.

At that moment Mr. Krabs stopped sniffing his money. He put the money back in his wallet. His eyes narrowed. He peered carefully around the Krusty Krab as if trying to find the source of the meep

Squidward was still deeply absorbed into his novel. His feet were on the cash register.

Mr. Krabs ran to the windows. He watched the rapidly incoming silhouettes of autobuses like a hawk.

S-S-S-S-S

The drivers prepared themselves for the rapidly incoming figure that was the Krusty Krab. Once they were a few feet away from the building they took a vicious swerve to the left.

**SCREEEECH**

The anchovies fell from their seats and landed in piles on the floor. They made meeps of surprise.

The five buses parked around the perimeter of the Krusty Krab.

The doors opened abruptly.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard the sound of the doors opening. His eyes popped open. "That sounded like hatched doors!"

Squidward jumped from his seat and saw the buses parked outside. He put down his book and became irritated. He crossed his arms as he impatiently waited for the customers.

Before long a strange scent wafted in the air.

Mr. Krabs was familiar with the smell. He made several sniffs. "Do you smell it? That smell. A kind of smelly smell. A smelly smell that smells smelly." Mr. Krabs watched as an anchovy got off the bus and take a step outside.

"What?" Squidward replied grumpily.

"ANCHOVIES!"

As if on cue hordes of anchovies in the hundreds burst through the buses. In a single mass they overwhelmed the doors to the Krusty Krab and exploded into the interior.

**SLAM**

A flash flood of anchovies spilled over the room.

Meeps to the point of deafness resounded throughout the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward camped out in the boat of the cash register.

"Please, please, quiet!" Squidward shouted with an artery on his forehead. He was exhausted from hearing the meeping.

It could be heard throughout the room and was louder than the meeps.

Miraculously the anchovies suddenly became silent. They slowly turned around and faced Squidward.

"Is this any way to behave, hmmm?"

One anchovy was brave enough to say a meep.

"Could we show a little decency and form a neat, single file line in front of the register?"

The anchovies stared at Squidward for a long and painful minute.

The meeps resurfaced and escalated to higher volumes...

...as they ran and charged to the boat. The enraged anchovies picked up the boat.

Squidward gasped.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran throughout Bikini Bottom. Tall buildings flew past him and he made sure to steer clear of pedestrians. 'I think I know a place.' A light bulb lit up. He was searching throughout Bikini Bottom for the item Mr. Krabs asked. So far he had no success.

He took a sharp turn to the right and he was running through a parking lot. Soon he skidded to a halt. In front of him was a supermarket in the shape of a treasure chest. A sign above the entrance said 'Barg'n-Mart'. A skull and crossbones stood below it. His idea was about to be put to the test. He walked inside. He grabbed a shopping cart and dived into the several isles. Not too many people were around to shop so it was easy to navigate. "Barg'N-Mart, meeting all of your spatula needs." He sang as he walked between isles.

After a few minutes of roaming, so far there wasn't a single high-tech spatula in sight.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward and Mr. Krabs tumbled within the boat as it was being tossed around by the anchovies. They were sailing through rough anchovies waters.

"All hands on deck! Get your anchors out of your pants!" Mr. Krabs shouted in desperation. Trying to sound louder than the constant meeps.

"One single file line was all I asked!" Squidward said as he nearly fell off the boat.

Suddenly they flew into the air as their feet no longer touched the boat. They were aware that the anchovies would tear them to spreads if they landed on the floor.

"Whoa! Batten down the hatches, Mr. Squidward!" Mr. Krabs yelled.

They collided back to the boat.

A pause.

The anchovies lifted them off the boat once again. Putting more force into the push.

"We're taking on water, Mr. Squidward!"

They nearly touched the ceiling. They crashed down to the boat. They nearly tumbled from the force of the impact.

"I want my mommy, Mr. Squidward!"

They displayed faces of anxiety as they dreaded their next flight into the air.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking down the last isle.

The products were kitchen utensils and appliances.

"Do do do do do do, spatula, spatula, port-and-starboard attachments." He continued to sing. There was a slight shine while looking through the left shelf.

At close inspection...

*gasp*

...the object was in his hands. It was a hydrodynamic spatula. Fortunately the last one available.

He tossed it quickly inside the cart. 'Gotta make this quick.' SpongeBob backed up the cart. After a few seconds he pushed the cart. He jumped and sat on the edge of the cart. He rode it all the way to the registers. Fortunately, no one was in the way as he dashed through the 'go-kart'.

The cart decelerated as SpongeBob browsed through the waiting lines. He found one register with only a few people.

SCREECH

SpongeBob regained control of the cart.

Then he waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

Took a few steps.

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

The anxiety was killing him.

And waited...

Took a few steps.

Sweat ran down his face.

Excitement overflowed in his mind,

And waited...

And waited...

And waited...

"Um, sir..."

SpongeBob jumped.

There was no one in front of him.

"Yeah, yeah, right. Heheh." SpongeBob made a nervous smile. He gave the spatula to the cashier.

After scanning the object and determining the price. "That would be $50.00." A hefty price but much worth the sacrifice for SpongeBob.

SpongeBob took out his wallet and gave the money.

The cashier put the money in. "Alright..."

SpongeBob dashed out the supermarket.

He stood in front of the store with the spatula in hand. "Can't wait to tell Mr. Krabs..." SpongeBob looked at the object and then inspected it. "What does this do?" He pressed a button.

The red LED light on top of the spatula head began flashing. Two extra heads popped out. The two heads began spinning rapidly

SpongeBob soared up to the sky at a moderate pace. However, he focused on the spinning spatula heads and not the diminishing ground. "Wow, imagine serving Krabby patties like this..." He noticed that he no longer felt the ground. He looked down.

Barg'n-Mart was only a somewhat small treasure chest below.

"W-woah!" SpongeBob gripped the handle tightly as his legs dangled in the air. He tried to calm himself down.

As the sponge looked around, nearly the entire town could be viewed.

SpongeBob caught his breath in awe. He saw the Krusty Krab. Buses were surrounding it. "Oh yeah! Can't goof off now. Maybe I can impress Mr. Krabs by serving customers with this spatula here!" He leaned forward. SpongeBob darted to the Krusty Krab at high speeds. He smiled and was enthusiastic about presenting and showcasing his find to Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

The meeping stopped. The anchovies backed up and left the boat on the floor. However, it was suspiciously quiet.

Squidward was about to drop a foot on the floor.

Mr. Krabs put a claw up. His eyes narrowed. "Mr. Squidward. Don't. Move. A. Muscle."

Squidward's foot retreated and the both of them stood as still as statues.

They glared at the anchovies.

The anchovies took another step back.

A pause...

A step...

More steps...

**RUMMMBLLLLE**

The anchovies became a tsunami and converged on the boat. The wave moved rapidly and pummeled the boat.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs were wide-eyed.

Instead of tossing the boat in the air, the anchovies pushed the boat...

...towards the mast.

The pole zoomed into focus in a few seconds in front of Squidward and Mr. Krabs.

"ABANDON SHIP!" Mr. Krabs shouted above the noise.

Time slowed.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs jumped with all their might. They floated into the air.

CRUUUNNNCH

The boat smashed to hundreds of wooden pieces. The cash register flipped in the air and sunk into the anchovies. The pieces of the boat flew across the large room and then fell to the floor.

The anchovies weren't phased. They surrounded the pole.

Time resumed to normal.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward were soaring up to the ceiling in midair.

"HELP!" Squidward screamed in terror.

"MAN OVERBOARD!" Mr. Krabs announced. For a moment Mr. Krabs noticed that they were flying adjacent to the wooden pole. "Climb, Mr. Squidward! CLIMB!"

"Huh?" Squidward looked at the pole he was next to. *gasp* He clung to the pole.

Below Mr. Krabs also clung to the pole.

Right now, this dull and unimportant mast has become their lifeline.

Squidward climbed for dear life.

Soon Mr. Krabs caught up to him.

They were both right below the ceiling.

Anchovies attempted to climb up the pole but failed miserably and slipped off. There were meeps of frustration. Then some of the anchovies jumped on top of their brethren. The horde of hungry customers tried a different formation. The ones standing on top were pulled back like sling shots by other anchovies.

A pause...

They flew. Anchovies whizzed past Mr. Krabs and Squidward like bullets. Their iron-clad grip to the pole strengthened.

One of the anchovies nearly hit Squidward.

Squidward teetered and held on with one sticky tentacle.

A sweatdrop ran down his brow. "Barnacles!" Squidward climbed even further up and almost hugged the ceiling.

"Hold on Mr. Squidward!"

"Why do you keep calling me Mr. Squidward?!" An artery showed on Squidward's forehead.

"DO YOU WANT TO STAY ALI-"

An anchovy crashed hard on to the wooden mast.

**GROOOAAAAN**

The pole shook violently from the impact.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH**!" Both Mr. Krabs and Squidward screamed as they withstood the 'wood quake'.

The vibrations subsided.

"Phew." Squidward wiped his brow.

A pause.

Anchovies were no longer flailing around in the air. They retreated from the pole and...

...ran to the edge of the room where the ordering window and a few doors resided. They leaned back.

'Dear Neptune no.' Mr. Krabs shuddered.

Squidward shook from severe anxiety.

The anchovies prepared for a second tsunami wave.

The two immediately realized their fate.

"This is the end. Goodbye, Mr. Squidward." Mr. Krabs stated solemnly.

"Oh Mr. Krabs!"

Tears formed in their eyes and they sobbed.

The anchovies walk slowly...

Their pace gradually quickened...

The height of the wave rose exponentially in the process. The horde of anchovies locked on to Squidward and Mr. Krabs. The chance of knocking them off the mast was guaranteed.

The two that were clinging to their possible final breaths of life were doomed...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dashed through the sky like a comet. His skin was burning from the velocity. "Can't...let...Mr...Krabs...down!" He used all the strength he could muster from his thin arms to stay on track.

Rooftops bellow him became speeding pellets.

Soon the road enlarged.

SpongeBob kicked his feet at the last second. Mere inches from the ground.

The spinning spatula maintained a normal altitude.

The windows of the Krusty Krab popped into view.

It was speeding towards his face.

"Rrrrrggggh!"

Screech!

SpongeBob was an inch away from the glass. He witnessed hordes of anchovies run at accelerating speeds towards a mast.

A wave of anchovies formed.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward clung helplessly to the mast, crying while doing so. The anchovies suffered from extreme gluttony and this was quite obvious to SpongeBob.

"I know what to do!" SpongeBob snapped his fingers and made a wide smile. He dove forward to the doors.

S-S-S-S-S

**RUUUUMMMMMBBBLLLLEEE**

Squidward and Mr. Krabs closed their eyes. Awaiting the inevitable...

...

...

...

**S-SLAM!**

The double doors flew open.

"Permission to come aboard captain!"

Red LED light blinking.

Spatulas spinning like fans.

A yellow sponge soared and flew in close to the ceiling.

The wave jolted and shook. A foot away from the mast. The anchovies lost balance. The wave collapsed on itself. Meeps of surprise and confusion.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs went wide-eyed. Their jaws dropped.

"What in the world..." Mr. Krabs spoke silently in shock.

"Da da da da da da da! Da da da da da da da da da da!" SpongeBob sung a heroic chant as he flew towards Mr. Krabs. "Did someone order a spatula?" SpongeBob stopped in front of Mr. Krabs. "That's right! One hydrodynamic spatula with-"

The two twirling spatula heads extended further and were barely visible. SpongeBob indicated this more clearly by pointing at them with his fingers. "port-and-starboard attachments, and let's not forget the turbo drive!" SpongeBob made the mini-spatulas spin at a higher speed. It accidentally smacked across Squidward and Mr. Krabs' faces. SpongeBob bit his lip.

"Would you believe they only had one in stock? To the kitchen!" SpongeBob flew quickly to the ordering window. "Who's hungry?" He screamed below to the stunned anchovies. SpongeBob flew through the ordering window.

THUD

He landed on the floor.

The kitchen was assorted with utensils and ingredients.

SpongeBob knew all the ingredients and steps required to make Krabby Patties by watching how Squidward cooked them when SpongeBob himself was a customer. He ran towards a table where the ingredients rested. With the hydrodynamic spatula he dove in.

The spatula shredded and grinded through the ingredients.

Slices of them flew in the air and surrounded the table.

Eventually they landed neatly in piles.

SpongeBob ran towards a closet. He opened it and took out bags of krabby patties. He threw the patties on the grill like shurikens. He turned the grill on and put it on a high temperature. The patties were cooked to the right temperature and were flipped within nanoseconds by the spatula. SpongeBob ran back to the closet and took out a bag of buns. With ultra-efficiency he made the krabby patties while carefully following the steps.

SpongeBob peered out through the ordering window and used his spatula like a baseball bat as he threw krabby patties at the anchovies.

Rapidly some anchovies munched on the Krabby patties and left some money. This left the other anchovies more ravenous and they charged at the metal wall.

**GROOOAAAN**

SpongeBob shook as the anchovies attempted to barge through the room.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward bit their lips and continued to hold onto the mast.

He haphazardly kept making Krabby patties. His legs wobbled under the force of the anchovies. There wasn't any time to stand and wait for the anchovies to stop. He pushed his speed past the limits and dished out more Krabby patties. He was like a machine gun as he fired at numerous anchovies.

More and more ate and left money in the air.

After a few minutes his limbs felt weak.

His cooking speed faltered. His muscles ached at increasing rates. He almost tripped at one point. 'I can't stop now. Not when I'm this close.' After slowing down a bit more the anchovies began making slight dents at the metal walls. They were becoming more and more desperate. SpongeBob closed his eyes. His face contorted in concentration. His limbs became a blur as krabby patties were served so fast they flew at supersonic speeds.

Only a crowd remained and soon most of them left the Krusty Krab.

The last anchovy swallowed the patty and left.

Money littered the floor in piles.

A pause.

The anchovies returned to the five buses.

Engines started.

The buses promptly turned and drove out of the perimeter of the Krusty Krab. They continued to drive down the road.

...

The faint specks in the horizon vanished.

SpongeBob smiled, satisfied with what he has done. He lowered his arms and took a deep breath.

Mr. Krabs stared at the money on the drooled at the magnitude of the profits he had just earned. The crustacean slid down the mast, facing down and looking at the money while doing so. Mr. Krabs landed on the floor, careful not to step and dirty the money. "Can you get me a huge bag to fit all of my green children?" Mr. Krabs asked.

SpongeBob nodded his head and obeyed. He searched through the kitchen-

**CLANK!**

**THUD!**

Large sounds of objects collapsing to the floor could be heard as SpongeBob continued his search.

He opened a cabinet under the sink and there the bag laid. "Found it!" SpongeBob opened the door and tossed the bag to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs caught it with his claws and opened it up. Column by column he scooped up the money from the floor and put it in his bag.

SpongeBob ran in and assisted with the collection.

The bag begun to get heavy.

"Can you get me a wheelbarrow while you're at it?"

SpongeBob dashed into the kitchen and found a wheelbarrow quickly. He dashed back out and was carting it in his hands.

Once the floor was clear Squidward decided to drop down to the floor.

It was safe for him to do so without aggravating Mr. Krabs.

A collossal bag of money rested on a wheelbarrow.

"By the way lad, what's your name?"

"SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob stated his name with pride and did a military salute.

"Well then. That was the finest fast foodsmanship I've ever seen, Mr. SquarePants! Welcome aboard!" Mr. Krabs smirked and put a name tag on SpongeBob's shirt. "You've earned it."

SpongeBob's eyes glistened as he looked at the name tag.

Squidward walked to Mr. Krabs with drooping shoulders and disappointment all over his face. "But, but Mr. Krabs-" Squidward spoke solemnly.

"Three cheers for SpongeBob! Hip-hip!"

"Hooray, Mr-" Squidward spoke the 'hooray' quietly.

"Hip-hip!"

"Hooray." Squidward barely said the word this time.

"Hip-hip."

"Hooray. Mr. Krabs!"

"I'll be in my quarters, counting up the booty." Mr. Krabs wheeled the money to his office, he shut the door.

Squidward sighed.

S-S-S-S-S

A familiar sea star walked toward an also familiar building. 'I wonder how SpongeBob's doing...' Patrick stood in front of the Krusty Krab. It was unknown to him that SpongeBob was employed. He was curious as to SpongeBob's success.

Suddenly his stomach grumbled.

Patrick was moderately hungry. Perfect timing. 'Let's eat.' Patrick opened the door.

S-S-S-S-S

The pieces of the boat were gathered in a pile.

Squidward was a bit tired from finding all those pieces. He put the cash register below the ordering window. Squidward sat on the floor and leaned on the wall, procrastinating on fixing the boat.

"Good morning, Krusty Krew!" Patrick walked inside the Krusty Krab. He stopped in front of the cash register. He looked up at the Galley Grub.

"What would you like to order, Patrick?" Squidward spoke without any passion. Uninterested in his work as always.

"Uhhhhh.." Patrick was deep in thought.

Squidward became impatient.

"One Krabby patty, please."

SpongeBob jumped in place back at the instincts kicked in and he prepared Krabby patties at a rapid pace. His arms became blurs in sonic movement. SpongeBob hasn't cooled down from the recent battle with the anchovies.

In a matter of minutes Krabby patties were made and shot across the ordering window.

Squidward almost had a heart attack. The octopus flinched and ducked.

Patrick went wide-eyed. "AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Once the Krabby patties hit him he was overwhelmed. He was pushed by the velocity of the burgers.

He burst out the entrance.

S-S-S-S-S

He landed on the outdoor ground with a loud THUD.

The patties stacked in piles above him within seconds.

*groan* Patrick was heavily dizzy.

The world spun like a wheel.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hehe...oops...order...up?" SpongeBob wore a plastic grin and a sweatdrop ran down his face.

Squidward sat back up. He turned to look at SpongeBob. He made a vicious glare that pierced SpongeBob's soul.

SpongeBob made a wider grin and he became very nervous. The hands holding his machine spatula wobbled.

After a few seconds of glaring a light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. He wasn't going to let the yellow demon further ruin his life that easily. Living as a neighbor to him was already near Squidward's limit. Squidward stood up from the floor.

SpongeBob relaxed a bit until-

"Mr. Krabs! Mr. KRABS!" Squidward sung. He was dashing toward the door. Even his walking almost seemed like dancing

*gasp* SpongeBob's eyes widened. He barged the kitchen door open and chased Squidward. "No! No! Noooo!" He grabbed Squidward's ankle.

However, Squidward's hand was on the door handle to Mr. Krab's office. He was a knob's pull away from salvation. Squidward looked content, already feeling as if the deed was done. He twisted the knob.

SpongeBob grabbed his ankle.

Time slowed.

The door slowly slid open...

Mr. Krabs could be seen monotonously counting his money...

The money bag leaned against the desk...

Squidward opened his mouth...

SpongeBob had a look of horror...

As fast as he fulfilled his dream, his dream would decay and crumble. SpongeBob's efforts would be put to almost little use, only used at one moment of feeding ravenous anchovies. He would return to the days of odd jobs, the days of wandering around Bikini Bottom and finding a purpose would become reality before his very eyes...

Time resumed.

"Squidward! Please don't!"

"Mr. Krabs, come see your new employeeeeeeeee!"

Mr. Krabs looked annoyed from Squidward's interruption. "Leave Mr. Squarepants alone, Squidward. The lad needs to adjust to his new environment." Mr. Krabs said this while he continued to count the money mentally.

"RGH!" Squidward's face turned red. He stomped out. Squidward shut the door behind SpongeBob who no longer grasped his ankle.

"Don't worry your head off lad. He's always grumpy and lazy on the job. However, I can't fire him. Better off having him then me having to do all the work."

SpongeBob nodded. He stood up and smiled. SpongeBob walked out the door and left.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick shuffled out of the pile of Krabby patties.

"You're okay Patrick?" SpongeBob walked up to him, he showed concern.

Patrick made a thumbs up. "Way to go buddy. See? It was all in you."

"Very true."

Patrick pat SpongeBob in the back. He ate a Krabby patty as he walked away. "C'ya later."

"Bye Pat!"

Patrick walked away, his hunger was satisfied.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs put the money back in his bag; he had finished counting. "Good start for today." He walked up to a seemingly normal wall behind his desk. He tapped a hidden button.

An input prompting a password opened from the wall

Mr. Krabs inputted the password with agile claws.

DING!

A major slit in the wall appeared adjacent to the password input and slid open to a very large vault. Another input for a password was right next to the lock.

Mr. Krabs quickly typed another password.

DING!

The lock was loosened.

Mr. Krabs twisted the lock and opened the vault. He poured the money out of the bag. He organized them in careful stacks adjacent and identical with the rest of the money in the vault.

He stepped away from the vault and closed the door. His claws twisted the lock back in place.

The vaults and password inputs were once again hidden beneath the wall.

He walked towards the exit door. 'I should show the lad around the place.' While walking from his office.

He-

S-S-S-S-S

opened the door.

SpongeBob was walking merrily across the large dining area.

There was an acute drought of customers ever since the anchovies left.

"Ah, there you are." Mr. Krabs walked to SpongeBob. "I'm gonna give you a tour of the Krusty Krab. I want you to have a good feel of the vessel."

"Oooooh. A tour!"

"I won't revisit the obvious spots of course. You were a frequent customer before you got employed."

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled.

"Follow me." Mr. Krabs went to the cash register.

Squidward was snoring, a book over his face.

Mr. Krabs pointed at the ordering window specifically. "You see that chandelier doo-hickey over there. That's where Squidward puts up orders that you have to take. Since you are our fry cook and all."

As Mr. Krabs stated, there was a metal ring on the top of the ordering window where notes would be put for orders.

Mr. Krabs walked away and entered the kitchen.

SpongeBob followed closely.

Mr. Krabs walked towards a door SpongeBob didn't notice before. "This is where I can inspect on you from my office." He opened the door which showed the office. Mr. Krabs then walked towards a metal door. "This is the freezer. Most of the Krabby patties on the ship are stored here." Mr. Krabs opened the door and a sudden artic wind blew on them.

SpongeBob shivered.

Mr. Krabs promptly shut the door. The crustacean quickly walked out of the kitchen towards the dining room.

SpongeBob jogged behind.

Mr. Krabs walked into an adjacent door which lead to the bathroom.

SpongeBob quickly appeared before him.

"You probably know that Squidward sleeps here often but there is one thing I want to show you." He walked to a machine where you could swipe a card. "Everyday before you go to work you will swipe a card into this machine which will mark your attendance." Mr. Krabs handed SpongeBob a brand new ID card.

SpongeBob marveled at his reflection on the card. "Wow."

Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob left the bathroom.

Mr. Krabs pointed to the open space above the metal wall and doors. "That is the storage area. Don't worry, the likelihood of you going up there is the same as that of discovering treasure. "Mr. Krabs went to the kitchen. He then opened another door straight ahead which took him outside.

SpongeBob stood before him.

"This will be out last stop. This feller right here." Mr. Krabs pointed at a large dumpster which was the only thing there behind the Krusty Krab. "Will help ya out a lot during cleaning duty. All you have to do is to throw trash cans in there. We always do cleaning duty before we close unless I tell you to clean a certain place."

They both went inside the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs was pondering, a claw on his chin. "Hmmmmm..." He noticed the pile of Krabby patties outside and the pile of boat pieces. "SpongeBob, Squidward, store the patties away and fix the boat!" He leaned on the wall and watched closely.

"Right away sir!" SpongeBob ran outside to tend to the patties.

Squidward stood up and began putting the wooden pieces together.

After a few seconds SpongeBob made a pattern of rapidly entering and exiting the Krusty Krab so as to put the patties away.

This heavily annoyed and distracted Squidward. He tried his best to stay focused.

SpongeBob ran a few inches too close to Squidward.

The boat pieces collapsed and the jigsaw puzzle was ruined.

Squidward shook a fist, fuming.

SpongeBob awkwardly continued his duties. He ran inside the kitchen. He opened the freezer as Mr. Krabs showed him. He put Krabby patties away neatly. He ran back outside to get more.

S-S-S-S-S

A half hour later.

S-S-S-S-S-

The boat looked spotless, the fruit of Squidward's labor.

Squidward wiped the sweat off his face. He climbed up to the storage area to put the glue away.

SpongeBob came out of the kitchen, complete with his chore.

Squidward jumped down and at long last sat down on the repaired boat. He took a well-earned nap.

Abruptly a customer opened the doors and entered the Krusty Krab.

*gasp* "A customer! Yes!" SpongeBob ran to the kitchen. He turned on the grill.

"Ugh." Squidward sat straight.

Mr. Krabs returned to his office.

"Ooh. They got a new employee? It's been a while since there was two."

"Can you just state your order?" Squidward was in a sour mood.

"Of course."

Beyond the ordering window SpongeBob witnessed the event. He made a wide grin. "I'm becoming famous already!"

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later. After SpongeBob served many customers for his first day.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was whistling. He picked up trash bags from trash bins and walked to the kitchen. He then opened a door to the back of the Krusty Krab. He threw the trash bags into the dumpster.

Squidward came with more trash bags and threw it into the dumpster. Squidward was happy that his work would end soon.

The sun was close to setting on the horizon. They sky was in a temporary light orange, which would soon fade to dark blue.

It was 6:00 PM.

They went back to the dining room. They put in new trash bags inside the bins.

"Good job boys! Closing time!" Mr. Krabs shouted and he walked towards the door.

SpongeBob walked out the door and Squidward trailed behind him.

Mr. Krabs switched the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. He took the now useless 'Help Wanted' sign off the window. He inserted the golden key in his claws into the door.

The door was then locked.

"Oh yeah. One more thing." Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob. "I'll be taking that spatula." SpongeBob gave him the spatula without hesitation. "I'll sell this at an auction. Anyways, I'll give you the traditional spatula next time you come around." Mr. Krabs showed the casual spatula to SpongeBob, it didn't have any special features. SpongeBob marveled once again at the utensil. "I'll be seeing you on Monday. We don't work on Sunday, which is tommorrow."

SpongeBob grinned. He made a military salute. "Roger that sir!"

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh and walked home. Ready to pull off a scheme to rob people's money.

Squidward and SpongeBob walked home side by side.

"This is going to be amazing! Not only are we neighbors, we are now coworkers!" *gasp* "I could be with my friends for almost the whole day! This is the best day of my life!"

Squidward focused on ignoring SpongeBob although he winced at the word 'friends'. "Thank you very much SpongeBob. Now working in the Krusty Krab is a living hell." He sighed.

SpongeBob was skipping across the street merrily. "Hahahahahahaha!" He did his famous laugh, the weirdest one in Bikini Bottom. "You're welcome." SpongeBob perceived Squidward as sarcastic instead of listening and understanding him completely.

"If you don't mind me, I'm going to get some sleep." Squidward stated with dignity and walked faster.

"Since I'm in the Krusty Krew, do you want to celebrate and party at my place?"

"No no no no no no no." Squidward shook his head numerous times.

"Okee-dokee."

Squidward's tiki was only a block away, between SpongeBob's pineapple and Patrick's rock.

"Bye Squidward!" SpongeBob skipped to his house and went inside.

"Good riddance." Squidward opened the door to his tiki and went inside. He slammed the door shut.

S-S-S-S-S

In a room with a wooden bed and a wooden table with an alarm clock on top of it, Squidward slept. The rooms in his house were as bizarre as his artistic taste. Several portraits of himself were kept in the tiki, all of them expressing Squidward's narcissim.

He laid on the mattress, sheet over most of his body, and was snoring through his nose. He wore a sleeping mask and hat.

The snores resounded throughout the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick slept on a sofa of sand. He was drooling. He fell asleep after watching television.

The TV of sand was showing gray dust on the screen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was still a bit awake that night. Still fascinated and shocked that he was now the Krusty Krab fry cook. He looked out the window, pondering on what he was going to do tommorow since the Krusty Krab was closed. Many viable options appeared in his mind. "Maybe I should go jellyfishing with Patrick tommorrow. Ooh! Or stroll around Bikini Bottom and take a little trip! Or visit my parents and tell them the good news!" Nearly every thought in SpongeBob's mind was spoken aloud.

Gary slept peacefully in the bedroom.

The crescent moon reflected over the ocean surface. Patiently waiting for the sun to take its place.


	2. O

**Chapter 2: Reef Blower**

* * *

A well-rested Squidward opened the door. SpongeBob didn't create much of a disturbance last night. He inhaled and exhaled, enjoying the fresh Sunday morning air. He even smiled as he realized SpongeBob and Patrick weren't up to their usual shenanigans.

He stood below his hideous tiki for a bit. He inspected the flower in the vase that was next to his door.

The flower was bending to the side.

Squidward promptly fixed it to it's correct posture. He cautiously scanned his lawn, it seemed to be ideal, except...

for a mere seashell to the left corner.

Squidward fumed for a moment, his paradise of a Sunday was slightly spoiled. He walked up to the seashell. It suddenly dawned upon him that SpongeBob might be watching him. With a slight jolt from the realization he began to whistle innocently. He made a gentle kick to the seashell.

It flew quietly and slowly to SpongeBob's lawn.

Squidward walked away quickly, he went back to his house. "This would be the perfect time to write a song."

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran upstairs to his music room.

S-S-S-S-S

In the room, windows in the shapes of eyes overlooked the neighborhood before the tiki.

He grabbed a few empty papers from a stack. He found a spare pen from a stand that was holding musical notes. Squidward promptly went outside once again at high speeds.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked to the backyard. "SpongeBob and Patrick might be still sleeping." He spoke to himself in self-assurance of the neighborhood's tranquility. Squidward became calm as the peaceful environment inspired him to write his latest piece of art.

In the backyard a hammock tied between two coral trees rested there. A well-tended garden covered the majority of the yard.

Squidward sat on the hammock. He laid down and loosened his body. He took a deep breath.

A pause.

The pen scribbled on the paper as Squidward wrote his new song.

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOOOONNNNNNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm blew.

**CLICK**

SpongeBob tried to shake off his hazy vision as he turned the foghorn's alarm off.

Gary awoke and was consequently drowsy as always. The snail opened a door to a set of stairs and went downstairs to watch TV at the living room.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The door opened and closed as the snail left the room.

SpongeBob jumped out of his bed. He put on his clothes; he became fully awake. He then looked out the window.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for a seashell resting on his lawn.

He considered cleaning it off his property. "I got something more fun to do." With a smile he turned to his treasure chest. He flipped it open.

It revealed plenty of artifacts and junk. Except for an instrument case which was designed to fit a certain shape.

With care he flipped the case open. He then took out a wooden jelly fishing net. The tool was used for a major portion of SpongeBob's life and he could remember countless adventures in Jellyfish Fields just from looking at it.

He then made a fighting stance with the net. He swiped low, uppercutted, swiped to the side, and a 360 swipe all in rapid succession and were repeated many times.

The net apparently split into clones in many areas at the same time from the speed and precision of SpongeBob's swipes.

The air swished loudly and rapidly.

SpongeBob immediately stopped his swipes. He flipped the net to the ceiling.

The net flipped rapidly to form a wooden wheel as it soared up.

It was only inches away from the ceiling.

It dove down.

**SNATCH**

SpongeBob grasped the net with both hands, his timing was near perfect. He made a final swipe down to the mattress.

The net taped the bed lightly, not too hard, not too soft. A guarantee that a jellyfish would've been caught.

SpongeBob relaxed his tense muscles. *giggles* "I can't wait to jellyfish with Patrick and show him my new skills!" The sponge jumped up and down in excitement. His passion was on the brink of being uncontrollable. Suddenly, a light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He then snapped his fingers. "Gotta save this for later." He put the net back inside the treasure chest just as it was found. He walked up to the window. Carefully eyeing the seashell for the last time. He opened the window and sat on the rim.

S-S-S-S-S

He made a slight hop and crouched on the rim, giving himself time to balance himself out. He eyed the walls of his pineapple through the corner of his eye. He jumped and bolted down an adjacent wall. His spongy skin was slippery enough so as to slide down the fruity surface. He steered his way to the back of his house.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's ideas flowed into his pen and was engraved on his potential masterpiece.

The atmosphere was silent.

**THIIFT**

The sound of a silent bullet was heard from Squidward's ears.

He immediately sat up and turned around to look at SpongeBob's pineapple. For a split second he saw a flash of yellow skim around the dwelling. Squidward narrowed his eyes. "Uh oh. I wonder what SpongeBob's trying to do this time." *sighs* "As long as he doesn't bother me..." He inspected Patrick's rock just to be safe. No activity occurred. The octopus then went back to his writing.

S-S-S-S-S

Plop!

SpongeBob safely landed before the garage door.

A crowbar leaned against the wall adjacent to the large door. A major asset to opening that behemoth entrance due to SpongeBob's lack of strength.

SpongeBob picked up the crowbar. He inserted it under the garage door. With a forceful pull the door slid open and retracted completely.

A loud sound echoed throughout the neighborhood. It shook the pineapple for a second.

"Grrrrr! SPONGEBOB!"

SpongeBob quickly turned to Squidward's way. "Good morning Squidward!" He smiled.

Squidward was standing up in his backyard, his writing was interrupted. He was glaring.

SpongeBob waved and ran inside the garage.

Squidward went back to the hammock.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Rustling.

Shuffling.

The faint sounds of a television going on in the nearby living room.

SpongeBob scavenged through the stuff he had in the garage. He shoved a box away.

And there it laid.

"Aha!"

A monstrosity of a machine stood before SpongeBob. Its enormous size, a pull starter, a power switch, a hose, and jet engine was what it consisted of. It seemed to be a backpack from the future. The reef blower itself was given to SpongeBob by one of his uncles, it was quite old and hadn't aged well.

SpongeBob strapped it on. "I never tried this out before." He lifted it up, it wasn't too heavy. He smirked. SpongeBob stomped outside.

S-S-S-S-S

The garage door shut to a close.

Squidward flinched in his hammock.

**FLICK**

SpongeBob turned the switch to 'ON'.

The engine came to life. The engine made thunderous sounds and began throbbing.

S-S-S-S-S

The sounds of the engine assailed Squidward's ears. His body vibrated from the sheer loudness. Squidward gritted his teeth, this time he was sincerely pissed off. He took out some earplugs from his shirt pocket and put them on. He once again looked at SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob was running towards the front of his house, for certain he was up to his antics.

Squidward shook his fist and laid down on the hammock. It was silent enough to return to his writing and staying focused.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood before the seashell.

The hose was sniped on the object.

The seashell was about to be blown to the moon.

His other hand grasped the starter. He pulled the starter firmly and released.

An awkward pause.

The engine coughed and sputtered.

A puff of air came out of the hose.

It didn't move the seashell at all.

SpongeBob raised his eyebrow.

Looks like the engine won't give in without a fight.

The hose was repositioned to the seashell. He pulled the starter slowly this time, it stretched a few more inches. SpongeBob's eyes stared and concentrated on the shell. He released the starter.

Another awkward pause.

The engine once again coughed and stuttered.

Another puff of air was released from the hose, obviously it didn't move the shell.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward folded the sheets of paper and put it and his pen in his shirt pocket. He sighed. "Can't focus with SpongeBob around." He took off his earplugs and put them in his shirt pocket. Squidward walked back to his tiki and went inside.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and prepared his breakfast.

Once everything was set he opened the door and went back outside.

S-S-S-S-S

One hand was holding some vegetables and a fork on a plate.

In the backyard there was a table and a seat.

He sat there and peacefully ate his meal.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He grasped the starter tightly and pulled to the limits of his arm.

A sweatdrop ran down his brow.

He squeezed the hose in his grasp.

A pause.

He released the starter.

**FFFFWWOOOOOOSSSSH**

A torrent of air spouted out from the hose.

SpongeBob was pushed back from the force of the reef blower.

The aim of the torrent missed completely and impacted the sand instead.

The sand hit by the concentrated air erupted towards the sky.

SpongeBob watched the missile of sand from below, eyes wide. "Uh oh."

A pause.

The sand succumbed to gravity and arched downward. It flew straight toward Squidward.

*gasps* "SQUIDWARD WATCH OUT!"

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward dropped his fork. "SpongeBob! What could you possibly want no-"

A shadow enveloped his figure.

Squidward looked up.

A pillar of sand headed straight towards him.

He flinched and gasped for a second before-

**PLOP**

He was buried in a coffin of sand.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stopped before the hill of sand that was once Squidward. "My bad." He made a crooked grin. A sweatdrop ran down his face.

A pause.

"Don't worry! I'll fix it!" He pulled the starter and aimed the hose at Squidward. The reef blower was functioning normally this time. He released the starter.

**FWWWOOOOSSH**

The sand was pushed away from Squidward and gathered elsewhere.

Squidward glared at SpongeBob. He then looked down at his breakfast.

The green vegetables were tainted with sand.

SpongeBob noticed this and took action. He aimed the hose carefully on the food. He pulled and released the starter.

**FWOOOSH**

The sand flew from the food and made contact on Squidward's eyes.

Squidward's eyes were irritated from the sand and became bloodshot. Squidward winced in pain.

SpongeBob jolted. He aimed the hose at Squidward's face and blew again.

**FWOOSH**

The sand finally disappeared.

Squidward returned to his eating, attempting to forget the whole incident.

SpongeBob turned to face his lawn.

A pile of sand stood where the seashell used to be.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes. He pointed at the hill and loudly whispered "You!". He ran to the sand hill. He turned the hose upside down and turned the switch from 'FOWARD' to 'REVERSE'. He pulled and released the starter.

The hose successfully sucked up the seashell and the sand pile. The contents went to the metal container.

Suddenly the machine started to shake violently.

**COUGH**

Sand was spewed from the hose. Even some bolts of the machinery managed to be spat out.

SpongeBob loosened the straps from his shoulders and put the blower on the ground.

**THUD**

He walked to the backside of the machine. A convenient zipper was etched to the metal back. SpongeBob unzipped the container.

The contents of the machine could be seen.

The machine kept shaking and struggled to function properly.

He grabbed the junk that was messing up the machine and put the trash on the ground.

The reef blower ceased to shake.

SpongeBob smiled. He zipped the blower and strapped it back on to him. He then pulled and released the starter to test it out.

The engine throbbed for a few seconds.

Then it died, the motor stopped making any noises.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes and made a determined look at the set the reef blower down. He grabbed the starter. Then he briskly ran down the block while the starter pulled with him.

It stretched and stretched and stretched.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stomped as he pulled the starter. His face contorted as he used all the ounces of his wimpy strength. He stopped moving.

The cord has reached its limit, it was almost transparent by that time.

SpongeBob wiped his hands while still holding on to the cord.

A pause.

He turned around and leaned forward. He jumped an inch.

The cord pulled furiously forward.

SpongeBob was like a rocket as he flew past blocks and blocks of houses. He struggled to even see as air blasted at his eyes. He felt like the wind itself as the pineapple came into view.

The reef blower zoomed closer and closer towards his vision.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat on his front door. He was writing his song and it was near completion. Abruptly he noticed from the corner of his eye that the reef blower was standing still and not moving. He looked up from the paper.

The starter was stretching heavily and pierced the horizon to Squidward's right.

"What in the world?" Squidward raised his brow.

A yellow dot popped up in the distance.

Squidward turned to that object's direction.

SpongeBob was holding on to the starter and was heading straight towards the reef blower. His speed rivaled that of a jet.

Squidward went braced himself.

SpongeBob flew past him.

S-S-S-S-S

The starter was completely released.

SpongeBob's back collided on the reef blower and was strapped on.

The machine turned on violently. The hose was shaking.

SpongeBob looked at the hose, dreading what was going to happen.

The hose began to suck up the surrounding water.

Sweat ran down SpongeBob's face as the hose kept sucking up as much water as possible.

A whirlpool appeared to have came out of the hose as if it was a drain

With a trembling hand he flicked the power switch to 'OFF'.

The reef blower refused to shut down and drained up more exponential amounts of water.

SpongeBob looked up towards the sky.

The surface of the ocean was falling towards ground level; the water level was shrinking.

The ground began to shake due to the power of the hose's sucking.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary, SpongeBob's pet snail, was watching TV. He was quite the gluttonous creature. SpongeBob has to feed him often and he has a major appetite for snail nip. Other than eating he doesn't go outside often. He also has an assortment of strange talents that are unusual for Gary's species of snail.

He was watching football and the TV was blasted to a high volume as a team scored a touchdown. He was drinking soda.

The floor shook.

Gary went wide-eyed.

The furniture began to shake.

The television rattled and it was difficult to watch the game.

The couch Gary was sitting on was teetering over from the mini-earthquake.

Gary hopped and landed on the floor.

The couch fell.

The furniture leaned towards the front door of the pineapple.

Gary was confused.

The water was being sucked out of the pineapple through the door and soon Gary was on dry land.

He breathed the dry air easily, he doesn't have gills and can breathe both air and water just fine. He continued to watch the game.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked up as the surface of the ocean reached his level.

The land was sucked dry.

The tropical sun burned his skin.

He struggled to breathe. He began choking. His face turned blue.

S-S-S-S-S

Far above Bikini Bottom, in the surface world, rested a small island of a chain of islands called Bikini Atoll which the town below was named after. It had three palm trees and a flock of seagulls lived there.

All the seagulls stopped flying and vocalizing. They landed on the island and looked at the ocean.

After a few minutes the surrounding sea diminished before them and all they saw was the bottom of the sea and Bikini Bottom below them.

A slight tremor began.

The birds were wide-eyed and their beaks fell in shock.

The island revealed itself to be a large mountain of sand.

S-S-S-S-S

The reef blower grew and contorted a thousand times it's size. It was the size of an asteroid Cracks appeared on it's metal surface. By far it went into overdrive when it sucked the water.

The sea nearby Bikini Bottom were sucked dry.

SpongeBob held his breath as he looked up in surprise at the machine.

The machine constantly vibrated.

Water flowed out of the cracks.

The metal surface was further harmed and more cracks appeared.

The shaking of the reef blower rocked SpongeBob's body as more and more water spilled from the cracks. Eventually forming waterfalls.

**GGGRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN**

**SSSPLLAAAAAAASSSHHH**

A pause.

A few more minutes passed...

The blower gave way some more. It almost seemed like a broken eggshell.

Until-

**GGGGGRRRRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN**

**CLANK**

A shread of metal popped off the shell of the container.

SpongeBob gulped.

The reef blower exploded.

**KKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSPPLLLLAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSH**

Water erupted like a supervolcano. A collossal wall of water burst and pushed it's way through the air. Shredding anything in it's path.

SpongeBob and Squidward were swept by the water.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary jolted as the front door of the pineapple shook rapidly.

It was forcefully opened and water rushed in.

**SPLOOOOOOOOSHH**

S-S-S-S-S

A mushroom cloud of foam water appeared high in the atmosphere.

The seagulls on Bikini Atoll witnessed the aquatic nuclear explosion.

Soon following the cloud was a mega tsunami.

The water enveloped miles and miles of dry land at a frightening pace.

The seagulls shrieked and flew to the skies.

The giant wave engulfed the island.

The seagulls watched from above.

The palm trees survived the oceanic blast and were still standing as if nothing happened.

The water receded from the island and the ocean began to rise.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened his eyes.

Sand assaulted his sense of sight.

He was buried in a grave of sand. He was quickly running out of oxygen. SpongeBob desperately dug at the sand. He clawed his way out of his prison. His legs joined in the frantic effort. A free hand reached open water. SpongeBob gasped. He made a hole and dug out of the hill of sand. He fell to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened his eyes. His forehead was feeling open water. And the rest of his body was buried in sand. The octopus propelled himself up. His entire head popped out of the hill of sand. He took a few deep breaths. "Phew." The seashell he and SpongeBob tried to get rid of this whole time gently drifted and landed on his nose. Squidward made a deep sigh.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick opened his eyes. *yawns* That had to be the most awkwardly timed event in the world. He got off his bed of sand. He jumped up to the rocky ceiling.

**CREEEEAAAK**

The rock gently opened.

Patrick jumped out of the rock.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Before him was a cemetery of sand piles. They were littered throughout his and Squidward's property, and Bikini Bottom in general. Except for the epicenter of the explosion, which was SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob got up. He dusted the sand off himself. He walked back to his lawn which was now completely clean. He grinned and put his hands on his hips, a job well done. "Gotta buy a new reef blower later." SpongeBob turned around and checked his surroundings. He noticed Patrick in the distance. "Oh yeah! We're going to jellyfish today." He whispered to himself. "Hey Pat!"

"Hi SpongeBob!" Patrick waved. "What's with the hills?"

"Ummmm... Let's just say I did that." SpongeBob laughed nervously and eyed the sand pile Squidward was in.

"Coooooool!" Patrick was clapping.

"Ready to go jellyfishing?"

"I'll need my net."

"Me too."

SpongeBob and Patrick went back to their homes to grab their gear.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward finally escaped the sand hill in front of his home. He cleaned the sand off his body.

Rage was seething within him. Smoke came out of his ears and his head was as crimson as an apple. "SPONGEBOB!" He saw SpongeBob and Patrick run off towards the horizon with their jellyfishing nets. Squidward then looked at all the sand hills littering the neighborhood.

He had a lot of excruciating work to do.


	3. N

**Chapter 3: Tea at the Treedome**

* * *

Patrick was playing around with his jelly fishing net. He twirled it in his hand and swished at the air.

It was a slightly long trip, the two were several far blocks from their neighborhood.

SpongeBob skipped merrily.

They were in the outskirts of Bikini Bottom. Not many buildings could be seen. The horizon was almost completely clean of urban obstacles.

"I am so excited right now!" SpongeBob skipped faster in enthusiasm.

"You get ready cuz I am gonna catch me a jellyfish." Patrick smirked.

SpongeBob giggled.

Patrick smiled even more, feeling ever more stupidly confident in his abilities.

"Patrick, you ever thought of catching a rare kind of jellyfish?"

"Uhhh. I don't remember seeing one."

"Me neither. But I hear rumors about them all the time."

"Aren't rumors fake?"

"Not all rumors are true Patrick, but not all rumors are false either. Some of them are half-truths."

"Uhhhhhh. Ummmmm." Patrick's brain melted. He was extremely confused at such alien concepts of truth and deceit.

"Anyway, today might be our lucky day. You never know!" SpongeBob's eyes shined towards the horizon, he smiled. Optimism grew within his mind.

"I think we're lost. I don't see anything new in front of me."

"Hold on Patrick. We're very close."

Patrick strained his eyesight for the slightest blade of green.

A pause.

Erected slowly before them was a plain of lush green grass. A fence bordered the fields to prevent tresspassing. The sun illuminated the field to a sparkling glow. In the far distance laid large hills and mounds. Even further beyond were majestic purple rock mountains. Groups of Jellyfish in the millions flew around the wilderness in tranquility.

A sign on two sticks said 'Jellyfish Fields'. A guard stood below it and kept the gate locked.

SpongeBob looked down at his watch. "Just in time, it's about to be 7: 30 AM."

The best friend duo walked up and stood before the closed wooden gate.

The guard noticed two familiar people.

He groaned.

The guard saw these two people nearly every weekend and it wasn't pleasant when he had them to wait for Jellyfish Fields to open. SpongeBob and Patrick always came early.

A minute later.

More people gathered behind SpongeBob and Patrick and waited for the gate to open. By looking at the nets, t-shirts, hiking gear, and cameras, they were either avid fans of the sport of jellyfishing or peculiar visitors of the area. They were of many ages from children to adults.

The guard looked at his cell phone. It said '7:30 AM'.

He fished in his left pocket and took out a walkie talkie.

"Alright boys, 'bout time we open the gates." He communicated with guards miles away from him, the guard himself must be of the highest rank.

The guard took out a key and unlocked the gate.

SpongeBob and Patrick prepared themselves like Olympic racers. SpongeBob put on his glasses.

"Welcome to Jellyfish Fields." The guard droned and opened the gate.

Behind him marched a stampede of people. He quickly ducked out of the way.

The people roared past him, he was spared.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran and prepared their nets.

And so commenced their adventure.

S-S-S-S-S

It was dim.

Air was abundant.

No water to breathe through.

Everything was dry.

A yawn.

Blanket flipped over.

A squirrel got up from bed and stretched her limbs.

Her vision was clear.

She was wearing a gown.

The bedroom was inside a tree, appropriate for such land animals.

She changed her clothes to a bikini.

She opened a door and walked down a moderately lit wooden hallway. The tree itself didn't allow room for too much lighting.

She went down a spiral set of stairs.

The wood creaked as she took each step.

There was a window in the shape of an opening of an oak tree that overlooked a glass dome, the dome was the only reason the place was dry.

The squirrel reached the bottom, touching a cold metal floor. The corridors were barren and completely clean.

She walked through several corridors, her bare feet echoed against the floor.

She stood in front of a pair of metal doors.

The doors slid open automatically.

She walked into a spacious room. Several rows and columns of tables took up most of the floor. On those tables were glass vials full o f strange substances and chemicals. Tools were scattered here and there. A major portion of the room contained strange machines in their prototype stages. Robots stood up straight against the wall, they were shut down for the night.

At a far end sat a laptop on a large table full of blueprints, computer chips, and several metal pieces of machinery.

Sandy walked to that part of the room. She turned the computer on.

A flick of a wrist.

The internet came up.

Her fingers quickly dashed along the keyboard.

She logged in to her email and looked at her inbox.

As always she had a daily assignment from the science institute. The squirrel was a striving scientist and inventor.

She read the somewhat lengthy assignment in the email.

Most of the email described how the assignment will be done, reasons for it, and goals to achieve. It would he quite boring and unnecessary to go to lengths of fully stating the letter since the squirrel is accustomed to the advanced jargon in the body of the text. There was however a highly crucial part.

'The field study will be done in the lower area around the mountainous region of Jellyfish Fields.'

"Hmmm. Only been there once." She spoke in a strange accent.

She finished reading the email and shut off the computer.

The squirrel turned to a astronaut suit leaning against a wall. It had a flower on the glass bubble.

She went over and turned on a few of her robots that were not in prototype forms.

The robots' eyes fluctuated with light.

"Tidy up the place while I'm gone. Make sure to take care of the animals outside." The squirrel gave quite a common command.

The robots went to work without a sign of a glitch or error. They either organized the place or cleaned this and adjacent rooms. Some went outside.

She opened the zipper and got inside the suit, she then sealed herself in it. No matter how goofy it looked it was the only way to survive outside the Treedome.

She went back upstairs.

She went to the front door to the oak tree and opened it.

Grass, plants, and other small creatures inhabited inside the dome, it was a mini sanctuary for the wildlife with the deep sea surrounding them.

The squirrel walked up to a metal door and opened it.

She closed the door as she stood in a glass hallway. The actual entrance was in front of her.

She flipped a switch on one of the glass walls.

Water flooded the hallway, it didn't breach the dome on the other side. The doors are air-tight and the water entered the hallway so as to prevent sudden flooding from the pressure of the ocean floor.

She opened the entrance and finally went to the outside ocean world.

The squirrel headed in the direction of Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes narrowed.

He pursued a group of three jellyfish. They were flying quickly in single file order.

He quickened his speed.

SpongeBob gained a few feet towards them.

The jellyfish suddenly flew up.

A rock zoomed towards SpongeBob.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob made a huge leap.

His feet were centimeters close from being scraped by the rock.

SpongeBob landed.

Time resumed.

He did a quick sprint and then normalized his pace.

The jellyfish shuffled through several jellyfishers.

SpongeBob swerved left and barely touched a swishing jellyfishing net.

SpongeBob dived and avoided another net jabbing upwards.

The jellyfish then flew towards some large hills.

SpongeBob tried to run faster as he scaled a hill.

The jellyfish were trying to lose SpongeBob as they increased their speed.

His foot reached the summit.

He curled up and somesaulted.

SpongeBob accelerated rapidly towards the jellyfish.

Once he got close enough he uncurled. He winced as he was an inch away from the stinger of a jellyfish.

SpongeBob dived below the jellyfish.

He avoided the stingers and went past them. He dashed in front of them.

SpongBob turned around.

The jellyfish darted towards him. A collision was bound to happen.

SpongeBob twirled the jellyfishing net in his hand and released it.

The twirling wooden frisbee sliced the air and collided on the jellyfish.

S-S-SNATCH

All three jellyfish were caught in the net.

Like a boomerang the net returned to SpongeBob's hand.

"Yes!" SpongeBob pumped his fist. '3 points!'

He then quickly released the jellyfish with care. Nature shouldn't be tampered with.

S-S-S-S-S

Far away an observer of the jellyfishing competition wrote down on his notepad.

'SpongeBob: 3'

SpongeBob so far was leading the game. He and Patrick get 1st and 2nd place almost all the time, the fruits of countless experiences in the sport. Other than those two, competition with other players were tough.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stood on top of a large purple rock.

He looked down at a large group of jellyfish. The pink creatures swarmed near a hive.

Patrick leaned foward carefully.

He clapped his hands together while still holding the net.

He took a deep breath.

Patrick dived in to a pool of jellyfish.

He bounced on top of the jellyfish for a bit. It lightened his fall.

The jellyfish quickly scurried away from him.

THUD

"BUZZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish became irritated at Patrick. They aimed their stingers.

Z-Z-Z-ZAAAP!

Electricity exploded from their stingers, contacting Patrick's back.

"Ow!" Patrick jumped in pain. Four red bumps popped out of his back.

Patrick spun like a spinning top. His face contorted in utmost concentration, afraid of being stung again.

SWIPE

He caught a jellyfish.

Patrick couldn't catch anymore as the jellyfish prepared for another electric attack. It was a futile situation.

Patrick dove out of the way and ran.

He spent a few minutes running.

He then released the jellyfish.

Sweatdrops fell from his brow. He panted.

Other players ignored them, they recognized and familiarized themselves with each other. They were well aware of each others' tactics of catching jellyfish.

S-S-S-S-S

The chaotic frenzy of the sport infested the fields.

Newbies swiped frantically to catch their first jellyfish.

Experts waited at specific locations to take the floating creatures by surprise.

They were oblivious to nearly abandoned locations.

S-S-S-S-S

A wasteland of sand piles.

The squirrel was fascinated to see such anomalies on the sea floor.

"That's weird. There wasn't anything like this yesterday. An' now they're everywhere. A ridiculously huge amount of ocean must've been displaced for this to happen."

She was in deep sleep when half an hour ago the reef blower exploded and created a giant tsunami.

After some walking she could see cliffs of purple rock ahead of her. Grass laid on the summit of the cliffs. Some jellyfish could be seen above.

"Must be the place." She grinned.

The squirrel walked to the bottom of a cliff.

She digged into the pockets of her suit.

She took out some sort of scanner gun.

She looked at the screen and locked onto the rocky surface of the cliff.

A green laser popped out and scanned the materials targeted.

S-S-S-S-S

A ravenous giant clam navigated through the sand piles.

It hadn't eaten in days and this made the clam extremely cranky and aggravated. It was isolated from the rest of its group due to its arduous hunt for food.

The clam was also yearning for battle.

It noticed a squirrel in an astronaut suit innocently inspecting a cliff with a scanner.

It had hallucinations from starvation.

It thought she was fresh prey.

GRRRRRRRR

It charged rapidly.

S-S-S-S-S

STOMP STOMP STOMP STOMP

She turned around from the loud stomps and her eyes widened.

She put the scanner away and got in a karate stance.

Her eyes narrowed as a giant clam charged ever closer to her vision.

S-S-S-S-S

A strange jellyfish floated about in the grassy plain. Mindlessly wandering alone.

SpongeBob was crouching behind a bush of tall grass. He was watching the creature with the eyes of a hawk. He fumbled in his pockets for something. SpongeBob found a telescope and closely inspected the jellyfish with zoomed vision, particularly at the stingers of the jellyfish.

"Wow, four stingers. Now that's rare!" He whispered loudly and grinned. Excited at the fact that an opportunity such as this was given to him.

He put the telescope away.

He took out his jellyfishing net.

SpongeBob quietly emerged from his hiding spot.

The sponge began to jog with quiet steps. He maintained his speed so as to not disturb the jellyfish.

Both of them wandered around the fields for a moment.

SpongeBob was a foot away from the jellyfish.

He leaned forward and tip-toed.

He stretched out his arm. He slowly inched the jellyfishing net closer and closer…

The rim of the net was centimeters away from the jellyfish.

The jellyfish suddenly made a u-turn to another direction.

SpongeBob's bent his legs within a second.

He leapt.

The net swiped down.

The jellyfish got caught in the net…

but his shoe stepped on the rim.

SpongeBob tripped.

The jellyfish quickly bolted out and away from his grasp.

THUD

He fell face first to the ground.

SpongeBob quickly got up, his absorbent skin healed any pain quickly. The small victory in catching the rare jellyfish for a mere second in time was barely satisfying for SpongeBob.

*sighs* "At least I was close." SpongeBob twirled his net. "There's always tomorrow." Disappointment diluted with hope and he quickly smiled again. Prepared for any unexpected challenges awaiting him.

As he took a step…

he heard the rapid snapping of a clam. There was also the sound of someone struggling to avoid the attacks.

SpongeBob jolted. "Uh oh." He quickly looked at his surroundings. Empathetic concern enveloped him in mind and body.

He noticed a cliff that lead down to sand piles and non-grass ground.

SpongeBob quickly sprinted to the edge and peered below. He found the source of the distressing sounds.

He was awestruck.

S-S-S-S-S

The clam opened it's mouth wide and lunged.

The squirrel reverse-jumped and avoided the attack. She hopped again in less than a second and flipped over the clam. She kicked mightily with her metal boot at the clam's rear.

The clam winced for a second and quickly turned around. It then jumped.

It rocketed high in the air.

A shadow formed above the squirrel, the clam was trying to flatten her down.

She dived.

A plume of sand erupted. The clam shook and regained it's senses. It lunged once again with more force.

The mammal karate chopped the clam's mouth shut.

The clam vibrated from the force and was paralyzed momentarily.

SMACK

The squirrel slapped the clam across the face. The clam spun rapidly.

She then made a hand-stand and kicked the clam with both feet.

The clam flipped while soaring in the air towards the cliff.

S-S-S-S-S

A shell-like missile was heading uncomfortably close to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob went wide-eyed.

*gasps*

He dove out of the way as the clam hit the cliff.

CRRASSH

A few pieces of purple rock fell from the cliff.

Cracks on the cliff formed around the clam.

The giant clam teetered down and began tumbling.

A pause.

SpongeBob went back and looked down once again as the clam succumbed to gravity.

He was curious about the strange land animal far below him.

"Hmmmm. Where have I seen this before?"

SpongeBob took out a 'Field Guide' book from his left pocket.

He flipped the book open and skimmed with flying pages. Meanwhile he paid attention to the land animal's physical looks.

His finger stopped at a page. "Here it is!"

There was a picture of an animal looking exactly like the one below the cliff and there was a name above it. SpongeBob read the name out loud.

"Land squirrel." He closed the book and put it away.

He noticed that the clam's fall is aiming directly at the squirrel and she could be crushed in any second. He sweatdropped. "That little squirrel is in trouble. I gotta help her."

He carefully stepped over the cliff's edge. Using as much courage as he can muster.

A deep breath.

He jumped and slid down the cliff like a sled.

His eyes trained on the squirrel, his limbs prepared to tackle the squirrel out of the clam's path.

The clam made a crash-course down the cliff below SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Rocks and dust spread as the clam's tumbling nearly ended.

The squirrel ran towards the clam.

POW

She buried the clam in the sand, making sure it was unconscious.

The clam stopped on the ground, barely moving.

"Take that, you sorry old clam! Y'all need to learn some manners!" She begun to walk away from the scene. "You're about as ugly as homemade soup."

SpongeBob slid down smoothly from the cliff and stood up. He was surprised and relieved that the situation took care of itself without him. "Hooray land squirrel!"

"Why, hello there sea-critter." The squirrel turned around and noticed SpongeBob. She smiled.

RRRRRRUUUUUMMMMMMMMBBBBLLLE

A pause.

Both of them went wide-eyed.

The clam erupted out of its sandy coffin.

A cloud of smoke rose in the air.

All three of them were temporarily blinded.

The clam scanned the area for a bit until it noticed a certain shadow.

Grrrrrrrrrrr

It prepared its jump accordingly.

The sand cleared.

SpongeBob noticed the clam behind the squirrel and his face went pale.

At that instant the clam made a mighty jump.

Its jaws opened.

A shadow enveld the squirrel. She looked around desperately.

"LOOK OUT!" SpongeBob screamed to the top of his lungs.

However, it was too late...

GULP

The clam swallowed the squirrel.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped and he stared in horror.

S-S-S-S-S

The squirrel was trapped in a moist dungeon full of saliva. The digestive acids would soon break her down if she doesn't escape.

She quickly went to action. As a skilled martial-artist, such obstacles won't crush her quickly.

The squirrel did mighty punches and kicks on the roof of the clam's mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob watched as the clam struggled to keep its mouth shut. Mighty impacts could be heard from inside its mouth. The land squirrel was fighting for her life. This was no time for SpongeBob to be idle and do nothing.

"Hold on, little squirrel!"

SpongeBob made a karate yell.

He ran quickly towards the clam.

The clam carefully eyed SpongeBob.

SpongeBob jumped.

He soared in the air.

The sponge tilted his body just right.

He made a beeline for the clam.

He soared down.

SLAM

Time slowed.

SpongeBob fiercely damaged the clam from the velocity of his impact.

The clam shook in pain and struggled to linger in his trapping of the squirrel. It is only a matter of time before the clam loses his stamina.

SpongeBob's spongy skin made him bounce to a random direction.

At equally high speeds.

Time resumed.

SpongeBob bounced off a nearby rock.

SMACK He bounced off the clam.

He bounced off the cliff.

POW He bounced off the clam.

BAM

SMACK

POW

BASH

BAM

SMACK

POW

BASH

The sponge was a yellow bullet across the field.

The clam was constantly assaulted.

Plop!

SpongeBob landed on the ground. 'I think that's enough. Don't want to hurt the clam too much.'

He faced the clam.

The clam did not open his mouth.

SpongeBob took a deep breath.

"I'm gonna have to use brute force." He whispered to himself.

The sponge charged towards the clam.

The clam was walking in circles, still heavily dizzy.

SpongeBob tackled the clam.

He flipped over the shell.

He stood on top of it.

"You have fought well, giant clam. Prepare to be vanquished! Hai!" He prepared his hands.

SpongeBob grabbed the mouth of the clam. He was going to pry it open.

"RRRRGGGGGGHH!"

His skinny arms ached from trying to open the clam. SpongeBob was struggling,

"RRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH!"

The mouth was slowly but surely giving in. SpongeBob was surprised at his potential.

"Hey! I'm actually doing it!" He tried harder in his effort of freeing the squirrel.

He tried harder in his effort of freeing the squirrel.

S-S-S-S-S

The squirrel was pushing the roof of the mouth.

Light came from the slowly expanding opening.

She concentrated in her effort to free herself.

S-S-S-S-S

The clam's mouth jerked up.

It revealed that this whole time it was the squirrel that was prying open the clam.

SpongeBob flew up in the air.

He looked down.

He winced.

The sponge rocketed down to the sea floor.

He gently landed on the sand.

"Whew."

He saw that the squirrel was still escaping from the clam.

'Time to finish this.'

"Your shell is mine!" He charged towards the clam. He pulled up his pants.

The clam's mouth was still open due to its dizziness.

SpongeBob dove inside the clam's mouth.

He strangled what he perceived to be the apparent weak point of the clam, the tongue.

SpongeBob looked back to check on the squirrel.

The squirrel was looking at SpongeBob, outside the clam's mouth. She already escaped.

The clam shut its mouth and darkness seized SpongeBob's vision.

"Hehe. Ummm... Is this bad?" Sweat ran down his brow. Unlike the squirrel, he set up his own trap.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hold on there, little square dude!"

She ran towards the clam.

She grabbed the mouth.

The squirrel pryed open the clam once again to reveal a trapped SpongeBob.

SpongeBob dove out of the mouth.

The squirrel released the clam.

SNAP

The clam's mouth snapped back shut.

The squirrel backed away from the clam.

After a certain distance she ran back towards the clam. Charging at a high speed.

She made a mighty kick.

POW

The clam soared in the air and towards the distant horizon. It was whimpering while it was airborne.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary just finished watching the TV special of his favorite show 'Wild West'. He quickly surfed through channels until he came upon the local channel 'Bikini Bottom News'.

It showed the usual reports of crime and strange events that often plague such local stations when there isn't much to report. This went on for a few minutes.

Abruptly...

_"Breaking news!"_ The previous reporters were switched to Johnny Erain, the famous realistic fish head known throughout Bikini Bottom. 'BREAKING NEWS' appeared in red text above.

_"A group of aggravated giant clams have been wrecking havoc throughout Bikini Bottom. Several eyewitness reports have stated that the giant clams targeted dumpsters and destroyed trash bags in their search for food. Some eyewitnesses even state that the clams chased them and tried to eat them. Animal Control couldn't find the giant clams in time and the clams seemed to have moved to the outskirts of Bikini Bottom. Authorities have stated that citizens shouldn't go to places that are near or just beyond the city limits, such as Goo lagoon or Jellyfish Fields."_

After watching the whole thing, Gary wondered about SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ew." SpongeBob stood up and brushed the saliva off him.

The squirrel walked to him to check if he was injured.

The sponge didn't have any bruises, he was unscathed.

"Hey, you like karate too!? I saw all the moves you did. I've never seen someone that good before!" SpongeBob was marveling at the squirrel.

"Hehehehehe. Of course I like karate."

"Okay. Watch this."

SpongeBob performed bizarre karate poses. A futile attempt to impress the squirrel.

The squirrel tried to suppress her giggles.

Eventually SpongeBob did a pose with a hand-stand.

His weak arms wobbled.

He landed on his head.

SpongeBob unceremoniously teetered over and fell with his back against the ground.

He stood up. His attempt of impressing the land dweller failed.

"So, uhh, what's your name?"

"Sandy! So what do y'all call yourself?"

SpongeBob ran towards a large rock.

He ran up to the summit and jumped down.

"I'm SpongeBob!"

He landed on his butt. Some sand flew in the air.

"Well SpongeBob, take a gander at this."

Sandy walked to the same rock SpongeBob ran on.

GONNNNNNGGGGG

She slapped the rock.

SpongeBob watched.

A pause.

CRRRRKKKKK

Cracks appeared on the rock's surface.

CRRRRUUUUMMMMMBBBBLLLEEE

The rock crumbled to pebbles.

SpongeBob stared in wonder.

"Can ya beat that?" Sandy smirked.

"O-oh yeah? Watch this!"

SpongeBob raised his arm. He was preparing to pull off an amazing pose.

An awkward pause.

Sandy raised her brow.

SpongeBob put the arm under his armpit and did pulled off a-

TOOT

"Hahahahahaha." Sandy was laughing. "I like you, SpongeBob. Why, we could be tighter than bark on a tree. Hi-yah!" She karate chopped the air.

"Uh, I like you too, Sandy. Hi-yah!" SpongeBob tripped on a pebble and hit himself. "Ow. Say, what is that thing on your head?" He pointed at the air bubble Sandy was wearing.

"Why that's my air helmet." She tapped the glass bubble.

"May I try it on?" SpongeBob was curious about the alien substance named 'air'.

"Heck no. I need it to breathe. I gotta have my air."

"Me too! I love air! Air is good." The sponge's curiosity grew further, he wanted to attempt to breathe air for the first time.

"No kidding?" Sandy was highly skeptical about SpongeBob's claims.

"Why, 'air' is my middle name! The more air, the better! Can't get enough of that air." His enthusiasm flowed out of his words.

"Shee-oot. How about coming over to my place for tea and cookies then?" Sandy took out a paper and pen and wrote down her address. She gave it to SpongeBob. "Don't be late."

"Okay, c'ya."

They parted ways.

SpongeBob looked at the written address. It wasn't too far from his home.

S-S-S-S-S

The giant clam collapsed to the ground, still whimpering.

A group of giant clams was witnessing the event.

A plume of sand rose.

A pause. Deep silence.

The plume dissipated.

The group walked to the fallen clam and inspected its condition.

The clam sustained several bruises and injuries on its shell. Just like the unfortunate clam the group was starving and also just like the clam they failed to find food.

The horde of clams immediately turned to face the direction where the clam soared from.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The group seethed with rage to avenge their injured member.

They ran towards the horizon in pursuit.

Soon they vanished from being viewable.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked out of a medium sized tent . Lotion was spread across the injuries from the stinging jellyfish. The tent was a healing station for people stung by jellyfish. Patrick is a frequent visitor since every other day going to the fields he gets stung by a jellyfish at least once.

The burning bruises were now minor obstacles that can be brushed aside.

With jellyfishing net still in hand, Patrick walked across the fields mindlessly. He stayed clear of large crowds and explored more empty parts of the area. It helped him clear his mind to a blank slate.

The flat ground suddenly bented up into a steep slope.

Patrick continued to walk forward without difficulty, he felt a bit adventurous.

First his pointy pink head then the rest of his body was viewable at the summit.

And that summit was a cliff.

Below Patrick saw SpongeBob talk to Sandy. After a few seconds Sandy gave SpongeBob a piece of paper.

SpongeBob was looking at the paper.

Abruptly, a

RRRRUUUMMMMMBLE

sailed through the air.

Five purple specks in the horizon entered Patrick's vision.

"Oh look. Scallops."

Patrick sat down.

And tripped on a rock in the process.

CRASH

SLAM SMACK THUD

Patrick violently collapsed down the slope of the cliff.

His mouth was drooling, he was so zoned out that he didn't feel any pain.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy watched the purple specks far away from them.

RRRRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMBLE

The sound grew louder as the entities came near.

Slam!

SMASH

SMACK

THUD

Patrick landed between SpongeBob and Sandy face-first.

SpongeBob gasped. "Patrick!"

The sponge lifted Patrick to a standing position. Patrick shook his face back to his normal senses.

"And who's this pink star?"

"This is my best friend Patrick. We're also neighbors."

"Oh. I see."

"Umm...SpongeBob...uhhh...is this your new friend?" Patrick was confused at the sight of the squirrel.

"Yep. I just met her, she's really good at kara-"

A giant clam pushed Sandy out of the way. Her body twirled towards the cliff.

A group of five giant clams entered the battlefield.

SpongeBob winced.

"Hey, more friends. Looks like they want to play." Patrick thought the clams didn't have hostile intentions.

SpongeBob facepalmed. *sighs* "Patrick the-"

Another clam knocked SpongeBob off his feet and tripped him face-first to the ground, he fell with a loud THUD.

A clam behind Patrick swallowed him.

GULP

"Why's it dark?" Patrick was bewildered inside the clam's mouth.

The clam aimed towards the sky.

It spat Patrick straight up like a geyser.

"Weeeeeeeeeeee!" The sea star enjoyed the fatal flight.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy leaned her boots to the ground.

SCREEEECH

She was inches away from the cliff.

"Looks like the clam had buddies with him." The squirrel dashed to the clam that pushed her.

She jumped and raised her hand.

The clam jolted in surprise.

Sandy closed in.

She made a mighty karate chop.

The clam spun like a dreidel and deflected the hit.

Sandy spun for a few seconds.

The clam bit her arm and threw her to the side.

"Oof." Sandy quickly got up.

She dove and kicked low.

The clam jumped over her leg and opened its mouth.

Sandy ran out of the way.

The clam ate some sand. It spat some of it out.

The squirrel acrobatically flipped behind the clam and kicked just below its rear.

The clam spun in the air.

Sandy made a flurry of punches and kicks.

After taking some hits and going back several feet, the clam spun in another direction to deflect the hits.

Sandy's limbs and the clam turned to blurs.

Sandy punched low.

It severely impacted the clam and made it soar to the sky.

She chased after the clam.

The clam soared back down to the earth.

Sandy jumped and did a 360-kick on top of the clam.

CRRRAASSH

A crater of sand formed below the clam.

The clam took a deep breath and blew at the ground.

A huge plume of sand was created.

"Huh? Where'd you go?" Sandy was blinded by the dust cloud.

The clam jumped over Sandy and landed on top of squirrel.

The clam suddenly shook in pain.

Sandy made a flurry of kicks below the clam.

KAPOW

She did a kick with both feet.

The clam landed upside down.

Sandy ran toward it to finish it o-

A clam bit her leg and she flew in the air.

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

SLAM

The clam repeatedly ragdolled her to the ground. Sandy tried to block every impact.

The clam eventually threw Sandy like a ball towards the clam she was previously fighting,

As Sandy flew through the air, the clam opened wide to swallow Sandy.

Sandy fell down to the lips of its mouth. She spread her legs as much as possible.

CLANK

Sandy pushed her legs apart to prevent the clam's mouth from closing.

The clam struggled to swallow the squirrel, Sandy's boots made this even more difficult.

The clam that threw her ran towards the scene to help the other clam swallow her.

S-S-S-S-S

For a second, Patrick experienced zero-g.

Gravity eventually took control of Patrick and he fell down.

"Woo hoo!"

He was directly above...

...another clam.

The clam below didn't notice an incoming sea star above him.

THUD

Patrick landed hard on the clam.

The clam became heavily frightened and didn't know where the impact came from.

It jumped and looked at different directions.

It panicked and ran extremely fast to chase the unknown attacker off him.

"Yippee! Giddy up horsey!" Patrick grabbed the upper part of the clam's mouth as if taking the reigns of a horse.

He steered the anxious clam towards another member of its brethren.

"Let's see how your friend's doing."

Patrick's clam charged straight forward.

The clam ahead of him turned around.

It jolted.

CRRASSH

Patrick's clam severely impaced the other clam.

The force of the impact made it soar in the air.

SLAM

The clam directly hit the cliff.

The mollusk slowly teetered over.

THUD

It didn't move, it was unconscious.

S-S-S-S-S

The two clams attacking Sandy were distracted by the loud sound of the clam collapsing.

A pause.

"Now's my chance." Sandy whispered as she attempted to jump out of the clam's grasp.

Not too far from her location Patrick was still merrily riding the other clam.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

Eyes opened.

A body rose up.

Hazy colors, figures, and silhouettes.

Two yellow hands rubbed the eyes.

SpongeBob regained consciousness and witnessed the scene unfolding before him.

Far ahead of him a clam laid unconscious from a heavy blow towards the cliff. To the left Sandy was caught in the middle of a clam's mouth. Another clam was walking towards the other clam to assist it but both were distracted by something else. That something else was Patrick riding on a clam running wildly in different directions.

STOMP

STOMP

STOMP

A shadow enveloped SpongeBob.

He slowly turned around and nervously smiled. "Hehe." Sweat ran down his brow.

GRRRRRRRR

A giant clam stood before SpongeBob.

SNAP

The clam opened and closed its jaws with force.

"Yikes!" SpongeBob quickly jumped out of the way.

The clam pounced.

PLOP

The only thing it crushed was air.

SpongeBob was running for his life. He was hyperventilating.

The sponge was too worn out from fighting the previous clam. The odds of surviving this new onslaught was against him. His friends also struggled with dealing with the large crowd of clams. SpongeBob would have to pull off a miracle to fight this new giant clam.

The clam ran faster to catch up with SpongeBob.

They entered a forest of sand piles, far away from the cliffs.

SpongeBob furiously turned left and right so as to lose the clam.

A snake of sand plumes followed his heels, the clam was catching up to him no matter the obstacle.

SpongeBob began panicking.

He jumped.

Landed on a sand pile.

Plop!

He repeated this and decided to traverse the sand jungle in this way.

Plop!

Plop!

Plop!

Plop!

SpongeBob jumped from hill to hill so fast it looked like he skidded in the air.

The clam decided to put more force to each step it took.

The ground shook from each step.

RRRUMBLE

SpongeBob struggled to stay balanced each time he landed on a hill.

'What am I gonna do now? That nasty clam is going to catch up with me sooner or later.'

Doubt and fear sprouted in SpongeBob's thoughts.

Each jump he took became more unstable.

The clam abruptly stopped.

"Hm?" SpongeBob's hopping slowed somewhat. He tried to look behind him.

The clam scooped up some sand with its mouth.

SpongeBob frantically hopped his way through the hills to find a mystical, futile escape.

The clam aimed up.

PTOO

A large missile of sand dashed through the air...

...and hit SpongeBob in the back.

Time slowed.

Sand encased SpongeBob's back.

His feet slipped off the sand pile.

His face showed an expression of horror.

His body collapsed to the ground.

The sand pile collapsed with him.

His vision was covered.

All was black.

S-S-S-S-S

A long pause...

S-S-S-S-S

The clam slowly walked to the newly made sand pile.

It dug its way through the sand.

The sand gave way to uncover a motionless body of a sponge.

SpongeBob had fainted.

The clam grabbed the body with its mouth.

Only SpongeBob's head and arms sticked out.

The clam dragged the body at a quick pace back to the other clams.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick continued to ride the frightened clam. Unaware of the fights taking place or the seriousness of the situation.

"This is more fun than jellyfishing!" Patrick was enjoying the 'ride', deeply absorbed into his 'fantasy land'.

Until from the corner of his eyes he saw two dangling yellow arms.

"Horsey stop!" Patrick pulled the upper part of the clam's mouth.

SCREECH

The clam stopped moving.

Patrick looked to his right side.

SpongeBob was being dragged by one of the clams. His face was in a cold expression, devoid of his signature smile or joy that usually appears in his eyes or mouth.

*gasps* "SpongeBob! You okay there buddy?"

No response.

More dragging.

"SpongeBob? Hello? It's your best friend Pat!"

No response.

More dragging.

"Are you sleeping? Wake up! That clam is stealing you!"

No response.

More dragging.

"HEY CLAM!"

The clam holding SpongeBob turned to face Patrick.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO SPONGEBOB?!" Patrick began to lose his temper.

"GRRRRRRRRR" Was all the clam responded.

Since Patrick was a sea creature, he knew what the clam said.

'Back off. This food is going to be my dinner.'

Patrick's face began turning red. He tightened his hands to fists. Steam poured out of his head. Rage consumed his soul.

"NO ONE HURTS MY BUDDY!"

Patrick slid off the clam.

He ran toward the other clam.

His eyes looked murderous.

His footsteps were like those of giants.

The clam holding SpongeBob winced and shook in fear.

WHACK

Patrick made a mighty uppercut.

The clam flew in the air for a bit and collapsed to the ground shortly.

SpongeBob was dropped to the ground.

Patrick ran towards SpongeBob.

"You're safe with me." He hoisted SpongeBob on his shoulder.

WHAM

Patrick punched the clam.

The clam flew to the area of the cliff.

Patrick followed the clam.

S-S-S-S-S

SLAM

Two clams collided.

They flew to the cliff.

CRASH

The two were piled up with the previous one.

All three were knocked out.

Sandy and the clam restraining her watched.

"How are these clams getting beat up?" Sandy was confused.

S-S-S-S-S

A typical Jellyfishing enthusiast strolled along the cliffs. He was quenching his thirst for adventure.

"This is awesome. So many people don't come to these parts and see the beautiful mountains and cliffs. As a matter of fact..."

He looked below the cliff.

And saw three unconscious giant clams. He also saw Sandy trapped between the jaws of another clam.

"Neptune almighty! It's those killer clams from the news!"

He took out his cell phone and dialed 9-1-1. He was panicking.

A pause as he listened.

"I-I'm seeing three knocked out giant clams and a-another one attacking a land animal. I think they're th-those clams from the news. I swear to Neptune I'm not making this up!"

A pause as he listened. An electronic gasp was heard.

"I'm in Jellyfish Fields. Far in the mountainous part of the region. It's taking place right below a cliff."

A pause as he listened.

He put the phone away.

S-S-S-S-S

Several trucks in downtown Bikini Bottom had their engines revved up.

They all had the label 'BIKINI BOTTOM ANIMAL CONTROL'.

The vehicles zoomed down the road at high speeds.

S-S-S-S-S

"Don't worry buddy, I'll beat up the rest of them." Patrick laid SpongeBob down somewhere safe.

The sea star ran towards the clam trapping Sandy.

STOMP

STOMP

STOMP

A shadow enveloped him.

A clam from behind bit his arm.

"Ow!" Patrick winced.

He was lifted to the air by the clam that he hitched a ride on.

WHAM

POW

SMACK

Patrick used his other arm to punch the clam.

The clam opened its mouth and reeled in pain.

S-S-S-S-S

She watched Patrick's attack on the clam.

A lightbulb lit up in her head.

'I got an idea.'

Sandy looked down and saw the clam's tongue.

She grabbed and pulled the tongue with the strength she could muster.

The clam whimpered.

Its mouth opened.

Sandy landed on the ground, still holding on to the tongue.

The squirrel lifted the clam to the air and swung it like a lasso.

She swung and swung and swung,

and released the clam.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was about to lift the clam up like a wrestler when...

SLAM

An incoming midair clam slammed with the clam Patrick was dealing with.

They sailed in the air for a moment.

Like a boomerang they went back to the cliff.

CRASH

They collided with the other fallen clams.

A pile of unconscious mollusks were silent under the cliff.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Sandy stood there for a moment, exhausted from their accomplishment.

"I don't wanna see those clams again." *sighs* Patrick was a bit upset.

VRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM

SCRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHH

A group of Animal Control trucks arrived at the scene.

At that moment SpongeBob woke up.

"Huh? What happened?" He noticed the trucks nearby and the knocked out clams. He also noticed that his friends were spared. "Phew." He walked back to his friends with relief. He feared the worst during his trip in darkness.

Several officers walked out of the trucks.

"Wow. Looks like someone made the job easier for us."

"Maybe those three did it."

"Don't you think the square and yellow one is familiar?"

"Oh yeah! That guy's the Krusty Krab's new fry cook."

The officers proceeded to put the clams in their trucks.

"Good job you three. I hope you aren't too injured because you saved a lot of people from being hurt and saved their trash as well."

"Aw shucks. It was nothing." Sandy seemed flattered.

"What people? What trash?" Patrick was bewildered by the vague context of the officer.

The officers then laughed for a few seconds.

"Well this is interesting. It seems that we're missing one clam. However, I don't think that clam is gonna come back to Bikini Bottom after the whooping it received."

Once they put all the clams in the trucks they drove away.

VROOOOOOOOOOOMM

The trucks disappeared in the horizon.

"Gotta go back to work, c'ya later SpongeBob."

"Ok. You too Sandy."

SpongeBob and Patrick walked back home.

Sandy continued to scan the cliff.

S-S-S-S-S

Half an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was significantly hot that day. Patrick was laying on top of his rock; tanning. He was wearing sunglasses.

Squidward was flattening down the sand piles with his shovel. He was sweating excessively from the difficult labor. He was doing this ever since the reef blower exploded. "Nothing more could worsen my Sunday..."

"Patrick! Patrick! Patrick, Patrick, Patrick!"' SpongeBob ran out of his pineapple. Squidward became irritated and groaned. "What's air?" SpongeBob halted, he was below Patrick.

"Huh?"

"Didn't you notice the squirrel wears a hat full of...air!"

"Do you mean she puts on 'airs' ?" Patrick didn't really understand what SpongeBob said.

"I guess so."

"That's just fancy talk. If you want to be fancy, hold your pinky up like this!" Patrick holded his pinky up as in example. "The higher you hold it, the fancier you are!"

SpongeBob holded his pinky up. It wasn't that high however. "How's that?"

"Higher!"

SpongeBob holded his pinky up as much as possible. "Like that?"

"Now that's fancy! They should call you SpongeBob FancyPants!" Patrick took off his sunglasses and put them away. He slid off the rock. "Since your ready, let's head over to her place. But don't make that 'I'm Ready' chant when you get there, it's not like your going to work."

*giggles* "Okee-dokee Pat."

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Remember, when in doubt, pinky up! You can do it, SpongeBob. I'll be watching."

The two were in front of the treedome. SpongeBob had a bouquet in his hands to leave a good impression on the squirrel. Obviously, SpongeBob had his pinky up.

"Thanks pal." SpongeBob grinned.

DING DONG

SpongeBob rung the doorbell.

"Hello?" Sandy's electronic voice could be heard.

"Hi-ya, Sandy. Its me, SpongeBob!"

"Hold on a sec, I'll let you in."

The door was unlocked.

SpongeBob walked in.

Patrick made a thumbs up and walked to the side of the treedome to watch.

SpongeBob was whistling as he waited for Sandy to open the next door.

The door shut behind him.

Then the water began to drain above him.

SpongeBob stopped whistling and looked up.

Before he knew it, all the water was sucked out and he was dry.

"Sandy! Sandy! Open up! Sandy! Sandy!" SpongeBob desprately banged on the door.

Sandy opened the door and allowed SpongeBob inside. She was in her usual undergarment apparel.

SpongeBob fell down on the floor and flopped like a fish.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob stood up,

"Sandy, something's gone terribly wrong. There's no water in...here." He scanned the inside of the treedome, it was nearly devoid of any water in sight. He saw plants and animals that don't normally live in the sea.

"Course there's no water. Nutin but air." Sandy brushed SpongeBob's comment off since she was a land creature.

"No water?" SpongeBob waved his hands and smelled the air to get a good feel of this new form of oxygen.

"That ain't a problem, is it? Hi-yah!" Sandy karate-chopped the air.

"Problem?" *laughs* "Hi-yah!" He did a karate-chop. "That's how I like my air!" *gasps* *coughs* His eyes became surrounded by black circles. His body wasn't prepared for this much lack of moisture. "With no water." His voice was hoarse.

"Well, alright. I made Texas tea and cookies. Well, come on in! Hi-yah!" Sandy did a karate pose and cartwheeled to get the food.

SpongeBob struggled to lift his foot up. For a few seconds his leg was unstable as it was lifted in the air.

He managed to put his foot down and make a step...

...only by an inch.

"That's not in. In!" Sandy called SpongeBob and signaled him to walk towards her.

SpongeBob barely managed to move another inch.

"You're a funny little dude. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour. " Sandy ran and took SpongeBob's hand. She dragged him along.

Due to the dryness, the place seemed to be exponentially hotter for SpongeBob. His spongy skin dried up and began to crack.

SpongeBob and Sandy stopped in the center of the treedome.

"This is my own private little air bubble. This air is the driest... "

SpongeBob struggled to breathe.

" ...purest..."

SpongeBob struggled to breathe. What Sandy was saying seemed to worsen his condition.

"...most airiest air in the whole sea. Oh, over there's my birdbath." She pointed at a birdbath where a few robins were playing and chirping in.

SpongeBob's eyes widened at the sight of the birdbath. That was his ticket from dry hell to wet salvation.

"And that's my oak tree." She pointed at the oak tree. SpongeBob took a few steps behind her so as to quickly sneak to the birdbath, any means were necessary at this point since SpongeBob was running out of options to stay moist. He was patient and waited until an excellent opportunity arose.

"It provides me with extra air. This dome is made of the finest polyurethane, that's a fancy word for plastic. Ain't that just the bees knees? Tell you what, weren't easy getting here neither. First, I..." Sandy rambled on.

SpongeBob briskly ran and dove into the birdbath.

SPLASH

He absorbed all the scarce amounts of water. The robins became irritated.

The sponge jumped back to his spot without Sandy noticing. He smiled at his success.

"...that's my treadmill. That's how I stay in tip-top shape. Well, come on. Lets have that tea now." Sandy did more karate moves and went to fetch the tea.

KNOCK KNOCK

SpongeBob turned to his side, he saw Patrick watching him from the glass sidelines.

"Pinky! Pinky!" Patrick pointed at his pinky.

SpongeBob suddenly remembered what to do, he holded up his pinky.

Patrick made an 'okay' sign.

SpongeBob walked over and sat on a picnic table.

"I brought you some flowers." He shakily lifted up the bouquet.

Sandy was just about to enter her tree.

"For me? How sweet." Sandy grasped ahold of the bouquet but SpongeBob struggled to let go. His fingers were trapped in a firm hold of the flowers. Sandy pulled the bouquet free from SpongeBob's hand. The dry sponge fisted and lowered his hand. "You ok?' Sandy showed concern over SpongeBob's condition.

"Yes, I'm OK." He snapped out from daydreaming about water.

"You know, you're the first sea critter to ever visit."

"I can't imagine why." SpongeBob shuddered a bit after thinking of the fate of the previously visiting sea creatures.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"Water would be nice."

"I'm gonna to put these in a vase." Sandy went to fetch a vase.

"Take your time." SpongeBob turned his attention to the door.

SpongeBob stood up from the table.

He slowly and shakily walked to the door, the dryness of the air was now intolerable and overwhelming.

His dry hands gripped the handle of the door.

A pause.

SpongeBob struggled to open the door.

"Rghhhhh! I gotta get out of here! Aaaaahh!"

His arms heaved and SpongeBob was quickly losing strength.

He felt like he was spinning due to the severe dehydration.

His mind wandered...

"I like you, SpongeBob. We could be tighter than bark on a tree!" Sandy said.

SpongeBob tried to search through his thoughts...

"When in doubt, pinky up." Patrick put his pinky up as an example.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's mind.

He lifted his pinky up without shaking his limb. His face turned stoic and fire burned inside his eyes.

"I don't need water! Water's for QUITTERS!" SpongeBob turned straight around and marched back to the picnic table. His pinky remained in the air.

"I DON'T NEED IT! I DON'T NEED IT! I DON'T NEED IT!" His chant preserved his passion.

"I don't need it, I don't need it..." The chant died down. His confidence returned to that of before.

He sat back down.

"Why, these flowers are just beautiful!" Sandy smelled the aroma of the flowers, she was impressed with SpongeBob's gift. "They'll last much, much longer in a vase full of ice, cold water."

Sandy put a vase full of water and some ice cubes on the table. She put the flowers in the vase.

SpongeBob was absolutely captivated by the vase. The watery goodness contained within the vase tempted SpongeBob to drink it.

"So tell me about yourself." Sandy sat down across from SpongeBob. "It must be fascinating being a sea critter."

A drop from the vase dripped.

A pause.

SpongeBob was silent and kept staring at the vase.

"SpongeBob?"

DING

A timer in her kitchen went off.

"Oh, there's the cookies." She stood up and walked once again to her oak tree, "Be right back."

'I don't need it, I don't need it, I definitely don't need it.' The temptation of the vase increased exponentially. This would be a true test of SpongeBob's willpower. The sponge's features worsened dramatically. He was as dry as a yellow brick.

'I don't need it... I don't need it... I don't need it...' SpongeBob was denying his extreme thirst in his mind.

"I... don't... need... it..." His thoughts transferred to speech.

Several drops of water dripped from the vase.

SpongeBob reached his limit and lost his mind.

"I NEED IT!"

He grabbed the vase and took out the flowers.

"No, SpongeBob! No, no, no, stop! Pinky! Pinky!" Patrick was panicking behind the glass. He pointed as his pinky.

GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG GLUG

SpongeBob drank all the water from the vase. He felt refreshed.

"I'M A QUITTER!" SpongeBob announced his failure.

He then thought of what Sandy would do if she found out what happened to the vase.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" SpongeBob ran in circles and panicked.

'I gotta do something...' Patrick thought behind the glass.

The sea star ran to the door to the treedome and opened it. Fortunately, Sandy forgot to lock the doors.

The water was drained above him as he was in the hallway between the doors.

He ran to the next door and opened it.

SLAM

"You can't leave now! You'll blow it!" Patrick put his hand on SpongeBob's shoulder.

"Air is not good, Patrick! Air is not good!" SpongeBob walked to the door and tried to open it.

"You're just being shy. Don't worry, buddy. You're doing fine." Patrick took SpongeBob off the door. He was oblivious to SpongeBob's predicament.

"I wont let you blow...this." Suddenly, the dryness began to take effect. Patrick's muscles weakened and his skin dried up of its water. The sea star realized the foolish mistake it had made.

He dropped SpongeBob, he was now just as strong as the sponge.

Patrick fell to the ground. He struggled to get up. He began coughing.

SpongeBob watched.

A pause as Patrick struggled, the coughing became louder.

On wobbly legs, Patrick finally stood up.

"WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS?!" The sea star limped to the door. "There's no water in here!"

The handle of the door didn't budge.

Patrick's effort didn't pay off as he used all of his strength to twist the handle.

"I tried to tell you!" SpongeBob joined the futile struggle and tried to help Patrick.

"We've got to get out of here!" Patrick's voice became hoarse.

"You're.. doing it... wrong..." The painful task of opening the door became more difficult due to Patrick turning the handle the other way,

"Wait, no! We've got.. to get... out..."

Their vision began to fade.

It was so dry that their skin felt like it was on fire.

The two fell to the ground.

They were almost blind by the time their bodies rested on the grass and dirt.

SpongeBob and Patrick were unable to move their limbs; they were paralyzed.

Patrick was still conscious when he noticed SpongeBob wasn't moving or shaking.

SpongeBob's body was dead still, eyes closed.

"Of... here... " Patrick managed to say his last words.

He also fainted.

S-S-S-S-S

CREEEAAAK

Sandy opened the door. She walked outside.

She was holding a tray of tea and cookies.

"Come and get it! Y'all gonna like this..."

She walked over to see two unconscious bodies of SpongeBob and Patrick.

*gasps*

She dropped the tray.

Sandy ran back to her tree.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was using a hose.

She filled two goldfish bowls with water.

The squirrel put the two bowls on SpongeBob and Patrick's heads as if they were helmets.

She turned the hose off.

Sandy waited.

A long pause...

Slight shaking...

Slow blinking...

Their limbs moved...

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up. They gasped for fresh breaths of water.

They saw the hose in Sandy's hand.

The sponge and sea star looked at the squirrel with eye contac.

"She saved us." Patrick marveled at Sandy.

"There, that ought to do it! If y'all needed water, you shoulda asked." Sandy smiled.

SpongeBob and Patrick grinned.

On the picnic table was a new tray of tea and cookies.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy took one cup each.

"I propose a toast, to new friends!" Sandy began drinking.

C-CLINK

SpongeBob and Patrick were unable to drink. The helmets got in the way.

"Hold on a second." Sandy took out two tea bags and put them in SpongeBob and Patrick's helmets. "I hope you like your tea strong. Drink up!"

Patrick put his pinky up as he drank.

'I thought I was a goner.' SpongeBob put his pinky up as well. Relieved that he had been saved from suffication.

All was peaceful.


	4. T

**Chapter 4: Bubblestand**

* * *

SpongeBob was sitting down with Gary, the two were watching football on TV. SpongeBob was decently refreshed after visiting his new friend Sandy. He decided that there was nothing better to do in the pineapple but to spend time with Gary.

Gary had trouble hearing the television as SpongeBob kept blabbering on about his visit in the treedome and the fight he had with the clams. The snail was patient and kept replying as if he was listening and paying attention, he was the most well-equipped out of all Bikini Bottomites when it comes to dealing with SpongeBob.

After a while SpongeBob went off-topic with his conversation and ventured to other things.

"I've always been wondering what you do at home. Even on weekends before I became a Krusty Krab employee, I always hang out with Patrick."

"Meow."

"Got friends too? It's uncommon to see you talking to another snail. Hehe. What am I saying? It's even more uncommon for me to take you on a walk."

"Meow." Gary was doing this mindlessly now, it was almost subconscious.

"For some reason when I leave your leash in the garage, I always have trouble finding it. Which is why I don't take you on walks so much. As a matter of fact, that garage is cluttered up from head to toe with stuff. I never seem to find the time to get rid of the junk or make them useful."

"Meow. Meow." Gary nodded his head.

SpongeBob scratched his chin. Deep in thought.

A pause.

"Hmm... maybe I should check the place out right now. I've freed some time after doing my obligatory jellyfishing." At that, SpongeBob grinned.

He stood up and walked out of the living room.

Gary relaxed and enjoyed the game.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward got up from his couch. He took a nap after the unpleasant and excruciating work of removing the sand piles.

His vision went from hazy to clear.

*yawns* "Let's hope this Sunday doesn't get any more miserable than it already is."

He walked up the stairs towards the music room. The sheets of his finally completed song in his hand.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the garage.

"What to do... what to do..." He scrambled through the piles of useless and abandoned stuff.

A hammer was poking out from one of the piles.

SpongeBob picked it up.

"I could build something nice with this. But still.. I don't know what to build." SpongeBob continued to scavenge throughout the garage.

For once, SpongeBob was actually bored. The fight with the large group of clams and his close encounter with dehydration in Sandy's treedome drained him of much energy. He was trying to find something to do for the rest of the day.

SpongeBob stepped on something.

He looked down.

There was a small bottle of liquid soap and a bunch of bubble wands lying on the floor.

He picked them up.

Memories of bubble blowing surged through SpongeBob. It has been a while since he last performed that peculiar hobby.

He also remembered that he bought the wands and bottle of soap recently.

"How much did that cost?" SpongeBob's mind wandered off.

He took out a spare quarter from his pocket and tried to remember the price.

"Oh yeah! That bubble set costed 50 cents."

A pause.

He looked at the hammer.

He looked at the bubble set.

He looked back at the quarter.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head.

He put the stuff he was holding to the floor.

He scrambled through the junk of the garage.

He found a large piece of yellow wood and smaller pieces of green wood.

He searched some more.

He found a paintbrush and a closed bucket of red paint. There was also a small piece of paper on top of the bucket.

Nearby was a small box of nails,

SpongeBob gathered all the items he found into one pile.

He carried it out of the garage.

SpongeBob closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took a deep breath to clear his thoughts.

He put the sheets of his written song on the sheet holder.

He took the clarinet from the holder.

He tested out the clarinet so that it didn't play awkward notes.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob kicked the entrance of his pineapple open and smelled the fresh air of the oceanic bottom.

"Ahh, it's a wonderful day. The sun is out, the water is shimmering, scallops are chirping. So peaceful."

SpongeBob set down the materials.

He opened the bucket of paint.

He dipped the brush in the paint.

He wrote in red paint on the large yellow piece of wood: 'BUBBLES 25 CENTS'

He took the small piece of paper and folded it.

SpongeBob wrote 'LESSONS 25 CENTS'

"Now everyone can experience the joy of bubble blowing for half the price."

He put the piece of paper down.

He grabbed the hammer.

He took out the nails.

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

Extremely annoying sounds of construction sailed through the air.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward jolted.

He marched to the window and looked out, he had a decent guess at who made those loud sounds.

"Can we lower the volume, please? I can't work with all that racket going on!" He tried to scream louder than the loud sounds of construction.

SpongeBob jolted. He stopped.

He faced Squidward who was above him. He made a grin

"Oh, sure thing, Squidward." SpongeBob was compliant.

"Yes. Mmm. Right. Mmm." Now satisfied, Squidward no longer looked out the window.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ok." SpongeBob quietly spoke.

The basic foundation of the wooden stand was already built.

SpongeBob inserted another nail.

He aimed the hammer carefully.

Clank

He gently tapped the nail with the hammer.

SpongeBob quickly looked towards the tiki's windows. A bit worried about disturbing his neighbor.

Squidward wasn't watching.

"Phew." He repeated the quiet and slow process of building his new stand.

S-S-S-S-S

"And now…" Squidward adjusted the sheet holder. "For some soothing sounds from Squidward's clarinet." He bowed to an imaginary crowd, a sign of his potential future. "Thank you, thank you."

The clarinet spat out off-tune notes, proof that Squidward's 'talent' was in the realms of fantasy.

The awful notes reverberated throughout the music room.

The sounds sailed through the windows.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob halted mid-way through lightly hammering the nail. He winced and bit his lip as he heard Squidward play his clarinet.

"Gee, I feel bad for Squidward. People might make fun of him if they hear him playing..."

A pause,

Both of his arms blurred as he **CLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANKCLANK**ed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward suddenly went on a very high note as he stopped playing his clarinet.

His face contorted and he covered his ears from the deafening construction sounds.

"Why I oughta…" He marched to the window. His face showed an expression of extreme grumpiness.

Squidward looked out from his window.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished building. He was sweating.

He took a deep breath to regain all the lost air.

S-S-S-S-S

"**I THOUGHT I**…..wha?" Squidward was baffled at the sight he was looking at.

SpongeBob stood behind a bubblestand, the fruits of all his labor. He was going to venture out to the field of entrepreneurship.

"Hey, Squidward! Wanna blow some bubbles? Only 25 cents." SpongeBob looked up to face Squidward, potentially reeling in his first customer.

"Oh, right. Like I would spend a moment of my time blowing bubbles." Squidward found SpongeBob's business to be insignificant to his situation. Easily dismissing an opportunity to try something new.

"Uh huh!" SpongeBob nodded and smiled.

"Oh, puh-lease! I mean, who in the world would pay to blow bubbles?"

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was in the kitchen.

He was searching through his refrigerator for a snack when he heard construction going on outside.

"Hmm... I wonder what's going on outside..." Patrick became curious about the sounds he heard.

He jumped up to the ceiling.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

He jumped out of the rock.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

Patrick saw the bubblestand.

"Hey SpongeBob, what did you bu- woah!" The sea star tripped and fell.

"Oh, boy." Squidward wasn't amused.

SpongeBob lifted Patrick up to his feet. "Why hello there, sir. Would you care to blow a bubble?"

"Hmm, how much is it?" Patrick seemed curious about SpongeBob's new 'business'.

"Only a quarter." SpongeBob smiled.

"Sounds reasonable." Patrick digged into his pockets. However, they were empty.

An awkward pause.

"Uh, I'm going to need to borrow a quarter." Patrick whispered.

"Sure thing, Patrick. It wouldn't hurt for me." SpongeBob gave Patrick a spare quarter, letting the sea star slip past the radar.

"Ah, one quarter." Patrick gave the quarter to SpongeBob. "One try, please."

SpongeBob carefully eyed the quarter, inspecting it. He also bit it to make sure it was legit. "Thank you."

Squidward kept watching the scene. "Hmm, business is booming." He then made a laugh by nose honking. "How did I ever get surrounded by such loser neighbors? Uh huh." He faced away from the window.

Squidward walked to the front of the sheet holder.

He commenced the Neptune-awful playing.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took out a bubble wand and a small bottle of bubble soap from the stand.

Patrick was watching.

SpongeBob opened the small bottle. He dipped the wand in the soap. "One bubble wand, dipped and ready to go." SpongeBob proudly announced. SpongeBob extended the hand holding the bottle and wand to Patrick's direction.

Patrick took out the wand.

Patrick took a deep breath, preparing himself to make a bubble.

SpongeBob was captivated in suspense, assuming Patrick was going to blow a big bubble.

Patrick filled his mouth with air like a pufferfish.

Patrick made a mighty blow…

A pause.

The bubble in the wand didn't even come out of the hole.

Patrick panted.

SpongeBob was a little disappointed, his expectations weren't met.

Patrick prepared himself again.

He filled his mouth with air.

A pause…

He blew hard….

The same result, no bubble floated out of the wand.

"Maybe you need a little help." SpongeBob walked to the stand.

Patrick was out of breath by then.

"This is too hard." He walked to the bubblestand where SpongeBob was.

Patrick gave back the wand to SpongeBob, giving up.

"Could I interest you in some lessons? Only 25 cents." SpongeBob pointed at the 'LESSONS 25 CENTS' sign.

"Uh, very well, then. Hey, Sponge, can I borrow another quarter?" Patrick rapidly blinked his eyes and tried to look innocent.

"Okee-dokee, Pat." SpongeBob handed Patrick a quarter.

"Thanks." Patrick winked, he tossed the quarter back to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob quickly caught it and put it back in his pocket.

"Okay, Patrick, it's all in the technique!" SpongeBob walked close to Patrick so his moves were clearly visible. He was holding the wand Patrick gave.

"First go like this, spin around." SpongeBob spun like a tornado.

Like a student, Patrick watched the routine.

"STOP!" SpongeBob stopped spinning.

"Double take three times. One, two, three." SpongeBob constantly eyed his surroundings three times as he said that.

"THEEEN PELVIC THRUST!" SpongeBob then made a pelvic thrust as stated. "Whoooo!" He glided in the air, then stopped. "Whooooooo!" SpongeBob made a longer glide.

He landed slowly.

"Stop on your right foot, DON'T FORGET IT!" SpongeBob landed on his right foot. He pointed at his right foot to show emphasis.

Patrick nodded, constantly paying attention. He was fascinated by the strange dance moves SpongeBob was making.

"Now it's time to bring it around town. Bring-it-a-round-town." SpongeBob's body spun around his feet, which were staying in place. He did this for a few slow seconds.

"Then you do this, then this, and this, and that, and-this-and-that-and-this-and-that." SpongeBob made poses in lightning-fast succession.

It was a bit difficult for Patrick to take in. He memorized the poses to the best of his ability.

"And then…" SpongeBob elegantly blew on the wand.

Air easily passed through the hole. A bubble was formed.

The bubble took the shape of a duck.

The transparent duck flew in the air slowly.

"Ooooooh." Patrick marveled at SpongeBob's feat.

The duck popped high in the sky.

Beyond Patrick's attention, SpongeBob blew a box.

Patrick noticed the bubble. He giggled.

"That's nothing. Watch this." SpongeBob blew on the wand again. The sponge got carried away with his lesson.

A large caterpillar bubble came out of the hole in the wand.

"Aaaaaah!" Patrick marveled at the transparent caterpillar.

The serpent-like bubble gently cut through the air.

Eventually one of the bubbles of the caterpillar popped.

The rest followed suit, making louder and louder sounds as more bubbles popped in unison.

Patrick giggled even harder, almost to the point of laughing. SpongeBob himself suppressed a giggle.

"I could do better." SpongeBob smiled, proud of his weird talent. He blew on the wand.

A massive boat came out of the wand and floated in the air.

Patrick was silent as the boat rose up to the sky.

Soon, the bubble made a grand **POP!**

A loud foghorn noise could be heard.

SpongeBob and Patrick were laughing.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was still playing when he heard a loud foghorn noise. His eyes widened a bit.

"Huh?" Squidward shook the contents of the clarinet. "Maybe I didn't clean the insides enough."

He inspected the clarinet.

Meanwhile…

S-S-S-S-S

"And now... with two hands!" SpongeBob stretched his fingers.

He grabbed the wand by both hands from the ground.

SpongeBob took a very deep inhale. His mouth was filled to the brim with air.

Patrick's eyes widened, the suspense was killing him.

SpongeBob leaned his head back.

A pause.

He blew…

Miraculously, a giant elephant came out of the hole in the wand.

Patrick was laughing at the sight of the ridiculous bubble. "It's a giraffe!" The sea star wasn't that bright that day.

The bubble elephant turned towards Squidward's tiki's direction. It floated towards that destination.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob immediately frowned.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was pleasantly playing his clarinet. He was close to finishing.

A giant bubble elephant was viewable from both glass 'eyes' of the tiki.

The octopus jolted, he stopped playing. "You gotta be kidding me." He froze as he watched in surprise.

The elephant passed through both windows. Its physical form gave way with a mighty

**POP!**

A multitude of bubbles came from the windows of the tiki. Inside, Squidward was assaulted by the tiny pops of the bubbles.

He waited until the surrounding air was clear.

Squidward put his clarinet on the sheet holder.

He stomped downstairs with his fists clenched.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick watched the magnificent end of the bubble.

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the door with force, heavily annoyed.

"Yikes!" Patrick yelled.

SpongeBob and Patrick dove behind the bubblestand.

SpongeBob opened a bucket of paint and dipped the brush in it.

He took the 'LESSONS 25 CENTS' sign.

On the other side of the paper sign, he wrote 'CLOSED' in red paint.

SpongeBob put the sign on the bubblestand, the 'CLOSED' side was facing outward.

Squidward marched to the stand.

SpongeBob and Patrick shook and sweated in fear.

Squidward looked over the stand, the undersea duo were in obvious view.

"Excuse me, sir, but we are clo-" SpongeBob made eye contact with Squidward.

"Don't give me any of that! How can you two possibly make all this noise just blowing bubbles?!" Squidward was almost screaming.

"We're not just blowing bubbles, we're making bubble art! Watch carefully." SpongeBob had the courage to stand up. Patrick got comfortable and stood up as well.

SpongeBob was in front of Squidward so he can demonstrate.

"First go like this, spin around." SpongeBob spun rapidly, he was a yellow tornado.

"Stop!" SpongeBob halted. "Double take three times. One, two, three." He eyed his surroundings three times.

"Theeeen PELVIC THRUST!" SpongeBob made a pelvic thrust. "Whoooo!" He glided in the air then landed. "Whooooooo!" He glided in the air again but tried to land slowly.

"Stop on your right foot, DON'T FORGET IT!" SpongeBob landed on his right foot. He pointed to the foot.

"Now its time to bring it around town. Bring-it-a-round-town." SpongeBob's body spun around his feet. The feet were in place during the slow spin.

"Then you do this, then this, and this, and that, and-this-and-that-and-this-and-that." SpongeBob made poses in quick succession.

Squidward's brow was raised the whole time. 'He's acting like a total idiot.'

"And then…" SpongeBob gently blew on the wand.

A bubble butterfly formed from the wand.

It gracefully flew in the air.

The bubble landed on Squidward's head as if it was a real butterfly.

**POP**

The butterfly disappeared.

"How's that?" SpongeBob was optimistic.

"That's not art. That's just annoying. Blowing bubbles, that's the lamest idea I have ever heard. " Squidward folded his arms.

SpongeBob and Patrick frowned. They looked upset.

"Pat, maybe we should go to my place to do something else. I don't want to bother Squidward."

"Okay…" Patrick said slowly and painfully.

"That's more like it. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**!

SpongeBob was closing the door.

Squidward was laughing to himself. "Bubbles." More laughing. "Art." He looked from the corner of his eye.

He saw the wand and small bottle of soap still remaining on the stand. Surprisingly, he became curious.

Squidward walked over to the stand. He picked up the wand and dipped it in the bottle.

The octopus sniffed the wand. A strong smell of soap assailed his nostrils.

He inhaled to blow…

SpongeBob was watching from the small opening of the door. He gasped.

"That'll be 25 cents, sir." SpongeBob ran over to Squidward.

"Ah, whoa, what?" Squidward was caught by surprise. He saw SpongeBob standing behind him. "Oh... wh-who would pay 25 cents to blow bubbles?"

"We also offer lessons for beginners." SpongeBob flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'LESSONS 25 CENTS'.

"Beginners? What could be more simple than blowing a stupid bubble?" Squidward was still narcissistic. He fetches out a quarter. "Here's your 25 cents!" He gives the quarter to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob bit the quarter, it was real.

"Watch and learn." Squidward made a deep inhale, his mouth was filled with air.

A pause.

Squidward blew…

Nothing came out of the wand, Squidward was just as good as Patrick in bubble blowing.

"Uhh... wait, wait, wait." Squidward wasn't going to give up that time.

He put a quarter on the stand.

He took a deep breath.

A pause.

He made a deep inhale, his mouth was full to the maximum limit with air.

He blew…

Nothing came out of the wand.

"One more time. Here. Wait." Squidward gave another quarter to SpongeBob.

Another deep inhale.

His head leaned back.

He blew with all his might.

A small bubble came out of the hole in the wand.

Squidward smiled at his success.

The tiny bubble quickly fell to the ground. It **POP**ped with a raspberry sound.

Squidward frowned, he was irritated.

At this point Patrick came out of the pineapple and was also watching.

Squidward looked up at SpongeBob and Patrick.

The two gulped.

They both started whistling as if they were not paying attention.

*groans* Squidward put a quarter on the stand. "Uhh... Just a mere warm-up." Squidward dipped the wand in the small bottle.

Squidward made one of the biggest inhales he has ever done.

His face turned red from the pressure.

He leaned his face back.

He blew to his limit…

Another small bubble came out of the wand.

It landed and **POP**ped on the ground.

A raspberry sound.

*sighs* Squidward put another quarter on the bubblestand.

"Hey, Squidward, remember the technique." SpongeBob felt pity for Squidward and wanted to help him.

Squidward refused to listen. He kept attempting to blow a normal sized bubble.

SpongeBob and Patrick surrounded the octopus. Making the weird routine poses so Squidward can remember them. While doing that both of them yelled "Technique! Technique! Technique! Technique! Tech- "

Squidward glared at them.

"You're not doing the technique." SpongeBob spoke quietly. He was a little nervous.

"Technique." Patrick unnecessarily emphasized.

"Technique? Technique!? Technique, technique, technique, technique, TECHNIQUE!" Squidward had enough of the agonizing torture. His determination went up exponentially.

He imitated SpongeBob's 'technique' for bubble blowing.

"First I do this, spin around." He spun just as fast as SpongeBob did.

"Stop." Squidward stopped spinning. "Double take three times." Squidward carefully eyed his surroundings three times as stated.

"And here we go, pelvic thrust. Wehooooo!" Squidward made a pelvic thrust and glided in the air. He landed. "Wehoohoo!" Squidward made an even longer pelvic thrust.

"Oh, stop on your right foot, don't forget it." Squidward immediately landed on his right foot.

"Then, bring it around town." Squidward's body spun while his feet stood in place. He mirrored exactly how SpongeBob did it.

"And a little of this, a little of that, a little of this, this, this, this, that, that, that, that. And that, that, that that that that!" Squidward made strange and crazy poses faster than SpongeBob did.

"Way to go Squidward! You got it!" SpongeBob smiled and cheered Squidward on. He was making a golf clap while watching Squidward's performance.

Patrick joined in the clapping.

"And then…" Squidward made a deep inhale, his head looked like it was going to explode.

A very long pause…

"**DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Squidward screamed into the wand as if he was a dragon blowing out fire from his mouth.

A colossal bubble squeezed out of the wand.

The giant bubble soared up in the air. Taking the wand and Squidward in tow with it.

Soon the wand was released from the bubble.

Plop!

Squidward landed on his rear.

"Woooow!" SpongeBob and Patrick were awestruck as the bubble sailed in the air.

A long pause…

The duo focused their attention back to Squidward.

"All right, Squid!" SpongeBob jumped in the air. "That was so good!"

"Squid is number one!"

"I really did it, didn't I? Hey, you guys didn't blow anything like that?!" Squidward was in disbelief at his now unleashed talent.

"No." SpongeBob solemnly stated.

"Now that's a bubble!" Squidward slowly opened up and smiled.

"You said it, Squidward. See, it is all in the technique!" SpongeBob knew he was correct all along.

"Yeah, technique." Patrick still cheered on.

"Technique? Hah! SpongeBob, you don't think I created that" Squidward kissed his hand. "beautiful work of art with your help?" He laughed for a few seconds. "Come on, its in my genes." Squidward showed a bit too much pride in his hidden talent, reaching to borderline arrogance.

"Squid's got genes! Squid's got genes!" SpongeBob and Patrick chanted.

Squidward went back to his tiki.

He walked upstairs.

He went to the music room.

He took the clarinet.

He was wearing a smirk the whole time he walked back to his home. His grumpiness from moments ago seemed to have vanished from his face.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Squidward had an actual audience this time. He started to play the clarinet.

"Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward!" SpongeBob and Patrick were still chanting.

The musical notes flew out of the tiki as Squidward played.

"Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward!"

SpongeBob and Patrick belly flopped each other.

Patrick collapsed in an awkward manner while SpongeBob remained standing.

Squidward was looking out his window.

"I rock." Squidward then resumed to playing his clarinet.

S-S-S-S-S

The bubble Squidward had made was left unattended.

It slowly flew towards Squidward's tiki.

The giant bubble made contact with the building.

**PLOP**

The bubble enveloped the tiki.

As the bubble flew in another direction, so did Squidward's tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward didn't notice that he was being lifted off the surface at a moderate speed. He was extremely focused on making an excellent performance with his clarinet.

*gasps* "Squidward!" SpongeBob saw what happened.

Patrick stopped chanting. He immediately saw the event unfold as well.

"SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD!" They were screaming in unison but it was no longer a chant. They now sounded panicky.

SpongeBob and Patrick were attempting to call Squidward.

"Hello, my friends. You are looking at a…" He paused his speech as he looked down.

SpongeBob and Patrick were yellow and pink dots on the sea floor as they screamed "**SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD!**".

"...genius." Squidward facepalmed.

S-S-S-S-S

The bubble stopped soaring up at a certain point in the aquatic atmosphere.

A pause.

It leaned to the left and flew past SpongeBob and Patrick's neighborhood.

It was slowly descending as it flew left.

"We gotta save Squidward, Pat!" SpongeBob showed extreme concern for Squidward's safety.

"But how are we gonna get him without hurting him?" Patrick used his brain for a moment.

SpongeBob thought of how they were going to pop the bubble at a safe location.

"I got that covered." SpongeBob took out a spare wand. He winked.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran after the giant bubble.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat in the music room. He was looking out the window.

He noticed that the yellow and pink dots below were following him.

"This Sunday is pretty much over. So long, satisfaction and happiness." *sighs*

Before Squidward even noticed, there were several buildings and streets below him.

S-S-S-S-S

A mother and son were strolling on the sidewalk.

It was rush hour and streets were congested with vehicles. Many people were coming back from work while others were driving around for other reasons.

The pedestrians of the area were oblivious to a floating bubble and tiki high above them…

... except for one little boy.

"Mommy, there's something weird in the sky."

"Hm? Where is it?"

"Up there." The son pointed at the bubble in the sky. "Don't you see it?"

The mother squinted her eyes as she tried to locate the object, the bubble was a bit difficult to see.

She soon saw the bubble and the tiki inside it.

"What in the world is that?"

"I don't know mommy. What do you think?"

"Must've been those bubble blowers. They probably made a stunt by blowing large bubbles. Nothing to worry about."

The two resumed to strolling.

Abruptly, SpongeBob and Patrick flew past the mother and son.

"Mommy, what was that?" The little boy was once again curious.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were running frantically to stay at the same pace with the bubble.

They avoided all sorts of pedestrians and obstacles.

The two needed to find a way to reach the bubble.

As they were running the bubble stopped and hovered above a certain building.

**SCREEECH**

SpongeBob stopped running and came to a halt.

"Pat, look!" SpongeBob pointed up.

**SCREECH**

Patrick stopped and looked up.

RIght above a building was an idle bubble with a tiki inside it.

"Yes!" Patrick pumped his fist. "Let's save Squid!"

Patrick ran towards the building recklessly.

SpongeBob put a hand in front of Patrick. "Woah woah woah woah!"

Patrick stopped running. "Huh? What's wrong?"

SpongeBob pointed at the heavy traffic between them and their target, the building was across the street.

"Oh... Ummmm…."

A pause.

"...what do we do now?"

"We have to jump across the street and climb up the building."

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I got it! SpongeBob, hold on to my back."

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob clinged to Patrick's back.

Patrick backed away from the street.

"I hope you don't mess this up." SpongeBob sweatdropped. He knows that Patrick might make a blunder and create disaster.

Patrick dashed forward.

SpongeBob struggled to cling on.

He leapt.

They safely flew across the street.

Gravity took control.

They came down.

**BOING**

His belly landed on the other sidewalk.

SpongeBob and Patrick went straight up the building.

**THUD**

They landed on the rooftop. Right below the bubble.

"Good job, Pat!" SpongeBob got off Patrick's back. He smiled.

Patrick stood up. "Only one more thing to do."

SpongeBob faced the bubble. "Don't worry Squidward! We're gonna save you!" He took out his wand.

"All in the technique." Patrick inappropriately tried to make a joke. He still didn't have the intelligence to understand the seriousness of the situation.

SpongeBob giggled a bit.

S-S-S-S-S

"Heh. Those same morons are trying to save me. Maybe I will try to forget this incident once this is all over." Squidward saw what Patrick and SpongeBob did outside the window. He had mixed feelings of grumpiness and relief.

He waited for SpongeBob to do his magic.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob cautiously walked towards the bubble.

Just like how Squidward's wand got stuck on the large bubble as he blew it. SpongeBob was going to stick the wand on the surface of the bubble and guide it back home.

Just as he inched his wand closer and closer to the bubble...

A light breeze settled in.

The bubble quickly accelerated and was out of SpongeBob's grasp.

"Tartar sauce! Now the bubble is getting away! C'mon Patrick! We gotta catch up."

The bubble flew away from them.

It was flying aimlessly.

SpongeBob thought for a moment. "Pat, can you bounce from building to building?"

Patrick made a thumbs up.

SpongeBob clinged to Patrick's back.

Patrick jumped and dived down the side of the building.

S-S-S-S-S

The bubble was no longer in the downtown section.

'So much for trying to save me.' Squidward was sitting cross-legged on the floor and leaned on his hand, still looking out from the window.

S-S-S-S-S

A rattling chain.

A dark green worm with a collar labeled ' ' was roaming around a yard.

The chain on its collar connected to a place near the entrance of the home.

And that home was a large anchor. It had windows, a door, and a balcony. Like SpongeBob's pineapple, a simple object was transformed into a dwelling. The home would be most appropriate for a sailor.

**CRRREEEEEAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and walked out to his front yard. It made total sense that he owned the property.

He was carrying a bag of the cheapest worm food he could find. His cheap tactics went far beyond the Krusty Krab.

"Chow up." Mr. Krabs tossed the food.

Mr. Doodles began to eat the worm food.

Mr. Krabs then pondered about other things.

'I have high expectations for this Spongelad. Starting tomorrow I'm be going to have profits like never before!' Mr. Krabs giggled. Sunday was soon coming to a close and he was preparing for the next business week.

S-S-S-S-S

The giant bubble slowed down and floated around the anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Doodles noticed this.

**"BARK! BARK! BARK!" **The worm thought the strange bubble was an invader.

"What is it, boy?" Mr. Krabs jolted slightly.

The crab looked up to where Mr. Doodles was facing.

"What in t'world be that?" Mr. Krabs was also confused. He scratched his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Both SpongeBob and Patrick stopped before the anchor. Their chase for the bubble was over.

They were somewhat surprised that Mr. Krabs owned an anchor and had a pet.

A pause.

SpongeBob snapped out of it.

He pulled Patrick's arm. "No time to waste!"

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this." Mr. Krabs walked back to his house.

"MR. KRABS! MR. KRABS!" SpongeBob was yelling and running towards the crustacean. Patrick was following him.

"Well if it isn't my newly hired lad. What's going on?"

"Can I enter your house? I need to reach that bubble!"

"You're responsible for making that bubble?"

"No but I gotta get it out of here! Someone's in danger!"

"Are you doing this for free?"

"No money necessary! We're running out of time!"

"Well, go right ahead!" Mr. Krabs smiled. "You're a way better employee than Squidward."

Mr. Krabs moved out of the way.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran inside Mr. Krabs' anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob scanned the living room.

The living room was in just as poor condition as the Krusty Krab. The wood of the walls, ceiling, and floor was ancient. Relics from Mr. Krabs' pirate days were hung on the walls. A wooden stairway led to the basement and higher floors. An old-school television also rested in the room.

Once SpongeBob found the stairway he went upstairs.

Mr. Krabs followed behind.

Patrick took something out from under the entrance door. The sea star then ran and outsped .

Their feet blurred and rapid steps could be heard as they went up and up.

Soon everything became quiet.

A pause.

**CREEAAAAK**

There was ruffling.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute of running later...

S-S-S-S-S

A sweaty SpongeBob and Patrick reached the balcony. Mr. Krabs soon catched up.

SpongeBob took out the wand from his pocket.

He slowly walked towards the bubble.

Patrick was twirling something in his hands.

Mr. Krabs eyed what Patrick was holding. "What's that you got there?"

"Some metal-thingy that got stuck under the door."

Mr. Krabs widened his eyes. "Oh no."

"**BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!"** An unleashed Mr. Doodles reached the rooftop. Still barking at the bubble.

Mr. Doodles viciously pounced the bubble, trying to take down the apparent invader.

**POP**

The bubble vanished and the tiki was left in midair.

**CLANK**

Squidward's tiki landed on the fence of the balcony.

**GRROOOOOAAAN**

The house teetered over the edge.

"SQUIDWARD!" SpongeBob screamed.

**CRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSSSH**

The tiki collapsed in front of the yard.

"Mr. Doodles! Bad boy!" Mr. Krabs scolded Mr. Doodles.

Mr. Doodles whimpered and went back downstairs.

"I'm gonna go check and see if Squid's okay." Patrick ran downstairs.

"Me too!" SpongeBob followed.

"Squid?" Mr. Krabs joined as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Shaking arms.

A rising torso.

Wobbly legs.

"Ngh."

Squidward was extremely dizzy. He suffered heavy injuries as his tiki crashed to the ground.

He had difficulty walking and kept colliding on the walls.

He found his way to the living room. The tiki landed on its side and made navigating the house a significant challenge.

The octopus was losing consciousness the more he walked. His vision was blacking out.

**SLAM**

A door opened.

"Hey! I found Squid!" Squidward heard the voice of Patrick.

His arms were grasped by strong hands.

Squidward was shaken furiously.

The octopus somewhat came back to his senses.

He hazily saw the face of Patrick, the sea star was smiling.

"Phew. Squidward's safe." A relieved SpongeBob was also looking at Squidward.

He heard the scrambling feet of a crab.

A silhouette looked out the doorway.

"I should've known better when they said 'Squid'."

Mr. Krabs walked towards Squidward.

The octopus bit his lip.

"This is coming out of your paycheck." Mr. Krabs pointed at Squidward.

Squidward didn't bother to make an expression. He was focusing on staying conscious.

Mr. Krabs walked out of the tiki.

Squidward raised his foot. He was going to attempt to walk.

However, when he put his foot down he nearly collapsed.

SpongeBob and Patrick grabbed on to him before he hit the floor.

The two helped Squidward up and assisted him in walking out of the tiki.

"W-what's going to h-happen to m-my house?" Squidward managed to speak.

"Don't worry Squidward. We've got that handled." SpongeBob winked.

Patrick patted Squidward on the back.

Squidward looked to his right.

He saw Mr. Krabs and Mr. Doodles entering the giant anchor.

His vision turned more hazy.

He could no longer cling to reality.

_"Uh...ward...yo...ay?"_

_"Snap...of it."_

Squidward struggled to hear what SpongeBob and Patrick were saying.

His vision blacked out.

He drifted off to some other realm.

He became unconscious.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob became nervous.

"Did Squidward just-" Patrick showed concern on his face.

"Wait. I'll check." SpongeBob checked Squidward's pulse. "Don't worry. He's alive."

"Okay... Uhhhh... what to do now?"

"Let's just take him back to our neighborhood first."

They carried Squidward away.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward could faintly hear and recognize SpongeBob and Patrick.

He was laying on the ground.

A basic foundation was all there was left of Squidward's tiki.

"I want to bring Squidward with me!" Patrick pointed at himself and crossed his arms.

"How about we decide this by rock-paper-scissors."

"Very well."

SpongeBob and Patrick prepared their hands.

"Rock."

"Paper."

"Scissors."

"Shoot!"

They said in unison.

Patrick had a rock while SpongeBob had scissors.

"Best out of three!" SpongeBob boldly stated. Still having confidence in his abilities.

"Rock."

"Paper."

"Scissors."

"Shoot!"

They said in unison.

Patrick had scissors while SpongeBob had paper.

"It's settled." Patrick was victorious.

"Fair and square." SpongeBob smirked at his unintentional joke.

They giggled.

Patrick picked up Squidward and took him to his rock.

**CRREEEEEAAAK**

Patrick landed inside his home, Squidward was hoisted on his shoulder.

**SLAM**

"You're safe with me."

Patrick laid Squidward down on his bed. He tucked him in.

The octopus couldn't react during the whole incident.

Squidward once again became completely unconscious.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

A light in the darkness of Squidward's vision.

A doctor was physically inspecting Squidward.

A pause.

SpongeBob was biting his nails.

"This fellow has suffered a severe concussion."

SpongeBob and Patrick winced. The two were surrounding the bed.

"However, it's mild enough to only require bedrest to heal. He should fully recover within 12 hours."

SpongeBob and Patrick were relieved.

"I believe that is all." The doctor packed his suitcase and opened the rock.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

He left the premises.

Squidward slowly opened his eyes.

"W-where am I?"

SpongeBob gasped and then smiled. "You're at Patrick's place."

"W-why did y-you leave m-me here? Is s-someone going to m-move my t-tiki back to its place?"

"I called some construction workers and they said that they have to repair the place first then move it back here. You will be living with Pat for about a week."

"D-dear Neptune." Squidward fainted.

An awkward silence.

"I guess I'm going now." SpongeBob bit his lip.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob left the premises.

S-S-S-S-S

It was night.

SpongeBob looked at the abandoned bubblestand.

He grabbed the hammer.

**CRASH**

**SMASH**

**POW**

Pieces of wood soared in the air.

He tore the wooden stand down. Every second of it felt painful for SpongeBob.

**SMASH**

The hammer went still.

A long pause.

The bubblestand was now unrecognizable. It was just a pile of wooden rubble.

SpongeBob made a deep sigh. "If this means keeping Squidward safe." He nodded and walked towards his pineapple.

CRRReeeeak

Slam!

He quietly closed the door.

The seashell from earlier in the day flew off the ground of Squidward's former property.

It flew away from the neighborhood.

The gentle breeze guided the seashell in the night sky to distant lands.

S-S-S-S-S

Flick!

The lights in the bedroom were switched to off.

Gary was sleeping on the newspapers.

SpongeBob was in his pajamas.

He laid down on his bed and put the blanket over him.

His mind wandered on without his body.

SpongeBob thought of how he might take things too far when it came to his antics and end up hurting his neighbor Squidward. Even though it was Squidward who blew the bubble, it was SpongeBob who built the bubblestand.

However, the wind always picks up and the journey moves on. Like the seashell, SpongeBob has to get over where he was now and fly towards distant lands.

And that distant land is the Krusty Krab, where he will be working tommorow.

This suddenly reminded SpongeBob of a family member.

But the faint image of the memory faded as he closed his eyes.

He fell asleep.


	5. R

**I haven't warned you beforehand but I'm currently on a vacation with my family (unfortunately) to another country. Due to problems with logging in to my Google account and various distractions since it's a vacation and all of that, this chapter took longer to post than expected. I'm already writing Chapter 6 so that will be posted soon. **

**By the way, you won't be seeing these author's notes often.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Ripped Pants**

* * *

Six days later...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday

6:00 PM

SpongeBob and Squidward were walking back home from the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob was quiet, he was a bit nervous. The sponge was acting like this since the beginning of their trip to home.

Squidward didn't mind the silence and preferred SpongeBob being less talkative for once.

SpongeBob was going to say something he was preparing for all week...

He bit his lip.

He gulped.

SpongeBob opened his mouth.

"Um... Squid, about last week... I-I thought just saying sorry wasn't enough. Instead of apologizing, I wanted to take you to a place you would like to go. I'm planning to do it on Sunday which is tomorrow. I u-understand that the bubblestand incident was recklessness on my part. And I won't guarantee it won't happen again but I consider you a friend, Squidward, and as friends we should support each other. Since your house got wrecked from partly my fault I felt that taking you on a visit would be the best thing to do. No one likes their house getting destroyed and I am far more considerate than you think, Squidward."

Squidward's eyes widened. His jaw dropped somewhat. He was speechless. This was the first time in his life that he had seen SpongeBob act that way to him.

SpongeBob crossed his fingers.

"We'll discuss more about this trip on Sunday, SpongeBob. I'm too mentally exhausted from work today." Squidward made an excuse. He was caught off-guard by what SpongeBob said and he needed some time to get himself together.

"I see." SpongeBob nodded his head. "Another reason to take you on a trip." SpongeBob made a wide smile.

The two continued walking.

SpongeBob was thinking about what he could say next, but the ideal line never came.

Squidward enjoyed every second of this precious moment of silence. This only happens once in a lifetime when it comes to living with SpongeBob. However, as SpongeBob said, this was only temporary and the sponge will soon return to his annoying antics.

In the distant horizon they could see the three houses of their neighborhood become ever closer.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

KNOCK KNOCK

Squidward knocked on Patrick's rock.

**CRREEEEEAK**

The rock opened.

Squidward entered the home.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

Patrick was punching and kicking the TV. The screen showed gray dust.

"What are you doing?" Squidward raised his brow.

"Fixing the TV." Patrick kept punching and kicking. As always, his mind was too primitive to understand the concept of fixing technology.

A pause.

Squidward folded his arms. "Better fix it soon. I don't want to hear that racket." He was only slightly annoyed. The octopus was used to most of Patrick's stupid behavior after living with him for the last six days.

The octopus walked to the kitchen.

He opened the refrigerator.

Inside solely consisted of bottled water and canned, processed meat. Squidward had no choice but to eat this for the past few days. After a while he developed a tolerance for the canned meat and it no longer tasted as repulsive.

Squidward took a can of processed meat and a bottle of water.

He searched through the cabinets in the kitchen.

He found a can opener and opened the can.

Squidward took a plate out from the cabinet.

He poured the meat on the plate.

The octopus took a spoon and sat down on a seat in the table.

He ate.

**POW**

Patrick made a final blow to the TV.

The gray dust on the screen vanished and instead showed Bikini Bottom News.

"I fixed it!" Patrick pumped his fist.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

Gary was watching TV on the couch.

"How's it been, Gary?" SpongeBob greeted.

"Meow."

"I feel like I planned to do something right about now..."

"Meow. Meow. Meow."

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "That's right! I was going to plan for tomorrow's trip!"

SpongeBob ran upstairs. The steps of his feet thundered on the wooden steps.

He entered his bedroom.

SpongeBob opened another door.

He slid down a slide.

SpongeBob entered a massive library. Numerous books were stored in several shelves that reached all the way to the ceiling. There were a few ladders so SpongeBob can reach such ridiculous heights.

In the center of the room was a table and a chair. On the table was a rolled paper.

SpongeBob walked to the center and sat down. He rolled the paper open.

Revealed to him was a large map of Bikini Bottom and several cities. Various marks were made on several specific spots on the map, some of them were outside of Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob went to a ladder and climbed it.

Mid-way through the height of the ladder, he stopped.

He picked up a moderately sized book. It was titled 'Best Places for Vacations/to Visit'.

SpongeBob slid back down.

He sat down again.

SpongeBob then consistently switched from reading the book to looking at the map.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was laughing as he watched TV on the sofa.

Squidward was sitting next to him. He was finished with eating.

"This show is hilarious!" Patrick managed to say while laughing.

"Patrick, this show isn't supposed to be funny. It's just another artistic failure severely lacking in aesthetic taste that they call the news. "

"Uhhhhhhhh... What's art?" Patrick was heavily confused by the big words that Squidward said.

Squidward facepalmed. "Forget about it, Patrick. There's no hope for you."

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. He resumed to laughing.

Squidward stood up and walked to his bed.

He laid down on the mattress.

He put the blanket over himself.

A pause.

Patrick eventually got bored. He stopped laughing.

"This is boring..." Patrick took the remote and turned off the TV.

The sea star began to get drowsy.

He stood up.

Patrick walked to the light switch.

FLICK

Patrick flicked the light switch from 'ON' to 'OFF'.

Patrick went back to the sofa and fell asleep.

Squidward fell asleep as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The bedroom was dim.

Gary was sleeping on the newspapers.

SpongeBob slowly opened the door and walked into the dark room. He was finished with his planning for tommorow.

He laid down on his bed.

"Good night, Gar-bear."

He put the blanket over himself.

He fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

The three neighbors slept peacefully that night.

S-S-S-S-S

Sunlight shined through the window.

It was landing on SpongeBob's face.

SpongeBob was opening his eyes, he was aroused to wakefulness.

**HOOOOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn went off.

Gary awakened from his slumber. He was drowsy as usual.

CLICK

SpongeBob turned off the foghorn. He yawned.

"Good morning, Gary!" SpongeBob said cheerfully.

"Meow." Gary meowed quietly.

"Since it's Sunday, I'm gonna go ask Squidward where he wants to go." SpongeBob opened a door and went downstairs.

Gary followed him.

SpongeBob and Gary entered the living room.

The sponge was walking towards the entrance of his pineapple when...

**RING RING RING RING RING**

SpongeBob's shell-phone went off.

"Oh! It might be Squidward!" SpongeBob ran to the phone and picked it up.

"Howdy SpongeBob! Is that you?" SpongeBob heard Sandy's electronic voice.

*laughs* "Of course it's me! What do you want?" SpongeBob made an eager grin.

"I thought we could hang out today."

"Where are we going?"

"Goo Lagoon."

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Can I bring my friends too?"

"Sure! Why not?"

*giggles* "When are you coming to Goo Lagoon?"

"In an hour."

"Okay. I'll come right over in an hour as well. C'ya later, Sandy."

"Bye SpongeBob!"

SpongeBob put down the phone.

"Better tell Pat and Squid." SpongeBob opened the door and exited the pineapple. The plans he had made yesterday were completely thrown out of the window.

Gary turned on the TV for his weekly dose of his favorite show.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked over to Patrick's rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Eyes slowly opened.

Squidward wiped his eyes to clear his vision, he woke up.

He got out of bed.

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

The rock opened and closed.

SpongeBob entered the building.

Patrick got up from his couch. "Huh? Who's there?" He turned around and found a familiar sea sponge. "Hi SpongeBob!"

SpongeBob walked to Squidward. "Squidward, this might be very sudden but don't you think Goo Lagoon would be a nice place to visit?"

"I haven't decided ye-" Squidward pondered for a bit. "Hey... That's actually not a bad idea."

"You're gonna go? Are you sure?" SpongeBob was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Fine. Fine. I'll go."

"Yes!" SpongeBob pumped his fist and grinned.

"If it means having a nice day with my buddies then I'll go as well." Patrick smiled.

"Alright, we should prepare and get to Goo Lagoon in less than an hour. Another friend of mine is coming with us."

"Wasn't your friend that... squirrel? I think her name was... Sally?" Patrick had a difficulty with remembering what happened last week.

"Her name is Sandy." SpongeBob tried to correct Patrick politely.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember." Patrick's brain began to function normally.

"Sandy? I'll see how this turns out. I hope she isn't a goof like you two."

SpongeBob did his signature laugh. "Nope. She's a karate master, air-breather, and lives in a treedome."

Squidward scratched his head when SpongeBob said 'treedome'. "Anyway, shouldn't we prepare now?"

"On it." SpongeBob exited the rock and went back home.

"Only gather the stuff you need, NOT ALL items and furniture in sight." Squidward tried to state as clearly as possible to Patrick.

Patrick made a thumbs up and searched around the dwelling for things they needed.

Squidward assisted in the search.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes of preparation later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRRRRREEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door.

He slowly walked step by step to the outside world.

**SLAM**

He closed the door.

SpongeBob was bare-chested and wore blue shorts up to right above his waist. His skin was completely clean due to taking a shower. Instead of shoes, he wore sandals. He was somewhat embarrassed to be showing his chest due to his child-like psyche but nonetheless he had enough confidence to walk around in public.

SpongeBob carried in his hand a bag consisting of sunscreen, a beach ball, water bottles, and other beverages such as soda or energy drinks.

Patrick's rock opened.

Patrick and Squidward came out.

The rock closed.

Patrick was wearing a green and purple floral pattern shirt along with his floral pattern pants. He also wore shades.

Squidward was wearing brown shorts which were darker than his brown shirt. In his hand was a novel and in a plastic bag were more novels and a few bottles of water. Like Patrick, he also wore shades.

SpongeBob walked over to his friends. "Looking good..." SpongeBob complemented their clothing. "So, we're all set?"

"Pretty much." Squidward folded his arms. "Can we quit stalling and go now?"

"Off we go!" SpongeBob pointed to the direction of Goo Lagoon and walked away.

Squidward and Patrick followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

An orange sign said 'Welcome to Goo Lagoon'. A large beach was filled with numerous people.

"Well, this is the place." SpongeBob halted.

Patrick and Squidward stopped walking.

"Let's see if Sandy's here." SpongeBob scanned the beach.

Somebody walked and stood behind them. "Looking for someone?"

The three turned around.

"Howdy y'all!" Sandy was in front of them.

"SpongeBob, is she the friend you were talking about?" Squidward raised his brow.

SpongeBob laughed. "Of course she is."

"If you don't mind me, I'm going to relax with a nice no-"

"Squidward, wait! All of you need sunscreen. You don't wanna get a sunburn." SpongeBob was caring for the most minor of risks to his friends, a definite sign of his loyalty and devotion.

*groans* "Make it quick." Squidward tapped his foot in impatience.

SpongeBob took out the sunscreen from his bag.

He put some on himself.

He gave it to Patrick.

"How do you put this on?" Patrick was puzzled at the bottle of sunscreen in his hand.

Squidward facepalmed for the second time at Patrick's stupidity.

Sandy smirked, she was trying to suppress her giggling.

"Open the cap." SpongeBob pointed at the cap of the bottle of sunscreen.

"Uh huh." Patrick opened the cap.

"Squeeze." SpongeBob squeezed the air with his hand as an example.

"Uh huh." Patrick squeezed the bottle, sunscreen popped out.

"Now take that cream a. k. a. sunscreen with your hand."

"Uh huh." Patrick took the sunscreen with his hand.

"Now rub it on your skin."

Patrick put the sunscreen on himself. "It tickles." The sea star wasn't used to the weird sensation of the lotion.

The sea star gave it to Squidward.

Squidward put some of the sunscreen on himself.

He gave it back to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked at Sandy and was about to give her the sunscreen when he stopped mid-way through.

He was confused about how Sandy was going to put the sunscreen on when she was wearing the astronaut suit. "Ummmm..."

Sandy shook her head. "I already put some on in my treedome."

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob put the sunscreen away.

"Time to read." Squidward walked to a reclining chair and laid down on it. He began to read his novel.

"I'm going to find something fun to do." Patrick looked at his surroundings for a game to play. He soon found an on-going volleyball game. "I'm out." Patrick walked towards the game.

"Why not we explore this place a bit?" SpongeBob asked.

"Go right ahead." Sandy smirked.

The two walked around Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy were laying down on reclining chairs. They were enjoying the sun.

SpongeBob stood up.

He saw a small pile of sand.

The sponge had an idea.

"Hey Sandy! Look!" SpongeBob covered himself into the mound of sand. "I'm Sandy!"

Sandy started to laugh.

SpongeBob took some of the sand in the pile and formed it on his head and nose to resemble Squidward. "Hey Sandy, who am I?"

Sandy laughed even harder.

SpongeBob took some more sand and shaped it to a phone. He put it on his ear as if calling someone.

"Hello, SpongeBob. Could you keep it down? I'm trying to be boring." SpongeBob tried to imitate Squidward's voice.

"SpongeBob! Stop! I'm dying!" She struggled to speak as she was laughing.

SpongeBob made a sand Krusty Krab hat and some sand pizza boxes. "Did anyone order twenty pepperoni and sand pizzas?"

A pause.

Sandy made a wide grin as she tried to suppress her laughter.

Both SpongeBob and Sandy laughed.

S-S-S-S-S

The game of volleyball was over.

Patrick and a buff red lobster were the team that won. They had several more points than their opponents.

"That game was a piece of cake." The lobster was satisfied with the outcome.

"You said it, Larry." Patrick smiled.

"Think you can handle tougher stuff?" Larry tried to intimidate Patrick.

"I don't have the brains but I got the brawn." Patrick flexed his muscles.

"Alright! Follow me." Larry walked away. He signaled for Patrick to follow him.

Patrick walked away from the volleyball court.

They headed towards SpongeBob and Sandy.

"You know them?" Patrick was curious as he saw the sponge and the squirrel.

"Yep. I believe you and SpongeBob are best friends as well. I see you two together every time you come to Goo Lagoon."

"You got that right."

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh look!" SpongeBob saw Larry and Patrick walk up to him and Sandy. He was familiar with Larry since he saw the lobster doing his lifeguard duty in Goo Lagoon all the time.

"Hey, Sandy. Hey, SpongeBob." Larry greeted.

"How's it been?" Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

"Hey, Larry." Sandy got up from the reclining chair.

"You guys wanna go lift some weights?" Larry spoke.

"I'm already in." Patrick pointed at himself.

"Sure." Sandy walked away with Larry. "Well come on, SpongeBob."

SpongeBob looked at his skinny arms. He has no chance at even lifting the lightest of the metal weights.

The sand hat and pizza boxes fell down and sank back into the sand.

Patrick grabbed SpongeBob's arm. "C'mon, buddy! It won't be that bad. Trust me."

Patrick dragged SpongeBob along.

"Coming!" SpongeBob yelled to Sandy. He was disappointed that he had to go through the torturous exercise.

S-S-S-S-S

A crowd was sitting on a pair of bleachers that was near a bordered arena. They were cheering.

And whom they were cheering at were body-builders grunting and sweating as they lifted up heavy barbells.

Larry and Sandy were in the arena. They were standing before a moderately heavy barbell.

"Give it a try, Sandy." Larry pointed at the barbell.

"No problem." Sandy smirked, unphased by the weight and size of the barbell.

She put her hands on the barbell.

In no time flat she lifted the barbell as high as she can. Sandy didn't even break a sweat.

She dropped the barbell to the floor.

The crowd began clapping and yelled louder. They were impressed by Sandy's feat.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the scene.

"Good job, Sandy. Well, that's about enough for today, don't you think?" SpongeBob turned around and tried to leave the arena, he was nervous about lifting a barbell and the crowd seeing how pathetically weak he is. However, Patrick grabbed his arm again.

"Uh-uh." Patrick shook his head. "Why are you leaving now when you're already here? Try to lift at least one weight." Patrick let go of SpongeBob.

*sighs* "Fine." SpongeBob made a long face.

Patrick smiled.

"How about a little more weight?" Larry found a barbell much heavier than the one Sandy picked up.

Larry slowly bended down to pick up the barbell. "Observe."

His claws picked the barbell up.

The barbell was raised as high as he can. He was grunting and veins were sticking out of his neck, lifting the barbell was quite a challenge.

The crowd cheered even louder than last time. More hands were clapping.

**CLANK**

Larry dropped the weight.

Patrick found two decently heavy barbells that weighed a quarter of an anchor on each side of the barbell.

He walked over to the barbells and grabbed them.

The crowd gasped and became silent.

Patrick sweated and his face contorted as he lifted the barbells up.

His sunglasses fell off and landed on the ground, revealing his eyes,

Patrick raised the two barbells as high as he can.

The crowd rumbled their feet on the bleachers instead of clapping. Some of them stood up from their seats and yelled.

Patrick dropped the barbells to the floor.

He bowed.

He picked up his shades and put them back on.

Patrick signaled for SpongeBob to lift a barbell in front of the crowd.

"Alright, stand back everyone." SpongeBob walked to Larry and Sandy's midst. He found a twig laying on the ground.

SpongeBob picked up the twig.

The crowd wasn't cheering. Everybody was silent as SpongeBob performed a display of his strength.

SpongeBob lifted the twig to the air.

He immediately fell to the side and the twig sank to the ground. The twig was too overwhelming for his muscles.

Sandy walked past SpongeBob. She grabbed an exponentially heavier barbell with an anchor on each side.

"Y'all watch this!" Sandy lifted the anchor barbell as high in the air as she can.

The crowd was chanting Sandy's name and clapped furiously.

Larry took a metal bar out of a barbell.

He dived to the open space between the stands.

He connected the metal bar and the stands together.

With extreme difficulty and determination he lifted the stands as high as he can. The crowd was elevated in tow.

The crowd was silent.

A pause.

The crowds stood up from their seats and clapped until their hands hurt. They chanted Larry's name to the point of losing their voice.

"Way to go, Larry!" SpongeBob was clapping.

The sponge walked away from the arena. The deed was finally done and he was even saved from embarrassment.

He saw a young man sitting around a campfire. He was roasting a marshmallow on a wooden stick. Next to him was a plastic bag of marshmallows.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He might be able to redeem himself back in the arena, a second chance wouldn't hurt. The sponge won't give up lifting weights that easily.

"Could I borrow a couple of these?" SpongeBob walked to the young man.

"Mm-hmm." The young man nodded. His mouth was full of marshmallows. He took another marshmallow and put it in his mouth.

SpongeBob took two marshmallows out of the bag.

The sponge walked back to the arena. He found the twig still half-sunk into the sand.

He took it out.

He put the two marshmallows on both sides on the twig, the object now resembled a barbell.

By then, the crowd returned to normal levels of cheering.

"And now, with the addition of two, count 'em, two marshmallows!" SpongeBob yelled at the crowd.

The crowd became silent.

SpongeBob dropped the twig to the ground.

He crouched down.

His hands grasped the twig.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale.

A pause.

SpongeBob tried to lift the wooden barbell with all his might.

The twig didn't move a single inch, it looked like it was glued to the ground.

A pause. SpongeBob made an even deeper inhale.

SpongeBob made repeated attempts at lifting the twig.

After several seconds he made one final attempt.

He inhaled air to his lungs' maximum capacities.

Veins sticked out of his thin muscles as he tried to lift the twig up.

His teeth were clenched.

The twig finally moved up by two inches.

**RRRRRRRRRIP**

Something was ripped open.

SpongeBob's eyes widened, he made a poker-face.

The crowd gasped.

The sponge felt a surge of air inside his pants.

He slowly looked down at his rear.

When he saw it, he could no longer hide his emotions. He blushed and bit his lip.

A hole was ripped open at the bottom of his pants. His white underwear could be seen.

The crowd laughed at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob made a grin, he was too embarrassed to laugh at himself. He was trying to cover the hole.

SpongeBob quickly walked away from the arena.

A male in his late teen years walked over to SpongeBob, he was laughing.

"THAT was too funny." The teen slapped SpongeBob on the back as a form of congratulations. "YOU are hilarious!"

"Ain't he the funniest little sponge you ever saw, Scooter?" Sandy joined the conversation, she was giggling.

SpongeBob made a wide smile, still blushing.

Patrick walked to SpongeBob, he made a wide smile to suppress his giggling. "Way to go, SpongeBob. You're a comedi-something now." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward honked his nose in laughter at SpongeBob for a moment.

He soon returned to reading his novel.

S-S-S-S-S

Larry, Sandy, Patrick, and SpongeBob left the arena.

"Anybody up for more volleyball?" Larry picked up a volleyball laying on the ground.

"Ooh! Me! Me!" Patrick jumped up and down while raising his hand.

"Then come on over!" Larry walked to a volleyball court.

Patrick followed.

Two other people walked to the other side of the volleyball court.

Larry threw the ball to the opposite side to start off the game.

The person to the left volleyed the ball back.

Patrick volleyed the ball.

The person to the right volleyed the ball back.

Larry volleyed the ball.

The person to the right volleyed the ball back.

Patrick volleyed the ball.

The person to the left dove and volleyed the ball before it exited the court.

Larry ran to the large net.

He jumped and spiked the ball.

It hit the person to the right in the face. He fell to the ground.

The crowd near the arena witnessed the entire game and clapped. They chanted Larry's name.

SpongeBob and Sandy were watching the game as well.

However, SpongeBob didn't look happy. He was folding his arms and his face showed an angry expression. The sponge was definitely envious of Larry. Before now he never even expressed the slightest form of jealousy. It took a certain sequence of events for such emotions to be triggered. First of all, his fun with Sandy was interrupted and he was forced to lift weights, which wasn't his thing, so he already showed some resentment. When it came to the actual weight-lifting, Larry excelled while SpongeBob struggled. What made it even worse was when SpongeBob finally lifted the barbell up, his pants had to rip so as to ruin his moment of victory. So people laughed at him and thought he was a comedian instead of cheering him on and thinking he put a lot of effort.

The person who got hit in the face by the ball stood up.

He took the ball off his face and prepared to throw it.

SpongeBob looked at the ball.

He looked back at the ripped hole on his pants.

A light bulb lit up in his head. It was time for some sweet and innocent revenge.

SpongeBob walked towards the court.

"SpongeBob, what're you doing?" Sandy was confused.

"If people like my ripped pants so much, I think they would like more." SpongeBob smirked as he eyed the volleyball.

The person threw the ball to the opposite side of the court.

The volleyball headed towards Larry.

Larry ran to volley the ball.

"I got it!" SpongeBob ran towards the ball as well.

Larry jolted and halted. He was heavily surprised.

SpongeBob dove to hit the ball. "Incoming!"

The sponge missed the ball.

The volleyball rolled on the ground.

The crowd near the arena stood up and booed.

SpongeBob walked to the ball.

He bended down to pick it up.

**RRRIP**

SpongeBob's pants was ripped even further. "Oops, I guess I ripped my pants again!"

A pause.

The crowd laughed. Even Patrick, Larry, and Sandy were laughing.

Scooter walked up to SpongeBob, he was laughing. "Once again, dude." He slapped SpongeBob on the back. "YOU have split my sides!" Scooter continued with his laughter.

Sandy found a frisbee laying on the ground right next to her.

She picked it up.

"Y'all up for frisbee?" Sandy exclaimed.

Larry walked to a certain distance in front of Sandy. "Let's go."

The lobster prepared his claws for catching the frisbee.

Sandy nimbly threw the frisbee towards Larry.

The frisbee glided in the air and moved away from Larry.

The buff lobster dove and caught the frisbee with his two hands.

In two seconds he stood up and quickly threw the frisbee back.

Sandy jumped and caught the frisbee.

SpongeBob was watching the frisbee glide from one side to the other, he walked away from the volleyball court.

"Hey Sandy, how about throwing it to me?" SpongeBob walked back a certain distance.

"Okay, here it comes!" Sandy threw the frisbee with expert precision.

The frisbee headed straight towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob was as still as a statue.

**SMACK**

The frisbee hit SpongeBob's forehead.

SpongeBob fell to the ground. However, he was smiling. He had some trick up his sleeve.

"I could use a hand here!" SpongeBob raised his hand.

Sandy walked over and took his hand. "You okay, SpongeBob?"

Sandy pulled SpongeBob up.

"I guess so..." SpongeBob was standing.

He immediately made a hand-stand, it was revealing his ripped pants.

"Except I ripped my pants!" SpongeBob spoke with cleverness.

This time, the people in Goo Lagoon in general were laughing.

Sandy was giggling.

Scooter was laughing as he walked to SpongeBob. "You still got it, dude!" He slapped SpongeBob on the back.

SpongeBob flipped in the air and returned to a standing position. He was beginning to sweat from the heat.

"As hot of a day as this is, how about some ice cream?" SpongeBob looked at Sandy.

"You bet!" Sandy stopped giggling.

The two walked to an ice cream vendor.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked over to Squidward. He was holding SpongeBob's bag after it was accidentally abandoned near his and Sandy's chairs.

He took a nearby reclining chair and put it outside the radius of its umbrella's shadow. The chair faced the scorching rays of the sun.

Patrick took off his shirt.

He dug into the bag and took out the sunscreen.

Patrick put the sunscreen over his exposed skin.

He laid down on the reclining chair, he was sunbathing.

The sea star put the sunscreen away and put his shirt under his feet so that they won't get burned by the sand.

Patrick relaxed and settled into the sun's rays.

Meanwhile, Squidward still had a novel in his hand. However, he was not reading it.

He was watching SpongeBob and his 'ripped pants' antics. "I knew this was inevitable. But why does he have to annoy people when everything is peaceful?" Squidward grumbled to himself.

"But he's funny when he does it." Patrick came out of nowhere.

Squidward jolted. He suddenly noticed that Patrick was sunbathing quite close to his location. The sea star must have heard his one-person conversation.

"I only laughed once because he was embarrassed. After that, the joke quickly became stale for me."

"I see." Patrick nodded his head. "Some stuff can get boring too."

"Although I do appreciate that SpongeBob even CONSIDERED doing something to make up for his actions. Which leads me here in Goo Lagoon."

"He did more than that. Did you know that SpongeBob destroyed his bubblestand?"

Squidward raised his brow. "Seriously? I thought he put it away in his garage for some other time."

"SpongeBob took it down because he was afraid you were gonna get hurt again. It's probably because you and SpongeBob are friends and all of that."

"Patrick, tell me who kidnapped SpongeBob."

Patrick giggled. "No one stole him and took his place. Don't worry, Squidward. You'll see SpongeBob act like that again once in a blue moon."

"What's happening right now is proof of that." He glanced at SpongeBob from far away and groaned. He returned to his reading.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy were waiting at a line.

Eventually they got to the front of the line and it was their turn.

"May I help you?" The person in the stand droned.

"I'll take a banana split." SpongeBob was smirking. Another joke was coming up.

"Uh, we don't have that." The person checked around the inside of the stand.

"That's okay. I already split my pants! Get it?"

Sandy was giggling.

"Tee-hee." The person tried to pretend that he thought the joke was funny. "Anything else?"

"How about ripple?" SpongeBob showed his ripped pants.

Sandy giggled even more.

"No thanks, already got one!" SpongeBob made a wide smile.

Sandy dropped to the floor, she was laughing.

SpongeBob skipped merrily to a snack bar. He saw a few people eating and drinking there.

He walked to an unsuspecting customer. The customer had a burger and a drink.

SpongeBob knocked over the customer's drink by accident.

"Is that a burger you're eating?" SpongeBob pointed at the customer's burger.

"Why, yes it is." The customer stopped eating and looked at SpongeBob.

"You know what would go good with that?"

"No, what?"

SpongeBob whispered into the customer's ear. "Ripped... pants." He then suddenly showed his ripped pants.

The customer raised his brow.

SpongeBob ran around the snack bar, he was laughing.

He stopped between two customers eating. "Ripped pants a la mode!" He showed his ripped pants.

The two customers weren't amused and became annoyed.

SpongeBob opened a door and walked into the kitchen of the snack bar. His was still continuing his series of 'ripped pants' jokes.

He took a box and walked to the fry cook.

"Delivery! Did you order twenty cases of ripped pants?" SpongeBob shoved his rear and ripped pants in tow through the box. He did his signature laugh.

The fry cook groaned, he was disgusted by SpongeBob's joke.

"Oops. Wrong house. Better go to the one next door." SpongeBob stopped laughing but kept smiling, he took the box off his rear.

He dropped the box to the floor.

He opened the door and exited the kitchen.

The fry cook took a deep breath and returned to work.

S-S-S-S-S

Larry was strolling along the shore of Goo Lagoon.

A giant wave crashed in front of him.

He stopped.

A pause.

The wave receded slowly and left marks on the sand.

The lobster looked towards the ocean, the waves were bigger than normal.

"Now's a good time to surf." Larry became excited.

He ran to his lifeguard tower.

He climbed up the ladder.

On the top of the tower were a few surfboards.

The lobster quickly snatched a surfboard and climbed back down the ladder.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy were walking together.

"You should've seen me in the snack bar. I 'ripped' up a new ingredient for the fry cook." SpongeBob was giggling.

Sandy was smiling, she was suppressing her laughter.

Plop!

Larry landed from jumping off the ladder of his lifeguard tower. He was holding a surfboard.

"You're gonna surf?" Sandy looked from Larry's surfboard to the ocean to Larry himself.

"Yep. You better go now if you want to. The waves are really kicking."

"Where did you get those surfboards?"

"From my lifeguard tower up there." Larry pointed at the tower. "C'ya!" Larry ran towards the ocean.

"Wait for us!" Sandy ran to the tower to get a surfboard.

SpongeBob thought of a way to implement a 'ripped pants' joke.

He made a wide grin, this was going to be the most 'killer' trick he had done so far.

SpongeBob climbed up the ladder of the tower, following Sandy.

The two got their surfboards.

"Let's go!" SpongeBob pointed to the ocean.

Sandy nodded.

The two slid down the ladder.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick abruptly sat up in the reclining chair.

He took his shades off.

He saw SpongeBob, Sandy, and Larry run to the ocean with surfboards.

"Their surfing? I wanna have some fun too!" Patrick stood up from his seat.

He ran after them.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge's, squirrel's, and lobster's feet entered the water.

Water splashed around their soles as they walked through the water.

They were careful to slow down as waves went past them and crashed to the shore.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked up at the lifeguard tower.

He saw a few surfboards leaning off the border of the top.

"Okay... now how do I get up there?" Patrick was completely oblivious to the ladder.

He looked at one of the four poles that maintained the structure of the tower.

"This'll do." Patrick clung to the pole.

He quickly climbed up and reached the top.

He reached a hand out and knocked down a surfboard.

Plop!

The surfboard landed on the ground.

Patrick jumped off the pole.

He landed with a...

**THUD**

Patrick held the surfboard.

"SpongeBob! I'm coming!" He ran to the ocean.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard Patrick's voice.

By then the three were lying their bodies on the surfboards and propelled themselves with their arms.

SpongeBob looked behind. "Huh?"

Patrick dived into the water and swam to catch up with them.

"Looks like Pat wants to join the ride." SpongeBob smiled even more.

"Don't slow down though. We might miss a good wave." Larry was staying focused.

"'Kay." SpongeBob maintained his speed.

SPLASH

Patrick emerged from the water.

He put his body on the surfboard and propelled himself with his arms.

The water began to get bumpier as they swam further out to sea. The waves were becoming more violent as they crashed to the shore.

Eventually, several huge waves headed straight towards them.

The water became peaceful as they came closer to the waves.

A pause.

The water increased in height as they went up the slopes of the waves.

All four stood on top of their surfboards. They were surfing.

Larry laid down on his surfboard as he surfed on the wave. He was doing his signature lay-back.

Sandy did a handstand as she surfed.

Patrick cartwheeled on his surfboard, making sure he didn't fall.

SpongeBob showed his ripped pants as he surfed on his surfboard.

RIP

Ripping them even further.

The wave suddenly crashed to the shore.

Water and darkness entered SpongeBob's vision. He felt the ground of the shoreline as he was underwater.

His surfboard was also reaching the shoreline.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick gasped. He saw what happened.

He quickly exited the wave.

He tried to swim back to the shore on his surfboard.

S-S-S-S-S

A lifeguard was watching Goo Lagoon through his telescope. He was standing on the top of his lifeguard tower.

SpongeBob's body washed up to the shore. He showed no signs of life. His face was buried in the sand.

The image was hazy through the lens of the telescope. The body looked like a yellow box.

"Hey, look! A cardboard box washed up on the beach." The lifeguard was unaware of the dire situation.

He magnified the yellow box so he can take a better look.

He saw the unconscious body of a sea sponge. His surfboard also washed up to the shore the moment he zoomed in.

"Holy fish paste! It's a guy!" The lifeguard exclaimed.

He slid down the ladder of his tower.

He ran towards the lifeless body.

The lifeguard grabbed the body and flipped it over. Revealing SpongeBob's deadpan face whose eyes were closed.

The lifeguard brushed the sand off his face. He shook the body.

The body was not making a reaction.

Patrick reached the shore.

He tossed his surfboard to the side.

The sea star ran towards the lifeguard who was holding the lifeless body.

"You know him?!" The lifeguard frantically asked.

"He's my best friend!" Patrick snatched the body.

Patrick took a deep breath.

A pause.

"**SPONGEBOB! C'MON BUDDY!**" Patrick was screaming at the body, he was holding it tightly.

The body was not making a reaction.

"**STAY. WITH. UUUSSS!**" Patrick shook the body furiously.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward jolted in his seat. He heard Patrick's panicky voice.

He stopped reading his novel, he put the book on the chair.

"What in the world is going on?" He stood up.

The octopus walked towards where he saw the sea star.

*sighs* "I wonder what drama is going on this time..." Squidward was somewhat crossed.

S-S-S-S-S

The body was not making a reaction.

People began to look at Patrick and the lifeguard. The two were creating a commotion.

Patrick made a deadpan face.

He let go of the body.

He fell to the ground back-first.

A pause.

Tears formed in his eyes. One went across his cheek.

The lifeguard fell to his knees.

He lifted his hands towards the sky.

"Why?! WHY?! **WHHHHHYYYY?!**" The lifeguard screamed in despair. It was heard throughout Goo Lagoon.

By that time, Squidward walked to the scene. The moment he saw the lifeless body of SpongeBob, he understood why Patrick was crying and the lifeguard was screaming.

The octopus's eyes widened. He was absolutely speechless. 'To think that I was going to have a good Sunday...'

Sandy and Larry came to the shore. They were finished with surfing. The two had no clue of what happened until they heard that scream.

"SpongeBob!" Sandy yelled in shock.

The squirrel and the lobster ran toward the body of SpongeBob.

A crowd gathered behind and around the six. They were watching silently.

SpongeBob shakily opened his eyes. It was a miracle.

"Come closer..." SpongeBob managed to speak.

The lifeguard grabbed SpongeBob.

"I need... I need..." SpongeBob opened his eyes even more. The rays of the sun seemed to have created a divine light.

"W-what do y-you n-need?" Tears formed in the lifeguard's eyes.

Tears formed in Sandy's eyes.

Larry put a claw over his mouth. His eyes were wide in shock.

"A tailor..." SpongeBob patted the lifeguard on the shoulder.

A pause.

"Because I ripped my pants!" SpongeBob stood up and released himself from the lifeguard's grasp. He laughed. It was as if all life was put back into his body.

The lifeguard narrowed his eyes. He made a serious glare.

The crowd that was watching glared.

Larry and Sandy glared.

Squidward crossed his tentacles.

A long, silent pause.

The crowd marched off, their faces showed expressions of anger. Larry walked away with them.

The lifeguard returned to his tower to continue his duty.

Sandy was still remaining. "That wasn't funny, SpongeBob! Y'all had me worried sick!" She marched off with Larry.

Squidward walked up to the sponge. "SpongeBob, why use such a dark sense of humor? Especially since you're all 'cheerful' and 'yellow' and 'positive'. I swear that you're being a psychic vampire at this point." Squidward walked away. He twisted the dagger in the wound.

Scooter parted from the crowd. He expressed disappointment.

He stood in front of SpongeBob for a bit.

"Dude..." Scooter walked away.

Out of all the complaints of the Bikini Bottomites, the words of Squidward, Sandy, and Scooter were all that were need to get the message out...

SpongeBob had went too far.

SpongeBob noticed that Patrick was still lying on the ground. "Umm... Pat, are you okay?"

Patrick jumped up. "You're still alive!" It took a minute for Patrick to realize the obvious.

The sea star hugged SpongeBob tightly.

SpongeBob's face turned blue..

"Pat, you... can let go... now. I need... to breathe..." SpongeBob managed to say.

Patrick released SpongeBob from his arms.

SpongeBob stumbled.

Patrick grabbed his arm so that he didn't fall.

Patrick let SpongeBob out of his grasp.

SpongeBob stood up straight.

He took several deep breaths.

His face returned to its normal yellow color.

"It was all a joke, Patrick. I pretended I was dying." SpongeBob had a solemn face. He was trying to explain to Patrick what happened.

Squidward stopped mid-way from returning to his seat. He heard what SpongeBob said. The octopus turned around to face SpongeBob and Patrick.

"You're an awesome actor! You deserve a medal!" Patrick was clapping. The sea star didn't realize the serious consequences of SpongeBob's actions.

"No, no, no." SpongeBob shook his head. "I got carried away with the 'ripped pants' jokes. I made some people annoyed. I made everybody including you w-worried..." His throat became sore, he was fighting back tears. "a-a-and m-made a-a-a few of y-you c-c-c-cry..." SpongeBob's eyes became extremely moist. However, he had enough determination to not shed a single tear. "A-and a-at the e-end of t-the d-d-day, I-I was the o-only one s-still l-l-laughing."

Patrick put his hand on SpongeBob's shoulder. "It's okay, buddy. Let it out." He showed concern for SpongeBob's well being.

SpongeBob immediately pushed the hand away. "I-I s-should be t-treated LIKE A JERK!" He stomped away from Patrick.

SpongeBob went inside a tent.

Squidward resumed to his walking.

"Maybe I should give SpongeBob some alone time." Patrick went back to his reclining chair.

He laid down.

He put on his shades.

He continued to bask in the sun.

"I believe the little square has learned his lesson." Squidward sat back down in his reclining chair.

"What lesson?" Patrick was confused.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting inside the tent.

He wiped his eyes until they were no longer moist.

"I'm doing no more of those stupid 'ripped pants' jokes. No one, even me, finds them funny anymore."

SpongeBob stood up.

"I wonder how everyone's doing..." He opened the slit of the tent.

He walked out.

Goo Lagoon seemed like it was almost abandoned. Nobody except for Patrick and Squidward could be seen. Patrick was sun-bathing while Squidward was reading his novel, both of them were minding their own business.

Silence.

The wind was blowing.

A tumbleweed rolled along with the wind.

SpongeBob heard the faint sound of party music.

He turned to the direction where the music was coming from.

He saw Larry and Sandy in a volleyball court, they were volleying the ball from one side to the other. Someone outside the court had a radio that was playing the music. The lobster and the squirrel were having a good time, unlike SpongeBob.

*sighs* "Almost everybody's gone, even Sandy. She'd rather hang out with Larry. I know Squidward is angry at me and Patrick doesn't understand the situation."

SpongeBob took off his blue shorts. "We blew it, pants. Farewell."

He tossed the shorts into the wind.

It floated away from Goo Lagoon.

SpongeBob began to walk aimlessly through Goo Lagoon. He was miserable.

"Oh, I didn't have to be a fool to get Sandy's attention. AM I THE BIGGEST LOSER ON THE BEACH?!" SpongeBob felt as much despair as the lifeguard did when trying to 'save' him.

He heard the steps of walking feet, someone answered his call.

SpongeBob saw a woman suffering a severe sunburn.

"No, I am. I forgot to put on sunscreen." She placed a hand on her skin and took it out.

The hand left a white mark which vanished after several long seconds.

"Ouch." SpongeBob winced.

More footsteps.

SpongeBob turned around.

A man was standing before SpongeBob.

"No, I am. I got sand in my buns." The man showed two sandy hamburger buns.

**RRRRRRRUUMMMMMBLE**

The ground shook.

SpongeBob was slightly frightened.

A cloud of sand erupted.

The head of a whale popped out.

"No, I'm the biggest loser on the beach. They buried me in the sand and forgot me." The whale spoke, he had a deep voice.

"What happened to you?" The three 'beach losers' droned.

"I lost a best friend." SpongeBob spoke in a solemn, cold manner.

"How?" The three continued to speak.

SpongeBob was silent for a moment.

He heard the howling of the wind.

He heard the rhythmic tumbling of the tumbleweed.

He heard the party music and the intense volleyball game.

He heard the blue shorts flapping in the breeze, the hole in the pants was stuck on the sharp top of an umbrella.

Together in sync, it seemed like... a song.

"The only way I could say it would be through song." SpongeBob spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Where can we get the instruments?" The man with the sand buns asked.

"Just use sand." SpongeBob bended down.

SpongeBob picked up several handfuls of sand.

He formed a guitar out of the grainy earth.

"A-ahem." SpongeBob cleared his throat, he was preparing to sing.

The three 'losers' stood back, they quickly went to work on making sand instruments and a sand stage.

"When I ripped." SpongeBob ripped his underwear, revealing his bottom. "my pants. I thought that I had everybody by my side, but I went and blew it all sky-high, and now she won't even spare a passing glance, all just because I ripped my pants." As SpongeBob sung he played the guitar slowly.

Standing before SpongeBob was a sand stage looking out to the crowd near the shoreline.

SpongeBob quickly ran to the stage.

Already standing and waiting for him were the three 'losers' with their own sand instruments.

"When big Larry came 'round just to put him down, SpongeBob turned into a clown, and no girl ever wants to dance with a fool who went and" The three 'losers' ripped their own pants. "ripped his pants." The four sang in unison.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Squidward got up from their seats. They heard the singing voices.

"SpongeBob's singing!" Patrick ran to the sand stage.

"I hope this piece of sound is worthy of being called art." Squidward jogged after the sea star.

S-S-S-S-S

Larry and Sandy stopped playing volleyball.

The stranger turned off the radio. He picked it up and walked towards the sand stage.

People looked towards the sand stage where the singing was coming from.

They formed a crowd and gathered around the stage.

S-S-S-S-S

"I know I shouldn't mope around, I shouldn't curse, but the pain feels so much worse... 'cause winding up with no one is a lot less fun than a burn from the sun..." SpongeBob sang in a beautiful voice, he took his singing talent to its maximum potential.

"Or sand in your buns!" The four sang in unison.

There was an instrumental break.

"Go SpongeBob! Now that's the buddy I know!" Patrick cheered. He was jumping up and down inside the crowd.

SpongeBob smiled for a few seconds.

He quickly returned to a serious expression.

"Now I learned a lesson I won't soon forget... so listen and you won't regret. Be true to yourself; don't miss your chance..." Large waves crashed against the shores of Goo Lagoon as SpongeBob sung.

"and you won't end up like the fool...who...ripped...his...pants!" The four sung in unison.

They ripped their pants even further just as the song ended.

A pause.

The crowd was screaming and clapping.

Patrick was clapping the loudest, his hands were turning red.

"SpongeBob!" Sandy yelled.

"Sandy!" SpongeBob saw Sandy within the crowd and yelled back.

Sandy jumped to the stage.

She hugged SpongeBob which heavily surprised him. "Your song is true. If y'all want to be my friend, just be yourself."

SpongeBob grinned.

Scooter walked up to the stage. "You rock, dude!" He slapped SpongeBob on the back.

Patrick walked up to the stage. "Way to go, buddy!" He patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

"That piece of trash only fits the bare minimum requirements to be considered 'music'. Even I could write better lyrics if I tried." Squidward was jealous of SpongeBob's musical talent and tried to dismiss what just happened,

Larry walked up to the stage. "SpongeBob, that was so righteous. Would you... sign my pants?" Larry tried not to sound awkward.

"Absolutely, buddy." SpongeBob smiled even more.

Larry gave SpongeBob a pen. He turned around.

SpongeBob bended down to sign his pants.

The moment he finished the signature...

**RRRRIP**

His underwear ripped to the point of no return, it collapsed to the ground.

SpongeBob was fully nude.

The sponge quickly tried to cover himself. He was blushing.

The stranger holding the radio made a loud whistle.

Out of nowhere, his blue shorts flew above the sand stage.

It landed in front of SpongeBob.

In three seconds SpongeBob...

Grabbed the shorts.

Put it on.

And tightened the white strap so his pants didn't fall off.

"Phew." SpongeBob brushed sweat off his brow, he was relieved.

"Umm... SpongeBob, aren't we supposed to go to Jellyfish Fields today?" Patrick had a sudden improvement in memory.


	6. E

**Chapter 6: Jellyfishing**

* * *

A crane was moving a large tiki that someone called a home.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The vehicle that had the crane was driving slowly, it beeped as its tires moved.

A construction worker was guiding the crane to where it needed to go by pointing both of his thumbs to the right direction.

"Alright, stop right there!" The worker put his hand out towards the crane to signal for it to stop.

The crane halted.

The tiki shook for a bit.

"Drop it down." The worker made a thumbs up.

The crane let the tiki go.

**THUD**

A large plume of sand.

A pause.

The tiki landed perfectly in its circular foundation.

"That's it boys. Time to leave!" The worker commanded.

The vehicle with the crane went inside a large truck.

Other construction workers entered the truck.

The truck drove off to the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward were walking back to their neighborhood.

"SpongeBob, didn't you say that my tiki was supposed to arrive today?" Squidward asked.

"You're right. The people who were repairing your house did say it would be completely fixed by Sunday which is today. I don't know exactly when though. Sorry." SpongeBob was jogging, he was somewhat ahead of Squidward. He was nervous and really wanted to go to Jellyfish Fields.

"Let's see if I'm lucky eno-" Squidward immediately stopped walking.

SpongeBob and Patrick focused their attention away from Squidward.

The three looked at their neighborhood.

It didn't have two houses...

...it had three.

Squidward's tiki was fully intact in its exterior, it was as if nothing has happened to it

*gasps* "My house! Thank Neptune!" Squidward was overjoyed and ran to his house. He yearned for this moment.

"Alright, Pat. Let's prepare for our weekly spree of jellyfishing. However, I've added a little twist when we get outside all set." SpongeBob winked and quickly went to his pineapple.

"'kay." Patrick went to his rock.

**C-CRRREEEAK**

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward scanned the living room.

All the furniture, accessories, and even self-portraits were intact.

The octopus was relieved, he was stressed out about the condition of his belongings all week.

He went upstairs to his bedroom.

He changed back to just a brown short.

The octopus came back downstairs.

Squidward opened a door and looked at his backyard .

Before him was an abandoned garden. Most of the plants were in poor condition. However, all of them were still alive.

Squidward bit his lip. "Better than nothing, I guess."

He went back inside for his gardening utensils.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in his bedroom.

He finished changing to his normal attire.

The sponge decided to look out his window to see if Patrick was ready.

Through the corner of his eye he saw a pink dot in the distant horizon.

SpongeBob shifted his vision to directly look at the pink dot and squinted.

He couldn't recognize what is was. However, it was definitely coming closer.

A pause as SpongeBob waited.

He could now clearly see what the pink dot was.

It was a jellyfish.

SpongeBob ran to his treasure chest. He put his hand under the chest and took out the key.

He unlocked the chest.

The chest lifted open.

He snatched a telescope that was inside the chest.

SpongeBob went back to the window.

He quickly and forcefully opened the window.

SpongeBob put the telescope out of the opening of the window.

He observed the jellyfish...

By the direction it was heading, the pink creature was definitely going to fly around SpongeBob's neighborhood.

SpongeBob smiled.

The sponge immediately opened a door.

He ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV on the couch.

The realistic fish head was currently reporting the latest news.

SpongeBob dashed into the living room.

Gary jumped in surprise, he was glued to the tube for a long time.

SpongeBob picked up the shell-phone.

He inputted Patrick's phone number and put it close to his ear.

A pause.

"Hello?" Patrick picked up the phone on the other line.

"Patrick, this is super important! I just saw a jellyfish fly near my house! We might have a chance of catching it and if we do catch it, we'll get out first catch without even going to Jellyfish Fields! Come to my place ASAP!"

"Gotcha." Patrick put down the phone.

SpongeBob put down the phone.

The sponge waited.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick got out of his rock, he was wearing his normal clothes.

He ran to SpongeBob's pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Patrick pushed the door open, he entered the pineapple.

SpongeBob ran ahead of Patrick. "Follow me!" He signaled for Patrick to follow him.

They ran through the kitchen.

The two reached the set of green stairs.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran upstairs.

They entered SpongeBob's bedroom.

SpongeBob once again looked out through his telescope.

The jellyfish was still roaming around SpongeBob's house.

SpongeBob looked towards Patrick, he silently nodded.

"Should we go catch it now?" Patrick was becoming anxious.

SpongeBob shook his head. "Now here comes the twist. Just wait a minute."

Patrick stood still.

The sponge ran downstairs.

There were ridiculously loud sounds of the displacement of various objects.

Patrick heard "Sorry, Gary." and "My bad." He also heard the occasional "Oops."

The sea star was standing still and did completely nothing. It was one of his special talents.

Two vents, one in the shape of a square and one in the shape of a circle, popped out of the doorway to the stairs.

SpongeBob came back to the bedroom. "Sorry for the wait."

He stood next to Patrick. "On the count of three you go through the circle vent while I go through the square vent." SpongeBob pointed at the two vents for emphasis.

Patrick prepared himself like a track athlete.

SpongeBob did the same.

"Three." SpongeBob began the countdown.

Patrick zeroed in on the circle vent.

"Two."

Patrick grit his teeth.

SpongeBob made a serious face. 'I can't mess this up.'

"One."

The two leaned forward.

"GO!"

SpongeBob ran and slid through the square vent.

Patrick ran and slid through the circle vent.

Two yellow and pink torpedoes darted through the tubes.

SpongeBob and Patrick eventually saw light at the end of the tunnels.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob and Patrick came out from the other side of the square and circle vents.

The sponge and the sea star flew in the air.

Two pairs of yellow and pink hands grabbed two pieces of rope hanging from the ceiling.

Time resumed.

SpongeBob and Patrick slid down the two pieces of rope, the friction created considerable heat.

**T-THUD**

They touched down to the floor, the two were in the living room.

Gary was watching the whole spectacle.

An awkward pause, SpongeBob and Patrick's hands were burning.

They winced in pain and blew their hands.

Several seconds of blowing hands later...

SpongeBob returned to his expression. Patrick gritted his teeth again.

They ran towards the closet.

SpongeBob opened the door.

Inside was where SpongeBob put two jellyfishing nets and his glasses.

SpongeBob took his glasses and put them on. He grabbed a jellyfishing net.

Patrick grabbed a jellyfishing net.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick barged the door open. The two were like military soldiers ready to take on anything.

The jellyfish flew by peacefully.

"Man, I always wanted to do that!" SpongeBob made a wide grin, he felt like a badass.

The seriousness of their actions and expressions vanished entirely.

"That 'twist' thingy was awesome! I don't know how you made that." Patrick marveled at SpongeBob's feat of engineering.

Both SpongeBob and Patrick giggled.

The two faced the jellyfish.

"La la la la la la la la la la." SpongeBob and Patrick sung in unison. The two skipped as they chased the jellyfish. This was completely unexpected if you have seen SpongeBob and Patrick jellyfish before. However, it was a new strategy of theirs.

The two caught up to the jellyfish and skipped at the same pace as it. So far, the strategy was working.

"I think I've got it! Wait..." SpongeBob skipped closer to the jellyfish.

He jumped and tried to grab the pink top of the jellyfish.

Instead he grabbed the stingers of the jellyfish.

**ZZAP**

SpongeBob winced, he shook his hand in the air to get rid of the pain. "Ow."

"BUZZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish became angry.

It flew towards Patrick.

**ZZZAP**

It stung Patrick's back.

Patrick reeled in pain.

It flew towards SpongeBob.

**ZZZAP**

It stung SpongeBob's back.

SpongeBob tripped but put his hand on the ground to prevent his fall.

"Take cover!" SpongeBob dove to the ground.

Patrick did it also.

The two were one large heap of burnt pink and yellow flesh. They were in Squidward's lawn.

The jellyfish decided to fly away.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting on his sofa, he was in the living room. He had finished taking care of his garden.

Squidward was pondering about what to do next.

"Hmm... since SpongeBob and Patrick will annoy me again very soon... I think exploring Bikini Bottom with my bike would be best. I could actually get away from those two and be happy at the same time." A hand was on his chin.

He stood up from his sofa.

The octopus opened the door and walked back to his backyard.

He grabbed his bike which was leaning against the backside of the tiki.

Squidward went inside his tiki once again.

**SLAM**

He closed the back door.

**CRRREEEAK**

The octopus opened his front door.

He mounted on the bicycle.

Squidward immediately turned the petals. He aimed to get out of the neighborhood as fast as he can.

He noticed SpongeBob and Patrick in a burned heap. They had jellyfishing nets. The two were jellyfishing.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up. They brushed the sand off themselves.

"Hey Squidward, we're jellyfishing." SpongeBob finally announced what he was worried about since they left Goo Lagoon.

"Of course you are, bye now." Squidward pedaled the bike even faster.

"Wait! We made a net especially for you!" SpongeBob was running towards Squidward.

Squidward stopped pedaling his bike. He looked at SpongeBob with his brow raised.

SpongeBob then ran in another direction and entered his pineapple.

Loud sounds of fumbling.

SpongeBob came out with another jellyfishing net. "Do you want to come with us?" He called out to Squidward and smiled.

Squidward made a sarcastic smirk. "Really? Jellyfishing with you guys? Oh, that would be the best day ever in my book. I would love to go jellyfishing! I can't think of anything I'd like to do more on my day off than go jellyfishing with my two best friends SpongeBob and... uh..." He had a brain fart.

"Patrick." The sea star corrected Squidward.

"Right. But I can't. Bye bye." Squidward pedaled his bike again.

"Next time?" SpongeBob was almost begging.

"Oh sure, right! Whatever." Squidward vanished from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

"Like that'll ever happen." Squidward muttered to himself while pedaling his bike.

Squidward giggled.

S-S-S-S-S

A pause as SpongeBob and Patrick saw Squidward disappear from the horizon.

"You know, Patrick? It always seems like Squidward never has time for fun." SpongeBob spoke his observation.

"Maybe he doesn't like us." Patrick made an educated guess.

"No, are you kidding? We're his best friends." SpongeBob pointed out to Patrick.

"That's true." Patrick nodded.

"So, wanna go to Jellyfish Fields now?" SpongeBob pointed to the direction of Jellyfish Fields.

"Let's go!" Patrick walked ahead of SpongeBob.

The two walked towards Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward laughed by honking his nose as he pedaled on his bicycle.

"Jellyfishing." He continued to laugh. "Oh, I'll go." He continued to laugh. "I sure had them going." He kept laughing at his own comments.

Not far from Squidward was the jellyfish that stung SpongeBob and Patrick.

It was rapidly flying in the opposite direction of where Squidward's bike was going.

Squidward saw the jellyfish.

He stopped laughing.

His eyes widened.

His jaw dropped somewhat.

To Squidward's horror, the bicycle was pedaling straight towards the jellyfish.

And it was too late.

The jellyfish flew directly into Squidward's ajar mouth.

It was flying inside Squidward's mouth and it was between his jaws.

Squidward coughed and spit the jellyfish out.

The jellyfish floated for a bit as it regained its senses.

"Stupid jellyfish! Beat it!" Squidward lost his temper. He hit the jellyfish with his hand.

"BUZZZZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish became angry. It flew into Squidward's shirt.

**ZZZAP**

**ZAP**

**ZZAP**

**ZZAP**

It was stinging Squidward in the chest.

Squidward stopped pedaling his bike. He reeled in pain.

The bicycle had reached a fast-enough speed to keep going on its own.

The bike collided with a rock.

Squidward and the bicycle flew in the air.

**THUD**

They landed on the ground

**SMACK**

**ZAP**

**SLAM**

**ZAP**

Squidward and the bike were bouncing outside the road as he was being zapped.

Abruptly, the octopus felt no ground below him.

He noticed that he had fallen off a cliff.

"BARNACL-" Squidward screamed in mid-air before he was interrupted.

**CRRRAAASSH**

Squidward and the bicycle crashed to the ground.

The jellyfish got out of Squidward's shirt and flew away.

Squidward groaned. He was severely injured.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were moderately far from their homes.

They heard a loud **CRRRAAASSH**.

"Patrick, did you hear that?" SpongeBob was looking at his surroundings.

"Yeah. It sounded like someone broke their bike." Patrick spoke, his intelligence increased a little bit.

SpongeBob's eyes widened. "Uh oh."

The two noticed that there was a cliff with small tire tracks leading to the edge.

They slowly walked to the edge.

The jellyfish from before flew past them, it decided to leave them alone.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked down.

A crippled Squidward was laying on the ground below the cliff. His bike was in several broken pieces.

SpongeBob and Patrick's eyes widened in horror.

SpongeBob bit his lip. "That's gotta hurt."

"Yikes." Patrick slightly winced.

"Jellyfish Fields can wait! I'm calling 9-1-1!" SpongeBob began to run back to his pineapple.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was digging into the couch.

He had difficulty finding the remote, it unfortunately got inside there.

Gary hopped off the couch, he lost his patience.

The snail left the living room in search of the crow bar.

**SLAM**

The front door to the pineapple was barged open.

Gary turned around and immediately saw SpongeBob and Patrick running to the shell-phone, the two were in a state of panic.

SpongeBob grabbed the phone. He dialed 9-1-1.

He put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

An electronic voice.

"A n-neighbor of mine got into a biking accident and fell off a cliff. One of his l-legs is broken and he is crippled as of right now." SpongeBob tried his best to speak as calmly as possible.

An electronic voice.

"124 Conch Street."

An electronic voice.

"Alright."

SpongeBob put down the phone.

"They said Squidward will be taken to the hospital very soon." SpongeBob informed Patrick about his conversation on the phone.

Patrick crossed his fingers and sat down on the couch.

SpongeBob sat with him.

The two best friends anxiously waited for another phone call.

S-S-S-S-S

A blaring siren. It showed a bright red light.

An ambulance was driving at high speeds.

**SCREEEECH**

It stopped near Squidward's location.

The back doors opened.

Men and women in uniform rushed out holding a mobile tray large enough for a body.

They gently picked up Squidward, making sure not to further injure his crippled leg.

He was gently laid down on the tray.

The men and woman moved the tray quickly back into the ambulance.

The back doors were shut forcefully.

The siren blared and showed red light once again.

The ambulance drove off to the horizon. It was heading towards the nearest hospital.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sweating, he was incredibly nervous. The wait was killing him.

Patrick was mindlessly walking around in circles throughout the living room. He sometimes bumped into walls.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

SpongeBob made a wide smile, all signs of anxiety vanished physically and mentally.

He ran to the phone and put it to his ear.

"Yeah. Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Okay." SpongeBob was listening to an electronic voice, he was nodding.

SpongeBob put the phone down.

"Good news! Squid's safely recovering in the hospital. He should be back home very soon."

"If Squid's coming back home... shouldn't we do something for him?" Patrick's I. Q. doubled. However, he wasn't sure what to do when Squidward comes home. He shrugged his shoulders.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head.

"Maybe we should give Squidward a warm welcome back home as his two best friends. We'll be sure to give him his best day ever!" SpongeBob spoke his thoughts out loud.

"Good plan but... who are these two friends?' Patrick couldn't understand SpongeBob's vague context.

*laughs* "Us, silly. Anyways, we gotta get everything ready before Squidward comes home." SpongeBob had a sense of urgency.

"Roger that." Patrick made a thumbs up.

SpongeBob walked to his garage.

Patrick followed.

Gary continued to search for the crow bar.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the garage.

"Pat, can you flip that over and hold it up?" SpongeBob pointed at a large 'Happy Birthday' banner.

Patrick flipped the banner upside-down and held it up. "Like this?"

SpongeBob made a thumbs up. He was opening a bucket of black paint.

He took the lid off and dipped in a paintbrush.

SpongeBob painted 'Welcome Home' on the banner. "You can drop it now."

Patrick dropped the banner to the floor.

"Now we gotta cook something for Squidward... got any ideas, Pat?" SpongeBob was in the same situation as Patrick, he wasn't sure about what to do next.

"I don't know." Patrick shrugged his shoulders.

"Wanna search the kitchen for something then?" SpongeBob stepped out of the garage.

"Yep." Patrick stepped out right next to SpongeBob.

The two went to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the kitchen.

SpongeBob opened the refrigerator and looked at the food inside. "Ooh. Alphabet soup. Fits the warm welcome feeling, hehe." He intentionally made a joke.

He took out a box of alphabet soup.

He opened a cabinet and took out a pan.

He went back to the fridge and took out a gallon of water.

He poured some water on the pan.

The sponge opened the flavor packets in the box and put the powder into the water.

From the small packets of alphabet noodles, he took out certain letters that spelled out 'BEST DAY EVER'.

He put the letter noodles on the pan.

SpongeBob put the pan on the stove. He turned the switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

He began cooking.

Patrick was just standing there and watching.

S-S-S-S-S

The entrance doors to the hospital opened.

Squidward exited the hospital on a wheelchair, his crippled leg was in a normal position and was wrapped in gauze.

Squidward used his arms to move the wheelchair forward, he was going home.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was carrying the 'Welcome Home' banner on his shoulder.

SpongeBob was wearing protective gloves as he carried a hot bowl of alphabet soup, he finished cooking.

The two exited the pineapple, the door was already opened.

They entered Squidward's tiki.

Patrick hung the banner in the living room.

SpongeBob carefully set the bowl of soup on a table, not an ounce of liquid was spilled.

FLICK

Patrick turned the lights off.

His back went against the wall, he was close to the front door.

"Good idea, Pat." SpongeBob put his back to the wall, he was next to Patrick.

SpongeBob made the front door ajar, he peeked through the slight opening.

Squidward was moving in a wheelchair, his injured leg was patched up. He was heading for his house.

"Squid's back." SpongeBob whispered.

He closed the door.

A pause.

Dead silence.

They heard the wheels of the wheelchair move closer and closer.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stopped wheeling.

He opened the front door.

The lights were immediately turned on.

He saw a 'Welcome Home' banner hanging on the wall and a hot bowl of soup on a table.

"Welcome home, Squidward!" SpongeBob stood in front of Squidward.

"Merry Christmas!" Patrick jumped in the air. He was unaware of his stupidity.

"I should've guessed..." Squidward had a deadpan face.

"We're gonna make this your best day ever!" SpongeBob was in a jolly mood.

"More like my worst day ever. My broken leg is proof of that." Squidward turned around and wheeled out of his house.

"Well your best day's surely not gonna be out there." SpongeBob turned Squidward around and wheeled him back into his tiki.

Squidward groaned.

SpongeBob wheeled Squidward to the table with the hot bowl of alphabet soup. Patrick was standing near it.

"How about some soup on your best day ever?" Patrick pushed the bowl of soup closer to Squidward. He picked up a spoon.

Squidward looked at the bowl of hot soup.

The letter noodles spelled out 'BEST DAY EVER'. Smoke rose up from the liquid and stung Squidward's face. He knew right away that the soup was going to burn his throat to a crisp.

"I gotta get out of here!" Squidward attempted to stand up so he can limp his way out.

Patrick put a hand on Squidward's shoulder and forced him to sit back down. "I know you're really hungry but I don't want you to hurt your leg more. I'll feed for you instead."

The sea star scooped some soup up. "Here we go!" He slowly inched the spoon towards Squidward's mouth.

"Oh Neptune no no no no no NO NO **NO** **NOO**!" Squidward shrieked louder and louder as the spoon moved closer and closer, he was furiously shaking his head. The steam stung his face even more.

SpongeBob backed away by a few steps. He covered his eyes with a hand and crossed his fingers with another. "I hope that soup isn't too hot..." He whispered to himself.

Patrick heard the whisper.

The spoon stopped right in front of Squidward's mouth.

Squidward took a deep breath in relief.

Patrick put the spoon to his face. He noticed the steam rising from the soup and how warm the handle of the spoon was without even touching the soup.

"Oh, it's a little hot." Patrick took a deep inhale.

Squidward's eyes bugged out

Patrick blew hard.

The soup flew off the spoon.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob put a hand to his mouth and his eyes bugged out.

Squidward flinched his head back.

The soup touched Squidward's face.

Time resumed.

"**AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH**!" Squidward's voice pierced the air. It even slightly vibrated the tiki.

His head was crimson. Smoke rose up from the areas on his face where the soup made contact. Squidward covered his face with his hands. His body shook as the soup burned his skin.

What made things even worse was...

...that Patrick refilled the spoon with more of the deadly soup.

The sea star blew again, he wasn't going to settle for just one try.

The soup touched and scorched Squidward while his mouth was open and still screaming.

Squidward gurgled. His hands desperately grasped his burning throat.

He managed to spit the soup out. Squidward almost fell off the wheelchair.

Patrick made another refill.

He blew the liquid fire.

Out of all places to land, it landed on the gauze of Squidward's injured leg.

The gauze absorbed the soup and made the pain last torturously longer and brutally more painful.

"AAaaAaaahh..." Squidward struggled to scream as some soup was still in his throat. He collapsed to he floor, his hands were clutching his burned and broken leg. His entire body shook violently in extreme pain. "W-WHY D-DId Y-You hAve to DO THat?" He struggled to ask Patrick a question.

Patrick scratched his head.

SpongeBob watched in horror, it was as if he was watching a medieval execution.

The sponge decided to pull the bowl of soup away from Patrick. "I don't think soup is the best thing for him on his best day ever." SpongeBob actually managed to form words out of his mouth after witnessing the dire consequences of Patrick's ineptitude.

Squidward shakily sat back down on his wheelchair. Some but not all of the pain was gone.

SpongeBob was thinking of what to do next. "Hmmm..." A light bulb lit up in his head. "I'll be right back." SpongeBob ran upstairs.

A pause as Patrick and Squidward waited.

SpongeBob came back downstairs, he was holding a sheet holder and Squidward's clarinet.

"How about some music on your best day ever? Played on your very own clarinet." SpongeBob put the holder down, he grabbed the clarinet with both of his hands.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale.

He blew into the clarinet.

Not even a single note came out, it was just air.

An awkward pause.

"Sorry, my lips are a little dry." SpongeBob then wet his lips with his tongue for several seconds.

Squidward was pondering about how he was going to clean all that saliva off his clarinet.

"Ew." Patrick found what SpongeBob did to be somewhat disgusting.

SpongeBob took another deep inhale, he was preparing to blow into the clarinet again.

Patrick suddenly snatched the clarinet away from SpongeBob's grasp. "Music isn't the best either."

"But what is best is what we saved for last. The one sure-fire thing to make your best day ever THE best day ever! It's also a little something I've been waiting all day to do." SpongeBob made a wide smile. He took out his glasses and put them on.

"I'll get the nets." Patrick went outside and ran to SpongeBob's pineapple.

A pause.

He came back with three jellyfishing nets.

SpongeBob took a net.

The duo wheeled Squidward out of his tiki.

They were heading to...

S-S-S-S-S

Half an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

...'Jellyfish Fields' was what a sign said. The gate was already open.

The sun shined bright in the sky. It was beginning to be late-afternoon.

"Jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing, jellyfishing!" SpongeBob and Patrick chanted as they wheeled Squidward to Jellyfish Fields.

"I wonder how this is gonna turn out..." Squidward wasn't thrilled in the least about going jellyfishing.

"This is Jellyfish Fields, where wild jellyfish roam just waiting to be captured." SpongeBob introduced Squidward to Jellyfish Fields.

"And where I'm waiting to get injured." Squidward turned around and tried to wheel himself back home.

"No, no, Squid!" SpongeBob grabbed the wheelchair and prevented it from moving. "Over here!" SpongeBob turned the wheelchair and Squidward in tow towards Jellyfish Fields. "I know you're eager, Squid, but you don't even have your net. Pat, fix him up while I find him a good specimen."

"The last thing I want to do i-" Squidward muttered but he was interrupted.

"Firmly grasp it in your hand." Patrick placed the handle of the jellyfishing net on Squidward's hand.

Squidward was still suffering from the effects of the hot soup, his hand shook and was unable to grasp the handle. The jellyfishing net slid to the ground. "Patrick, I can't gra-"

Patrick picked up the jellyfishing net. "Firmly grasp it." Patrick put the handle on Squidward's hand once again.

It slid and fell to the ground.

Patrick hastily picked up the jellyfishing net, he lost his patience. "FIRMLY GRASP IT!" He jerked the handle of the net to Squidward's hand and squeezed the hand so it grasped the handle.

"Alright! Alright! STOOOP!" Squidward shrieked in pain.

Patrick released his hands.

Squidward was firmly grasping the jellyfishing net.

"That oughta do it." Patrick smirked.

"This will end soon, Squidward. This will end soon." Squidward muttered to himself in assurance.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was spying on a group of jellyfish behind a rock.

One jellyfish flew outside of the group and went elsewhere.

SpongeBob was carefully considering if the jellyfish was easy enough to capture for beginners. Eventually he nodded his head.

The jellyfish was flying above Squidward and Patrick.

"There's one in position!" SpongeBob stood up from the rock. He ran to Patrick.

The two stepped away from Squidward.

The jellyfish flew lower to the ground and was right in front of Squidward.

"You ready Squidward? Your first catch ever is right there!" SpongeBob pointed at the jellyfish.

Squidward crossed his arms, he was extremely grumpy after what happened to him

"Ready... set... GO!" SpongeBob counted down.

SpongeBob and Patrick screamed encouraging words at Squidward. They were jumping up and down.

Squidward didn't move, he kept crossing his arms.

The two stopped cheering, they noticed that Squidward wasn't wheeling his chair an inch.

"I think we gotta show him how it's done." Patrick didn't know that Squidward was being stubborn.

"I don't want to je-" Squidward was saying something but then became quiet and raised his brow.

SpongeBob and Patrick were dancing around and trying to catch the jellyfish, they were trying to teach Squidward how to catch the pink creatures.

The two missed and failed to catch the jellyfish each time.

"BUZZZZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish became irritated at SpongeBob and Patrick's behavior.

**Z-ZZZAAAAP**

It stung both SpongeBob and Patrick at the same time. They fell to the ground.

It flew towards Squidward.

**ZAP**

It stung Squidward on the nose and flew away.

"Why I oughta..." Squidward began to wheel after the jellyfish, he was pissed off.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up, they rubbed the areas where they got stung.

"BUZZZ BUZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish being chased by Squidward called for its group.

The group of jellyfish appeared out of nowhere. They charged their stingers with blue electricity. The group scanned the area and the first things they saw were...

...SpongeBob and Patrick.

The group of jellyfish flew towards the two best friends and-

**ZZZAP**

**ZZAP**

**Z-ZAP**

**ZZZAP**

**ZZZZAP**

**ZAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAP**

They stung the brains out of SpongeBob and Patrick.

The two fell down to the ground once again, their flesh was charred from the stings.

The group of jellyfish flew away from the area, they were heading to another location.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up. They saw Squidward chasing the jellyfish that stung his nose.

"Hey, look! Squid's doing it!" SpongeBob pointed at Squidward.

SpongeBob and Patrick then continued cheering Squidward on with encouraging words.

Squidward stayed focused as he chased the jellyfish.

The group of jellyfish from before floated around a large pink rock.

The jellyfish Squidward chased also stopped and floated around the pink rock.

Squidward caught the jellyfish with his net.

The octopus laughed by honking his nose.

SpongeBob and Patrick were clapping.

The pink rock suddenly began to move upward.

SpongeBob and Patrick suddenly stopped clapping and became quiet.

The jellyfish surrounding the rock moved upward as well.

The pink rock was a giant jellyfish.

Squidward was one of the most unfortunate creatures of the sea.

"This guy's good." Patrick marveled at Squidward.

"He's a natural!" SpongeBob smiled.

They foolishly kept cheering Squidward on.

Meanwhile, Squidward was desperately wheeling away from the giant jellyfish. This time, he was being chased and the giant jellyfish was chasing him.

**CRASH**

The wheelchair hit a rock and collapsed.

**THUD**

Squidward fell to the ground.

The giant jellyfish prepared its stingers with numerous amounts of blue electricity, the surrounding jellyfish backed away.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!**" Squidward screamed in terror as the stingers came closer.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP**

Squidward received an electrifying punishment one-hundred times worse than getting burned by the soup.

"Oooh." SpongeBob and Patrick watched the scene unfold. They sweatdropped.

"I think Squid needs to go to the hospital again." SpongeBob bit his lip.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking to Squidward's tiki, they were covered in bandages from the Sting Recovery area of Jellyfish Fields.

"Hey, Patrick. Well..." *sighs* "Thought today went... pretty well, don't you think?" SpongeBob was reflecting on what happened today.

"I had fun." Patrick smiled.

"Me too." SpongeBob smiled.

Out of nowhere, a whirring sound was heard and became increasingly louder.

"Here comes Squidward!" Patrick pointed towards the horizon.

SpongeBob shifted his vision to the horizon.

"Oh, great." SpongeBob became jolly.

Squidward was in a cast and was laying down on a stretcher. The sting from the giant jellyfish nearly zapped and injured his entire body. The stretcher assisted him in moving around without using his legs.

"Hey Squid! How about that..." SpongeBob walked up to Squidward.

Squidward ignored him and kept moving his stretcher towards his tiki.

"...best day ever?" SpongeBob was trying to catch up with Squidward.

"There's always tomorrow!" Patrick was optimistic.

BAM

BAM

BAM

Squidward tried to open the door by hitting it with his stretcher, he couldn't open the door normally due to his inability to move his limbs.

"Um... we're really sorry about what happened today, Squidward." SpongeBob attempted to apologize, he was being sincere.

BAM

BAM

BAM

Squidward kept hitting the door with his stretcher, he wanted to avoid SpongeBob and Patrick as much as possible.

"Um... we got you a present!" SpongeBob took something out of his pocket. It was a jar with the jellyfish that stung Squidward on the nose inside of it. "It's the jellyfish." SpongeBob made a wide smile.

Squidward turned his stretcher around and made a vicious glare.

"You know, from an hour ago!" Patrick actually had a decent enough memory to remember what happened.

"You're not still mad, are you?" SpongeBob made a nervous smile and sweatdropped as Squidward moved towards him with his stretcher.

"Yup, he's still mad." Patrick was the first to realize that Squidward wasn't friendly and wanted to kill them after the events that happened.

Squidward bumped his stretcher on the jar with the jellyfish on purpose.

"W-woah." SpongeBob lost his grasp of the jar.

A glass explosion.

Glass shards littered the floor, the lid suddenly began to float.

The jellyfish shook the lid off of itself. "BUZZZZZZZ!" It saw SpongeBob and Patrick and charged its stingers.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob gulped.

The two friends began to run as fast as possible.

**ZZAP**

**ZZAP**

The jellyfish chased them and stung them.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose inside his cast.

He turned his stretcher around and continued to hit the door.

**BAM**

**SLAM**

He managed to open the door.

Squidward went inside his tiki and closed the door by turning his stretcher around.

He moved his stretcher to another door.

**BAM**

**CRREEEAK**

Squidward only had to hit the door once.

His backyard garden came into view.

And most of the plants were eaten by the group of jellyfish from before.

The group of jellyfish saw Squidward and immediately fled from the garden.

Squidward screamed inside his cast in rage.


	7. A

**Chapter 7: Plankton!**

* * *

It was Tuesday evening.

Four metal spider legs were climbing up a dark surface.

They reached a windowsill and stood on top of it.

C-CLACK

The four metal spider legs retracted to a metal backpack.

A large eye with a red pupil was looking through the window. It focused on a small bottle with a rolled paper inside of it adjacent to a sleeping Mr. Krabs.

Two antennae made a slight shadow on the room as light from the moon came in.

Standing before the window was a small green plankton.

The plankton was holding a tiny remote. He pressed an even tinier button.

CTHUNG

A laser gun popped out of the backpack.

**ZAAAP**

It shot out a green laser that traced a small circle through the window.

The plankton dove into the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was snoring. He was dreaming about swimming in an ocean of money. The crustacean was wearing light blue pajamas.

The plankton tip toed with his stubby feet across the room.

The plankton eventually reached the bottle.

CTHUNG

Two spider legs came out of the backpack and grabbed the small bottle.

CTHUNG

Another two spider legs came out and helped the plankton run quickly towards a door.

The two spider legs pitter-pattered as they stepped on the green wooden floor.

Mr. Krabs turned to another side on his bed, he was still sleeping.

The plankton froze. He didn't want to wake Mr. Krabs up.

The bottle slipped out of the two spider legs' grasp. The plankton's halt was too abrupt.

**CLINK**

The bottle landed and rolled on the floor.

The plankton winced.

Mr. Krabs slowly opened his eyes, the sound woke him up. "H-huh?"

C-CLACK

The spider legs retracted to the backpack and the plankton laid down on the floor, he camouflaged his green body with the green floor. He closed his eye so it didn't blow his cover.

Mr. Krabs saw the bottle rolling along the floor.

He stood up and picked the bottle up. "Oh. It's just you." He laid down on his bed with the bottle in his claw. Mr. Krabs went back to sleep. The snoring resumed.

The plankton opened his eye and saw the bottle in one of Mr. Krabs' claws. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, the tiny creature didn't want to wake up Mr. Krabs again by his loud cursing.

C-CTHUNG

The four metal spider legs came back out.

The plankton walked towards the bed on all four legs.

He made a mighty leap thanks to the metal limbs.

The sharp limbs held on to one of the sides of the bed as the plankton landed.

He climbed his way up until he reached the top of the bed.

The plankton stood before the slumbering body of Mr. Krabs. The crab seemed to be a giant from the green creature's view due to his tiny size.

C-CLACK

The four limbs retracted.

The plankton began to climb up Mr. Krabs' body, he was heading for the glass bottle being held by his claw.

Mr. Krabs turned to the other side of the bed, the plankton's limbs were tickling him.

The plankton tumbled across Mr. Krabs' belly. "W-woah." The plankton whispered loudly, he didn't want to scream.

He rolled off Mr. Krabs' body and fell to the other side of the bed.

He gripped the sheets of the bed with his two hands, he was hanging over the edge.

The plankton pulled himself up, he was sweating.

He took a deep breath.

He climbed up Mr. Krabs' body once again.

The plankton reached the arm of the claw holding the bottle.

C-CTHUNG

The four limbs came out of the backpack.

One limb removed the bottle cap from the bottle.

And another took the rolled paper. The plankton actually wanted the paper and not the entire bottle.

The other limb put the cap back into the bottle.

Plop!

The plankton jumped down to the floor, landing on all four metal limbs.

He quickly ran to the door.

The plankton jumped to the knob.

**CREAK**

He nimbly twisted the door slightly open with the metal limbs.

Plop!

He jumped to the floor.

The plankton squeezed through the ajar door.

The green creature smirked as he ran down the hallway with the paper.

S-S-S-S-S

The bottle slipped off Mr. Krabs' claw.

**CLANK**

It collapsed to the floor.

Mr. Krabs opened his eyes, he became wide awake.

He noticed that the bottle was on the floor. "What now?" He picked it up.

On close examination, he realized that the bottle was empty.

"Something smells fishy..." Mr. Krabs' eyes narrowed.

The crab walked across the room.

**CRRREEEAK**

The crustacean opened the already ajar door and stepped into the dark hallway.

Mr. Krabs heard very light pitter-pattering.

He looked to his right.

For some odd reason, the rolled paper that was inside the bottle was floating near the floor and away from Mr. Krabs. The crustacean couldn't really see who or what was carrying it.

**FLICK**

Mr. Krabs flicked on a light switch that was right next to the door.

Light shined through the hallway. It revealed a tiny green plankton with a metal backpack. Four metal spider limbs were protruding from the backpack, two of them were carrying the rolled paper, the other two were quickly running across the floor.

"Ah. My age old nemesis." Mr. Krabs frowned and began to run after the plankton.

"Fish paste!" The plankton pressed a button on his remote.

CTHUNG

The laser gun popped out of the backpack.

**ZAP**

It shot out a bright green laser beam towards one of Mr. Krabs' feet.

The laser hit Mr. Krabs' foot and left a burn.

"Yeow!" Mr. Krabs hopped on one foot, he slowed down.

The plankton made an evil laugh. The spider limbs ran even faster to chase off Mr. Krabs. He entered and sprinted across the living room.

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs could no longer catch up with Plankton. He tripped and fell to the floor.

**ZAAAP**

A laser beam came out of the laser gun of the plankton's backpack. It traced a circle through the front door of Mr. Krabs' anchor.

The plankton dove through the hole.

It seemed that all was lost.

S-S-S-S-S

"Heheheheh. Looks like my schemes are finally working." The plankton made an evil smile, he was absorbed into his sudden success.

A large shadow in the form of a worm loomed over him.

The plankton looked up and his eye widened.

"**GRRRRRRR!**" An angry Mr. Bubbles gritted his teeth. His eyes were glaring at the tiny creature.

"**NEPTUNE DAMMI-**" The plankton exclaimed before...

Mr. Bubbles grabbed the plankton by biting him and shook the creature furiously in the air.

The worm's teeth crushed the metal backpack and the four limbs protruding from it. The rolled paper fell to the ground.

"**AaAaAaAaAaAahh!**" The green creature struggled to scream as he was shaken in the air.

**CRRRREEEEEAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the entrance to his anchor. He was smirking.

The crab picked up the rolled paper and made a pirate laugh.

"**CuRSe YOu KRaaAAaaBS!**" The plankton shook his fist as Mr. Bubbles kept shaking his body.

"Alright, Mr. Bubbles. You can stop now. I think the captive has already walked the plank." The crustacean showed an expression of satisfaction.

Mr. Bubbles spit the plankton to the ground.

The small creature shook the saliva off his body. He then immediately began to escape by running.

Mr. Krabs picked the plankton up by his antennae. He lifted the creature until they were face-to-face.

The crustacean shook his head. "Why in the world do you think you can steal a pirate's treasure when you don't even have a crew of your own? Or a SHIP of your own for that matter." Mr. Krabs pointed at the plankton's broken backpack.

The plankton's face became just as red as Mr. Krabs', he was full of rage.

Mr. Krabs twirled the plankton's body by his antennae and threw him far into the air.

"Good riddance." The crustacean went back inside.

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

The door was shut.

Mr. Bubbles went back to sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

A small plume of sand.

A pause.

It dispersed to reveal the plankton laying on the ground.

The plankton stood up and rubbed his head. *sighs* "Another day, another failure." He turned around and looked forward.

Before him was a giant metal bucket. 'Chum Bucket' was written in red paint above the entrance which consisted of a double door. The roof had its handle being held by a giant glove hand. The building directly faced the Krusty Krab which was across the street.

The plankton walked to the Chum Bucket.

Creak

Slam

He only needed to open one of the doors ajar so he could go inside.

S-S-S-S-S

The plankton walked across a dining room. Like the Krusty Krab, it had tables, seats, an ordering window; and all of those features. However, it was not pirate themed. The floor and walls were a cold and tasteless metal. The entire room seemed to be more like a laboratory instead of a place to eat.

The small creature opened another door ajar and went to the next room.

He was in a giant laboratory. The room had a giant computer, strange machines that ordinary people don't understand or use; and other tools that scientist use.

The plankton turned a switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

The giant computer turned on. Green text flew from bottom to top across the screen as the machine started up.

A pause.

A green line in the center of the screen appeared. The computer was 'silent' for a bit.

"Well, Plankton? You got the formula?" A female electronic voice came out of the computer. Like a seismograph, the intensity and length of the voice appeared in compressed green waves.

"No, Karen. I did not." The plankton had an expression of disappointment. His eye was looking down at the floor.

"As expected." Karen droned. Her asking the plankton that question and him failing to get the formula happened so many times that this became a usual event for her. The plankton rarely goes for more than two weeks without trying to steal the formula and he sometimes does it daily.

"Open up the journal." The plankton spoke a command he did almost every night. It was like a bedtime ritual.

"Opening the journal..." Karen obeyed the command.

A ridiculously long list of documents appeared on the screen, the plankton had written down his exploits ever since he and Mr. Krabs became rivals. The computer was showing the documents at the bottom of the list which were the most recent. The documents get older as the list goes up.

The plankton climbed up to the keyboard. "New document." He droned another command.

A blank page appeared on the screen.

The plankton quickly hopped from key to key, he was too small to use the keyboard with his hands.

* * *

Time:11:23 PM Date: February 5, 2008

Instead of infiltrating the Krusty Krab as I usually do, I decided to pay Krabs a visit to his house instead. I have discovered the location of his home after a week of spying and on the day after that (which is today), I decided to take action. However, when I actually entered the anchor, Krabs as always had the upper hand. The formula was right next to him as he slept and that made it very difficult to obtain the bottle. I nearly got caught in the act when the bottle fell to the floor by accident. Although I was able to snatch the paper out of the bottle and escape the room. For some reason, Krabs woke up and caught on to my plan. He attempted to chase me but that was when the laser gun became handy and I zapped him on the foot. Although I wasn't prepared to deal with his pet worm and he destroyed my backpack (CURSE YOU KRABS!). I was soon kicked out of his property.

Mission Result: FAILURE

* * *

"Save document." The plankton unemotionally stated a command.

The computer returned to the list of documents while adding the new document to the list.

"Good night, Karen." The tiny creature laid down on the perimeter of the keyboard.

"Good night, Plankton." Karen responded.

A pause.

The plankton fell asleep.

"Shutting down..." Green text flew across the screen once again as Karen shut down.

**FLICK**

Karen turned off the surrounding lights as she shut herself down. Only the green light from the computer's screen remained.

The screen turned black.

Darkness enveloped the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The next morning...

S-S-S-S-S

The sun was above the horizon. However, it wasn't at the highest point in the sky. Dawn had passed away a few hours ago.

SpongeBob was walking towards the Krusty Krab. After working in the restaurant for more than a week, he started to look forward to every day of flipping patties. He was truly enjoying the job he got employed in.

Squidward walked along with him. He had fully recovered from his crippled leg and the sting from the giant jellyfish. Mr. Krabs had to take his place as cashier for the last two days.

The octopus sighed at the thought of Mr. Krabs reducing his paycheck due to his absence.

They eventually stopped before the locked entrance of the building. The two put their employee hats on.

And right next to the entrance was Mr. Krabs, he got there earlier than SpongeBob and Squidward. He showed a serious expression and was folding his arms.

"Mr. Krabs? Why did you came so early?" SpongeBob was the first to notice Mr. Krabs. His boss always came last and it was unusual for him to come this early.

"Let me guess, you're mad because I couldn't come to work yesterday and the day before that." Squidward prepared himself for what Mr. Krabs was about to say.

"Mr. Squidward, I'm not here to scold you. However, I will cut your paycheck for me doing work that you were supposed to do." Mr. Krabs spoke solemnly.

Squidward groaned.

"But there is something else far more important right now. It was the reason I came early and waited for you two." Mr. Krabs maintained his serious expression.

"What was the reason?" SpongeBob became curious.

"Get to the point." Squidward was a little ill-tempered, he didn't take getting paycheck cuts from an already low-paying job lightly.

"Last night, Plankton attempted to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula at my own home. His tactics have become more aggressive than the average robberies that he had done countless times before. Instead of being incredibly obvious, he has become more covert and less detectable. Plankton must've found a sneaky way to find out where I live and snatch the formula without me even noticing. My lads, for the rest of the day you work here please keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity. Plankton wasn't able to get away with the formula this time because I was lucky enough to have Mr. Doodles on patrol when he tried to escape."

SpongeBob was scratching his head, he was heavily confused at Mr. Krabs' words. "Who's Plankton?"

"You're right, SpongeBob. I forgot to tell you about who Plankton is." Mr. Krabs took his key out and unlocked the door.

**CRRREEEAK**

The door opened.

SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, and Squidward went inside.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs sat down on a seat near a table.

SpongeBob sat down on a seat as well.

The two were across from each other.

"Plankton is the owner of the Chum Bucket which is right across the street." Mr. Krabs pointed across the street to where the Chum Bucket stood.

"I've never noticed that building before. Hehe." SpongeBob tried not to be too silly.

"For many years the Chum Bucket has competed with the Krusty Krab in the fast food business. Even going so far as to being strategically placed near our location when it was being built to attract potential customers. However, the Chum Bucket is nothing compared to our restaurant. We get far more profits than that bucket of junk across the street. This is why Plankton wants to get the Krabby Patty secret formu-" SpongeBob interrupted Mr. Krabs.

"What's the Krabby Patty secret formula?" SpongeBob mostly understood what Mr. Krabs said but was lost when he started to talk about the formula.

A long pause. Mr. Krabs was silent.

SpongeBob noticed that Squidward was standing near the table and was watching and hearing the conversation.

The sponge moved his lips without using his voice. 'What happened?'

'Wait for it...' Squidward also communicated silently.

The two were fortunate that the both of them could lip-read.

"SpongeBob..." Mr. Krabs began to speak.

SpongeBob stopped moving his lips and focused his attention back to Mr. Krabs.

"It's time to teach you what the Krabby Patty secret formula is. " Mr. Krabs had a dire demeanor.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled in wonder.

"Every Krusty Krab employee, even a person as lazy as Squidward, must be taught the formula." Mr. Krabs stood up.

SpongeBob stood up as well.

"Come to my office. Once you get there, we will begin your initiation to becoming a true employee." Mr. Krabs walked to his office.

SpongeBob followed.

CRRREEEAK

Mr. Krabs opened the door and let SpongeBob walk in first.

SLAM

He shut the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs locked the door with several locks, he put a key through each.

The crustacean put the key away and took out the bottle with the formula. "The paper inside this bottle has the ingredients for the Krabby Patty. You are already familiar with how the ingredients look like but now you must memorize the names of each ingredient."

SpongeBob took a deep breath, he waited for Mr. Krabs to reveal the ingredients.

"I shall now tell you the formula. The ingredients are not listed in order but you know how to make a Krabby Patty so that shouldn't be a problem." Mr. Krabs took the bottle cap out of the bottle.

He took the rolled paper out of the bottle.

SpongeBob's body was shaking, he couldn't contain his excitement.

The paper rolled down and revealed the ingredients to Mr. Krabs' eyes.

"Ingredients for the Krabby Patty. One sprinkle of sesame seeds. One seaweed bottom bun. One squirt of ketchup. One squirt of mustard. One squirt of mayonnaise. One sprinkle of relish. One slice of undersea cheese. Three slices of pickles. One slice of lettuce. Two slices of tomatoes. One slice of onion. Two pinches of sea salt. Three squirts of tartar sauce. And a seaweed top bun." Mr. Krabs was reading the ingredients out loud.

SpongeBob diligently memorized what Mr. Krabs said.

"The ingredients I have just told you are only most of the list. Plankton has only found out a few of these ingredients but could never find the right amounts to make a Krabby Patty. I will now tell you the ingredients for the patty, which make up the rest of the list. One ingredient that is definitely used for the patty and on this list is a pinch of chum."

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out in shock.

"Plankton already knows that the patty consists of chum but he doesn't know that there is another ingredient to the patty. And that ingredient is the Krabby sauce. That sauce is the secret ingredient of the Krabby Patty and is what makes the burger delicious, chum and the other ingredients only add to the flavor. The recipe of the sauce was passed down to me from countless generations of the Krabs family. Since the recipe of the sauce belongs to my family, that is why the sauce is called Krabby sauce and the burger is called a Krabby Patty. Employees of the Krusty Krab like you, SpongeBob." Mr. Krabs pointed at SpongeBob. "Are considered an extension of the Krabs family because you continue their legacy by making Krabby Patties and serving them at expensive prices which also endures the piracy of older Krabs generations. My lad, you will now have the gift of knowing what the Krabby sauce is made of."

SpongeBob had a deadpan face, was standing straight, and gave Mr. Krabs eye contact; he was paying his upmost respect.

"The ingredients for Krabby sauce are: flour, barnacle shavings, land salt, turmeric, King Neptune's Poseidon powder, and the most important ingredient for both Krabby sauce and Krabby Patties: love." Mr. Krabs spoke the ingredients out loud.

SpongeBob carefully memorized each ingredient.

"The Krabs family and King Neptune made a deal a long time ago where King Neptune gave the special powder he uses to make dishes of his own to them and they give him Krabby Patties in return. To keep up the deal, the Krusty Krab has to unfortunately give a tiny part of its profits to King Neptune so he can use the money as he wishes. But even if all of those conditions are met, a Krabby Patty's taste can never be at its greatest potential without the love and passion of the people who make it. It's those people that make sure they memorized the ingredients and cook the patties to the best of their ability that make a Krabby Patty always taste so good."

SpongeBob slowly nodded his head. He took ever word seriously.

"Squidward, however, is not one of those people. That's why he can't cook Krabby Patties." Mr. Krabs smirked.

They both laughed.

The crustacean rolled the paper and put it back into the bottle. He sealed the bottle with the bottle cap. "You must now vow an oath of secrecy-" Mr. Krabs stopped speaking.

SpongeBob put a hand over his heart. "I vow with all my heart and soul as a Krusty Krab employee to not give or tell anyone the Krabby Patty secret formula if they want to know or obtain it for malicious or questionable reasons. If I do tell or give it to them for the reasons stated before, Mr. Krabs will fire me and ban me from entering the restaurant."

A pause. Mr. Krabs was searching for words to say.

He eventually found them. "You pretty much got the gist of it. Although banning you from the restaurant is a bit excessive, I will abide by what you just said."

"Is it over?" SpongeBob was wondering about how much time they were in the office.

"It's over, lad. When we come out of my office, I'll continue to tell you more about Plankton."

"Roger that, sir." SpongeBob nodded.

Mr. Krabs took the key out and unlocked all the locks on the door.

**CRREEEEAK**

The two stepped out to the dining room.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs shut the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was napping on the boat with the cash register.

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs sat down on the same table, they were once again across from each other.

"As I stated before, the Krusty Krab is far more successful than the Chum Bucket. That is why Plankton wants to get the Krabby Patty secret formula. If he gets the formula, he can use his advanced technology to create a burger that is superior than that of the Krabby Patty. The Chum Bucket would thrive and the Krusty Krab would go out of business. And that means you won't have a job." Mr. Krabs pointed at SpongeBob.

The sponge's face turned pale, he was terrified that such a possibility could exist.

"And you know what's even worse? Who knows what Plankton could do with all that money. If he's that desperate to get the secret formula, he also probably desperate to take over the world." Mr. Krabs was fear-mongering at this point.

SpongeBob shook in his seat, he was wracked with anxiety.

"Alright lads, BACK TO WORK!" Mr. Krabs shouted an order.

SpongeBob ran to the kitchen.

Squidward woke up.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the afternoon.

Creak

Plankton opened the door. He walked out of the Chum Bucket.

Slam

The creature shut the door.

He was carrying a repaired metal backpack.

"I'll see how this turns out." Plankton made an evil giggle. He spent all morning coming up with another scheme.

C-CTHUNG

The four spider limbs protruded from the backpack.

Plankton quickly ran with the metal limbs towards an unsuspecting customer heading to the Krusty Krab.

He leaped and landed on the customer's back. The landing was gentle enough for the customer to not notice.

The customer entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The moment the customer stepped into the Krusty Krab, Plankton jumped off his back.

He landed on a window.

With the assistance of the spider limbs, Plankton nimbly climbed the wall.

The movement created a light pitter-pattering. However, the conversing of the customers in the Krusty Krab was loud enough to make them not hear the sounds.

Plankton eventually reached the roof and looked from above.

He saw the same customer order a Krabby Patty.

"Perfect." Plankton smirked.

S-S-S-S-S

"One Krabby Patty for table two. SpongeBob, I don't have the whole day." Squidward looked at the line of customers in front of him.

He wrote an order on a sticky note and put it on the metal ring of the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oui, oui. Un Krabby Patty, Monsieur. First, les patty." SpongeBob was cooking patties in the kitchen. He was faking a French accent.

He flipped a completely cooked patty to the air with his spatula.

SpongeBob turned his head sideways above the grill.

The patty landed in one of his holes.

He grabbed the other ingredients for the Krabby Patty, they were near the stove.

"Come on, SpongeBob!" Squidward looked at SpongeBob from the ordering window, he was becoming impatient.

"Next, les ingredients." SpongeBob threw the ingredients to the air. "Ah, oui!" He hurriedly moved his body so all the ingredients landed in his holes.

"Les mustard." The sponge squeezed some mustard into one of his holes.

"Les ketchup." The sponge squeezed some ketchup into another hole.

"Les quit fooling around, where's my Krabby Patty?" Squidward became irritated at SpongeBob's foolish behavior.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton jumped off the roof and landed on the dusty floor of the storage area, the place was scarcely used. He was right above the kitchen.

CTHUNG

A laser gun came out of the backpack.

**ZAAP**

A bright green laser came out of the gun and traced a hole through the ceiling.

Plankton dove in.

He landed on top of the closet.

The small creature watched SpongeBob make a Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

"Les hold on a second!" SpongeBob shook his body, he mixed the ingredients inside his head into a Krabby Patty.

"And voila!" He put a hand into a hole and took out a freshly made Krabby Patty.

"Finally." Squidward rolled his eyes.

SpongeBob walked to another table in the kitchen to find a plate for the Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton used the metal limbs to walk hastily across the walls of the kitchen.

SpongeBob took a plate off the pile of plates on the table.

Time slowed.

The green creature timed his jumping just right.

SpongeBob was putting the Krabby Patty on the plate.

Plankton leaped to the plate.

The Krabby Patty concealed his presence just as he landed.

Time resumed.

SpongeBob didn't notice that Plankton was under the Krabby Patty.

He quickly ran back to Squidward and put the Krabby Patty under the octopus's nose. It looked like he pulled the Krabby Patty from Squidward's nose. "It's under your nose!" SpongeBob laughed.

Squidward pretended to laugh. "You're killing me SpongeBob! Ha ha ha… you really are." The octopus was bitterly sarcastic.

"Look at it, Squidward. Mr. Krabs' gift to all of Bikini Bottom, the Krabby Patty..." SpongeBob looked at the burger he was holding with wonder.

"Okay, give it to me." Squidward put his hand out so he can receive the Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

"Time to take action..." Plankton spoke under the Krabby Patty. He made the metal limbs lean down.

Plankton made a mighty jump to one side of the wall, his hands grabbed on to the Krabby Patty right before his feet left the plate.

S-S-S-S-S

"Huh? Where did it go?" SpongeBob frantically searched around the kitchen for the missing Krabby Patty.

"Come on SpongeBob, stop it!" Squidward became frustrated.

"I swear I'm not doing anything." SpongeBob looked to a side of the wall and noticed that the Krabby Patty was sticking on it.

"Aha!" SpongeBob smiled and ran to the Krabby Patty, he jumped up and tried to

grab it.

The Krabby Patty suddenly jumped again and landed on the floor. It crawled to the exit of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made a metal limb lift up.

Creak

He opened the door and exited the kitchen with the patty.

S-S-S-S-S

The Krabby Patty accelerated towards the exit of the Krusty Krab.

SLAM

SpongeBob barged the ajar door open. "Mr. Krabs! The Krabby Patty is haunted!"

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard SpongeBob's scream.

He put down the money he was counting.

The crustacean stood up from his desk. "Haunted patty, ay? That sounds awfully familiar..."

Mr. Krabs walked to the door and opened it.

S-S-S-S-S

The red crab ran from his office and chased the 'haunted' Krabby Patty.

He pierced the burger with one of his stubby feet.

S-S-S-S-S

"Tartar sauce!" Plankton looked up and saw a red, stubby foot making a hole through the patty.

The green creature could no longer move the Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs lifted up his foot and shook the squished patty off of it.

Below him was a small plankton with a metal backpack that had four metal spider limbs protruding from it. A familiar sight from last night.

"Avast, ye patty pirate! This is no ghost. This is…" Mr. Krabs took a magnifying glass out of his pocket and put it above the tiny creature. He inspected the robber to see who it was.

The magnifying glass showed a close-up of Plankton's face. "Plankton! Stealing me booty!"

SpongeBob walked up to the scene.

"Hear me Krabs. When I discover your formula for Krabby Patties, I'll run you out of business. I went to college!" Plankton made a big threat for his small size.

Mr. Krabs grabbed Plankton by the antennae and lifted him up.

"Hey! Let me go!" Plankton shook his arms and legs in the air.

C-CLACK

The metal limbs retracted to the backpack.

"Oh I'll let you go, squirt." Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob, he pointed at the plate that SpongeBob was holding. "Can I have that?"

"Yessir." SpongeBob gave Mr. Krabs the plate that used to hold the Krabby Patty.

"On a flying saucer!" Mr. Krabs laughed. He dropped Plankton on the plate.

The crustacean was preparing to throw Plankton out of the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob walked away and opened one of the front doors so there was room for Plankton to be thrown.

"Back to the Chum Bucket with you!" Mr. Krabs threw the plate and Plankton in tow across the dining room.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, KRABS!" Plankton yelled as he spun on the plate and was being flown.

Plankton and the plate flew through the open doorway.

SpongeBob closed the door. "I didn't know Plankton was tiny. Hehe." He giggled for a bit.

"That's why I said to watch out. Due to his size and intelligence, he can be unexpected and unpredictable." Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob was looking through the door and at the Chum Bucket, he was watching Plankton fly towards the building.

"Back to work!" Mr. Krabs commanded.

"Aye, aye sir!" SpongeBob walked back to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob tossed a wet towel into an empty and clean trash can, he was finished with cleaning the tables.

Squidward walked out of the kitchen after washing his hands, he was finished with throwing out the trash.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs walked out of his office after putting the money away, he was finished with counting today's profits.

"Closing time!" Mr. Krabs barked an order.

"Finally." Squidward quickly exited the Krusty Krab.

"Okay, Mr. Krabs. See you tommorow!" SpongeBob was cheerful as always. He walked out the door.

"Good night, me boy!" Mr. Krabs exited the restaurant and locked the door.

The crustacean walked to the horizon and vanished.

SpongeBob was alone. Squidward was jogging ahead of him, every second of not hearing or seeing SpongeBob was precious to the octopus.

The sponge kept smiling as he walked at a normal pace back to his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was on the roof of the Chum Bucket, he was spying on someone with a telescope.

The lens of the telescope was facing a walking SpongeBob.

'So he's the Krusty Krab's newest employee. Out of all the newbies I've seen the Krusty Krab hire, this guy has to be the most innocent and gullible. Maybe pulling off a simple trick will make him spill the formula.' Plankton smirked at his thought.

He put the telescope away and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Plankton opened the front door and exited the Chum Bucket.

Slam

He closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked past the Chum Bucket. It was only more than thirty seconds since he started to walk back home.

Plankton ran past the sponge.

The tiny creature halted and turned around, he stood in front of SpongeBob.. "Psst... young man." Plankton whispered.

Plankton's small size and the darkness of the night made it difficult for SpongeBob to see him.

SpongeBob was looking at his surroundings to see where the voice was coming from. "Who's that?"

"Yes, over here. Come on boy, a little closer." Plankton motioned with both of his hands for SpongeBob to walk forward.

Although SpongeBob couldn't see Plankton motion with his hands, he stepped forward anyway.

"Closer..." Plankton continued to motion for SpongeBob to walk forward.

SpongeBob walked a few steps.

"Not that close!" Plankton winced as SpongeBob's shoe stepped forward in front of him. "YEOW!' Something was pressing on Plankton's foot and created pain.

SpongeBob felt something under his shoe. He lifted that particular foot up.

Plankton was hanging off the shoe while one of his feet were flattened under the sole of SpongeBob's shoe, he had stepped on Plankton's foot.

"You blasted barnacle head! I mean... hi." Plankton prevented himself from releasing an angry outburst.

SpongeBob peeled Plankton off his shoe and put him on his other hand.

"Plankton? What do you want?" SpongeBob was curious about why Mr. Krabs' archenemy was interested in him.

"I just want to talk. You could say we're friends, right?" Plankton was smiling.

"Um... no." SpongeBob wouldn't consider people who try to run the Krusty Krab out of business as friends.

"Acquaintances?" Plankton was determined at finding common ground with SpongeBob.

"No." SpongeBob awkwardly spoke and shook his head.

"Well, we're both invertebrates. Aren't we?" Plankton kept smiling.

"I... guess so." SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders.

"You see? Everything works out. I have something for you. I've been keeping it in my secret compartment." Plankton took out a shiny golden spatula from his pocket. "Ding! Sparkle, sparkle." He spoke in unison with the sparkles of the spatula.

"Wow! A golden spatula!" SpongeBob took the spatula that Plankton was offering, the golden bait had lured him into Plankton's trap.

The sponge flipped the golden spatula to the other side. On the other side of the spatula's handle was an inscription that said 'SPONGEBOB'.

"And it's even got my name on it." SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"It's a gift! A gift from a friend." Plankton hugged SpongeBob's thumb. "Friends give each other gifts. And tomorrow is my birthday." He put a small birthday hat on his head and SpongeBob's thumb. "And you know what I'd like more than anything in the whole wide world?"

"A booster seat?" SpongeBob made a wild guess.

"Booster seat?" Plankton took off both hats and put them away. "Hot dog! I mean, no. What I want for my birthday from you my friend, is one of those... tender... delicious... KRABBY PATTIES!" Plankton got carried away while fantasizing about those particular burgers.

SpongeBob gasped and dropped Plankton to the ground.

"You just want to be friends so you can get your hands on a Krabby Patty! And I bet it's not even your birthday tomorrow." SpongeBob figured out Plankton's scheme.

Plankton facepalmed. "Gee, and I thought you were stupid."

"You'll never get a Krabby Patty from me!" SpongeBob began to run back home. "Even if we are friends! Never, never, never, never!"

SpongeBob vanished from the horizon.

"Oh, I'll get a Krabby Patty and you're going to hand-deliver it to me personally! You weak-minded fool!" Plankton made an evil laugh and walked back to the Chum Bucket.

Creak

He opened the door and went inside.

Slam

He closed the door.

Plankton entered his laboratory.

The metal backpack was leaning on one side of the wall.

He took the backpack and snatched a screwdriver along the way.

Plankton laid the backpack on a metal table.

He took the screwdriver and unscrewed the bolts on the backside of the backpack. The contents were revealed as the bolts were taken off the small and lightweight device.

Plankton walked around the laboratory and grabbed other tools and machine parts.

He walked back to the metal backpack and began to make tweaks. He quickly switched from one tool to the next and added machine parts here and there.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

The lights in the bedroom were turned off.

Gary slithered to the pile of newspapers.

SpongeBob walked into the room, he was in his underwear.

He laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. "Good night, Gary."

"Meow." Gary then closed his eyes and slept.

SpongeBob closed his eyes and fell to the sweet darkness as well.

S-S-S-S-S

There were several beeps and boops.

Plankton nimbly hopped from one key to the next.

On the screen of the computer were numerous lines of code for a certain program.

Plankton halted as he landed on the final necessary key. He looked up to the screen and showed an expression of satisfaction. "Finished."

"Program named 'Mind Control' has been saved." Karen droned in her electronic voice.

"Now all I have to do is transfer this program to my new and improved backpack." Plankton jumped down to the floor.

He rummaged through the laboratory and found a large USB cable.

Plankton connected one end of the cable to the computer's USB port while he connected the other end to a recently built-in USB port on the backpack.

"Transfer 'Mind Control'." Plankton commanded.

"Transferring..." Green text flew across the screen as the computer transferred the program to the backpack. The program was enormous and much time was needed to move such a large chunk of data.

Plankton waited for a few minutes.

"'Mind Control' has been successfully transferred to device labeled 'Backpack'." Karen reported on what happened.

Plankton walked to the backpack.

He grabbed a remote that was laying on the table.

The small creature put the backpack on his shoulders; it was heavier than last time but nonetheless still manageable to be carried.

Plankton pressed a button on the remote.

Several electric wires came out of the metal backpack as if they were tentacles.

"Perfect..." Plankton rubbed his hands and thought of all sorts of evil schemes he could pull off with the device.

He pressed the same button on the remote.

The wires retracted.

Plankton pressed another button.

Rocket boosters came out of the backpack; the device had became a jetpack.

The boosters turned on and left two fiery trails.

Plankton exited the laboratory as the rockets made him fly in the air.

He soon left the Chum Bucket and headed elsewhere in the night sky.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton landed in front of SpongeBob's pineapple.

The rocket boosters stopped emitting fire and retracted to the backpack.

Plankton looked up to the metal door that was the entrance to the pineapple. Due to his size, opening doors such as that one would pose a problem.

A laser gun popped out of the backpack.

ZAAP

A bright green laser came out of the gun and traced a circle through the door.

Plankton squeezed himself through the hole, the traced circle was uncomfortably small.

S-S-S-S-S

The green creature entered the living room. All the lights in the pineapple were turned off and it was somewhat dark.

Plankton silently tip-toed across the room and entered the stairwell.

He hopped from one step to the next, his feet sounded like feathers as he landed on each step. The last thing Plankton wanted to do was wake up SpongeBob.

He stopped in front of another metal door.

ZAAP

The laser gun fired another bright green laser and traced a circle through the door.

Plankton dove in.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton smirked at the sight of SpongeBob sleeping on his bed. "SpongeBob, you will be mine!" He made a quiet evil laugh.

The small creature walked up to SpongeBob's bed.

Four metal spider legs came out of the backpack.

Plankton effortlessly climbed up the bed.

The metal limbs retracted.

Plankton walked into one of SpongeBob's holes.

S-S-S-S-S

A dark, yellow cavern.

Plankton was walking through the twists and turns of the holes of SpongeBob's body.

"It should be in here... but where?" Plankton was trying to find out where the cranium was located.

He accidentally bumped into something that was pink and squishy.

"Where? Oh..." Plankton was standing in front of SpongeBob's brain. "This will be the beginning of the end!" He took out the remote and raised his finger to press a button.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob felt a ticklish sensation inside his head.

He rolled to his left while still sleeping.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's cranium suddenly tilted.

Plankton tripped as SpongeBob rolled left.

He lost his grip of the remote as he fell.

The remote rolled down SpongeBob's cranium.

"Come back here!" Plankton ran after the remote.

S-S-S-S-S

The sensation inside SpongeBob's head became even more ticklish.

SpongBob rolled to the right, his slumber was being disturbed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's cranium tilted again.

The remote fell to the other side...

SMACK

...and hit Plankton in the face.

S-S-S-S-S

The tickling sensation stopped.

SpongeBob laid down on his back and resumed to peaceful sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton wobbled

"That's it!" Plankton lost his temper.

He peeled the remote off his face.

His other hand dug into his pockets and took out duck tape.

Plankton taped the remote to his metal backpack, it was right next to his head.. "Yes, yes, that's grand." He smirked again. "And now, for my very elaborate and college-educated plan." He pressed a dark red button on his remote.

The electric wires came out of the backpack and connected to SpongeBob's brain.

A joystick and two red and blue buttons protruded from the remote as if the gadget became a video game controller.

Plankton took the backpack off his shoulders and put it on the spongy floor so he could easily access the remote.

"And now it's time for a little wakey-uppy." He pressed the blue button.

An electric pulse was sent from the backpack to the wires, the electric pulse then went from the wires to the brain.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes flew wide open. "Morning already?"

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the red button and moved the joystick.

He was giggling.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's legs unnaturally turned to a side of the bed and he fell down.

"Maybe my legs are sleeping." The sponge had no clue of what was happening.

S-S-S-S-S

The cranium shook.

Plankton nearly fell down.

"I should be more careful next time." He regained access to the remote.

He pressed the blue button and moved the joystick in a certain direction.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob immediately stood up and walked like a robot towards a door.

"I… I feel a little funny today." SpongeBob noticed that he was walking in a strange manner.

S-S-S-S-S

"I have you now!" Plankton pressed both red and blue buttons and moved the joystick in a circle.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the door and walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton leaned the joystick forward as much as possible.

S-S-S-S-S

"Time for a well-balanced breakfast." SpongeBob abruptly turned towards a wall and walked straight to it.

SLAM

CRASH

He walked straight through the wall.

CLANK

CRASH

SpongeBob walked through the fridge. A loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and an egg carton were on top of his head. "This isn't what I had in mind."

He left a tunnel through the wall and fridge in the shape of his body.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary woke up.

He noticed that there were loud sounds coming from the kitchen.

He slithered through the open doorway and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a door and entered the living room.

His pants was on the couch.

"Let me just grab my pants." SpongeBob's head turned towards the pants.

His legs kept moving in the same direction.

"I guess I'm not wearing any pants today." SpongeBob faced forward.

He walked towards a wall.

SLAM

CRASH

SpongeBob walked through the wall.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary slithered into the living room.

"Meow." He saw SpongeBob leaving the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"I guess I'm not using the door either. See you later Gary! ...I guess." SpongeBob was walking away from the pineapple.

"Meow." Gary made a loud meow.

"You're right, Gary! There is something wrong with me!" SpongeBob noticed that he was walking towards Squidward's tiki. "Squidward! Squidward! Wake up! I need some help!" SpongeBob was desperately calling for Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward woke up due to SpongeBob's yelling.

"Be quiet, SpongeBob!" Squidward became ill-tempered.

S-S-S-S-S

"Squidward! Help!" SpongeBob continued to yell for Squidward's assistance.

He was walking closer and closer to the wall of the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

SLAM

CRASH

Squidward heard the loud sounds, his eyes widened. "What in Neptune was that?"

He exited the bedroom and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room.

SpongeBob was walking robotically across the room, he had went straight through the wall of the tiki.

"Heeelllp!" SpongeBob saw Squidward and screamed for help.

"SpongeBob! What are you doing? I'm talking to you! SpongeBob! SpongeBob, are you mad?" Squidward became angry and confused at the same time.

SpongeBob kept walking.

**SLAM**

**CRASH**

He walked through the wall on the opposite side.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a button on the remote.

A connected microphone flew out of the backpack.

Plankton pressed the joystick down.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stopped walking and stood still. "I... c-can't move... I'm... stuck." He tried to move his arms and legs but they wouldn't move an inch.

"You got some explaining to do." Squidward walked up to SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a red button on the remote.

He moved the joystick in a semicircle.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's head turned around like an owl, he faced Squidward. "W-what's happening?" The sponge was becoming anxious.

Squidward dropped his jaw in disgust and shock.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton grabbed the microphone and began speaking.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob suddenly lost control of his mouth and facial muscles.

His face slowly changed to show a dire expression.

"Shut your mouth, you mediocre clarinet player." SpongeBob's lips moved and he was talking. Strangely, the voice was not SpongeBob. It was as if the sponge was possessed by a spirit.

"Mediocre?" Squidward raised his brow. SpongeBob would never talk to him like that.

"You pretentious little insignificant artist. Your snivelly creations are worth less than a protozoan's waste!" SpongeBob's personality was completely different, he became cold-hearted.

SpongeBob regained control of his face. "Something must be wrong with my brain!" SpongeBob's eyes rolled back.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes looked inside his cranium.

He saw Plankton and a backpack with electric wires connecting to his brain.

*gasps* "Plankton! What kind of friend are you?" SpongeBob discovered the culprit of his strange behavior.

"You never liked me anyway. You wouldn't even come to my birthday party!" Plankton spoke through SpongeBob's mouth with the microphone.

"Get out of my head! Leave my brain alone!" SpongeBob was begging for Plankton to desist his actions.

"Never! Never!" Plankton spoke through SpongeBob's mouth and made an evil laugh.

Plankton moved the joystick in a semicircle.

SpongeBob's head turned around 180 degrees and was back to normal.

Plankton pressed the blue button.

SpongeBob's eyes rolled back to their normal positions.

Plankton leaned the joystick forward.

SpongeBob resumed his walking.

S-S-S-S-S

CRRREEEEAK

The rock opened.

Patrick jumped to the ground. He woke up from the loud crashing sounds that were coming from outside.

SLAM

The rock closed.

Patrick was walking towards SpongeBob's pineapple until he noticed a hole on the exterior that was in the shape of SpongeBob's body.

He looked towards Squidward's tiki and saw two holes that went through the house with the same shape.

He walked up to Squidward who was nearby. "What happened?"

"Plankton has apparently put SpongeBob under mind control and is probably taking him to the Chum Bucket. What Plankton might do could make SpongeBob lose his job." Squidward explained to Patrick. It wasn't like the octopus was going to do anything, SpongeBob not working in the Krusty Krab would make one aspect of his life more bearable.

"He's gonna hurt my buddy!? I don't know who Plankton is but if he messes with SpongeBob he's messing with me too! Where did SpongeBob go?!" Patrick became enraged, his voice sounded like he was nearly commanding Squidward to answer the question.

Squidward pointed towards the direction where the holes went. "That way."

"SpongeBob, I'm coming to save you!" Patrick ran to that direction and vanished from the horizon.

Squidward made a laugh by honking his nose. "I hope for the best." The octopus hoped for Plankton to successfully steal the formula, things would be more peaceful at the Krusty Krab.

A pause.

He then realized that Plankton stealing the formula would make the Krusty Krab go out of business and he would be jobless as well.

"Patrick, wait for me!" Squidward ran after Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was heading straight for the Krusty Krab.

"Toot toot! How about a little take-out?" Plankton spoke through SpongeBob's mouth.

"No, never!" SpongeBob tried his best to resist Plankton's control over his body.

**SLAM**

Glass shattered and littered the ground.

**CRASH**

Some wood became broken and littered the floor.

SpongeBob walked through the wall and entered the Krusty Krab.

He opened a door and went inside the kitchen.

"Don't think I don't know how to cook a Krabby Patty. I've trespassed into this establishment enough times to know some things." Plankton's voice spoke.

SpongeBob turned on the grill.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton had successfully made a Krabby Patty without SpongeBob's assistance. He would've cooked one himself if not for the lack of ingredients and his small size.

SpongeBob held the Krabby Patty with his two hands and walked out of the Krusty Krab through the same hole. The sponge's body was forced to walk towards the Chum Bucket.

Plankton made an evil laugh inside SpongeBob's cranium.

"You can't fool me Plankton, you want the Krabby Patty secret formula!" SpongeBob was aware of Plankton's ultimate goal.

"You are going to hand it over to me personally!" Plankton spoke through SpongeBob's mouth.

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the Chum Bucket.

"No, no, no!" SpongeBob yelled in desperation.

He was walking through the empty and metal cafeteria.

"There's no one here..." SpongeBob's eyes looked around.

Plankton groaned inside SpongeBob's skull. "Don't remind me."

SpongeBob was walking closer and closer towards a double door.

"Brace yourself, SpongeBob. This is my laboratory!" Plankton made his signature laugh.

"I must fight!" SpongeBob wasn't going to give up. He couldn't bear to watch himself lose his job and make the Krusty Krab permanently closed.

He stretched his head and bit into the side of the double door, he was going to do anything at this point.

The rest of his body opened the door and kept walking into the laboratory.

SpongeBob's head wouldn't budge.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh no, no, no, no." Plankton shook his head while smirking.

He pushed the joystick forward.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's teeth slipped off the side of the double door and his head went inside the laboratory.

The sponge halted and stood uneasily for a bit but he soon regained his balance and continued walking.

"There, you see how much easier it is when you help, friend? How do you like my analyzer? It tells the ingredients of whatever I put into it." Plankton spoke inside SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stopped before a machine with a giant funnel.

"Watch and learn. Karen! Bring in the robot arm." Plankton commanded the computer through SpongeBob's mouth.

A robot arm came out of the ceiling while holding some seaweed.

The metal limb dropped the seaweed into the funnel of the analyzer.

ZZAP

The seaweed was zapped inside the funnel.

Green text flew across the computer's screen and several beeps and boops were heard as Karen analyzed the seaweed.

A pause.

"Seaweed. 50% sea, 50% weed." Karen's electronic voice was heard.

"Isn't that just the name of the plant?" SpongeBob became curious.

"I can simply ask Karen to do a more in-depth analysis if I wanted to. Anyways, let's reveal that secret formula!" Plankton made a wide smile inside the sponge's head.

SpongeBob made a deadpan face.

The time has came.

S-S-S-S-S

"And this little piggy brought home a Krabby Patty." Plankton pressed a button on the remote.

S-S-S-S-S

One finger from each of SpongeBob's hands released their grip from the patty.

SpongeBob gulped and began to express anxiety.

S-S-S-S-S

"This little piggy will help me drop it in." Plankton pressed another button on the remote.

S-S-S-S-S

Two more fingers from each hand released their grip from the burger.

There were only two fingers left that were still holding the patty.

"Any last words, SpongeBob SecretPants?" Plankton spoke inside SpongeBob's head with arrogance, he was already feeling the victory and accomplishment of a fulfilled deed.

"I just have to say that I'm sorry I let Mr. Krabs down." Tears leaked from SpongeBob's eyes and ran down his cheeks. "I let all of B-Bikini Bottom down. But w-worst of all, I let you down, you d-delicate little Krabby Patty." SpongeBob looked down at the Krabby Patty.

"Mmm..." Plankton licked his lips and began fantasizing about Krabby Patties.

"With your tasty, juicy, scrumptious, warm, steamy goodness." SpongeBob continued his last words.

Plankton began to drool, he was getting hungry. "Steamy…"

"I'll never forget your 100% all-secret patty, secretly assembled with undersea cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, all secretly steamed between two fluffy seaweed-sea buns." SpongeBob remembered what Mr. Krabs told him this morning.

"Yes… yes… YES!" Plankton's hunger was so potent that it overcame all senses of his reasoning.

He ran through one of SpongeBob's holes and jumped out of SpongeBob's body. "COME TO POPPA!"

Plankton landed on the patty and attempted to bite it...

...only for him to bounce off and land inside the analyzer.

"Oh boy..." Plankton realized his foolish mistake.

ZZAP

"AAAAAHHHH!" Plankton yelled in agony as he was zapped inside the funnel.

Green text flew across the screen of the computer as it did its analysis.

"Plankton. 1% evil, 99% hot gas." Karen spoke the results of the analysis in an unemotional manner.

Plankton's flesh was charred. He attempted to escape the funnel but was unable to do so. "Well, this stinks."

SLAM

The double doors were barged open.

An angry Patrick stomped into the laboratory. Squidward was following him.

"Patrick? Squidward?" SpongeBob's eyes widened in shock.

"Step aside, SpongeBob. I'm here to teach whoever hurt you a lesson... IN PAIN!" Patrick palmed his fist.

"Heh. Yeah. Pain is the only thing Patrick can teach." Squidward then giggled at his own joke.

"Fish paste! I didn't know SpongeBob had friends." Plankton whispered loudly, his eye bugged out.

Patrick heard the whisper. "Aha! So it was you!" Patrick walked to the funnel.

Squidward took a close look. "Yep. It's Plankton alright." He nodded his head.

"Why're you helping him, Squid? Aren't you suppose to be 'beauty' sleeping?" SpongeBob was scratching his head, Squidward was normally grumpy if his sleep was interrupted.

"I'm trying to keep my job. Do you ever use critical thinking for at least a second?" Squidward raised his brow, he became annoyed at SpongeBob's question. He unintentionally showed that he was grumpy from his lack of sleep.

"Oh. Sorry." SpongeBob smiled nervously.

Patrick picked the machine up.

"You gotta be kidding me." Plankton looked at the floor that was below him.

"This is what happens when you hurt my buddy!" Patrick screamed at Plankton's face.

He threw the machine to the ground.

Glass shattered and littered the floor.

Machine parts flew across the room.

A pause.

Plankton dug himself out of the rubble. He walked uneasily and was rubbing his head.

Patrick grabbed Plankton and threw him across the room.

Plankton hit the floor several times before he finally landed to a stop.

"Pat, stop! You're taking this too far!" SpongeBob grabbed Patrick's leg.

Patrick shook SpongeBob off his leg.

Plankton's backpack fell from one of SpongeBob's holes as the sponge slid across the floor.

"I'm sorry SpongeBob but he deserves this. You would've lost your job and your life would've been ruined if he got away with his plan. I can't forgive people like HIM!" Patrick kicked Plankton as he said 'HIM!'.

Plankton flew in the air and then rolled further across the laboratory.

He eventually stopped rolling and stood up, the small creature became extremely pissed off. "So you wanna fight me, eh?" Plankton noticed that his backpack was nearby.

"YEAH! LET'S GO!" Patrick ran towards Plankton, the sea star was going to beat the small creature to a pulp.

In three seconds Plankton...

Dove to the backpack and put it on his shoulders.

Turned on the rocket boosters.

And flew out of the way as Patrick charged towards him.

Patrick inhaled the exhaust of the rockets as he ran across the laboratory.

He coughed for a bit.

The sea star looked up.

Plankton was hovering over him on a jetpack. "This is what happens when you mess with an evil genius!" He mocked what Patrick previously said.

CTHUNG

A laser gun popped out of the jetpack.

ZZZAAP

The gun fired a green laser.

Patrick jumped out of the way.

The laser left a smoking hole on the floor.

C-C-C-CTHUNG

Several laser guns popped out of the jetpack.

Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAAP

All the laser guns fired at the same time.

Patrick dove out of the lasers' range.

The lasers made a small burning crater on the floor.

"This is gonna get ugly." SpongeBob gulped in anxiety.

"C'mon, SpongeBob! We gotta get out of here!" Squidward was running to the double door.

"Alright." SpongeBob followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

The two hid behind a table in the empty cafeteria.

"Squidward, I'm scared." SpongeBob was sweating and his body was shaking.

"The worst thing you can possibly do right now is for you to start talking and annoying me." Squidward folded his arms.

"I'll be quiet." SpongeBob bit his lip and kept his mouth shut.

It was eerily silent.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked at his surroundings.

He found a nearby machine.

Patrick ripped a metal piece off the machine and threw it at Plankton.

Plankton quickly dodged it by flying to another direction.

The metal piece landed on the wall and fell down to a table full of glass vials.

The table was knocked over to one side as the metal piece landed.

The glass vials flew in the air and landed on the floor.

The containers broke into a sea of shattered glass and littered the floor with their remaining pieces.

Plankton gritted his teeth. His face turned crimson and steam came out of his ears. Patrick had crossed the line. "THAT'S IT! PLAY TIME'S OVER!"

The laser guns on the backpack became larger.

Z-Z-Z-Z-ZZZZZAAAAAAAAP

Five bright red lasers fired out of the guns.

Patrick ran and dodged the lasers.

BOOM

CRASH

The lasers left a large hole in the wall.

Z-Z-Z-Z-ZZZAAAAAAAAAP

The bright red lasers chased Patrick's heels.

"Yikes." Patrick ran in a circle below Plankton.

The sea star jumped to another side of the laboratory.

Plankton noticed that he had traced a circle on the floor with the lasers.

A large circular portion of the laboratory's floor fell down a few feet.

The tiny creature became even more angry.

Plankton flew directly towards Patrick.

Patrick immediately grabbed a large machine and threw it at Plankton.

SMACK

The machine hit Plankton.

CRASH

Plankton and the machine crashed into the other machines in the laboratory.

The laser guns were broken off the backpack.

They slowly turned into a dark red.

"Uh oh." Plankton sweatdropped. He couldn't escape under the pile of metal rubble.

Patrick ran to the double doors and exited the laboratory.

KABOOOOOOOM

The laser guns exploded.

A long pause.

Charred metal objects were all over the floor.

An almost coal-black Plankton was laying on the floor.

Plankton stood up.

He scanned his damaged laboratory.

The Krabby Patty was not in sight.

"What happened to that Krabby Patty?" Plankton scratched his head.

His eye suddenly widened when he remembered something. "Uh oh."

He ran to the double doors.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slightly winced at the thought of what happened in the laboratory. "I feel bad for Plankton. His laboratory got destroyed..." He showed sympathy for even the most evil of villains.

"Be grateful that you have a damn job and the Krusty Krab is still in business." Squidward was losing his temper at a rapid pace.

"Oh yeah. Hehe. Right." SpongeBob smiled and sweatdropped.

"Can we go home now? I kicked Plankton's butt and he sure won't be hurting my buddy again. Isn't that right, SpongeBob?" Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

"Umm... Pat, he doesn't want to hurt me. He wants something else..." SpongeBob tried to not sound awkward.

"He's trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula and will 'hurt' anybody so he can obtain it. The Krabby Patty that SpongeBob was holding is what he truly wanted. " Squidward explained to Patrick.

"Oh. But what's the Krabby Patty secret formula? Is it a drink?" Patrick was confused.

"It's the recipe used to make Krabby Patties. However, we can't tell anybody what the ingredients are. That's why it's called a SECRET formula." Squidward continued to speak.

"You can't even tell your best friends? I'm a trustworthy person." Patrick smiled, he tried to look innocent.

"Forget about it. Let's just go home." Squidward lost his patience and walked towards the exit.

"Well patty, I guess we can go home now." SpongeBob looked down at the Krabby Patty he was holding and smiled widely.

CRREEAK

Plankton exited the laboratory and ran towards SpongeBob. "SpongeBob, that's my Krabby Patty! Give it back, you porous freak!" He was desperate.

"No one calls my buddy a porous freak!" Patrick stomped towards Plankton and palmed his fist.

SpongeBob grasped Patrick's shoulder.

Patrick halted.

The sea star turned around to make eye contact with SpongeBob.

SpongeBob shook his head and released his grip from Patrick's shoulder.

Patrick turned around and walked away.

He pushed SpongeBob and Squidward out of the Chum Bucket.

The three neighbors began to walk home.

Plankton was still following them. "I COMMAND YOU! MY PATTY!" His face was turning red.

"Shut up already." Patrick grabbed a rock and threw it at Plankton.

**BONK**

The rock hit Plankton on the head.

Plankton fell to the ground and became unconscious.

* * *

**I would like to kindly remind my readers to please leave a review. Although I will continue this story anyway, I would appreciate it if you gave feedback. **


	8. D Y

**Chapter 8: Naughty Nautical Neighbors**

* * *

There was one large eye. It was dark yellow and had a crimson pupil. The eye was floating in a void of darkness.

"**GIVE IT TO ME**." A demonic voice was heard.

A pause.

"No. I'll never hand it over." SpongeBob spoke boldly. He was floating in the darkness with the large eye.

"**GIVE ME THE FORMULA! OBEY MEEEE!**" The eye was becoming angry.

**RRRRRUUUMMMMMBLE**

The void was shaking and SpongeBob was feeling it. He gulped and took a deep breath. "You'll never have the formula!" SpongeBob built up the courage to disobey the eye.

The rumbling stopped.

"**YOU REFUSE TO TAKE HEED AND COMPLY TO MY ORDERS?**" The eye enlarged and floated closer to SpongeBob.

"All you want is the Krabby Patty secret formula. I will never break the promise that I made to Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob was resolute.

**"THEN I SHALL GET IT THROUGH FORCE." **The eye began to glow.

SpongeBob slowly backed away.

**CRUNCH**

The eye broke into several pieces as if it was made out of glass. The glowing shards surrounded SpongeBob and got closer and closer as they flew in circles around him.

SpongeBob desperately tried to escape the belt of glass but was unable to do so. Some force similar to gravity was pulling him towards the shards.

The glowing shards eventually made contact with SpongeBob's skin. They then immediately went inside SpongeBob's holes.

SpongeBob felt a strange sensation as the floating pieces invaded his body. It felt like there were gusts of wind coming from all directions of the void and were passing through his holes.

The sponge felt a ticklish sensation inside his chest. He looked at his chest and noticed that it was glowing. "Uh oh." He began to sweat in anxiety.

A blinding flash of light came from his chest. The glowing shards came out of his holes and formed into the shape of a burger. The glow faded to reveal a Krabby Patry.

"Hey! Give that back!" SpongeBob ran to the Krabby Patty.

The Krabby Patty quickly ascended.

**SMACK**

SpongeBob hit an invisible wall.

The Krabby Patty suddenly became larger.

A small speck of light appeared in the darkness and abruptly enveloped the void.

SpongeBob closed his eyes and covered them with his hands, he was temporarily blinded.

A pause.

He opened his eyes.

SpongeBob was inside the analyzer in the laboratory of the Chum Bucket. The sponge seemed to have shrunk in size. A giant Plankton was in front of the analyzer and was holding the Krabby Patty.

"**IT'S MINE NOW. HEHEHEHEHEHEH!" **Plankton was speaking in a demonic voice.

"Noooo!" SpongeBob attempted to climb up the analyzer but slipped and fell back down. He then repeatedly banged his fists on the glass of the funnel. Escaping was futile and it would only delay the inevitable.

Plankton dropped the Krabby Patty into the analyzer.

Plop!

It landed on top of SpongeBob.

**ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP**

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" **SpongeBob screamed in agony as he was electrocuted by the green electricity of the analyzer.

His vision faded and the darkness returned.

A pause.

SpongeBob felt the ground below him, he was laying down somewhere outdoors.

He opened his eyes.

Mr. Krabs was standing in front of him, he seemed to be upset. Squidward was standing right next to the crustacean, he was smiling for some odd reason.

"SpongeBob, you're fired." Mr. Krabs couldn't hide his disappointment.

The employee hat on SpongeBob's head erupted into flames.

Squidward started to laugh by honking his nose.

The flames spread to the rest of SpongeBob's body. His yellow flesh was slowly and painfully burned to a crisp.

"**AAAaaaAAAaaaAAHH!"** SpongeBob struggled to scream as he was transformed to smoking ashes.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes became wide open.

He immediately sat up in his bed, the blanket was covering most of his body. He wiped sweat off his brow. "Phew. That was just a nightmare." The torture he had experienced was in the realms of fantasy. However, it was a definite reminder of what happened last night.

SpongeBob looked at the foghorn.

It was 6:00 AM.

"Ooh. That's a little early. Better find something to do." SpongeBob was too awake to go back to sleep. He took the blanket off his body and got off the bed.

Gary opened his eyes. "Meow." The snail was drowsier than usual. He didn't like waking up early.

SpongeBob put on his shoes.

**CRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the door and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. In his hand was a bubble wand and a bottle of bubble soap. The sponge thought that bubble blowing would be a pleasurable activity until he went to work.

The sky was a fading dark blue as the golden rays of the sun rose up from the horizon, dawn was dying.

SpongeBob walked to his backyard and sat down on the ground. 'I hope I don't bother anybody.' He looked at his surroundings to make sure he was alone. SpongeBob opened the bottle of soap and dipped the wand into the bottle.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale.

He blew into the wand.

A line of bubbles in single file order came out of the hole of the wand. They flew in the air for several seconds before they were scattered by an incoming wind.

S-S-S-S-S

A stray bubble flew near Patrick's rock.

**POP**

The bubble popped once it made contact with the surface of the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick woke up, he was in purple pajamas. He heard the popping of the bubble from outside.

**THUD**

The sea star fell from his couch.

Patrick stood up and stripped his pajamas off. What was left was his usual floral pants. "What was that?" The sea star became curious about the sound he heard from outside.

**CRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

The sea star saw SpongeBob blowing bubbles while sitting in his backyard. "I wanna blow some bubbles too." Patrick felt like he was left out.

He went back into his rock. Loud sounds of the displacement of objects could be heard.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute of searching later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick came back out with a bubble wand and a bottle of soap. Spending the morning by bubble blowing with SpongeBob seemed to be ideal. He sat down adjacent to his rock.

He took a deep inhale.

The sea star blew into the wand.

A few bubbles came out of the hole. Patrick had been practicing this form of art for more than a week since the bubblestand incident. Signs of improvement have recently began to appear.

S-S-S-S-S

POP

POP

POP

The bubbles that Patrick blew popped in front of SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stopped inhaling, he had been hearing loud sounds since he began bubble blowing but could no longer ignore them.

"Hmm?" SpongeBob scanned his surroundings to see where the bubble came from. He noticed that Patrick was sitting on the yard of his rock and was directly facing SpongeBob. The sponge smiled.

SpongeBob inhaled and whispered into the wand as he blew into it. The bubble came out of the wand and flew towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Hi, Patrick."

SpongeBob's voice could be heard as the bubble popped in front of Patrick.

"Huh?" Patrick gave SpongeBob a puzzled look.

SpongeBob pointed at his wand while pretending to whisper into it.

"Oh!" Patrick realized what he had to do as he looked at his wand. The sea star inhaled and then whispered into his wand while giggling as he blew. The bubble gently flew out of the wand and headed towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Hi, SpongeBob."

Patrick's voice could be heard as the bubble popped in front of SpongeBob.

SpongeBob giggled. He took a deep inhale and then whispered as he blew into his wand. The bubble came out of the wand and flew towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Patrick, you're my best friend in the whole neighborhood."

Patrick made an inhale and then whispered as he blew into his wand. The bubble came out and flew towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "You too, SpongeBob."

SpongeBob made an even louder giggle as he heard Patrick's voice.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the laughter of two familiar people.

He awoke from his slumber and arose from his bed. The octopus looked at his clock and it said 6:17 AM.

*groans* "Why are those two barnacle heads disturbing me at this hour?" He was already in a bad mood. Squidward looked down at his bed. "There goes my beauty sleep." The octopus didn't bother to go back to sleep, SpongeBob and Patrick would constantly keep him awake.

Squidward left his bedroom and stomped down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus entered the kitchen. "Might as well eat my breakfast early." Squidward opened his fridge and searched through its contents. He eventually found something that gave him a good idea and made him grin. "You've just hit the jackpot, Squidward."

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened the oven and took something out. He was donned in a chef's outfit.

The octopus put that something on a table. "Wow. Squidward, this is the best soufflé you have ever created. Congratulations, chef! " He immediately took off the outfit and ran upstairs.

He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and changed to another outfit in a single minute.

Squidward walked into his kitchen once again, he was wearing a tuxedo this time. The octopus was narcissistic enough to believe that making his best soufflé was considered a formal occasion.

He sat down at the table and prepared to eat the soufflé with his knife and fork.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were up to their usual foolishness. They were sending immature jokes to each other through the bubbles. The two were laughing as the bubbles popped and their voices were heard.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the laughter. He groaned and banged his fist on the table in grumpiness. The octopus stood up and stomped over to the rear window so he could watch what the two morons were doing.

He saw SpongeBob and Patrick laughing while communicating to each other by blowing bubbles. "That's funny? Something as redundant as blowing bubbles?" Squidward raised his brow.

The octopus turned around and looked at his meal. Purple liquid was leaking from the soufflé while the fork and knife laid on the plate.

Squidward was deep in thought.

A pause.

A lightbulb lit up in Squidward's head.

"Three can play at that game." Squidward made an evil smile. He walked back to the table and put the fork in the purple liquid. The octopus then walked back to the window with the fork and soufflé as if they were a bubble wand and soap bottle.

Squidward opened the rear window. He inhaled and then whispered as he blew into the fork, the octopus was mimicking the behavior of SpongeBob and Patrick.

A purple bubble came out of the fork and headed towards Patrick.

Squidward chuckled as he thought of Patrick's reaction.

S-S-S-S-S

The purple bubble pushed SpongeBob's bubble out of the way, it then continued its flight towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Patrick, you are the dumbest idiot it has ever been my misfortune to know."

Squidward's voice was released as the bubble popped near Patrick.

Patrick frowned as he heard the rude comment. He whispered into the wand as he blew another bubble. The bubble formed in the wand and gently flew towards SpongeBob's direction.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Do you really think that, SpongeBob?"

The bubble popped and Patrick's voice was released.

SpongeBob whispered into the wand as he blew a bubble. The bubble came out of the wand and flew towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Of course, Patrick. Anyone with eyes can see that."

Patrick became angry as he heard his best friend's voice. SpongeBob had unintentionally lit off a match that would create a major wildfire. Patrick whispered into the wand as he blew several bubbles.

The group of bubbles headed towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Yeah? Well, I think you're ugly."

POP "Yellow is ugly!"

POP "PBBBBBT!"

POP "Ppppt'!"

Patrick's voice and two raspberry sounds were heard in consecutive order.

"Patrick, what are you talking about?" SpongeBob spoke into his wand as he blew a bubble, he was expressing concern for Patrick. The bubble was released from the wand and flew towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward digged the fork into the purple liquid and whispered into the utensil as he blew another bubble.

The bubble came out of the fork and flew towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "SpongeBob, I no longer wish to know you. You give bottom dwellers a bad name."

SpongeBob gasped. He looked at Patrick in utter shock.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was laughing by honking his nose. "This is priceless." He managed to speak while laughing. The octopus then whispered into the fork as he created more bubbles.

A few purple bubbles were unleashed towards SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "If I had a dollar for every brain you don't have, I'd have one dollar. "

SpongeBob became irritated as he heard Squidward's voice as the bubble popped, he was beginning to lose his temper.

S-S-S-S-S

POP "Hey, Patrick, I heard there was a job opening down at the pet shop... as some newspaper!"

Patrick's face turned crimson and steam came out of his ears, he had reached his limit. The sea star immediately stood up. "Well, that makes you a big dummy, you dummy!" He shouted and pointed at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stood up in his backyard. "Yeah, well, that means that, uhh... so are you!" He attempted to retort Patrick.

"Right, you're a turkey!" Patrick was already running out of ideas for insults.

An awkward pause.

"What's that?" SpongeBob became irate. He tried to see if Patrick had the guts to continue his insults.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was suffocating in sadistic laughter. "I'm a genius." He had felt proud for the act of sweet revenge that he had just committed, it was a just punishment for him getting stung by a giant jellyfish that other day.

"Better enjoy it while it lasts." The octopus put his souffle on the table and ran upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked into the kitchen, he was wearing his normal attire and was holding a lawn chair that he had found in a closet. He took the souffle from the table and carried both items as he walked to the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK **

**SLAM **

Squidward had entered the outside world. He set the lawn chair on his front yard and laid down on it. The octopus took a deep inhale and enjoyed the smell of the fresh morning air, the loud and ongoing insults of SpongeBob and Patrick were like music to his ears.

"Maybe working in the Krusty Krab won't be so bad after all." Squidward made a genuine smile and began to eat his souffle.

The sun rose from the horizon and illuminated the sky. Dawn was put to rest and morning took its place.

Squidward smiled even more. He marveled at the majesty of the sun as it shined to the ocean floor. After the hell he had to go through once SpongeBob got hired at the Krusty Krab, nothing could make this day any better. Working as a cashier in the Krusty Krab was only a mere annoyance at this point.

S-S-S-S-S

"It's what you are!" Patrick wasn't intimidated at all.

"Well, you're a bigger one!" SpongeBob was struggling to make a good joke, he was also running out of ideas.

"Well, you're still yellow! And you know what else is yellow?" Patrick's anger worsened as the verbal fight dragged on.

"What?" SpongeBob raised his brow.

"You are!" Patrick pointed at SpongeBob. The sea star had spoken one of the dumbest jokes ever heard by SpongeBob's ears.

"Oh, yeah? Well it doesn't matter what you call me, 'cause I never wanna see you again anyway!" SpongeBob turned his back to Patrick and walked to the garage door, he was sick of arguing with his best friend. When he stood before the garage door, he realized that the crowbar was inside the pineapple. "Aww, tartar sauce!" He went around the perimeter of the pineapple.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM!**

SpongeBob shut the door hard.

Patrick walked to his rock.

**CRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

The sea star entered his home and the rock was shut.

At that moment, SpongeBob and Patrick's bond was broken into fragments of former friendship.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat down on the couch. He was ill-tempered and crossed his arms. "Hey... Gary." The sponge oddly wasn't his cheerful self.

Gary gave SpongeBob a funny look. "Meow?" The snail had lived with SpongeBob long enough to know that whenever SpongeBob wasn't in an optimistic mood, something bad must have happened.

The sponge could no longer hide the truth of what recently happened from his pet snail. *sighs* "Gary... I'm no longer friends with Patrick." SpongeBob eyed the floor and frowned.

Gary's eyes bugged out. It was shocking news indeed.

"I've realized that Patrick's just a barnacle head. He says hurtful things to people without thinking of the consequences. Not everybody in Bikini Bottom hates him because that jerk wears a mask so he can stab people behind the back when they get to know him." SpongeBob's emotions dictated what came out of his mouth instead of letting rational thinking take over.

A pause.

Gary looked at SpongeBob for several seconds and then resumed to watching television; he didn't know what to say.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He attempted to stuff his built-up emotions away by making his eyes focus on the bright screen as well.

After a while, SpongeBob stood up from the couch and walked upstairs to his bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting on the couch. His face was deadpan and he was staring off into space.

Several minutes flew by.

'This is boring. I need to find something to do.' Patrick thought for a moment.

The sea star stood up and walked to the kitchen. He was about to open the fridge when he saw a magnet on the upper door of the fridge that showed a picture of him and SpongeBob.

The innocent picture twisted the knife in the wound of Patrick's mind.

Patrick became angry and threw the picture to the floor. "I don't wanna remember that... **bully**!" The sea star struggled to use his primitive brain to find the right words to say. He furiously opened the bottom door of the fridge and took out some bottles of water. The sea star walked to a table and sat down on a seat.

He began to mindlessly drink his thoughts of SpongeBob away.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was laughing as he thought of the misery going on in SpongeBob and Patrick's homes. Years of being tortured by the two fools made him sink to an all-new low in finding ways to restore the peace the neighborhood once had.

Unfortunately, he began to laugh while he was in the middle of eating another piece of the soufflé.

The fork got inside his throat.

Squidward choked on the utensil. He fell from the lawn chair and was on his knees as he grasped his throat. His skin turned into a dark blue as the octopus's oxygen was further and further depleted.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick finished drinking his last bottle of water.

Silence. There was the faint sound of choking.

Patrick's eyes bugged out. "Uh oh. Someone's in trouble!" He suddenly became smart enough to realize that someone was choking.

The sea star dashed out of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's oxygen level was too low. His body collapsed to the ground and he became unconscious.

**CRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock.

He saw the unconscious body of Squidward and gasped. The starfish could play hero and gain a new friend to replace the gaping hole that SpongeBob left behind. Patrick ran towards Squidward.

As the sea star was running, he suddenly forgot what to do.

Patrick stood before the motionless Squidward. "Wow, Squidward, you're choking!" He didn't even realize that Squidward was already unconscious. "Uhh... uhh, I know what to do, but I should wash my hands first. Oh, well." He eventually remembered what to do.

Patrick took a deep inhale.

He bended down and performed CPR on the octopus. Squidward's unconsciousness spared him from the horror of bearing witness to the event.

The fork came out of Squidward's mouth and Patrick caught it. "I win!" The sea star was oblivious to the profoundness of what he just did.

Squidward slowly stood up and saw Patrick holding the fork. His eyes widened and something deep inside of him changed. It reminded him of SpongeBob's proposal to visit Goo Lagoon as an apology. "Wow! Patrick, you saved me!" Squidward was awestruck.

"I did?" Patrick was scratching his head. He had forgotten his original reason for giving CPR to Squidward.

"Yup! You're a real lifesaver..." Squidward took the next word he was about to say with heavy consideration.

A long pause.

"...friend." Squidward held his hand out.

"Friend?" Patrick was still confused.

An awkward pause.

"Friend..." He eventually remembered the original intent of his actions. Patrick smiled as he learned that Squidward had became his new friend and that his plan had succeeded. He grabbed Squidward's hand and the two shook hands.

Patrick continued to shake Squidward's hand for an uncomfortably long time.

"Yeah, Patrick, we're friends..." Squidward took his hand off of Patrick's, stepped back, and sweatdropped. "Just friends."

The strange feeling of being watched by someone slowly crept up to the two new friends. They looked up towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob was silently watching them from the bedroom window, he had seen the entire event.

Squidward was somewhat creeped out but soon returned to making eye contact with Patrick.

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "So what are we gonna do today, best friend?"

"Well, I was going to practice my clarinet solo." Squidward was contemplating.

"Clarinet? I love music!" Patrick seemed to be just as cheerful as SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ahh, who needs them? They're no fun anyway, right, Gary?" SpongeBob looked away from the window.

Gary wasn't in the room. He had slithered back to the living room.

"Gary?" SpongeBob thought that Gary was still in the room.

S-S-S-S-S

CRRREAK

Squidward opened the door and held it for Patrick.

Patrick walked into the tiki.

SLAM

The door was shut.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked upstairs to the music room while Patrick followed him. They soon entered the room.

"Squidward will be performing his version of Solitude in E minor." Squidward took out his clarinet and turned the pages on the sheet holder.

Patrick sat down on a chair. "Yeah! E minor! All right! Yeah!" He was clapping before the performance even started.

Squidward took a deep breath.

A pause.

He then began to play the song. Off-tune notes came out of the clarinet.

Patrick was lulled to sleep by the song, he snored as Squidward continued to play.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on his bed.

"What am I worried about? I got plenty of friends! I can name three right off the bat!" He held out three fingers. "Uhh..." The sponge thought for a bit. He then took out a marker and drew makeshift faces on the yellow fingers. SpongeBob made an awkward smile. "The gang's all here..."

SpongeBob couldn't help it, he was dreadfully lonely.

"Ohhh!" His eyes became filled with tears and he began to cry. What made it even worse was that no one was going to hear his sobs.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREAK**

"Rgh!" Squidward was dragging the sleeping body of Patrick out of his tiki. It was an extremely difficult task due to Patrick's weight. He had to strain all the muscles in his body just to move the sea star by an inch.

CRACK

His back could no longer keep up with the heavy physical demand.

"My back! I threw out my back!" Squidward screamed in agony.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had wiped his tears and was looking through the window, he watched the event unfold. "Oh, boy, now's my chance!" Just like Patrick, he was going to play hero to gain a new friend.

CREAK

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the window. He then hopped and carefully stood on the windowsill. "Don't worry, Squidward! I'm coming!"

"No, no, no, get away from me!" Squidward let go of Patrick and tried to limp quickly back to his tiki.

"Hang on! I'll save you!" SpongeBob jumped from the windowsill.

Plop!

He landed on the ground. A small plume of sand rose up.

"No, no! Get away from me! No, no!" Squidward reached his hand for the knob as he got closer and closer to the front door.

"Hold on!" SpongeBob leaned his head forward and sprinted towards Squidward.

"No, no! Get away!" Squidward was shaking his head and a held a hand out as a desperate signal for SpongeBob to stop.

Time slowed.

Squidward's other hand touched the doorknob.

SpongeBob was only an inch away from Squidward. He aimed his head directly at the broken part of Squidward's back.

Time resumed.

SLAM

C-CRACK

SpongeBob made a mighty headbutt on Squidward's broken back.

"Oh! I'm ruined! I'm... I'm... I'm..." Squidward flinched, he was expecting the worst.

A pause.

The octopus noticed that he was no longer in pain. "I-I feel great! Thanks, SpongeBob! You're a real friend!" Squidward was appreciative of SpongeBob's heroic act, these nice things aren't seen everyday.

SpongeBob made a wide smile. "Friiieeennd..." His mission was complete.

"N-no, no, no, I didn't mean that, no no." Squidward thought that SpongeBob took it to an entirely different meaning.

"Don't worry, Squiddy old-pal. That's what friends are for." SpongeBob patted Squidward on the back. "So dumb Patrick fell asleep on ya, huh?" He looked down at the sleeping Patrick.

"Yeah. I was playing a song with my clarinet when he did that." Squidward opened the front door.

CREEEAK

SpongeBob went inside the tiki.

SLAM

Squidward shut the door.

S-S-S-S-S

The two went upstairs and entered the music room.

"A real friend would perform for you!" SpongeBob was searching for an instrument.

"You play?" Squidward asked.

"Are you kidding? I've been playing bassinet for years!" SpongeBob found the instrument he was looking for and took it off the wall, it was obviously a bassinet. "Give me an A, buddy!" He put the bow slightly above the strings of the instrument, the sponge signaled for Squidward to start the song.

Squidward grabbed his clarinet and played a note.

"Squidward is my best friend in the world." SpongeBob began to sing. A grating sound was heard as the sponge made the bow go across the surface of the strings.

Squidward winced and covered his ears.

"Squidward is my best friend in the sea..." SpongeBob made the bow slide across the strings in a futile attempt at making a note. The bow accidentally flew off the bassinet and flipped in the air.

It eventually succumbed to gravity and stabbed across a self-portrait of Squidward.

Squidward lost his temper at the sight of his ruined self-portrait. He stomped to the painting and pulled the bow out of the hole in the canvas. The octopus then snapped the bow in half with his knee in anger.

"Squidward..." SpongeBob sang as he played the bassinet with his fingers, the instrument began to make notes.

CRREAK

One of the windows opened.

"Likes Patrick more than SpongeBob." Patrick sang and interrupted the song. He had awoken from his slumber and heard the music coming from the tiki, he decided that now would be a good time to get revenge on SpongeBob for stealing his new friend. The sea star climbed all the way up the tiki just to open the window.

**SLAM!**

SpongeBob slammed the window shut.

"Woah!" Patrick's hands slipped off the windowsill and he fell to the ground.

A large plume of sand could be seen from above.

SpongeBob's emotions took control of his actions. "And Patrick is a dirty, stinky, rotten friend stealer!"

**SMACK**

**SLAM**

**BAM**

SpongeBob repeatedly pounded the bassinet to the floor. The instrument eventually broke into several pieces.

A pause.

All of SpongeBob's anger had been vented. The sponge realized that he had just made a foolish mistake. "Umm, I can fix this." He smiled nervously.

"**Get out!**" Squidward's face became red and steam came out of his ears. He pointed towards the stairs so SpongeBob could leave.

"So, uhh, I'll see you after work." SpongeBob walked down the stairs and headed for the front door.

"Yech! That was disgusting! I feel like I need to scrub myself." Squidward went downstairs and walked towards the bathroom. A soothing bath would make him relax and forget about what happened to his self-portrait.

CRRREAK

SLAM

He entered the bathroom.

Squidward walked to the bathtub and opened the curtain. The curtain revealed a tub full of water and a certain starfish sitting inside of it.

"Hey, buddy. I warmed it up for ya." Patrick took out a brush and soap. He was spying on Squidward and overheard what he said, the sea star then managed to get inside the bathroom by opening a window which was behind him.

Chills ran down Squidward's spine. SpongeBob and Patrick's behavior was becoming very disturbing and creepy. "Patrick! Get out! And put some clothes on!" Squidward pointed at the door.

CRREAK

A nosy SpongeBob opened the door and walked into the room. "What's the matter, Squidward, old buddy?" He saw Patrick in the bathtub. "Oh, ho-ho, so this is what I find, huh? My best friend and my ex-best friend and... " SpongeBob walked up to the tub and grabbed the bath toys that were floating on the water. "...rubber bath toys!"

"Oh, yeah?! Well, he was MY friend first!" Patrick swam across the tub and glared at SpongeBob face-to-face.

"You're just a backbiting, backstabbing silly blob of-" SpongeBob shook his fist.

"This can't be happening to me!" Squidward ran away from the bathroom. He was overwhelmed from the amount that his act of revenge had backfired.

"Buddy?!" SpongeBob looked around the bathroom, Squidward was missing.

"Squidward?!" Patrick submerged his pants in the water and put them on underwater.

"Where'd ya go, friend?" SpongeBob exited the bathroom.

"Where are ya, ol buddy?" Patrick got out of the tub and followed.

The two tried to find the person that would fill in the empty holes of their former friendship.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting behind his tiki, he was in the backyard. "Oh, this is nuts! I need a plan to get those two back together and out of my hair!" He began to ponder on ways to make SpongeBob and Patrick friends again.

S-S-S-S-S

CRREEEAK

SLAM

SpongeBob and Patrick had left the premises, they had explored the entire building.

"Looks like Squid left for an errand or something." SpongeBob walked back to his pineapple.

"Oh well." Patrick shrugged his shoulders.

C-CRRREAK

S-SLAM

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Someone knocked on Patrick's rock.

CRREEAK

Patrick opened the rock.

Squidward went inside.

SLAM

The rock closed.

Squidward was wearing a smile. "Hey, Patrick. Wanna come to my place for a party?"

"Sure thing, buddy." Patrick stood up from his couch, he smiled.

CRRREEAK

SLAM

The two exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was reading a magazine in his living room. Gary was currently eating his breakfast in the kitchen.

The doorbell rang.

SpongeBob stopped reading, closed the magazine, and stood up.

An envelope was slipped under the door.

SpongeBob walked to the envelope, picked it up, and ripped it open. He read the contents of a letter that was inside the envelope. "Ooh, from Squidward. A dinner party? I'd love to!" SpongeBob put the letter away.

**CRRREAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the door and exited his pineapple. SpongeBob walked to Squidward's tiki.

KNOCK KNOCK

The sponge knocked on the front door.

CRREAK

Squidward opened the door.

"Did you miss me?" SpongeBob was smirking.

"Come on in! You look stunning." Squidward pretended to act friendly, he was trying to act as sincere as possible.

SLAM

The octopus closed the door.

"I'd much rather dine with you than that lousy-" *gasps* SpongeBob noticed that Patrick was sitting on a sofa inside the living room. "Say, what gives? I'm not sitting near that maniac!"

"Me neither! This was a setup!" Patrick stood up and began to stomp towards the front door.

"I thought you two were my best friends." Squidward smirked at what he believed to be a clever comment.

SpongeBob and Patrick suddenly stood before Squidward. "I am your best friend!" They spoke simulateosuly.

"Hold on a second." Squidward walked to his kitchen and opened the fridge.

SpongeBob and Patrick glared at each other as they waited for Squidward. Their presence gave off an air of fierce rivalry for Squidward's attention.

Squidward came back from the kitchen with a few glass cups and a bottle of soda. "Well, how about some soda, guys?" He gave a glass cup to SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Yes, please!" SpongeBob held his cup out.

Squidward poured some soda into SpongeBob's glass.

"Thanks, friend." SpongeBob drank the soda. The flavor was a strange mix of Sprite and Coca-cola. The sponge liked the taste and desired for more.

"How about some for your best friend?" Patrick held his cup out.

SpongeBob put his cup above Patrick's cup right as the soda began to pour from the bottle. "Thanks, best friend." The sponge quickly drank from his glass. He became addicted to the soda and wanted to selfishly hog the beverage.

"Can I have some now, buddy?" Patrick was quickly losing his patience.

"Wait, I need some more!" SpongeBob held his glass out for the third time, he could no longer control his urges.

Squidward poured more soda into SpongeBob's cup. The octopus definitely noticed SpongeBob's particular liking for the beverage.

"I still didn't get any!" Patrick lost his temper and became annoyed at SpongeBob's behavior.

SpongeBob poured a generous amount of his soda into Patrick's cup, he didn't want any competition from the sea star. "There ya go. More please!"

Patrick drank from his cup. He also liked the flavor and realized why SpongeBob was hogging the soda.

Squidward poured an even larger amount of soda into SpongeBob's cup, it nearly filled the entire glass.

SpongeBob drank all the soda in his cup in one gulp.

"Squidward!" Patrick held his glass out, he became addicted to the soda as well.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob held his cup out, he became jittery from the sugar in the soda.

The octopus quickly poured the soda into the two former friends' cups

SpongeBob and Patrick simulateosuly drank the soda in one gulp, their thirst still wasn't quenched.

"Squidward!" Patrick nearly shoved his cup towards Squidward. Soda was quickly poured into his glass. "SQUIDWARD!" The sea star didn't notice that his cup was already full.

"Patrick! Your glass is full!" Squidward became annoyed.

"Oh yeah." Patrick looked at his cup and noticed the soda inside of it. He then drank the soda.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob held his glass out and drank the poured soda.

"Hey, Squidward!" Patrick held his glass out and drank the poured soda.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob held his glass out and drank the poured soda.

"Hey, Squidward!" Patrick held his glass out and drank the poured soda.

They continuously demanded and drank the soda that Squidward was serving for the next minute. The octopus had to face the challenge of pouring the soda as quickly as he could.

The bottle eventually became empty.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob and Patrick held their glasses out and simultaneously demanded for more soda.

"Sorry, boys, I'm all out of pop. I'm gonna go get some more." Squidward threw the empty soda bottle to a trash can. "Why don't you just stay here and chat?"

**CRRREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and left his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus walked towards the Barg'N-Mart so he could buy more soda. Squidward was taken by surprise when his plan went down an unexpected path, it was very similar to the outcome of his act of revenge.

*groans* "Can this day get any worse?" Squidward was in a sour mood. What could have possibly been one of the best days of his life turned out to be just a normal day living with SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked down and noticed that he was ridiculously obese from drinking all that soda. The sea star was also suffering from the same condition. The two sat down at a table with their two cups, they waited for Squidward to come back with the soda.

"I should've drank all the soda first." Patrick was very impatient, his craving for the beverage became just as powerful as SpongeBob's.

"Shut up!" SpongeBob had a severe case of withdrawal from the soda. Patrick's nearby presence only made things worse and those factors combined made him lose his temper.

"Hmph." Patrick turned his eye contact away from SpongeBob and crossed his arms.

SpongeBob did the same.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked out of the Barg'N-Mart with a bottle of soda in his hand. He headed for his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob suddenly hiccuped and a bubble came out of his mouth. It flew to the ceiling and **POP**ped. A burp was heard as the bubble vanished into thin air.

Patrick attempted to suppress a smirk, he began to chuckle.

SpongeBob felt slightly embarrassed and continued to look away from Patrick.

The sea star started to giggle.

SpongeBob gave in and smirked. It soon led to giggling.

The sponge and sea star laughed. Bubbles flew from their mouths as they remained open. The bubbles took all the soda out of their stomachs and the two were no longer obese. The bubbles made them float in the air.

**P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-POP**

The bubbles popped. Numerous burping sounds were heard as a result.

P-plop!

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the floor. The living room was a mess since several pieces of furniture were displaced by the popping of the bubbles.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked to his tiki.

**CRRRREAK**

He opened the door and went inside. The octopus saw his living room in disarray and groaned. "What a surprise... I invited them in, and I left them alone. Well, Squidward, what have we learned today?" Squidward pondered for a few seconds. 'Maybe I should tell them what actually happened so they can go away.'

Gary slithered into the room and meowed.

"What's that, Gary?" SpongeBob stood up and walked to the snail.

"Meow." Gary meowed.

"Oh. You' want more food?" SpongeBob smiled and walked towards the front door.

Squidward was blocking the way. "SpongeBob, Patrick, I have something to say."

Patrick and SpongeBob gathered before Squidward.

"The bubbles that had mean comments about you guys were sent to you two by me, it was all a prank." Squidward confessed, he had enough of SpongeBob and Patrick's behavior.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked at each other and smiled.

"Guess what, Squidward?" SpongeBob hugged Patrick.

"Me and SpongeBob are friends again!" Patrick hugged back.

"Great, now go be friends somewhere else." Squidward moved out of the way and pointed at the door.

"Don't you want us to help you clean this up a little?" SpongeBob showed some concern for Squidward.

"NO! **OUT**!" Squidward yelled.

SpongeBob looked at his watch. It was 7:33 AM. "I'm gonna have to wait a while before I go to work." He whispered to himself.

The two best friends exited the tiki.

Gary was still in the living room, he was making a vicious glare at Squidward. "Meeeoooow." The snail meowed as a form of saying 'shame on you' on Squidward for pulling off that prank on SpongeBob and Patrick. The snail then slithered out of the tiki.

Squidward gulped.


	9. E T

**Chapter 9: Boating School**

* * *

Three days later...

It was Sunday morning.

S-S-S-S-S

The hour and minute hands of the foghorn's clock shifted. It became 7:00 AM.

**HOOOOOONNNNNNK**

The alarm of the foghorn went off.

SpongeBob opened his eyes, the alarm had awakened him. He stretched an arm out.

CLICK

The alarm was turned off.

Gary awoke from his slumber, he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"This is it, Gary!" SpongeBob put on his shoes and got off his bed. The sponge walked to a calendar that was hanging on the wall. He had recently bought that calendar from Barg'N-Mart.

"Meow." Gary droned as a reply.

"The big boating exam is today! I've never felt so capable!" SpongeBob pointed at a certain day on the calendar which was February 10th. The day was circled and written with the words 'boating exam today!' in red marker. On certain days of the month, SpongeBob goes to Boating School. The school teaches how to drive the underwater equivalents of automobiles which are called boatmobiles. SpongeBob found it to be extremely difficult to drive a boatmobile but nonetheless he felt confident in his driving ability that day.

**CRRRREAK**

SpongeBob opened a door and quickly ran downstairs, he was full of energy due to a good night's sleep and his optimism. Gary slithered behind him.

**SLAM**

The door was closed.

S-S-S-S-S

CRRREAK

SpongeBob opened a door and entered the garage. He searched through the neatly organized piles of junk for a large object. The sponge had bought some things for his home for the last few days and found the time to organize the garage. His eyes eventually locked on to a unicycle that was leaning on a brand new reef blower.

He picked it up and ran out of the garage.

**SLAM**

The door was shut.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited his pineapple. He then jumped and sat on the unicycle. The sponge then pedaled towards his destination.

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

SpongeBob was yelling his signature chant.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was playing with his clarinet, he managed to get through most of the song before he heard SpongeBob's chant.

The sponge's yelling surprised Squidward and it made him stop playing. The octopus groaned and looked out from one of the windows.

SpongeBob was riding a unicycle. "Squidward! Squidward!" He was calling for Squidward's attention.

"What?" Squidward wasn't amused.

"I'm ready, Squidward!" SpongeBob was expressing his tremendous enthusiasm through speech.

"Ready to move?" Squidward made a scornful remark.

"No, I'm ready to pass my boating test." SpongeBob pedaled with his unicycle towards the horizon.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. "Like that'll ever happen." He was doubtful of SpongeBob's claim.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

"I'M READY!"

SpongeBob continued his chant as he rode on the unicycle.

"I'm ready-eady-eady-eady-eady-eady-eady-eady-ready." SpongeBob stopped pedaling. The unicycle slowed down near a dumpster. The sponge jumped off and landed on the ground. "Well, pal, I won't be needing you anymore."

The unicycle leaned on the dumpster and SpongeBob left it as it is.

"I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready! Oh, yeah! I'm ready!" SpongeBob resumed his chanting as he walked towards the campus of the school. There was a gate with a sign above it that said 'Mrs. Puff's Boating School'. The campus consisted of a large driving course, a boardwalk that served as a parking lot for boats and also led to the main building which was simply a yellow house with a green roof; and a lighthouse which stood next to the main building. A few boats were driving around the course as SpongeBob entered the campus and walked across the boardwalk.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Yes! Hey, I just got my license!" A familiar green fish exited the main building and stopped before SpongeBob, the two were in the same class. He showed his new driver's license to SpongeBob.

"Hey Gus, I'm getting mine next!" SpongeBob snapped his fingers.

"Heh, I doubt it!" Gus walked away, he was as doubtful as Squidward.

"Ok, see you on the road." SpongeBob waved at Gus. "I'm ready! Here I come, Mrs. Puff! I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready." SpongeBob called out to his teacher and ran towards the main building.

S-S-S-S-S

A pufferfish in a hallway was looking out from a window that was next to the front door, she saw SpongeBob running closer and closer into view.

*sighs* "I'm not ready." She shook her head, she wasn't very thrilled to see SpongeBob's presence. The pufferfish opened the front door.

SpongeBob walked through the doorway and entered the hallway. "Hi, Mrs. Puff! Today is the day I'm going to pass my boating exam!" He was jumping up and down in excitement.

Mrs. Puff took out a pen and a clipboard. "We'll see about that, SpongeBob. First we must-"

"First I must pass the oral exam. I am confident in my abilities to successfully succeed." This wasn't the first time that SpongeBob had taken the test, he had failed many times.

"I know. Ok, number one. What is the front of the boat?" Mrs. Puff asked a question.

"The bow." SpongeBob promptly answered.

Mrs. Puff wrote down SpongeBob's answer. "What is the back?"

"Stern." SpongeBob already knew the answers to all of the questions.

Mrs. Puff wrote down the answer. "Right is-"

"Starboard. Port. Skipper. Deck. Cabin. Galley. Keel. 1924." SpongeBob answered the remaining questions, he had always passed that portion of the exam.

Mrs. Puff wrote down all of the spoken answers. "You've passed the oral test. What a surprise." She was being sarcastic. "Now it's time to once again take the driving portion of the exam."

SpongeBob's heartbeat quickened, he never passed the boating test because he had always failed on the driving portion. The sponge was wracked with anxiety as he thought of the several embarrassing ways he could fail that portion of the test. He sweatdropped.

CRRREAK

Mrs. Puff opened the door and walked outside. SpongeBob followed her.

SLAM

The door was closed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff halted and stood before a typical boatmobile.

"Ok, SpongeBob, get in the boat." Mrs. Puff folded her arms, she knew exactly what was going to happen.

SpongeBob became even more nervous. "Oh, in this boat right here?" He looked at his watch. "Is it time already?" His attempts were futile, SpongeBob couldn't shake off his anxiety.

A pause.

"Get in the boat, SpongeBob." Mrs. Puff still had some patience for the yellow square even though she had taught him for a long time.

"Oh yeah, absolutely." SpongeBob came back to his senses and sat inside the boat.

"All you have to do is get on the track." Mrs. Puff sat next to him.

SpongeBob looked at the road that was ahead of him. His anxiety made the track look ten-times longer than it actually was. The sponge's eyes widened and he gulped.

"Ok, SpongeBob, what's the first thing you do?" Mrs. Puff continued to administer the test as usual.

"1924?" SpongeBob was losing his mind as his fear of failing the test consumed him.

"No, no. First thing is to start the boat." Mrs. Puff turned the key that was already in the keyhole of the boat to one side. The engine turned on and vibrated.

SpongeBob's body shook violently in fright.

"SpongeBob? SpongeBob? Relax, it's only the boat." Mrs. Puff put her hand on SpongeBob's shoulder.

"The boat?" SpongeBob nearly forgot what he was doing.

"Ok, now what do you do next?" Mrs. Puff was looking at her checklist.

"Floor it?" SpongeBob was sweating in anxiety.

"Yes.." Mrs. Puff suddenly gasped. "No, no! Don't floor it!."

"Floor it?" The road ahead of the boat was heavily intimidating SpongeBob.

"No, no, don't, don't floor it!" Mrs. Puff was frantically shaking her head.

"Ok, floor it." SpongeBob's intense fear had drowned out his hearing and his instincts took over. He pushed the accelerator of the boatmobile down with his foot.

**VROOOOOOOMMMMM**

The boatmobile drove backwards at a rapid speed. It was heading straight for the lighthouse.

**CRRRAASSSH**

The vehicle drove a hole through the lighthouse.

Mrs. Puff increased to a large size and became round, it was normal behavior for her species when they receive trauma. "Oh, SpongeBob, why?" She spoke in a deep voice due to her size.

"Can I have a second chance?" SpongeBob bit his lip.

*sighs* "Yes." Mrs. Puff was in a sour mood.

SpongeBob could see Gus dialing 9-1-1 on his phone from afar.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked home with his head low, he was majorly disappointed.

Patrick saw him. "What happened?" He showed concern for SpongeBob's well-being.

"I failed my boating test." SpongeBob spoke quietly.

"Oh." Patrick became silent and continued to watch SpongeBob.

CRREEAK

SLAM

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob laid down on his sofa in the living room.

"Meow." Gary slithered towards him.

"I don't know why, Gary. I don't know. I'm tired of failing that boating test. I've already taken it nine times." SpongeBob felt frustrated after he reflected on his failure.

"Meow."

"Ok, ten." SpongeBob stood up and walked upstairs to the bedroom, he wanted to take a nap so he can get his recent failure off his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was in his rock. He walked to the sand-phone and picked it up. The sea star dialed a number and put it near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Gary slithered over to the shell-phone and picked it up. "Meow?"

S-S-S-S-S

"Gary?" Patrick didn't expect the snail to pick up on the other line.

S-S-S-S-S

"Meow." Gary spoke into the phone.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked at his shell-phone and thought of the countless times that SpongeBob had failed his boating test, he contemplated for several seconds.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head, his intelligence had suddenly increased. The sea star smiled.

"Hold up, Gary. I'll he right there." Patrick put the phone down.

CRRREAK

SLAM

Patrick exited his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked to SpongeBob's pineapple.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Patrick knocked on the front door of the pineapple. He heard a meow coming from inside.

**CRRRREAK**

**SLAM**

He entered the pineapple and was standing inside the living room. Patrick looked at Gary. "Do you have any walkie-talkies?"

"Meow." Gary slithered out of the living room.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

As expected, the two entered the garage.

Gary dug into a pile of junk and came back with two walkie-talkies being held in his mouth, you can find almost anything in that room.

"Thanks." Patrick picked up the walkie-talkies.

The two exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up the stairs.

CRREAK

He gently opened the door and tip-toed into the bedroom. SpongeBob was napping while wearing his underwear. Patrick put a walkie-talkie near SpongeBob's face as he rested on the bed. The starfish then picked up the squarepants that SpongeBob left on the floor.

CRRREAK

The sea star opened the door to the library and went down the slide. He then struggled to put on the squarepants but he eventually managed to barely fit them. Patrick his behind a large chair and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, this is star ranger. Over." Patrick's voice came out of the walkie-talkie.

SpongeBob woke up and saw the walkie-talkie in front of him. "What is it, Patrick?" He had heard his friend's voice while napping.

"I got a surprise for you." Patrick was giggling while speaking into the walkie-talkie.

"Oh, Patrick. I'm not in the mood." SpongeBob wanted to resume his nap.

"Get out of bed." Patrick spoke a command.

SpongeBob got off his bed and stood up. "Okay, now what, Patrick?" He picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Go to your library for a surprise."

SpongeBob slipped through an already ajar door and slid down the slide. He was inside the library. "Okay, I'm at the library."

"Listen carefully. What's pink and square at the same time?" Patrick attempted to make a riddle.

"I don't know, Patrick." SpongeBob didn't want to play games. He scanned the room and noticed a pink forehead behind the large chair. The yellow square walked to the chair and looked at who was behind the seat.

Patrick was wearing SpongeBob's squarepants; he looked ridiculous. "Patrick SquarePants!"

"Pat don't do that." SpongeBob sat on the chair. "I've got too much to worry about."

"What's the problem?" Patrick stood in front of SpongeBob.

"I can't pass my boating exam. I've taken it nine-" SpongeBob was being serious.

"Meow." Gary slithered into the room.

"Uhh, ten times. I know all the answers until I get behind the wheel. I just need something to help me think straight." SpongeBob was explaining his problem.

Patrick took off the squarepants. "Thinking straight is what I do. You drive and I'll do all the thinking for you." He took SpongeBob's walkie-talkie.

"How are we going to do that?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

Patrick shoved the walkie-talkie into one of SpongeBob's holes. An antenna sticked out of SpongeBob's head.

"Come in, SpongeBob. Hello? Hello?" Patrick spoke into his walkie-talkie.

"Hey! I can hear you in my head! This is great! While I'm taking the test, you can give me all the answers." SpongeBob smiled and became hopeful, he figured out Patrick's plan. He looked up and noticed the antenna sticking out of his head. "Wait a minute, Patrick. Won't I look silly with this antenna coming out of my head?"

A lightbulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Hold on a sec." He ran to the dark hallway.

A pause as SpongeBob waited.

Patrick came back with a tall cowboy hat in his hand, he found it by searching through the closet in the living room. The sea star put the hat on SpongeBob's head, it concealed the antenna.

"Oh. I see." SpongeBob nodded. "What now?"

"Follow me." Patrick walked to the dark hallway.

SpongeBob hesitantly followed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were in the kitchen.

Patrick opened the fridge and took out an apple. "You'll give this to Mrs. Puff." He gave the apple to SpongeBob.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick waited in front of the closed door of the closet, he was in the living room.

CRRREAK

SpongeBob opened the door and came out of the closet. He was wearing a sily-looking underwear that had the word 'lucky' on it. "Is this what you wanted, Patrick?"

Patrick made a thumbs-up.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the boardwalk of the boating school campus. He then sat inside a parked boat. The sponge expressed confidence.

Patrick was standing behind the fence of the campus and was watching SpongeBob.

"Pat to Sponge, Pat to Sponge, testing, testing." SpongeBob heard Patrick's electronic voice from his head. "Testing, testing, testing, testing, testing, TESTING!, TESTING! TEST! DO YOU READ?!" Patrick went overboard

"Sponge to Pat, I read you loud and clear, over. " SpongeBob assured Patrick.

"Got your apple ready?" Patrick spoke through the walkie-talkie.

SpongeBob took the apple out of his pocket and showed it.

Patrick saw the apple. "Lucky undergarments?"

SpongeBob showed his underwear.

"Bingo! Underwear, apple, and me. You're ready to get that license." Patrick made a thumbs-up and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

SpongeBob and Patrick heard the sound of an ambulance.

"Uh-oh, here comes Mrs. Puff! Act natural." Patrick was giving catious advice.

SpongeBob jumped out of the boat and landed on the ground on all-fours. He bit and chewed on some grass. "Moo." The sponge took Patrick's advice word-for-word.

"No, no, get in the boat!" Patrick shook his head.

SpongeBob spit out the grass and jumped back into the boat.

The ambulance stopped in front of the gate of the boating school campus. The doors opened and Mrs. Puff walked out of the vehicle. The doors closed and the ambulance drove off to the horizon.

She walked into the campus and saw SpongeBob sitting in one of the boatmobiles. Mrs. Puff took a deep breath and prepared for the worst-case scenario. She walked to the boat and sat next to SpongeBob.

"Giver her the apple." Patrick commanded through the walkie-talkie.

"Here you go, ma'am." SpongeBob gave Mrs. Puff the apple.

Mrs. Puff threw the apple in the air and swallowed it in one gulp. "Let's get this over with." She took another deep breath. "What's the first thing you do?" Mrs. Puff immediately put her arms over her head as she waited for SpongeBob to make another accident.

"Uhh..." SpongeBob was unsure about what to do.

"Start the boat." Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob turned the key in the keyhole and started the boat. The engine of the boat vibrated.

Mrs. Puff shook violently in fright, she was caught by surprise.

"Mrs. Puff! Mrs. Puff!" SpongeBob grabbed Mrs. Puff's shoulder.

"Whoa-ho! Huh? What?" Mrs. Puff was too frightened to know what was going on.

"It's ok, it's only the boat." SpongeBob tried to calm her down.

"The boat? You started the boat?" Mrs. Puff was in disbelief.

"I-I think so." SpongeBob tried to remain confident in his speech and expression.

"Oh. Well... what's the second thing you do?" Mrs. Puff carried on with the exam.

"1924?" SpongeBob wasn't thinking for a second.

"No, no, put it in drive." Patrick spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Put it in drive?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Mrs. Puff was nodding, she was thrilled that SpongeBob was saying the correct answers. This may be the day that SpongeBob gets his license and she would no longer have to teach him.

SpongeBob pushed the lever in the boatmobile down to 'DRIVE'.

"Then what?" Mrs. Puff continued to ask questions.

"Floor it?" SpongeBob lifted his leg up and prepared to slam down on the accelerator.

"NO!" Mrs. Puff started to panic.

SpongeBob's leg flew down, his foot was about to hit the accelerator.

"Freeze, mister!" Patrick timed his command just right. SpongeBob's foot stopped an inch above the accelerator. "Big toe." Patrick spoke another command with careful consideration.

SpongeBob pushed his big toe and the shoe gently landed on the accelerator. The boatmobile began to drive across the road smoothly.

"Oh gracious. Oh gracious! Oh-oh. Ha-ha! Ah, we haven't crashed yet." Mrs. Puff was relieved that no accident had occurred.

"Ok, you're coming to your first turn." Patrick was watching the vehicle closely and spoke into the walkie-talkie. The boatmobile was heading towards a left curve in the road with a large brick wall that had the word 'WALL' painted on it with yellow paint.

"Oh no, the first turn. Please, tell me you know what to do at the first turn." Mrs. Puff bit her lip.

"Left." Patrick commanded.

SpongeBob steered the vehicle to the left.

"Oh!" Mrs. Puff's eyes widened.

"Right." Patrick commanded.

SpongeBob steered the vehicle to the right, he successfully drove through the curve.

"Oh! Oh my, this is splendid, SpongeBob. You're doing fine." Mrs. Puff marveled at SpongeBob's decent driving skills.

The vehicle was heading towards an intersection with a stop sign.

"Stop." Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob made the vehicle stop.

"Look both ways." Patrick continued to give commands.

SpongeBob looked at both sides of the street.

"Go." Patrick gave the green light.

SpongeBob continued to drive the boatmobile.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The vehicle was driving straight towards the finish line.

"Splendid! Wonderful!" Mrs. Puff was clapping. "There's the finish line. It's unbelievable. You've shown the most spectacular improvement of any student I've ever seen. What's your secret? A little radio in your head?" She attempted to make a joke.

SpongeBob, Mrs. Puff, and Patrick laughed.

"Oh, and under that hat is some kind of, uhh, antenna?" Mrs. Puff continued to make jokes as the vehicle got closer to the finish line.

They continued to laugh.

"And some guy miles away from here is giving you all the answers?" Mrs. Puff couldn't help herself.

The three laughed for the third time.

"Oh, yes, but that would be cheating." Mrs. Puff became somewhat more serious.

SpongeBob's eyes widened, he frowned and his mouth became ajar. Guilt was gnawing at his heart. He was so desperate to get a driver's license that he would cheat on the exam just to obtain it. SpongeBob thought of the consequences of his actions, he imagined Bikini Bottom being in a state of chaos and destruction due to his poor driving skills. He realized the purpose of the exam, it was to see who had good driving skills and was ready to get a license.

He was not ready. The sponge would be going to jail very soon once he is allowed to drive.

"Cheating!" Patrick was laughing into the walkie-talkie.

"I'm cheating, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob spoke solemnly.

"Yes, my star pupil?" Mrs. Puff couldn't hear SpongeBob over the sound of the boatmobile's engine.

"I think I'm cheating." SpongeBob spoke louder and his hands were shaking on the steering wheel.

"What's that, dear?" Mrs. Puff still didn't hear SpongeBob.

"I think I am cheating!" SpongeBob let go of the steering wheel and grabbed Mrs. Puff.

"You've... you've let go of the wheel." Mrs. Puff was nervously eyeing the steering wheel.

"I do have an antenna under my hat." SpongeBob took off his hat and showed the antenna sticking out of his head. "There is a guy giving me all the answers. It's all true!" Tears ran down SpongeBob's eyes. "I'M CHEATING! I'M CHEATING! I'M CHEATING!" He bawled out a confession, SpongeBob could no longer control his emotions.

S-S-S-S-S

"What?" Patrick's eyes bugged out and his face drained of color.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Puff! I'm sorry!" SpongeBob was begging for Mrs. Puff's forgiveness, the guilt was overwhelming.

"The wheel, SpongeBob! The wheel!" Mrs. Puff desperately pointed at the steering wheel. The boatmobile was driving off-course and an accident was bound to happen.

"Cheating.. I'm a cheater! Cheater!" SpongeBob continued to wail like a child.

"No, no, no! Its quite alright! You can cheat!" Mrs. Puff was willing to do anything at this point to prevent another accident.

"No.. I'm cheating!" SpongeBob refused to grasp the wheel and steer the boatmobile.

"At least, SpongeBob-" Mrs. Puff couldn't finish what she was going to say.

"Cheating!" SpongeBob interrupted Mrs. Puff with his bawling.

"Cheat that way!" Mrs. Puff pointed at a finish line that was diminishing more and more as the boat drove further and further off-course.

"I'm a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater!" SpongeBob was oblivious to the dire situation.

"It's ok to cheat today!" Mrs. Puff tried to bring SpongeBob back to his senses.

"NO!" SpongeBob shook his head and continued to cry, he built a brick wall between him and Mrs. Puff. His teacher's attempts were futile.

"That way! Cheat that way!" Mrs. Puff was shaking SpongeBob and continued to point at the direction of the finish line.

"CHEATER!" SpongeBob couldn't bear to even touch the steering wheel.

Mrs. Puff looked ahead of the boatmobile. Her eyes bugged out as she saw a rapidly incoming lighthouse.

**CRRRRRAAAAAASSSSSSSSH**

The boat drove through the lighthouse and made a second hole.

Mrs. Puff became large and round once again. "Oh, SpongeBob, why?" She spoke in a deep voice.

"Mrs. Puff, I think I cheated." SpongeBob had calmed down.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

An ambulance was parked near the Boating School. Mrs. Puff was laid down on the stretcher.

"Uhh, I'm sorry for letting you down again, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob apologized.

"It's ok, SpongeBob, you didn't mean it." Mrs. Puff wasn't in a very jolly mood.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Puff. I'll try harder next semester. By the way, is class cancelled for today?" SpongeBob knew that class doesn't end after the boating exams are finished.

"No, SpongeBob. I'll notify you when I'm ready to return to class. Okay, boys, take me away." Mrs. Puff felt that she had spoken enough. Some workers pushed Mrs. Puff into the ambulance and closed the doors. The siren blared and the vehicle drove off to the horizon.

SpongeBob walked away from the campus. 'Where's my bike?' He couldn't find his unicycle.

"Meow." Gary was dragging the unicycle towards SpongeBob. The snail had followed SpongeBob out of curiousity and witnessed the entire incident.

"Gary! My bike! You found it! This sponge is still mobile!" SpongeBob put Gary on top of his head and he jumped to the unicycle. "Alright, let's go surprise someone at the hospital!" He rode away to visit Mrs. Puff during her recovery.

"Wait for me, buddy!" Patrick ran after SpongeBob.

"Pat, you wanna come too?" SpongeBob looked behind and noticed Patrick.

"Yeah! But slow down a bit!" Patrick struggled to catch up with the bike.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob slowed down. Patrick was now running at an equal speed with the unicycle.

The two best friends and the snail vanished from the horizon.

* * *

**Beyond this point, the order of the chapters will no longer rely on the numerical order of the episodes that they were based on. It's extremely obvious by now that I'm trying to give the series more continuity than it originally had. Chapters for now on will be placed in a more chronological order to prevent potentially large plotholes. **


	10. C O

**Chapter 10: Hall Monitor**

* * *

SpongeBob and a group of other students were patiently waiting in front of the gate of the boating school campus.

An ambulance drove to the campus and parked near the gate. The back doors opened and Mrs. Puff walked out. The doors then closed and the ambulance drove away towards the horizon.

"I thank all of you for your patience. Class shall now resume." Mrs. Puff walked across the boardwalk. The students followed her into the main building.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting in a desk inside a classroom with other students. Some pupils were taking notes in their notebooks as Mrs. Puff wrote some things on the chalkboard, others were napping or daydreaming since they found the material being taught to be boring. The yellow sponge was playing with his pencil since he had finished taking notes early, he was skilled at studying and this was the reason why he does well on the oral portion of the boating exam and why he had good grades in high school.

Mrs. Puff eventually erased what she had written on the chalkboard. "Everyone, put down your books, because it's time to pick out the hall monitor of the day!" The boating school occasionally picks certain students to be hall monitors so that they can monitor (hence the name) the behavior of people who drive boats. This was implemented so students can learn from the bad habits of certain drivers and find ways to prevent accidents before they happen.

SpongeBob slammed the pencil to his desk. He couldn't contain his excitement as he anticipated for Mrs. Puff to call his name.

Mrs. Puff took out a piece of paper and quietly spoke the names on the list as she read them. "Let's see here. This weeks hall monitor will be Bart, Jimmy, no, no, Tina, Ralph, mmm..." Her eyes widened and she gasped as she read the last name on the list. "...SpongeBob."

SpongeBob suddenly moved his desk two rows foward, he thought that he heard Mrs. Puff saying his name.

Mrs. Puff sweatdropped. "It's Jimmy! Jimmy's the hall monitor."

"Mrs. Puff, I've done it already!" Jimmy didn't like being the hall monitor.

SpongeBob moved closer.

"Ohh... Phil?" Mrs. Puff started to become worried.

"No way, Mrs. Puff." Phil shook his head.

SpongeBob moved closer.

"Uhh, Tina, you're the hall monitor." Mrs. Puff was becoming desperate.

"Hey, I've done it three times this month already!" Tina was sleepy.

SpongeBob moved closer.

"B-B-Beth!" Mrs. Puff noticed that SpongeBob was moving towards her.

"She graduated!" A student called out on Mrs. Puff's mistake.

"Henry?" Mrs. Puff calling everyone except for SpongeBob on the list.

Henry was napping.

SpongeBob moved closer.

"Vera?"

Vera shook her head.

SpongeBob moved closer.

"Clayton?"

"Nah." Clayton wasn't interested.

SpongeBob moved closer. He poked Mrs. Puff with his desk.

*sighs* "Alright, I guess I have no choice." Mrs. Puff took a deep breath. "The hall monitor of the day is SpongeBob." This was the moment that SpongBob was waiting for.

SpongeBob jumped out of his seat. "Yahoo!" He landed on the floor and made a military salute. "Hall monitor SpongeBob reporting for duty, ma'am! I am ready to assume my position IN THE HALL! I will protect all that are weak IN THE HALL! All rules will be enforced IN THE HALL!"

"Okay! Just take the hat and belt." Mrs. Puff took out the hall monitor uniform and tried to hand it to SpongeBob.

"I can't except that yet, ma'am. First I have to make my speech." SpongeBob thought that becoming a hall monitor was a formal ceremony.

The entire class except for Mrs. Puff groaned.

"You can't make this easy, can you?" Mrs. Puff waited for SpongeBob's speech.

"Classmates! Who am I to deserve such a great honor? Why, I would be nothing without Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob began his speech.

"Give me a break." Mrs. Puff rolled her eyes.

The students were looking at the clock and weren't paying attention to SpongeBob, they were waiting for the bell to ring.

"And to my public, all I can say is I'm touched. And furthermore, I will carry out my duties... " SpongeBob continued his speech.

S-S-S-S-S

Several long and boring minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"..,crime and punishment, punishment and crime IN THE HALL!" SpongeBob was deeply absorbed into his speech. He didn't notice that nearly all the students in the class were sleeping. Mrs. Puff was sitting in her desk and even she was getting bored.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more long and boring minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Which reminds me of an extremely long speech written by the greatest hall monitor of all time." SpongeBob took out a long piece of paper. ""Friends, students, juvenile delinquents, lend me your ears." He read it out loud. The sponge had prepared for his speech a long time ago.

Mrs. Puff was sleeping.

S-S-S-S-as

Even more long and boring minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's speech had dragged on for 25 minutes in total.

"In conclusion, and without a moment to spare, I will put on this uniform..." SpongeBob took the uniform from Mrs. Puff's desk. "...and assume my duties as..." He put the blue hat and belt on. "...hall monitor! Wish me luck, Mrs. Puff!" He walked towards the exit of the classroom. "Oh, and I will be-" SpongeBob turned around to say something.

The bell rung while SpongeBob was talking.

Everybody in the classroom woke up. The students quickly got out of their seats and ran over SpongeBob. They ran down the hall and exited the building.

"SpongeBob, are you ok?" Mrs. Puff was looking down at a flattened SpongeBob.

"I overdid the speech, didn't I?" SpongeBob shakily stood up.

"I'm afraid so." Mrs. Puff was being honest.

"Well, see ya later." SpongeBob walked down the hallway and left the building.

"What are the consequences of what I've just done?" Mrs. Puff felt regretful for allowing SpongeBob to become hall monitor. She worried about what SpongeBob might do with that responsibility in his hands.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking down a sidewalk in downtown Bikini Bottom. Numerous pedestrians walked across the sidewalks of both sides of the street. It was the peak of rush hour and the streets were heavily congested with vehicles, the traffic was going extremely slow.

The sponge stopped as he reached an intersection. All four parts of the intersecting roads were filled to the brim with boatmobiles, the vehicles weren't moving because the side that they were heading for was too full. SpongeBob looked up and saw a broken traffic light, it was responsible for the heavy traffic in the downtown area.

"A broken traffic light! This looks like a job for the hall monitor!" SpongeBob was going to do an act of heroism. He took out a whistle that came with the uniform belt. The sponge walked to the middle of the intersection. SpongeBob then directed the traffic by blowing the whistle and using hand gestures.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCREEEECH**

**CRASSSSH**

**CRAAASSSSH**

**CRRRAASSH**

**SCRRRRRREEEEEEEECH**

**CRRAAAAASSSSSH**

"My leg! My leeeeg!" Fred yelled in agony at his broken leg.

Several cars had crashed into each other, mounds and mounds of broken metal littered downtown Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob was the one that created all of that destruction. However, he was completely oblivious to this since he felt confident enough that he had done a good job and walked away to move on to something else.

"On patrol. I'm on patrol." He quietly sang to himself and strolled down the street. The sponge then noticed that there was a house with an open window. "Uh-oh, an open window. Who's to say my monitor duties couldn't be helpful anywhere?" He looked through the window.

S-S-S-S-S

There was a couple eating dinner in some sort of dining room.

"More seaweed medley, dear?" The wife asked.

S-S-S-S-S

"The fools. They've left themselves susceptible to danger. I must show them the error of their ways through example." SpongeBob dug into a trash can and found a ski mask. He put the ski mask on and jumped through the window.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob landed on the table. "I'm the open window maniac!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The couple ran out of their home in terror.

SpongeBob jumped out of the house through the window.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob landed on the sidewalk. "I hope you've learned a valuable lesson!" He took off the ski mask and put it back into the trash can. "On patrol. I'm on patrol. I'm on patrol." The sponge resumed his chanting and continued to stroll down the street.

S-S-S-S-S

A group of four thugs were hanging out at an alley. They looked heavily intimidating and were ready to fight if anyone asked for one.

"Man, have you seen the wrecked cars out there? Some barnacle head must've messed up big time." A thug was smoking a cigarette as he spoke.

"Good job, Sherlock." A thug with a metal baseball bat was being sarcastic.

"You gotta problem with that, Mike?" The thug with the cigarette made a vicious glare at Mike.

"Why do you have to state the most obvious stuff? You think we stupid or somethin'?" Mike tightened his grip on his baseball bat.

"You wanna fight?" The thug with the cigarette palmed his fist.

"Here we go again." The thug with the black jacket watched the conflict unfold.

Mike was giggling. "Jack, you're weak as hell and you can't fight for crap. A little kid down the street could beat you to a pulp."

The other two thugs couldn't help themselves and laughed.

"That's it. Let's go!" Jack walked towards Mike.

The thug with the baseball cap wasn't paying attention to the argument and was looking across the street. "Guys, look!" He pointed at someone on the other side of the street.

Jack was in the middle of making a punch when he stopped. The other three thugs looked across the street. A yellow sponge wearing a ski mask jumped out of a window. He made two people who lived in that house run and scream from their home in terror. The sponge took off the ski mask and revealed a hall monitor uniform. He put the ski mask into a trash can and walked across the sidewalk.

"Damn, that's one nice uniform. Those clothes have gotta be expensive. I bet he has a lot of money on him. He looks pretty weak so stealing his bucks is gonna be easy." Mike lifted his baseball bat and prepared to run across the street so he could mug the sponge.

"Oh snap! That was the guy who was guiding the cars at the intersection. He was the one that created all those car accidents." Jack recognized the sponge.

Someone abruptly walked into the alley. "How's it going, boys?" He was the leader of the thugs. The thug was the physically strongest of the group and a serial killer notorious for murdering his victims by strangulation.

"Yo, Strangler, should I mug that guy over there? He looks like an easy target." Mike was impatient.

The Strangler looked across the street and saw the sponge. "I've seen him before, he was guiding the traffic. Now's not a good time to mug him, Mike. He might be helping out the cops and I don't want to attract any attention. Let's stalk on him until it gets dark and if the police aren't around by that time, we'll mug him."

"Alright." Mike was disappointed.

The group of thugs stealthily walked through several alleys as they followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

A puddle of pink goo landed in front of SpongeBob.

*gasps* "Vandals! Another crime." He dipped a finger into the goo and tasted it. "Strawberry. I must act!" He acted more and more like a police officer than a hall monitor. Another puddle of pink goo landed on SpongeBob's head. The sponge shook the goo off and noticed that there was a metal fence. He looked up and saw Patrick licking some strawberry ice cream. "Patrick!"

An awkward pause. Patrick didn't hear SpongeBob's voice.

"Patrick!" SpongeBob yelled.

"My ice cream! It's alive!" Patrick thought that the ice cream was talking and threw it to the ground. A large amount of pink goo splattered over the sidewalk.

"Patrick! Down here!" SpongeBob commanded Patrick in a stern voice.

"Oh, SpongeBob, it's you." Patrick saw SpongeBob and smiled.

"Patrick! Come down here." SpongeBob folded his arms.

Patrick jumped off the fence and landed on top of SpongeBob. "SpongeBob? SpongeBob?" Patrick didn't know where SpongeBob went.

"I'm down here." SpongeBob's hand was poking Patrick.

Patrick stood up and SpongeBob was freed from Patrick's weight. "Hehe, you look funny! Hi, SpongeBob." Patrick saw SpongeBob's uniform and waved his hand.

"That's hall monitor to you!" SpongeBob kept his seriousness.

"Sorry, officer." Patrick tried to show some respect.

"Sorry's not good enough, Patrick. You've committed a crime, and I'm taking you in." SpongeBob was going too far, he was a police officer instead of a hall monitor by that point.

"What crime?" Patrick was completely oblivious to the 'crime' that he had 'committed'.

SpongeBob pointed at the ice cream that was laying on the ground.

"I'm a bad person!" Patrick began to cry. He didn't know that SpongeBob was giving him a draconian punishment.

"Plus, why're you hanging out here? This place isn't safe. Just look around." SpongeBob pointed at their surroundings. Dilapidated buildings with boarded up windows could be seen. Suspicious people were lurking in the shadows and were entering some of the buildings. The two friends even heard the faint sound of police sirens. SpongeBob was aware that he and Patrick were in the ghetto of Bikini Bottom.

"Extra! Extra! Maniac strikes Bikini Bottom! City paralyzed with fear!" A paperboy was giving out newspapers to several citizens. He walked towards SpongeBob and gave him a newspaper. "Take it, friends. Arm yourselves with knowledge." The paperboy ran off to elsewhere. "Extra! Extra! Maniac strikes Bikini Bottom!"

SpongeBob looked at the newspaper that was in his grasp. He read the headlines and saw two low-resolution images consisting of a shady person guiding traffic and someone wearing a ski mask that had exited from a window. SpongeBob was definitely the person in those pictures but the two friends couldn't recognize who that person was due to the fuzziness of the images. "Maniac. Bikini Bottom? Car wreck? Break-in? Who's better to bring this maniac to justice than me, the hall monitor! But I can't handle this case alone. Patrick, are you ready to give up your life of crime?" SpongeBob stopped reading the newspaper and looked at Patrick.

"I wanna be good!" Patrick was still crying, he felt guilty for his 'crime'.

"Hmmm... now you just need a symbol of authority." SpongeBob was considering what Patrick should wear.

Patrick looked at the ice cream cone that was on the ground. A light bulb lit up in his head. The sea star took the ice cream come and put it on his head.

"Perfect!" SpongeBob smiled. "It is our duty to catch this maniac and bring him to justice! But how to proceed? Listen, deputy, you're an ex-criminal. What would you do?" SpongeBob asked Patrick.

"Hmmm... I'd get an ice cream!" Patrick made a wide smile.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked out of an ice cream shop, they were eating the ice cream that they have bought.

"Okay, now what?" SpongeBob became serious again.

"Hmmm..." Patrick was deep in thought. "I'd get more ice cream."

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two walked out from the ice cream shop once again, they bought more ice cream.

"This isnt working. We've got to do something else. Something with walkie-talkies!" SpongeBob took out the walkie-talkie that was still stuck in his head. "Where's yours?"

"It's at my house." Patrick spoke.

"Let's go get it." SpongeBob hastily walked in the direction of Patrick's rock. Patrick quickly followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the rock. Patrick had found his walkie-talkie.

"And now, duty calls!" SpongeBob walked away from the neighborhood and Patrick followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting on the couch in the living room. He turned off the TV after watching the news. "Heh. So SpongeBob's a criminal now. Maybe this Sunday could get better." Squidward smiled at the thought of SpongeBob getting arrested.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs were hiding behind a large piece of coral. They peeked from their hiding spot and looked at Squidward's tiki. They had followed SpongeBob and Patrick to their neighborhood.

"Alright, boys. Move out. Whoever's in that house must be a friend or neighbor of that little square dude." The Strangler spoke an order.

The five thugs walked across the street and went to the backyard of the tiki.

"Ricky, open the door." The Strangler pointed at the thug with the baseball cap.

Ricky walked to the door and opened it very slowly. He peeked through the slight opening and saw Squidward napping on his couch in the living room. "He's asleep."

"Perfect. We're gonna kidnap him and hold him for a ransom. That way, the sponge is gonna pay without getting mugged. It would be more quick." The Strangler explained his plan to his fellow thugs.

"What happens if the sponge snitches to the cops?" Mike asked a question.

"Oh. Good point. Then we'll just kidnap the neighbor and used that as a trap to lure the sponge. We'll mug the little square when we get the chance." The strangler changed his plan.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about." Mike made a wide smile.

"Marcus, you'll go in there and flip the couch so that guy doesn't escape. Then Mike will come in and hit the guy in the head with his bat." Marcus gave orders to Mike and the thug with the black jacket.

Marcus opened the door some more and quietly walked across the living room. He stood behind the couch and pushed it. The couch flipped over and Squidward fell to the floor.

"Huh?" Squidward woke up from his nap.

Mike ran into the living room and swinged his bat.

**BONK**

Mike hit Squidward in the head with his baseball bat.

Squidward became unconscious.

Jack and Ricky walked into the room. All four thugs picked up Squidward's body and carried him out of the tiki.

The Strangler took out a cell phone and dialed a number. "I'm gonna call an old friend of mine." He put the phone near his ear and waited.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing near the ice cream shop.

"Alright deputy, I'll go that way, you go some different way! Run em out!" SpongeBob walked away and headed for elsewhere.

Patrick heard a police siren. He looked over his shoulder and saw a police car stop nearby him.

"Afternoon, son." A police officer greeted Patrick.

"Hello, brothers." Patrick waved at the two officers in the car and pointed at his hat. He thought that SpongeBob was a police officer and that he had became one as well.

"Son, we're looking for the maniac." The officer didn't take Patrick seriously.

"Have you seen this man?" The officer took out a poster that had the words 'WANTED MANIAC' in red text and a drawing of SpongeBob.

"AAAAHHHH! It's the maniac! Take him away! Take him away!" Patrick was terrified. He didn't recognize SpongeBob in that poster.

"Calm down son. It's just a drawing, not the real thing. Now we're going to show you this picture again, and you tell us if you've seen this guy, understand?" The officer was patient.

"Yeah." Patrick nodded his head.

"Okay." The police officer nodded his head to the other officer.

The other officer showed the poster once again.

"AAAAHHHHH! Horrible!" Patrick was too scared of the drawing in the poster.

The other officer put the poster away. The two police officers looked at each other and smirked.

"AHH!"

"AHH!"

"AAHHHHHH!"

Patrick yelled every time the other officer showed the poster.

"Stay indoors, son." The officer was trying to suppress his giggling.

"And, uhh, take that cone off your head." The other officer was chuckling.

The police car drove away and the two officers were laughing. The siren was heard once again.

Patrick suddenly realized something as he watched the police car drive towards the horizon. He took out his walkie-talkie. "SpongeBob? Come in, SpongeBob. Answer." He spoke into the device.

"SpongeBob here, Patrick. Report." SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard.

"Since the maniac is really scary and all, how are you going to defend yourself? I'm pretty strong but you can't even lift a barbell. Have you ever though about that? What happens if he beats you up?" Patrick's intelligence had suddenly increased. He was worried about what might happen to SpongeBob once they meet the maniac.

"Hmmm... you're right. I haven't thought about that..." SpongeBob was deep in thought,

A pause.

A lightbulb lit up in his head.

"I know one person who could help me and she could teach you a little something as well." SpongeBob spoke to Patrick while standing in front of him. He had walked to the sea star while he spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Follow me." He smiled and walked away.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stood before the front door of the treedome.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door.

A pause.

"_Who is it?_" Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"It's us, SpongeBob and Patrick." SpongeBob replied.

"Alright, I'll let you in." Sandy spoke and the front door became unlocked.

**CRRREEEEAK**

SpongeBob and Patrick walked into the hallway of glass.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the door. There were two glass bubbles laying on the floor. The two friends picked up the bubbles and put them on. The water in the hallway slowly drained until it became completely dry.

**CRRRREEEAK**

Sandy opened the door that was in front of SpongeBob and Patrick. "Howdy y'all. Uhhh..." She looked at SpongeBob's uniform and the ice cream cone that was on top of Patrick's head. "What's with the getups?" She was smirking and tried really hard not to giggle.

"For your information, I'm a hall monitor for the time being and Patrick had became one as well. I came here so you could teach us in the ways of karate so we can defend ourselves if we encounter any criminals." SpongeBob spoke solemnly as if he had a professional job.

"You're gonna fight crime? Very well. Let me go get my suit and we'll go outside. I'll teach ya." Sandy walked to the large oak tree so she could retrieve her suit.

"Hi, Sunny." Patrick smiled and waved at Sandy.

"Patrick, it's Sandy." SpongeBob corrected his friend.

Sandy laughed. "You're killing me Patrick."

Patrick's eyes bugged out. His face turned pale. "I-I'M THE MANIAC!" He ran in circles, he was terrified at the thought of getting arrested.

"No no, Patrick. Calm down. It's just a figure of speech." SpongeBob tried to ease Patrick's worries. He grasped the sea star's shoulder.

"Ohhhh. Phew." Patrick wiped sweat off his brow.

"Aw shucks, Patrick. You should be a comedian." Sandy resumed to walking to her tree.

A pause as SpongeBob and Patrick waited.

"Man, I can't wait to kick that maniac's butt." Patrick jumped up and down in excitement.

"You said it, Pat." SpongeBob was patient.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were outside and were somewhat far away from the treedome, they weren't wearing the glass bubbles. Sandy was wearing her astronaut suit.

The three stopped walking.

"I thought you knew karate, SpongeBob." Sandy was curious.

"I just have a heavy interest into that fighting style. I watch it on TV all the time and always wanted to pull off those cool fighting moves." SpongeBob was enthusiastic but he knew that he wanted to learn karate for a serious cause.

"I hope you set realistic goals 'cuz you're gonna experience the real deal." Sandy took out some karate gear of various colors;

The squirrel gave SpongeBob a set of red karate gear and gave Patrick a blue set of karate gear. The sets of gear consisted of a helmet and two large gloves. Sandy put on her own green karate gloves. "If y'all gonna learn karate, you're gonna need the gear."

"So what do we have to do now? Why do we have to walk so far away from your home?" SpongeBob asked as he put on his gear. Patrick was putting on his gear as well.

"This is why." Sandy pointed at numerous rocks that were nearby. "Follow me." She walked to a moderately sized rock.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed Sandy and stood in front of the rock.

"The skills that every karate practitioner must know are the basic stances and balance. Your kicks, blocks, or punches won't be powerful if you're not doing the stances properly. You will need a great amount of balance to maintain these stances. Due to the lack of time and your desire for learning karate quickly, I'll only teach you these skills and a few others. Once you get the stances right, we'll move on to the punches, kicks, and blocks. Please be aware that you won't become really good at karate overnight and it'll take years before you master this martial art. Without further ado, I'll show you how to do the shizentai-dachi or the walking stance." Sandy stood on top of the rock.

"A schizo-tacky what? I don't know Chinese." Patrick was scratching his head.

"That definitely sounds like Japanese to me." SpongeBob was carefully listening to Sandy's advice.

"You're correct, SpongeBob. The name for the stance and the martial art itself came from Japan. Anyways, now I'll teach y'all the stance. First, make sure both of your feet are pointing forward." Sandy made sure her feet were pointing forward as she stood. "Next, your feet have to be apart by a walking length and fist width. It's a good idea to step one of your feet forward to make this easier." The squirrel stepped one of her feet forward, they were exactly a foot's length and fist's width apart. "And the last thing you have to do is tilt your foot at the back by a 45 degree angle while still pointing out." Sandy tilted her back foot by a 45 degree angle while still pointing outward. "Now all you have to do is maintain your balance."

SpongeBob and Patrick watched Sandy as she maintained her pose.

"I think I'm ready. Can I go up and try?" SpongeBob felt confident after watching and listening to Sandy's instructions.

"Go ahead." Sandy jumped off the rock.

SpongeBob climbed up the rock and stood on top of it. He did the walking pose exactly how Sandy did it. He was careful to maintain his balance and kept up the pose for an entire minute.

"This is boring. I want to do the fighting stuff." Patrick became impatient, he found the karate lesson to be quite dull.

"Pat, ya first gotta crawl before you walk." Sandy spoke.

"Very true." Patrick nodded his head.

**THUD**

SpongeBob abruptly fell to the ground. He stood up and brushed off the sand on him. "Heheh. Oops."

"You've understood my instructions pretty well but your balance needs some work. Not bad for a beginner." Sandy reflected on SpongeBob's performance.

SpongeBob smiled.

"It's your turn." Sandy looked at Patrick.

Patrick walked up to the rock and stood on top of it. The stance that he made was similar to what Sandy did except that his back foot wasn't tilted by 45 degrees.

"You gotta tilt your foot by 45 degrees, Patrick." Sandy pointed out Patrick's mistake.

"How do you make my foot cold?" Patrick scratched his head.

"I'm not talking about temperature, I'm talking about angles. I'm referring to the 45 degrees that is an eight of a circle." Sandy tried to clear up Patrick's confusion.

"Oh." Patrick tilted his back foot 45 degrees while still pointing outward. "Okay."

A pause.

Patrick unsteadily maintained his stance. "W-woah." He wasn't going to last for very long.

"Keep your balance." SpongeBob spoke.

Patrick pushed down his feet on to the rock. He no longer moved from side to side and stood still.

CRASH

The rock broke into several pieces from the sheer force of the push of Patrick's feet. The sea star fell into the rubble and digged himself out.

"Karate is not all about brute strength, Patrick. You have to be able to change that strength into several forms. So far, it seems that you can only use that strength for destruction. However, your skills will improve and grow as you keep practicing." Sandy explained the concepts of karate to Patrick.

"Can I try again?" Patrick was somewhat disappointed.

"Be my guest."

Patrick walked to another rock and tried the walking stance once again.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had quickly learned all three basic stances of karate. After much difficulty and many mistakes, Patrick learned them as well. The two friends had also learned how to block. They were now learning and practicing the punches, blocks, and kicks of karate.

"Straight punch." Sandy commanded. The practice had commenced.

SpongeBob was standing in front of a very large rock. He punched it with all his might and left a large crack on the rock. His eyes widened and he marveled at his achievement. "Wow."

"Good job, SpongeBob. Your next, Pat. Straight punch." Sandy gave an order.

Patrick punched the rock that was in front of him but he didn't even make a crack. "Huh?"

"In order for your punches and kicks to be more effective, you've gotta have power, precision, and speed. Using your entire body when punching and kicking will give your hits more power and as a consequence will give them more speed as well. If you give yourself a longer route when hitting your target, the vice-versa will occur. However, none of that will matter if you keep missing your target so that's why you need to have precision." Sandy tried to help out Patrick.

"Kinda like flipping Krabby Patties." SpongeBob made an observation.

"No wonder you like karate, SpongeBob. You learn super quick. Anyways, you understood what I said, Patrick?"

"Yes, sensei." Patrick bowed.

SpongeBob and Sandy giggled.

"Now try again." Sandy ordered for Patrick to repeat the straight punch.

Patrick backed away by a few steps from the rock.

SpongeBob and Sandy were watching the sea star closely.

**CRACK**

**BOOM**

Patrick punched the rock with all the the strength he could muster. It broke into several pieces and those pieces flew in the air. SpongeBob and Sandy ran out of the way as the pieces of rock landed on the ground. Patrick looked at SpongeBob and Sandy. "How did I do?"

A pause. SpongeBob and Sandy were blankly staring at Patrick in shock.

The two began to clap their hands at Patrick's feat.

"I guess I don't know my own strength." Patrick was scratching his head.

'Hmmm...' Sandy was deep in thought. "Do you want to try the other moves, Pat?"

"Yes!" Patrick was jumping in excitement.

"Alright, straight kick." Sandy resumed her lesson.

Patrick directly kicked another rock. Several cracks appeared on the rock.

"Karate chop." Sandy pointed at a specific rock.

Patrick ran to the rock and made a mighty chop with one of his hands. The rock was halved.

"We're still not done. SpongeBob, do a straight kick.

"Rgh!" SpongeBob kicked a rock. It soared into the air and landed from a far distance.

"Karate chop." Sandy pointed at a rock that was behind her.

SpongeBob ran to the rock and made a karate chop. The rock was split into two halves. By this point, SpongeBob was just as skilled as Patrick in karate.

"Think fast." Sandy abruptly threw two rocks at SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick nimbly blocked and deflected the rocks. Sandy had taught them well in the ways of karate.

"Well, that pretty much covers up the basics of karate. Any questions?" Sandy was walking to her treedome.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head.

"Me neither. My mind is blank." Patrick forgot why he had learned karate in the first place.

Sandy took off her green karate gloves. "You can take off your gear now, y'know?"

"Oh yeah." SpongeBob took off his red karate gear and put it away.

Patrick took off his gear as well.

SpongeBob noticed that the sun was sinking below the horizon. "Yikes, time flew so fast. We better go hunt down the maniac."

"Oh snap!" Patrick widened his eyes. He remembered why they learned karate.

The two hall monitors walked to the horizon and headed for downtown Bikini Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs were on a rooftop. The Strangler's friend had taken them on a ride to downtown Bikini Bottom. Squidward was tied by a large piece of rope and his mouth was sealed by a piece of duck tape, he was hanging from the edge of the rooftop. The octopus tried to scream through the duck tape so someone could hear him and try to save him.

"Shut up. You're gonna blow our cover." Jack whispered loudly. He took out a lighter and lit up a cigarette. The thug took out a pocket knife and put it near Squidward's throat. "If ya keep screamin', you won't have a head."

Squidward's eyes bugged out and his face drained of color. He became quiet.

A poster flew in the air and landed on the rooftop.

Mike picked it up. He smirked as he looked at the poster. "Look who it is." He showed the poster to the Strangler.

"Heh. Even the police want the little sponge. We could turn him in for some quick bucks." The Strangler smiled.

"We're gonna have to hide our identity though." Jack reminded his group of their status as criminals.

"True." The Strangler nodded his head.

The group of thugs waited for their prey to arrive.

S-S-S-S-S

The ghetto of Bikini Bottom was nearly abandoned. Almost everybody went to their homes to avoid the violence that plagues the area during the nighttime. The gangs in the city do their activity at night to remain illusive from the police. However, tonight was not the case. It won't be long before the police patrol the area in search of the maniac who had been terrorizing Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking across the street. The only thing they heard were their footsteps. They scanned the dilapidated buildings for any signs of the maniac.

Patrick was sweating in anxiety as they walked further and further into the ghetto. "SpongeBob, I'm scared."

"Don't worry, Patrick. The maniac will be nothing once he sees our karate moves." SpongeBob was optimistic and confident with his karate abilities.

Patrick smiled and his fear of the maniac waned.

The two friends walked past a certain building.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs noticed that SpongeBob and Patrick were directly below them.

"Now's our chance." The Strangler whispered.

"**HEY! YELLOW SQUARE AND PINK FATTY! UP HERE!**" Jack screamed at SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

"WHO CALLED ME FA-" Patrick was yelling back at the rude comments he heard but suddenly stopped talking. His eyes bugged out. "The maniac... is stalking us." He spoke quietly.

SpongeBob took out his red karate gear. "Get ready, Patrick. Time to put our skills to the test." He put his gear on.

Patrick took out his blue karate gear and put it on as well.

SpongeBob and Patrick were back-to-back as they cautiously eyed the area for the maniac.

"**WHAT ARE YOU TWO FOOLS DOIN'? I SAID UP HERE!**" The voice came from above.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked up. He saw Squidward tied up in rope with his mouth covered in tape. He was hanging from the edge of the rooftop with someone putting a pocket knife near his throat. The sponge also saw some other thugs on the rooftop.

SpongeBob felt an emotion that he had rarely felt in the past. His eyes glowed with fire and anger was released from his heart. The raw emotion traveled up to his brain and consumed his thoughts. He didn't seek an act of revenge, the only thing he was seeking at that moment was the protection of his friend.

Patrick looked up and saw what happened. He tightened his fists. "Those jerks..." He spoke with clenched teeth.

SpongeBob walked to the front door of the building.

**SLAM**

He opened the door so hard that it nearly flew off its hinges. SpongeBob stomped into the building. Patrick quickly followed.

S-S-S-S-S

The Strangler was chuckling. "Everything is going as planned."

Mike opened the door to the stairs that led to the inside of the building. "That sponge isn't safe with that friend of his. Those two guys are gonna get the whooping of their lives." The thug was prepared to attack the two friends.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered a run-down living room. There were a few ashtrays on the floor and on a small table. The furniture was in poor condition and the paint was peeling from the walls. The two friends found a set of wooden stairs and began to jog up the steps. SpongeBob and Patrick made loud sounds as they went up the stairs due to the age of the wood.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs heard the loud steps of SpongeBob and Patrick as they went upstairs.

"Oh boy, they're coming alright." Mike made a wider smirk and twirled his bat.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

There was only a few steps left, SpongeBob and Patrick were close to reaching the top of the building. Mike awaited them at the rooftop with his baseball bat. However, Mike couldn't see the two friends due to the dim lighting of the building.

Time slowed.

**BAM**

The fist of a red karate glove sailed into Mike's face. He flew across the rooftop and landed near the edge, he almost lost his grip of the metal bat.

Time resumed.

Mike shakily stood up. "The hell?!" He saw who had punched him.

SpongeBob and Patrick slowly walked into the rooftop. They had dire expressions on their faces.

Jack threw Squidward to the side. He took out his lighter and lit it up so he could use it as a weapon. "The fools won't go down without a fight."

Mike twirled his metal bat. "Rggh!" He charged towards SpongeBob and made a deadly swing with the bat.

SpongeBob quickly jumped out of the way. Patrick grabbed Mike's ankle from behind and threw the thug to the floor.

Marcus took out a lead pipe that was concealed inside his jacket. He swung low so he could trip Patrick.

Patrick blocked the attack.

**SMACK**

The sea star slapped Marcus across the face. Patrick grabbed the pipe that Marcus was holding and twirled it and the thug around for several seconds before he-

**SLAM**

threw Marcus to the floor.

Ricky took out a taser that was in his pocket.

Jack sliced his pocket knife at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob blocked the attack in less than a second. He kicked Jack across the chest and karate chopped the thug on the side of the body.

Jack unsteadily went back a few steps but soon shook back to his senses. "Crap! They know Kung-fu!"

"It's called karate!" SpongeBob uppercutted Jack.

Jack soared in the air and eventually landed on the floor.

Mike and Marcus stood back up and ran towards Patrick and SpongeBob.

Mike swung his bat at Patrick.

Patrick dodged to the side. The sea star tried to kick Mike but missed.

Mike grabbed Patrick's leg and ragdolled the sea star on the floor repeatedly like a wrestler.

Patrick punched Mike in the chest in the middle of one of the thug's throws.

Mike nearly fell to the floor. He charged towards Patrick.

Ricky ganged up on Patrick and charged towards him as well while sticking his taser out.

Patrick hit the taser to the side and dove out of the way.

SLAM

Ricky and Mike accidently tackled each other.

Marcus swung his lead pipe down on SpongeBob.

SpongeBob flipped out of the way like an acrobat.

Marcus twirled his lead pipe super fast and ran towards SpongeBob. His lead pipe was a lead fan and was going to shred SpongeBob to bits.

SpongeBob timed his kick just right and hit the lead pipe with his foot.

The lead pipe flew in the air. It eventually landed on the floor and made a clattering sound.

Marcus dove to the pipe.

SpongeBob kicked Marcus in the stomach.

Marcus flew across the air and hit Jack just as the thug was starting to get up.

Patrick continuously punched and karate chopped Ricky and Mike.

Ricky found the taser and picked it up. He stabbed it towards Patrick.

Patrick pushed Ricky towards Mike.

**ZAAAAP**

Ricky accidentally stung Mike with the taser instead. Mike collapsed to the floor and was stunned.

Ricky ran towards Patrick and tried to sting the sea star with the taser.

Patrick punched the taser out of Ricky's hands. The taser landed on the floor and Patrick ran towards it. He stomped on the taser and shattered it to pieces.

Ricky took out a dagger that was inside his baseball cap.

Patrick cartwheeled towards Ricky and hit the thug with both his feet and hands.

Ricky collapsed to the floor and became stunned from the several impacts he had received.

Jack stood up and charged towards SpongeBob from behind. He was using the lighter like a flamethrower and was going to put SpongeBob's clothes in flames.

SpongeBob expertly karate chopped the lighter and the tool was released from Jack's grasp. The lighter flew through the door and tumbled down the stairs.

Jack stabbed SpongeBob with his pocket knife.

SpongeBob nimbly dodged the attack and kicked low. Jack tripped on SpongeBob's leg and fell to the floor.

SpongeBob grabbed Jack and lifted him up. He threw the thug through the door and Jack tumbled across the stairs.

"That's it!" The Strangler took out a large machete.

Marcus stood up and picked up his pipe.

Ricky stood up and gripped his dagger tightly.

A pause.

Mike stood up and twirled his baseball bat. "Play time is over."

The Strangler and Marcus charged towards SpongeBob and Patrick while Ricky and Mike ran towards the two friends from the other side.

SpongeBob and Patrick were back-to-back and narrowed their eyes.

S-S-S-S-S

Jack stood up and his vision became clear. He noticed that his lighter had created a large fire in the room and had spread to the other parts of the house.

"**DEAR NEPTUNE! BROS, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE! WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!**" Jack quickly ran downstairs, he wa running for his life.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs heard Jack's scream and stopped running. The thugs, SpongeBob, and Patrick looked below the stairs and noticed the glow of a large fire. A small amount of smoke was coming out of the door and was entering the outside air.

"These two fools are pretty smart." Mike made a comment.

"Yikes!" SpongeBob ran downstairs. Patrick followed him.

"Tartar sauce! C'mon guys, they're getting away!" The Strangler grabbed Squidward and ran downstairs as well.

The other thugs followed the Strangler. The group was chasing SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick ran down the stairs as fast as they could. They coughed as smoke filled their lungs. The fire was burning through the walls of the house and burned objects were falling down to the stairs and floor.

**SMASH**

One of the wooden steps was shattered by a lead pipe. It was only a few inches away from SpongeBob's foot. Marcus failed in his attempt to trip SpongeBob.

**CRUNCH**

A metal bat broke off a part of a wooden banister. Mike failed to hit Patrick in the head with his bat.

**SHIIIING**

The Strangler swung his large machete directly at SpongeBob as if it was a sword.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob dove and dodged the machete.

**THUNK**

The machete stabbed the wall instead.

Time resumed.

The Strangler pulled the machete out of the wall.

Ricky somersaulted down the stairs and went past SpongeBob and Patrick. He reached the living room and stood up, the thug prepared his dagger. Jack was next to him and took out his pocket knife.

SpongeBob and Patrick were surrounded.

The two friends leaped off the stairs and landed on the other side of Jack and Ricky.

The Strangler, Marcus, and Mike suddenly came into Jack and Ricky's vision.

The two thugs' eyes bugged out. "Fish pa-" Ricky was going to say something.

SWASH CLANK SWASH CLANK SWASH

The thugs accidentally crashed into each other. Their metal weapons collided together and flew in the air. Squidward was released from the Strangler's grasp.

"Watch out!" Marcus dove out of the way. The other thugs dove to the floor as well.

THUNK CLANG THUNK CLANG THUNK

The metal weapons landed on the floor. The machete, pocket knife, and dagger stabbed the floor while the bat and lead pipe rattled on the floor.

Squidward landed in SpongeBob's a arms. SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward in tow escaped the house.

The thugs tried to find their respective weapons as the fire raged on.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob laid Squidward on the ground. "Are you okay, Squid?"

Squidward nodded.

"Have you got hurt anywhere?" SpongeBob was concerned for Squidward's health.

Squidward shook his head.

"I'll take off that tape." SpongeBob slowly took the tape off Squidward's mouth.

"Batter up!" Mike ran out of the building and headed towards SpongeBob just as he finished taking off the tape from Squidward's mouth. Mike swung the bat.

**SLAM**

The bat hit the sponge. SpongeBob flew in the air and hit a wooden fence.

**BAM**

Patrick punched Mike in the chest and pushed him out of the way.

Jack, Marcus, and Ricky exited the building and charged towards Patrick.

Patrick karate chopped them with both of his hands. He grabbed Jack by the leg and threw him high into the air.

Jack flipped in the air and landed on the ground really hard with a **THUD**. He became unconscious.

Ricky stabbed with his dagger at Patrick.

Patrick snatched the dagger and hit Ricky's forehead with the blunt side of the dagger.

Ricky became dizzy but he soon got back to his senses. He grabbed his dagger and ran to a trash can. The thug lifted the trash can up.

Marcus walked up to Patrick and twirled his lead pipe.

Mike ran towards Patrick and lifted up his bat so he could swing down on the sea star.

Patrick flattened himself on the ground in half a second.

Ricky threw the trash can.

The lead pipe deflected Mike's bat. The bat hit Mike in the face and the thug became extremely dizzy.

The lead pipe also deflected the trash can. The trash can flew towards Ricky. Ricky dove to the ground and dodged the trash can.

Marcus lost his grip of the weapon and the pipe fell to his feet. "Ow!" He hopped on one foot in pain.

Patrick took the lead pipe and hit Marcus in the head with the metal weapon. Marcus fell to the ground and became unconscious.

Ricky threw his dagger at Patrick like a boomerang.

Patrick stepped out of the way and dodged the dagger.

**THUNK**

The dagger stabbed into the wooden fence.

**BAM**

Patrick punched Mike in the face without even looking, the thug had sneaked up behind him. Mike slowly fell to the ground and became unconscious.

Ricky ran to the fence to get his dagger.

**SLAM**

Patrick kicked the back of Ricky's head.

**THUD**

Ricky collapsed to the ground and became unconscious.

The still bodies of the knocked out thugs were laying on the ground. There was only one thug left.

The Strangler had watched the fight unfold and decided to take action. He tackled SpongeBob.

**CRASH**

The two broke a hole through the fence.

S-S-S-S-S

**SHIIING**

The Strangler was going to stab SpongeBob's throat. SpongeBob's money was no longer important, the Strangler's friends had been beaten to a pulp. The Strangler wanted to murder SpongeBob instead of mugging him.

SpongeBob grasped the machete with his karate gloves. The sturdy material of the gloves prevented the sponge's skin from getting cut by the machete. He used all the strength he could muster to push the machete away as the Strangler inched the machete closer and closer to SpongeBob's throat.

SpongeBob slapped the machete off the Strangler's hands in desperation. The machete landed on the ground and clattered.

"Very well, I'll just use my signature move." The Strangler grabbed SpongeBob's throat with both of his hands and strangled SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's vision was becoming hazy. The sponge punched, kicked, and karate chopped the Strangler with all of his strength. The thug received severe blows to multiple areas of his body. The Strangler let go of SpongeBob and became extremely dizzy.

**BAM**

SpongeBob made an uppercut that hit the Strangler's jaw.

The Strangler sailed to the air and flew to the other side of the fence.

S-S-S-S-S

THUD

The Strangler landed on the ground and became unconscious. SpongeBob and Patrick had defeated all the thugs.

"Don't worry, Squid. No one is going to hurt you anymore." Patrick untied the rope that was binding Squidward. The octopus stood up but he was oddly quiet, he had been silent for the entire fight with the thugs. Squidward was heavily considering the decision to alert the authorities of SpongeBob's whereabouts.

S-S-S-S-S

The officers that spoke to Patrick were driving across the streets of the ghetto, they were searching for the maniac.

The other officer noticed that there was a building that was on fire. "Dear Neptune! Rob, look!" The other officer pointed at the burning building.

Rob looked to his left and saw the fire. "John, go call the firemen. I'll investigate the scene."

John took out his cell phone and dialed a number. He put the phone near his ear.

**SCREEEECH**

The car screeched to a halt in front of the building.

**SLAM**

Rob pushed the door open and he walked into the scene, he saw a familiar sea star. "So, we meet again." He noticed that an octopus was next to the sea star and that there were unconscious bodies of thugs laying on the ground. "Would you care to explain what happened here?"

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up. "Phew. That was close." He wiped the sweat off his brow. He saw a poster that was laying on the ground and he picked it up. The thing that SpongeBob was holding was a 'WANTED' poster with a drawing of himself on it. "Huh, this guy's not half-bad-looking for a maniac." The sponge made a sudden realization. "Wait a minute." He crawled through the hole in the fence.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick. "P-Patrick, I'm the maniac!" He showd the poster to the sea star.

"**AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**" Patrick screamed in fright.

Squidward gulped.

"I'll take that as a confession." Rob took out his handcuffs.

SpongeBob turned around and gave his hands to the officer, he wasn't going to resist the authorities.

The officer handcuffed SpongeBob and guided him to the car.

"W-wait, officer! What about the beat-up thugs?" Squidward followed Rob.

Rob looked at the unconscious group of thugs. "Were you responsible for this?" He looked at SpongeBob.

"Yes. My friend helped out too." SpongeBob looked at Patrick.

Rob was deep in thought.

A pause.

SpongeBob sweatdropped.

"I'll let you off the hook." He released SpongeBob from the handcuffs. "However, you'll only have a reduced fine of $15."

"Okay." SpongeBob took out his wallet and gave the officer $15.

"Time to round up these thugs." Rob walked to the thugs and handcuffed each of them.

The three neighbors could hear a blaring siren.

**SCREEECH**

A fire truck parked in front of the building. Several firemen came out of the truck and tried to take down the fire with several water hoses.

The three neighbors left the premises and walked home.

"Thank you so much, Squidward. You're a really good friend." SpongeBob smiled.

"I only did it because you saved me from those thugs." Squidward brushed off SpongeBob's comment.

"Stop lying, Squid. You're trying to be good friend." Patrick smirked.

"No I'm not!" Squidward became annoyed.

SpongeBob and Patrick laughed.

S-S-S-S-S

Half an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

The group of thugs were inside a police car. They were handcuffed and couldn't move because they were tightly squeezed into the car.

"It was all your fault, Jack. If you didn't use that lighter, this wouldn't have happened." Mike was extremely irritated.

"Nuh-uh." Jack shook his head. "That sponge did some karate move and got the lighter off my hand."

"True." Marcus nodded his head.

The group of thugs were in a grumpy mood.


	11. M

**Chapter 11: Pizza Delivery**

* * *

6:00 PM. Monday evening.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was reading a newspaper while sitting in the boat, the headlines were 'MANIAC BECOMES TOWN HERO'. The newspaper didn't go into too much detail about Squidward being taken as a hostage by the thugs and the torment that the octopus had to go through.

"Rubbish." Squidward spoke quietly and shook his head. He put the newspaper away. "Hurry up with those chairs, SpongeBob, it's after closing and I'd like to go HOME."

SpongeBob was cleaning a table with a bucket of water and a towel. He heard what Squidward said and quickened his pace a bit.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The telephone that was next to the cash register rang.

'Oh boy, what now?' The sound had irritated Squidward, the octopus had a short temper due to becoming impatient with SpongeBob.

"I got it, I got it! Coming." SpongeBob stopped cleaning the table and leaped towards the phone.

Squidward picked up the phone.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed face-first on the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was inspecting the cleanliness of the kitchen when he heard the ringing of the phone. He looked over the ordering window and saw Squidward answering the telephone.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hello?" Squidward spoke into the phone.

An electronic voice was heard. The person on the other line of the phone wanted pizza.

"Sorry, sir, we're close-" Squidward wanted to dismiss the phone call, he didn't want to work extra hours. However, a red claw snatched the phone right before Squidward was going to finish his sentence.

"Ahoy there, Krusty Krab. How could I help you?" Mr. Krabs spoke into the phone.

The person on the other line once again explained that he wanted to order some pizza.

"Pizza?" Mr. Krabs fantasized about the money he could earn, it was an excellent opportunity to earn some extra cash. "Of course we have pizza." The crab smirked.

"Uhh, Mr. Krabs..." Squidward looked up at the Galley Grub and didn't see pizza on the menu.

"Our delivery squid will bring it right over, but you have to tell us where you live." Mr. Krabs continued the conversation on the phone.

The electronic voice said a certain address.

Mr. Krabs wrote the address on a sticky note. "Have a nice day." He made a pirate laugh and put the phone down.

"Mr. Krabs, we don't serve pizza." Squidward was disappointed, he had been chosen to deliver the pizza.

"You're right, Mr. Squidward." Mr. Krabs nodded. He turned to look at SpongeBob. "Do you know how to make a pizza?"

"Yep." SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"Go cook one right now." Mr. Krabs found a ladder that was inside the kitchen and took it out.

**CRRREAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean exited the kitchen and put the ladder on a wall. He climbed up the ladder and took several things from the storage area. Mr. Krabs climbed back down and moved the ladder near the Galley Grub, he was holding a brush and a bucket of paint. He climbed up to the Galley Grub and dipped the brush into the bucket of paint. The crab wrote pizza as a new food on the menu and a ridiculous price to go with it. Once he was done, he climbed back down, put the brush and bucket of paint away; and put the ladder back inside the kitchen.

**CRRRREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and began to cook the pizza.

"We now serve pizza." Mr. Krabs smiled.

"We don't deliver." Squidward continued to complain.

"We don't deliver, but you do." Mr. Krabs pointed at Squidward.

"Can't you just get SpongeBob to do it?" Squidward was trying to avoid the responsibility of delivering the pizza.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. "Great idea!" The crustacean looked at the ordering window. "SpongeBob, when you're done with the pizza, you're coming with Squidward to deliver it."

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob smiled even more. He made a thumbs-up as he cooked the pizza.

S-S-S-S-S

"That's not what I had in mind!" Squidward was determined to leave work and call it a day.

"Too bad." Mr. Krabs shrugged. He gave the sticky note with the address to Squidward.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean entered his office.

Squidward was in a very bad mood, one of the worst things to happen while working in the Krusty Krab had just occurred. It was a rough start for the week of work.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob exited the kitchen, he was carrying a box with the pizza inside of it.

"Let's get this over with." Squidward stood up from the boat.

The two entered the kitchen and went through another door. They were outside the back of the Krusty Krab. Squidward walked behind the dumpster and SpongeBob followed, they saw a boatmobile.

"I've never noticed that before." SpongeBob was slightly surprised.

"Trust me, I know my way around here. I've been working here for years." Squidward sat inside the vehicle, he felt a little better knowing that he worked in the Krusty Krab longer than SpongeBob.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob sat next to Squidward, he was careful to keep a firm grasp on the pizza box.

A pause.

SpongeBob suddenly realized something. "Can you hold this?" He handed the box to Squidward. The sponge stood up and got off the vehicle. He walked to the front of the boatmobile. "Front end... check." SpongeBob was inspecting the vehicle, he took the pizza delivery very seriously. "Antenna..." He touched the antenna of the boat and made it vibrate. "...check." He walked to the back of the vehicle and crouched down. "Bumper sticker..." He saw a bumper sticker that had the words 'I Brake For *Sea Urchins*' in green text. "...check." SpongeBob then squeezed one of the back wheels with both of his hands. "Tire pressure... check. And one more thing." SpongeBob stood up and sat inside the boat once again. He twisted the key in the keyhole and turned the boat on. "GPS..." SpongeBob saw the GPS on the boat; it was functioning properly. "...check. Vehicle inspection complete! We're really making history here Squidward. That lucky customer is going to get the first Krabby Patty Pizza ever." SpongeBob reached a hand out so he could get the pizza box.

"Good, then you drive." Squidward grasped the box tightly and didn't let SpongeBob take it.

SpongeBob's eyes widened, his face drained of color, and he began to sweat. The sponge was far from being a decent driver. "I can't. I'm still in Boating School." It was like the boating exams all over again.

"Come on, SpongeBob. It's just around the corner." Squidward looked at the address on the sticky note and inputted a specific set of coordinates on the GPS.

"Well, yeah, but..." SpongeBob anxiously looked at the steering wheel.

"Just do what you do in school." Squidward was completely oblivious to SpongeBob's poor driving ability.

"Well, okay. Wait, don't tell me." SpongeBob was hesitant to grasp the steering wheel.

"Back it up." Squidward seemed to be SpongeBob's substitute Boating School teacher.

"Huh?" SpongeBob gave Squidward a puzzled look.

"Back it up." Squidward was becoming more irritated than before, he now had to deal with SpongeBob's hesitance to drive the boatmobile.

"Alright, back it up." SpongeBob grasped the stick shift but was too anxious to move it.

"Back it up!" Squidward was losing his patience.

"Okay, okay." SpongeBob was becoming more and more nervous.

"Shift into reverse, SpongeBob!" Squidward was barking an order.

"Reverse?" SpongeBob's anxiety distorted his vision. The words 'FORWARD' and 'BACKWARD' on the stick shift became Korean characters. "Backing it up!" He moved the stick shift down.

**VRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM**

The boatmobile backed up at a rapid speed and it was accelerating faster and faster as time went on.

Squidward's eyes bugged out. He knew that an accident was bound to happen if SpongeBob continued to drive. "Gimme the wheel, SpongeBob. Give me the wheel!" The octopus put the box on his lap and tried to grab the steering wheel.

"Backing up! Backing up!" SpongeBob was still grasping the stick shift. "Ba-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ack-i-i-i-i-i-ng up!"

The boatmobile was backing up through a large area of rocks. The vehicle shook violently as the wheels passed through the rocks. Squidward was unable to grasp the wheel.

The vehicle abruptly began to spin around rapidly, they had left the area of rocks.

SpongeBob shook back to his senses and gasped. "The shift!" He desperately tried to push up the stick shift, Squidward assisted him in the process. Unfortunately, the stick shift wouldn't budge and was stuck in the 'BACKWARD' direction.

"**BAAAAAAARRRNAAAAAACLEEEEESSS!**" Squidward screamed in anger and frustration.

The boatmobile entered a road. The stick shift moved up a bit and the vehicle slowed down somewhat, the stick was still jammed however.

Squidward grasped the steering wheel and turned it until the boatmobile was backing up directly through the road.

"Should we call 9-1-1?" SpongeBob was looking at his surroundings nervously.

"It would be useless at this point, they would never catch up with us." Squidward knew that the vehicle's speed was too fast for the police to handle.

SpongeBob stood up and looked over the edge of the boatmobile. "Maybe we should jump off." The situation was calling for drastic measures.

"I can't imagine what injury you're gonna get once you do that." Squidward shook his head, what SpongeBob was about to do was a bad idea.

"Right." SpongeBob nodded and sat back down. "Sooo... what do we do now?"

Squidward was looking at the GPS. "We're reaching the outskirts of Bikini Bottom. The best course of action would be to wait until this car runs out of gas. Once that happens, we'll go back to Bikini Bottom and deliver that damn pizza once and for all."

"Are we going to abandon this boatmobile? Maybe we should push it back to the Krusty Krab once it's out of fuel." SpongeBob made a suggestion.

"Do you want to make this living hell any worse?" Squidward glared at SpongeBob.

"No." SpongeBob bit his lip and shook his head.

"Good." Squidward nodded his head and looked at the road in front of him.

A pause.

"What happens if we get sleepy?" SpongeBob still had several questions in his mind.

"Can't get enough of those 'what ifs', eh? Anyways, if we're sleepy enough, I believe we're able to sleep this wait out. Unless the sound of this car's engine keeps us awake." Squidward was still acting like SpongeBob's teacher in some sort of way.

SpongeBob tried to move the stick shift up, it moved up a few inches before it became jammed again.

The boat slowed down a bit more and the engine became quiet.

"I see." Squidward understood the intention of SpongeBob's action.

SpongeBob yawned and moved his chair down as if it was a bed.

"Already?" Squidward smirked.

"Good night, Squidward." SpongeBob closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Squidward continued to watch the GPS as the vehicle's location moved bit by bit on the map.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward slowly closed his eyes and drifted into a silent darkness.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward woke up. The boatmobile had stopped backing up, it had ran out of gas. They were in the middle of nowhere and the GPS indicated that the two were a few miles from Bikini Bottom. The difficult part of their journey to deliver the pizza had begun.

SpongeBob put his hand on the pizza box. "I think the pizza's getting cold."

Squidward took the GPS off the front end of the vehicle. "That's the least of our worries. We don't know if we're even going to SURVIVE this trip." The octopus looked at the long distance ahead of him, there were no buildings in sight.

*gasp* "Are you suggesting we're going to eat the pi-" SpongeBob's eyes widened.

"No, no." Squidward shook his head. "It's obvious that the pizza is our top priority, I'll scavenge for food before I eat the pizza." The octopus got out of the boatmobile.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped sweat off his brow, took the pizza box, and got out of the vehicle.

Squidward saved the location of the boatmobile on the GPS.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two were walking near the road.

"Ow, ow, ow." Squidward's feet were already getting tired.

"The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza for you and me. The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza-" SpongeBob was singing before he got interrupted.

"And my feet are killing me." Squidward joined in the singing.

SpongeBob suddenly laid down on the ground. He rubbed the sand, felt a vibration, and heard a sound.

"Woah." Squidward tripped over SpongeBob and fell with a **THUD**. "SpongeBob? What are you doing?" The octopus stood up and looked at a laying SpongeBob.

"It's an old pioneer trick. I saw it in a movie once." SpongeBob was concentrating.

"SpongeBob, this is no time for-" Squidward found SpongeBob's act to be ridiculous.

"Shh, shh, shh. It's working." SpongeBob wanted to remove all distractions. The sound that he heard was becoming louder and louder and the ground was vibrating some more.

"What is it?" Squidward raised his brow.

SpongeBob stood up and pointed at an incoming truck across the road. "Truck! Sixteen wheels. Now I can show you how the pioneers hitchhiked." The sponge ran to and stood in the middle of the road. He began to make a goofy dance. "WheeEEEeeeeEEEE."

The truck was heading straight for SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

"Crashin' frashin' break dancer!" The truck driver saw SpongeBob and his eyes bugged out.

**HOOOOOOONNNNNNK**

He slammed on the horn of the truck.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's eyes widened, he noticed that the truck was not stopping. He dove towards SpongeBob and pushed themselves out of the way.

The truck passed by and covered SpongeBob and Squidward in sand.

The two dug themselves out of the sand.

"Heheh. Oops." SpongeBob smiled nervously.

Squidward glared at SpongeBob for a few seconds and then resumed his long walk.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock, he had woken up. The moment he took a step outside, he knew something was wrong. The sea star didn't hear Squidward playing his clarinet.

Patrick walked to the front door of Squidward's tiki. "Squid?"

**KNOCK KNOCK**

He knocked on the door.

A pause. There was no response.

**CRRREEEEAK**

Patrick opened the door and entered the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked upstairs and entered the music room. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Patrick scanned the room. The clarinet and a closed book of music sheets were on the sheet holder, there were no signs of activity.

"Squid's not here. Maybe SpongeBob knows why." Patrick walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the tiki and closed the front door. He walked to the front door of SpongeBob's pineapple.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

"SpongeBob, you there?" Patrick knocked on the door.

**CRRREEEEAK**

"Meow." Gary opened the door.

"Is SpongeBob here? Squidward is not at home." Patrick was somewhat worried.

"Meow meow." Gary shook his head.

"Where have you last seen SpongeBob and Squid?"

"Meow meow."

"Going to work? Hmmm..." Patrick was deep in thought. He took out the ice cream cone from yesterday and put it on his head. "Time to investigate!" The sea star became a detective.

"Meow." Gary nodded.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the front door and put Gary on his shoulder. The sea star and snail headed for the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Gary were in front of the Krusty Krab. The front doors were locked and Patrick was unable to open them. It was too early for the Krusty Krab to open.

"Who owns this place?" Patrick looked at Gary.

"Meow." Gary was looking behind Patrick.

Patrick turned around and saw Mr. Krabs walking to the restaurant with his key.

"Stop right there!" Patrick tackled Mr. Krabs.

"W-woah." Mr. Krabs fell to the ground from Patrick's weight.

Patrick lifted up Mr. Krabs by the shirt. "Where's SpongeBob and Squidward!?"

"Why did you do that?" Mr. Krabs was angry.

"For your information, I'm SpongeBob's best friend. I haven't seen SpongeBob and Squidward for a whole day. WHERE. WERE. THEY!?" Patrick had lost his temper.

"They were off delivering some pizza and I haven't heard from them either." Mr. Krabs spoke.

Plop!

Patrick dropped Mr. Krabs to the ground.

"What were they doing when you last saw them?" Patrick continued to ask questions.

"They were driving a boatmobile. Was that all you wanted to know, lad?" Mr. Krabs stood up.

"SpongeBob hasn't earned his driver's license yet. Something bad must've happened." Patrick narrowed his eyes.

Mr. Krabs looked at his key and abruptly realized something. He imagined all the money he would lose without SpongeBob and Squidward working in the Krusty Krab. The crustacean bit his lip. "You know what? I'll go with you. Those two people that you were talking about are important to me as well."

Patrick smiled. "What place were they heading to?"

"I'll show you. The person who ordered the pizza had told me his address." Mr. Krabs walked ahead of Patrick.

The sea star followed. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "This old crab still has a good memory."

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward persistently walked across the barren and uninhabited wilderness. A moderate breeze was blowing against them.

"The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza for you and me. The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza free delivery. The Krusty Krab pizza is the pizza very ta-asty." SpongeBob sung as he carried the pizza, he tightly gripped the box so the wind didn't blow it out of his hands.

A powerful gust of wind abruptly came in and pushed SpongeBob and Squidward back by several feet. The pizza box was lifted to the air and flew in the direction of the gust, SpongeBob didn't let go and continued to hold on to the box.

Squidward saw SpongeBob flying with the pizza box several feet above the ground. "Will you let go of that stupid pizza already?!" He ran towards SpongeBob.

"I can't, it's for the customer!" SpongeBob shook his head, he refused to let to.

"Who cares about the customer?!" Squidward was jumping repeatedly as he tried to grab SpongeBob's feet, he wanted to pull the sponge down to the ground.

"I do!" SpongeBob was determined to deliver the pizza.

"Well I don't!" Squidward became frustrated as each of his attempts failed.

The strong gust shifted to the opposite direction.

"Squidward, watch out!" SpongeBob was flying directly towards Squidward.

"Let go of that pizza!" Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's feet, he was finally successful. The octopus then began to pull SpongeBob to the ground. Squidward thought that survival was more important than the pizza, he directly contradicted what he had said earlier.

"No! It's for the customer!" SpongeBob held on to the pizza box with all of his might.

Squidward looked ahead of SpongeBob and his eyes bugged out. He found out the reason why the gust of wind has shifted to the opposite direction. A large dust devil was heading directly towards them.

The two were lifted up and were sucked into the dust devil.

"SpongeBob! Hang on to the pizza!" Squidward held on to SpongeBob's feet. He tried to spit some sand from the dust devil out of his mouth as he spoke.

A pause.

The dust devil dissipated.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Squidward fell to the ground.

A large cloud of sand was formed.

A long pause.

The cloud disappeared and revealed SpongeBob and Squidward lying on the ground.

The two stood up.

Squidward looked around but couldn't see the road. "Where's the road? Where's the road?" He ran around in a desperate attempt to find the road. "We're doomed! How are we gonna get home, which way do we go?"

SpongeBob saw the GPS laying on the ground and picked it up. He walked towards Squidward.

"What are we gonna do now! There's no road he-" Someone tapped Squidward's shoulder.

SpongeBob handed him the GPS.

"Oh yeah!" Squidward smiled and looked at the GPS to check their location. "We're nearby New Kelp City. At least we made some sort of progress."

The two resumed their walk towards Bikini Bottom.

"The Krusty Krab pizza absolutivally." SpongeBob continued to sing. "Pizza... pizza..." He made drum sounds by tapping under the pizza box.

SpongeBob didn't sing and only made drum sounds with the box for several seconds.

"Krusty KrAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAb pizza is the pizza, yeah, for you and, meeeeeEEEEEEeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEeeeeee!" SpongeBob sang in his singing voice.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two employees were exhausted from the long walk, they were walking very slowly.

"Krab pizza..." SpongeBob collapsed to the ground.

Squidward allowed himself to collapse to the ground as well. "Sponge, we gotta eat something." Squidward was ravenous.

"I heard in times of hardship, the pioneers would eat coral." SpongeBob spoke in a quiet voice.

Squidward grabbed a piece of coral that was nearby. He then attempted to eat it.

"No, maybe it wasn't coral." SpongeBob shook his head.

Squidward spat out the piece of coral.

"Maybe it was sand, no, mud." SpongeBob wasn't thinking straight.

"Give me the pizza!" Squidward stood up and walked towards SpongeBob. He was going to eat the pizza in a desperate attempt to satisfy his hunger.

"Wait, I remember now. It was coral!" SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"Give it to me!" Squidward reached down to grab the pizza box.

"No, we promised it's for the customer." SpongeBob stood up and backed away.

"You're right. It's for the customer." Squidward wore a smile. He was going to do anything so he could get his hands on the pizza.

"Yeah!" SpongeBob wiped sweat off his brow in relief.

"Maybe we should check on it, y'know, just to make sure it's okay." Squidward was acting to the best of his ablity.

SpongeBob was deep in thought, he was considering Squidward's suggestion.

"Just a peek." Squidward opened the box and looked inside.

"Okay, it's fine." SpongeBob looked inside as well and closed the box.

"No, I think I saw something." Squidward opened the box again. "Oh no, I was wrong. It looks okay. Sure is a fine looking pizza." The octopus licked his lips, he locked-on to his target.

"Yeah." SpongeBob looked at the pizza and nodded.

"What's that? Is that the cheese?" Squidward pointed at the pizza. The last thing he had to do was to distract SpongeBob.

"Yeah!" SpongeBob became hungry as well.

"And the pepperoni?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, looks good, huh?" Squidward put his hand closer and closer to the pizza.

"Wait a second, I know what you're trying to do Squidward." SpongeBob shook back to his senses. "I'm not letting you eat the pizza!" He closed the box.

"Give me the pizza!" Squidward became angry.

"No!" SpongeBob backed away by several steps.

"Don't make me take it away from you, SpongeBob!" Squidward stomped towards the sponge.

"Get away!" SpongeBob began to run away from Squidward.

"Get back here, SpongeBob. Give me the pizza!" Squidward chased SpongeBob.

"No!" SpongeBob was determined to not give Squidward the pizza.

"SpongeBob!" Squidward was catching up to the sponge.

"No!"

"Wait!" Squidward reached a hand out and tried to grab SpongeBob.

"No!" SpongeBob bumped into Squidward and fell to the ground.

"I want that pizza and youre gonna hand it over one way or another!" Squidward looked down at SpongeBob. His shadow enveloped the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

A Cadillac boatmobile was driving from New Kelp City and headed for Bikini Bottom. The Strangler's old friend was driving the vehicle. He wore a black jacket and a gold chain necklace. He was using his cell-phone while driving the boatmobile.

"You said it, Strangler." The friend was talking to the Strangler. The person on the other end was in prison.

"_Shawn, if you find a yellow square with a girlish voice or a pink sea star who's a total idiot, you know what to do._" The Strangler's electronic voice was heard.

"Aight." Shawn put the cell-phone away. At that moment, he saw SpongeBob and Squidward fighting over a pizza box.

**SCRREEEEEECH**

The thug hit the brake pad and stopped the car.

"Those two barnacle heads don't know what's coming for them." Shawn smirked and got out of his vehicle.

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Patrick knocked on a front door. Mr. Krabs was next to him.

**CRRREEEEAK**

"Yes?" A young man opened the door.

"Aren't you the customer that called the Krusty Krab yesterday for a pizza?" Mr. Krabs asked.

"Yeah. I still don't have the pizza. What happened to it?" The young man was oblivious to the dire situation that he was in.

"WHERE DID YOU HIDE SPONGEBOB AND SQUIDWARD?!" Patrick began his interrogation of the customer.

"You mean the employees? I didn't kidnap them." The customer hadn't committed any foul play.

"Then let us search your house." Patrick folded his arms and kept a serious demeanor.

The customer moved to the side. "Go right ahead. But I'm telling you, I didn't kidnap anybody."

"We'll see about that." Patrick entered the house. "Gary, if you see something suspicious, all you have to do is meow."

"Meow." Gary nodded.

Mr. Krabs followed the sea star.

**SLAM**

The door was closed.

Patrick ransacked the living room in his search for the two neighbors.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw Shawn walking up to him from the corner of his eye. "Look, we're saved!" He pointed at the thug.

"Sure, we're saved. Now give me some pizza!" Squidward became impatient.

"No, really Squid, we're saved! We're saved! We're saved!" SpongeBob stood up and ran to the thug. The sponge immediately saw Shawn's boatmobile. *gasps* "He even has a car!"

"SpongeBob, whe-" Squidward's eyes bugged out. He saw the thug and knew he wasn't friendly.

"S'up fools." Shawn smirked.

Squidward tapped SpongeBob's shoulder. "He might be dangerous." He whispered into SpongeBob's ear.

SpongeBob laughed. "Don't be silly. Who would drive all this way just to meet us?"

"What was that?!" Shawn stomped up to Squidward. "Talkin' crap about me?"

"No I wa-" Squidward got interrupted.

**SMACK**

Shawn slapped Squidward across the face.

**BAM**

Shawn punched Squidward on the forehead.

Squidward collapsed to the ground and became unconscious.

"Why did you hurt Squidward?" SpongeBob frowned and made a serious expression.

"I'm here to avenge a certain strangling friend that you put in prison!" Shawn palmed his fist.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and made a karate pose. The worst thing he could have possibly done at that moment was freak out since it would leave him open and vulnerable.

"You wanna fight? Let's go!" Shawn raised his fists and charged towards SpongeBob.

**BAM**

SpongeBob punched Shawn in the chest.

The thug reeled in pain.

**BAM**

SpongeBob punched Shawn in the jaw.

Shawn walked back by a few steps and became extremely dizzy.

**SMACK**

SpongeBob karate chopped Shawn on the side of his body.

The thug twirled in the air.

**THUD**

Shawn fell to the ground and became unconscious.

SpongeBob crouched down and shook Squidward's body. "Squid, Squid! Are you okay?"

Squidward sat up and shook back to his senses. He saw the unconscious body of Shawn. "You knocked him out?"

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

"Let's search the guy's car for anything useful." Squidward stood up and walked to the boatmobile.

*gasp* "That's stealing." SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth.

"Oh, come on, SpongeBob. Don't you want to deliver that pizza?" Squidward raised his brow.

SpongeBob's eyes widened. "That's right." He quickly picked up the pizza box that was on the ground and followed Squidward.

"Obey whatever I say or else I'll eat the pizza." Squidward smirked and chuckled at what he said.

SpongeBob sweatdropped in anxiety.

A pause.

SpongeBob looked back and saw the motionless body of Shawn. "Squid, maybe we should put the guy back in his car first."

"Then you better help me." Squidward walked over to the body and picked it up. "Rggh."

SpongeBob assisted Squidward with carrying the body and the two took Shawn to the boatmobile.

Plop!

They dropped Shawn to a seat inside the vehicle.

"Stay here while I search the car." Squidward went inside the vehicle and searched for something.

"Roger." SpongeBob waited outside while he was still holding the pizza box.

A pause.

"Aha!" Squidward found a portable gas container and exited the vehicle.

**SLAM**

He slammed one of the doors of the vehicle shut.

"Umm... Squid, what're you doing?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

Squidward opened the filler spout on the side of the boatmobile and filled some gasoline into the container. "This is gonna be our ticket out of here." He smiled, closed the filler spout, and walked away. "We're gonna go back to our car and fill it with gas." He looked at his GPS and walked in the direction of the location of their boatmobile.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward found their boatmobile.

Squidward opened the filler spout of the vehicle and poured all the gasoline in the container into it. He then closed the filler spout and sat inside the vehicle. The octopus put the GPS on the front end of the boatmobile.

SpongeBob sat down next to Squidward.

"I'm gonna drive this time." Squidward turned the key in the keyhole.

The boatmobile turned on, its engine was fully functional.

"Works like a charm." SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"We're really late so we better get to our destination really fast." Squidward slammed on the pedal.

**VROOOOM**

The car dashed across the road and vanished from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Half an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCREEEECH**

The boatmobile parked in front of a building.

"Well, this is the place." Squidward looked at the GPS for a final time. They were in the exact location of the address on the sticky note.

"I can't wait to see the look on our customer's face!" SpongeBob got out of the vehicle and walked to the front door.

Squidward got out of the vehicle as well and followed SpongeBob.

**DING DONG**

SpongeBob rang the doorbell.

There was a ruckus going on inside the house.

"What happened?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

**CRRREEEEAK**

The customer opened the door. "Yeah?" He wasn't in a good mood, he didn't take a ransacked living room lightly.

"Congratulations, sir. Your Krabby Patty pizza is here!" SpongeBob held out the pizza box to the customer.

A gasp came from the living room.

"SpongeBob! Squid!" Patrick pushed the customer out of the way and bear hugged SpongeBob and Squidward.

The sponge and the octopus suffocated from Patrick's tight grip.

"Pat... you can... let go... now." SpongeBob managed to speak with the small amount of oxygen that was left in his lungs.

Patrick released them from the hug. "I was looking all over for you guys."

Mr. Krabs exited the house. "Nice to see ya. What took you so long?"

"SpongeBob backed up the car until it ran out of fuel. We had to find a way to get some more gas before coming here." Squidward explained what happened to Mr. Krabs.

"I see." Mr. Krabs made eye contact with SpongeBob. "What're you waiting for? Deliver the pizza."

SpongeBob nodded and handed the box to the customer.

"Wow, thanks! I've been dying for one of these. It..." The customer gave SpongeBob a funny look, something was missing. "Where's my drink?"

"What drink?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

"Uh oh." Mr. Krabs bit his lip. 'There goes my money.'

"My drink! My diet Dr. Kelp. Don't tell me you forgot my drink!?" The customer was somewhat angry. His order had included a soda.

"But, you didn't order any-" SpongeBob became worried.

"How am I supposed to eat this pizza without my drink?!" Steam rose from the customer's ears and his face became red. He handed the pizza back to SpongeBob.

"But... but..." SpongeBob's eyes moistened. He looked down at the pizza box that he was holding.

"Didn't you ever once think of the customer?! You call yourself a delivery boy?! Well, I ain't buying!" The customer grabbed the doorknob.

"Hold on there, sir. I can expla-" Mr. Krabs walked to the door before...

**SLAM**

The door was shut. All of SpongeBob and Squidward's efforts were for nothing.

**CRRREEEAK**

The customer opened the door and pushed Patrick out of the doorway.

**SLAM**

He closed the door again.

"I guess he didn't like my company." Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "Well, Gary, I think this mystery has just been solved." He took Gary off his shoulder and put him on the ground.

SpongeBob turned around and slowly walked back to the boatmobile.

"Sponge? Sponge? It's okay. Sponge?" Squidward followed SpongeBob, he was concerned for the sponge's well-being.

"Is something wrong?" Patrick walked towards SpongeBob as well.

"Meow." Gary slithered to the sponge.

SpongeBob laid the pizza box on the ground, sat near the vehicle, and sobbed. He absorbed his tears after each deep gasp.

Squidward, Gary, and Patrick surrounded SpongeBob.

"Sponge?" Squidward watched SpongeBob as he cried.

"It's alright, SpongeBob. Don't hold it in." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

"Meow."

Mr. Krabs walked up to Squidward with a solemn expression. "I believe it's time to go back to the Krusty Krab. Nothing's worse than losing profits."

"Hold on, Mr. Krabs." Squidward picked up the pizza box and made a determined expression. The long journey he undertook to deliver that pizza wasn't going to waste.

He walked up to the front door.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Squidward knocked on the door.

**CRRREEEAK**

The customer opened the door, he was still in a bad mood. "Another one. Look, I told your little friend I aint paying for that!"

"Well, this one's on the house!" Squidward threw the box on the customer's face.

**SMACK**

The box hit the customer on the face. He fell to ground and became unconscious.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the door and walked back to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stood up while still crying. "Did he change his mind?"

"He sure did. Ate the whole thing in one bite." Squidward winked.

Mr. Krabs smirked. 'Better than nothing I guess.'

Patrick made a sincere smile.

"No drink?" SpongeBob wiped his tears and stopped sobbing.

"Nah." Squidward sat inside the boatmobile. "I'll take you to work."

SpongeBob put Gary on his head and hopped into the vehicle.

"Don't forget me." Mr. Krabs sat in the middle.

"What about me?" Patrick made an innocent face.

"Fine, fine, I'll take you and Gary back home first." Squidward gave in, he was satisfied with the sweet act of revenge that he just committed on the customer.

SpongeBob scooted over so he could leave some room for Patrick.

Patrick squeezed into the boatmobile.

"I'm kinda stuck." SpongeBob smiled nervously, he was squished between Patrick and Mr. Krabs.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'll be at home soon." Patrick laid back on his seat and relaxed.

Squidward twisted the key in the keyhole and turned on the vehicle.

**VROOOOOOOMMMM**

The boatmobile vanished from the horizon.


	12. I N

**Chapter 12: Nature Pants**

* * *

Wednesday afternoon.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was daydreaming as he cooked some Krabby Patties. His work had became monotonous and he wanted to do something else.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside his mind...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob flipped a Krabby Patty from the grill with his spatula. The patty stopped flipping in mid-air and began to levitate towards the ordering window.

"Huh?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

The Krabby Patty magically transformed into a jellyfish and flew out the ordering window. The other Krabby Patties on the grill transformed into jellyfish as well and flew out the ordering window.

"Wait for me!" SpongeBob smiled and jumped out of the ordering window. He flew in the air and became a yellow jellyfish with his face intact.

The large group of jellyfish exited the Krusty Krab and entered Jellyfish Fields.

The yellow jellyfish smiled and enjoyed his flight with his group as they began to fly across a mountain.

"**SPONGEBOB?!**" The yellow jellyfish abruptly heard Mr. Krabs' voice.

SpongeBob shook back to his senses.

S-S-S-S-S

The stove was engulfed in an inferno due to SpongeBob's negligence. The fire nearly touched the ceiling and smoke had replaced most of the air in the kitchen.

"SpongeBob! Wake up, boy! You're burning my money!" Mr. Krabs yelled at SpongeBob.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" SpongeBob screamed in terror and hid behind Mr. Krabs, he was heavily afraid of the fire. "Mr. Krabs, what do we do?"

"Here, use this!" Mr. Krabs handed SpongeBob a fire extinguisher that he had brought with him.

SpongeBob threw the fire extinguisher at the fire, he didn't know how to use it. The extinguisher landed inside the fire and made the inferno even larger. The sponge gasped and walked towards the fire. He blew on the fire as much as he could in an attempt to put it out. The fire didn't weaken from SpongeBob's blowing.

S-S-S-S-S

**SCREEEEECH**

A fire truck parked in front of the Krusty Krab. A fireman came out of the truck with a hose and ran towards the Krusty Krab.

He opened one of the double doors and entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

The fireman barged the door open and entered the kitchen. He aimed the hose at the fire and sprayed it with water. Unfortunately, SpongeBob was in the way and absorbed all the water.

The fireman and Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out.

SpongeBob enlargened to ten times his normal size. He teetered over and his back fell directly over the fire. The water inside the sponge's body put out the inferno.

"Hooray!" Mr. Krabs and the fireman spoke at the same time.

The customers in the dining room clapped.

SpongeBob slowly shrank back to his normal size. His skin was covered with ash from the fire.

The fireman exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

The fireman exited the Krusty Krab and returned to the fire truck.

VRROOOOOMMMM

The fire truck drove towards the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, come into my office." Mr. Krabs walked towards a door.

**CRRREEEAK**

The crustacean held the door open for SpongeBob.

SpongeBob got off the stove and shook the ash off his body. He walked through the doorway and entered Mr. Krabs' office.

**SLAM**

The door was closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs sat in his desk. "What's wrong, boy?"

SpongeBob sat on a chair. "Well, I..." He didn't know what to say.

"This is the first time ever that I've had to scrape you off of something." Mr. Krabs had a solemn expression, he took what just happened very seriously.

"Well, I've been thinking..." SpongeBob was trying to convey his thoughts into words.

"We need to get you thinking about work." Mr. Krabs folded his arms.

"No offense, Mr. Krabs, but I've been thinking about giving up my cold industrial life in favor of a more natural and free life among the jellyfish." SpongeBob finally managed to speak what was on his mind. Ever since the incident with the thugs and the pizza delivery, SpongeBob realized the harsh reality of urban life. He wanted to free himself from the constraints of society and live a more spontaneous and liberal lifestyle.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "Ah, SpongeBob, you wouldn't last even one day in the wild."

CRRREEEEAK

Mr. Krabs opened the door to the kitchen. "Follow me."

SpongeBob walked through the doorway and entered the kitchen.

**SLAM**

The door was closed.

S-S-S-S-S

"This is your natural habitat." Mr. Krabs was going to showcase the kitchen as if it was SpongeBob's first time here. "This is your wide open range." He pointed at the stove. "These are your amber waves." The crab pointed at the greasy fryers. "And this..." He picked up the spatula that was in the sink. "Oh, this is your golden scepter, with which you rule! That's better than nasty old jellyfish, right, SpongeBob?"

**CREEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob wasn't inside the kitchen.

"SpongeBob?" Mr. Krabs looked around the kitchen for the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAK **

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the Krusty Krab, he was frustrated with Mr. Krabs' lack of understanding. "I can too last more than one day. I'll show him. Aw, barnacles!" He threw his employee hat to the ground. He walked towards the horizon.

**CRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

"SpongeBob, wait!" Mr. Krabs saw the sponge and called out to him.

SpongeBob ignored Mr. Krabs and continued to walk.

Mr. Krabs looked down and saw SpongeBob's hat laying on the ground. His eyes widened and he gasped.

A pause.

"Oh, he'll be back, alright. He'll be back." Mr. Krabs picked up the hat and smirked as he assured himself.

"I'LL NEVER COME BACK!" SpongeBob turned around and shook his fist at Mr. Krabs. He heard what Mr. Krabs said and lost his temper.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh and re-entered the Krusty Krab. "Don't worry, Eugene. He's just going through a phase."

SpongeBob marched to his neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

CRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAK

Slam

SpongeBob slowly opened the front door and entered his pineapple.

"Meow?" Gary was surprised that SpongeBob came back from work early.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and hid as much emotion as possible from his face. He held back the tears and prevented his eyes from becoming moistened. The deep breath had loosened the lump in his throat and he could now speak clearly. After what seemed to be an entire day, SpongeBob looked down and made eye contact with Gary. He had finally built up enough courage to speak the words in his thoughts to the snail.

"Gary, this may seem very sudden but today is the last day you'll ever see me. I have grown tired of the pressures of modern life and very soon I'll move out of this pineapple and live with the jellyfish in Jellyfish Fields. All of my friends including you will inherit at least one of my possessions before I leave. When I'm gone, you'll inherit this house and I'm confident that you'll take care of it in my place. I also know for sure that Patrick and my other friends will feed you and look out for your well-being the moment I step into Jellyfish Fields. Gary, I hope you enjoy these last moments with me because events like this only happen once in a lifetime." SpongeBob took another deep breath and sat on the sofa with the snail.

Gary widened his eyes and nodded his head, he was absolutely speechless.

Patrick peeked through the slight opening in the front door. "Why did you came back early, SpongeBob? I thought you had work." He scratched his head.

SpongeBob moved to one side of the sofa and left some space for Patrick. "You can sit here, Pat. I have something very important to tell you."

"'kay." Patrick sat next to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob opened his mouth and spoke the tragic news to Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

It was a bit after 6:00 PM.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had waited until Squidward came back from work so he could gather all of his friends. The sponge had phone-called Squidward and Sandy and stood outside with all of his possessions, Gary and Patrick were already there.

Squidward exited his tiki and walked up to SpongeBob, he saw the bunch of objects that was outside. "SpongeBob, what is the meaning of this?"

"To put it in a nutshell, I'm moving out of here. You won't be seeing me in Bikini Bottom ever again." SpongeBob spoke solemnly.

Patrick was sobbing and when he heard SpongeBob's words, he sobbed even louder.

Squidward made a wide and sincere smile. "My prayers have just been answered." This had to be one of the greatest moments of the octopus's life.

"Squidward, I want you to have my can opener." SpongeBob handed his can opener to Squidward.

"I thought this friendship would never pay off." Squidward skipped merrily back to his tiki, he was overjoyed after hearing the words that SpongeBob said.

"Pat, I want to give you this mayonnaise as well." SpongeBob gave Patrick his mayonnaise. His best friend already had several of his possessions.

"Are, are, are, are you sure you want to give me this mayonnaise?" Patrick struggled to speak as he sobbed. He was holding the jar of mayonnaise tightly.

"It's all yours." SpongeBob nodded. "You can also have my phone books."

Patrick took the phone books. "Th-th-these old phone books?" The sea star was still in disbelief at what was happening.

"All yours, old friend." SpongeBob opened his treasure chest and picked up a long, rectangular case with a label that had the words 'Ol' Reliable'. SpongeBob opened the case and saw an old jellyfishing net that he had used for a majority of his visits to Jellyfish Fields. "Patrick, there is one more thing I want you to have." SpongeBob closed the case and handed it to Patrick.

"Ol' Reliable?" Patrick dropped all the items that he held and put his hands on his face. He fell to his knees and bawled loudly.

Sandy walked up to SpongeBob. "Howdy, y'all. Hey SpongeBob, you having a garage sale? Was that the reason you called me for?"

"No Sandy, I'm giving up my material possessions to live in the wild with the jellyfish." SpongeBob made a wide grin and fantasized about his adventures in Jellyfish Fields.

"SpongeBob, of all the crazy schemes. Why would you want to live among the jellyfish? They're cold and mean and none too bright." Sandy found SpongeBob's plan to be too idealistic and absolutely ridiculous.

"Oh, oh, Sandy. That's exactly the response I would expect from someone who lives the sham of a life I once lived. I'm going to prove that I don't need all this stuff to be happy." SpongeBob patted Sandy on the shoulder. "Maybe someday you'll wise up and join me." He began to walk away from his friends. "Farewell, everyone." He hid behind a bush and took off his pants. "I won't be needing these." He threw the pants away and stood up, the sponge was almost completely naked except for the fact that he still wore his socks and shoes. "Buzz, buzz, buzz." SpongeBob ran in the direction of Jellyfish Fields, he vanished from the horizon.

"He took off his pants." Squidward was watching the scene unfold.

"I'll give him a week." Sandy walked back to her treedome.

"I'll give him eleven minutes." Squidward walked back to his tiki.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus closed the front door.

"PATRICK SAD!" The sea star continued to bawl in agony.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked through the gate of Jellyfish Fields. "I'm home. I'm home! I'm home! I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home, I'm home!" He made a wide smile and ran around the plain in search of a group of jellyfish. The sponge couldn't contain his joy as he found a new home in the wilderness.

**SMACK**

**THUD**

A group of jellyfish flew into SpongeBob and accidentally knocked him down.

SpongeBob immediately stood up. "Brothers and sisters, wait for me!" He followed the jellyfish by running as fast as he could.

The group of jellyfish flew into a hive that was sticking out of a large piece of coral.

"Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz. Okay, I'm here!" SpongeBob stood before the hive.

The group of jellyfish flew out of the hive and headed for elsewhere.

"Wait, I just got here. My jellyfish instincts tell me to go..." SpongeBob put a finger in his mouth and then pointed at the direction where the jellyfish went. "...that way." He ran in that direction. "Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz." He saw the group of jellyfish that he was chasing join a larger group of jellyfish.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was throwing a large party inside his tiki in celebration of SpongeBob moving out of the neighborhood. He was the only person invited and danced like there was no tomorrow. The music was put to the max volume and could be heard from outside.

Gary watched the party from the window in 'his' bedroom. There weren't many things left in the pineapple since SpongeBob gave a large chunk of it away. The snail was also watching Patrick sob quietly as he sat in front of the entrance to the pineapple. Just like Patrick, he deeply missed SpongeBob. He even shed a few tears himself.

His stomach grumbled.

Gary jumped off the windowsill and landed on the floor. He slithered out of the bedroom, went downstairs, and entered the kitchen. He opened the fridge and found a plate of Krabby Patties inside of it. SpongeBob usually left excess Krabby Patties that he cooked inside the fridge, he didn't like wasting the burgers.

A light bulb lit up in Gary's head.

Gary closed the fridge and slithered out of the room. He entered the living room and picked up the shell-phone. The snail dialed Sandy's phone number.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was performing an experiment with dangerous chemicals inside her laboratory.

**RING RING RING RING**

One of her telephones rang.

She halted the experiment and walked to the phone. The squirrel picked it up. "Hello?"

"_Meow meow meow meow meow meow._" Gary's electronic voice was heard.

"It's about SpongeBob? Sure thing, Gary. I'll be right over." Sandy put the phone down. She walked to her astronaut suit and began to put it on.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEEAAK**

Gary opened the front door of the pineapple. He slithered out of the opening and stood before Patrick. "Meow meow meow meow."

"Okay, Gary." Patrick stood up and entered the pineapple.

**SLAM**

Gary closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary and Patrick sat on the couch.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy entered the pineapple. "Alright, Gary. Tell us."

Gary slithered out of the couch and stood between Patrick and Sandy. "Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow." He took out two pieces of paper and a pencil. The snail wrote something into each paper and handed one to Patrick and Sandy.

"I hope this brings SpongeBob back." Patrick was slightly hopeful even though he knew that the chances of SpongeBob's return were slim.

"Wow, Gary. I'm impressed. I never knew such a clever plan as this would've been made by a snail." Sandy read the paper that she was holding and smiled.

Gary smiled. "Meow meow." He slithered into the kitchen.

A pause.

The snail came back with a picnic basket that had the Krabby Patties inside of it and a picnic blanket.

"Let's go." Sandy turned around and exited the pineapple.

Patrick picked up Gary and left the pineapple as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw the large group of jellyfish quickly eating a bunch of kelp. He became curious and walked towards another bunch of kelp. The sponge ripped out a piece and tried to eat it. He became disgusted by the taste of the kelp and spat it out. "This is the life." It would take a while before he got used to his new habitat. He saw the group of jellyfish floating in the middle of Jellyfish Fields and walked towards them. He eventually walked into the middle of the group. "Hey everybody, buzz buzz. Buzz to you. Buzz, buzz, nice current today. Hey, what's the buzz?" He greeted several jellyfish. The sponge held his hand out towards a jellyfish that was in front of him. "Hello, I'm Jellybob, and you are?"

The jellyfish mimicked SpongeBob's behavior by sticking out its stinger towards SpongeBob's hand.

**ZZAAP**

The jellyfish unintentionally stung SpongeBob's hand and flew away.

"Uhh... nice to meet you." SpongeBob smiled nervously. His stung hand became slightly swollen.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy, Patrick, and Gary settled around a certain location in Jellyfish Fields.

Sandy put the picnic blanket on the ground and put the basket on the blanket.

Gary slithered into the basket and took a Krabby Patty, he gave the burger to Sandy.

The aroma of the Krabby Patries wafted in the air.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob smelled the aroma and his mouth watered. He followed the smell until he stood before a cliff. He saw Patrick, Sandy, and Gary having a picnic with some Krabby Patties.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy read the paper that she held. "Here, Patrick, have a Krabby Patty." She dug into the basket and took out a Krabby Patty, she held it out to Patrick. Sandy saw SpongeBob standing on top of a cliff from the corner of her eye. "There he is, Patrick. Say your line!" She whispered loudly into Patrick's ear.

Patrick read the paper that he was shakily holding. "Why thank you, Sandy, I would love one. Take patty." He took the Krabby Patty from Sandy's hand. "Too bad SpongeBob isn't here. These are his favorites. I sure wish he'd come home. Take bite." Patrick opened his mouth and was about to eat the burger before he saw SpongeBob. At that moment, he could no longer control his emotions. The sea star threw the paper and the Krabby Patty to the ground and stood up. "I CAN'T DO IT! SPONGEBOB! **COME BACK!**" Patrick desperately cried out to SpongeBob for his return.

"Patrick, I'm not coming home." SpongeBob shook his head, he was resolute with his decision.

"I miss you! Sandy misses you! Even Squidward misses you!" Patrick was on his knees.

"I'm happy here. This is my home now." SpongeBob smiled, turned around, and walked away.

"**NOOOOO! SPOONGEBOOOOB! **Patrick was being dragged away by Gary and Sandy, the two knew that they had failed their mission and it was too late.

"C'mon, Pat... It's time... to go home." Sandy struggled to speak as she and Gary dragged Patrick by the feet.

"GET. OFF. OF. **MEEE!**" Patrick pushed Sandy and Gary out of the way,

**T-THUD **

Sandy and Gary fell to the ground.

Patrick took out a rectangular case and opened it. He took out Ol' Reliable and took out a jar that was in his pants. He snatched Gary's pencil that laid on the ground and wrote 'SpongeBob - Friend' on the blank label of the jar. He put the rectangular case and the jar away. The sea star turned to the large cliff and took a deep breath. "Let's do this." He ran to the cliff and climbed it.

Sandy stood up. "Is Patrick out of his mind?! We gotta catch up with him!" She grabbed Gary and ran after Patrick. The squirrel reached the cliff and nimbly climbed it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob returned to the group of jellyfish. He wiggled his arms and legs as if he was a jellyfish. "Hey everybody! I'm back! I think I'm getting the hang of this."

The jellyfish saw something and flew away.

"SpongeBob, watch out!" The faint scream of Sandy was heard.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked at his surroundings.

A jellyfishing net swung behind SpongeBob and tripped him.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground. He stood up and turned around.

A menacing Patrick huffed and puffed before SpongeBob with Ol' Reliable. He was giving SpongeBob a serial killer stare.

"Patrick! What are you doing?" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out.

"If I can't have you as a friend, I'm going to make you a trophy! I even picked out this nice jar for you!" Patrick took out the jar and showed it to SpongeBob.

"Patrick! Go home! I'm a jellyfish now!' SpongeBob gulped and sweated in anxiety. He realized that Patrick was a psychopath by this point. He slowly backed away from the sea star.

Patrick put the jar away and swung the net at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob dove out of the way and ran for his life.

Patrick made a battle cry and chased SpongeBob.

SpongeBob saw a wild snail with a large shell and hid behind it. He crossed his fingers as he waited for Patrick to go away.

A pause.

"Meow." The snail slithered out of the way and revealed SpongeBob's location.

"I can see you there!" Patrick was running directly towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped and dove to a bush that was nearby. He tried to conceal himself as best as he could.

"I still see you!" Patrick raised his net so he could swing it down.

SpongeBob sprinted to a large rock and hid behind it.

"You're going to look good on my mantel!" Patrick ran around the rock and swung his net at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob dodged the swing and ran to a n-shaped rock. He sat underneath it and looked at his surroundings. He heard some footsteps.

A pause.

"Friends forever, SpongeBob! I got you now!" Patrick was on top of the rock, he had climbed it. He jumped down and swung his net.

"Patrick! No!" SpongeBob dove away from the rock and continued to run away from Patrick. He saw the jellyfish hive from before and ran towards it. He made a mighty leap and squeezed into the hive.

Patrick ran to the hive and lifted his net so he could knock it down.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Sandy caught up with Patrick and yelled at him.

"Meow." Gary had slithered away to a safe distance and watched the conflict unfold.

Patrick slowly turned around and glared at Sandy. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way." He slowly spoke while gritting his teeth.

"I can't do that, Pat! You're going to hurt SpongeBob!" Sandy folded her arms and walked somewhat closer to Patrick.

Patrick narrowed his eyes. "Very well, Ms. Cheeks. It has come to this." He put Ol' Reliable away and took out his blue karate gear. He put the gear on and made a karate pose. "In order to get my friend back, I'll have to eliminate anybody who interferes with my plan." Patrick's intelligence had suddenly increased and he was speaking what he considered to be 'big' words so he could sound more threatening.

"You're gonna fight your own sensei? Challenge accepted." Sandy took out her green karate gloves and put them on. "Pat, you've gone insane. I'm gonna have to knock some sense into you." The squirrel made a karate pose.

Patrick didn't even smirk at Sandy's comment. He continued his serious demeanor, the sea star found bringing his friend back to be a dire situation. "Let's fight!" He charged towards Sandy.

Sandy charged towards Patrick.

The two were going to crash into each other.

**BAM**

Sandy halted during her charge and punched Patrick in the stomach.

Patrick reeled in pain and

**THUD**

fell to the ground. He soon stood up as if he wasn't injured.

**SHOOP**

Sandy karate chopped Patrick on one of his shoulders at an ultra-fast speed, the starfish's reaction time was too slow. The sea star flipped in the air and landed on the ground with a **THUD.**

Patrick shakily stood up and became pissed off. "Why did you do that?!"

"What did you expect, Pat? You're fighting a karate master." Sandy smirked, she showed great pride in her talent. The squirrel unintentionally allowed herself to become vulnerable.

"RAAAAHHH!" Patrick punched and kicked Sandy several times, the squirrel had given him enough time to do so.

**BAM**

**SMACK**

**SLAM**

**SMACK**

**SHOOP**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

Sandy received every single hit and collapsed to the ground.

**THUD**

**THUD**

**THUD**

Sandy hit the ground several times before she stood up and shook back to her senses. 'Yikes. Less talking and more fighting.' She thought to herself.

Patrick cartwheeled towards Sandy.

Sandy grabbed Patrick and lifted him to the air, she threw him to a large piece of coral.

**CRRRAASSSSH**

Patrick crashed into the coral and broke the piece of coral into several pieces.

A pause.

Patrick dug himself out of the rubble,

The group of jellyfish from before had gathered near Patrick and Sandy, they watched the on-going fight.

Patrick picked up a few large pieces of coral and threw them at Sandy.

**CRAAAASSSSH**

**CRAAASSSH**

**CRRRRAAAASSSH**

Sandy dove out of the way and dodged the thrown pieces of coral. A large amount of coral pebbles flew in the air as the large pieces landed on the ground. The squirrel ran towards the sea star.

Patrick jumped and did a mid-air cartwheel.

Sandy grabbed one of Patrick's legs.

**SLAM**

Sandy threw Patrick to the ground.

Patrick stood up and made a fierce uppercut.

**BAM**

Sandy flew in the air and came back down with a kick.

**SLAM**

Patrick fell to the ground once again and tumbled across the grass. He flipped himself back up like an acrobat and charged his head towards Sandy like a bull.

**BAM**

Patrick's head hit Sandy.

**SCREEEECH**

Sandy didn't fell to the floor, her feet were glued to the ground. She punched Patrick on the forehead.

Patrick sailed in the air and landed with a **THUD**. He was stunned for a moment but soon stood up. "I won't go down so easily."

"Hi-yah!" Sandy karate chopped Patrick on the side of his body.

Patrick twirled in the air and

**THUD**

landed on the ground. He stood up and leaped to the air.

Patrick's shadow enveloped Sandy. The sea star was falling directly above Sandy.

Sandy didn't have enough time to react.

**CRASH**

Patrick left a star-shaped crater on the ground. He got off the crater and saw the still body of Sandy inside the crater. "I think this fight is just about over." Patrick smiled.

Sandy abruptly stood up and heavily surprised Patrick.

**BAM**

Sandy uppercutted Patrick in the jaw.

Patrick flew a long distance across the fields and crashed to the ground with a very loud **THUD**. He became unconscious.

Sandy walked up to Patrick and picked him up.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to Sandy.

"Well, that settles it. Let's go home and leave SpongeBob alone." Sandy walked away.

Gary followed the squirrel.

The two left Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had watched the entire fight from the hole in the hive. "Well, that's over. Back to jellyfish matters."

Plop!

A drop of jelly landed on SpongeBob's nose. The sponge stuck his finger into the jelly and tasted it. "Mmm, jelly." He took some jelly from the ceiling in the hive and ate it.

SpongeBob looked through the hole and saw the group of jellyfish flying towards the hive. "Ah, my jellyfish brethren are returning."

The jellyfish squeezed into the hive, SpongeBob took up most of the space inside.

"Greetings, comrades!" SpongeBob cheerfully greeted the jellyfish.

"**BUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZ!**" The jellyfish became angry.

**ZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZAP**

**ZAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

The jellyfish ruthlessly stung SpongeBob with numerous zaps of blue electricity.

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!**" SpongeBob yelled in agony and dove out of the hive.

**THUD**

The sponge landed on the ground and ran as if his life depended on it, he had several red scars from the stings.

The jellyfish chased him and continued to sting him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was a late evening.

SpongeBob ran to a cave and hid inside there. He took a few deep breaths for several seconds. He had been chased by the jellyfish for a very long time.

The sponge no longer heard the buzzing of the jellyfish.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow. He was exhausted from all that running and became sleepy. "Being a jellyfish sure is fun. Buzz." He ripped out a bush of grass that was sticking out of the ground. He wrapped the grass around him and used it as a blanket."Buzz." He pushed a nearby rock towards him, laid his head down on it, and used it as a pillow. "Buzz." The sponge became uncomfortable and pushed the rock away.

A cold breeze blew into the cave.

SpongeBob shivered from the moderate cold. The grass blanket scrunched up and made him shiver even more. The sponge pushed the blanket back down with his feet to maintain his warmth.

A pause. SpongeBob's eyes were peeled open, he found falling asleep to be greatly difficult. The cold breeze coming from outside and an abrupt, itchy sensation from under his blanket kept him awake. "Hey! Eww, I'm itchy! Itchy, why am I so itchy!?" The sponge removed the blanket to find out what was wrong. There were nine poison sea urchins biting his skin, they had inhabited the bush of grass that SpongeBob ripped off. "AAAAHHHHH! Poison sea urchins!" SpongeBob stood up and tried to scratch the urchins off his body. He ran out of the cave and managed to get eight of the urchins to stop biting and let go. Only one remained and that sea urchin halted its biting and went into one of SpongeBob's holes, it was waiting for another host to bite on.

"Ow, ow, oh, itches. Ow, ow, itches." SpongeBob crawled on the ground to stop the itching. After a while, he stood up and wandered aimlessly through Jellyfish Fields for a shelter. The cave definitely wasn't a suitable place for sleeping.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob exited Jellyfish Fields and walked towards the Krusty Krab, he still didn't find a place to sleep in. He continued to say "Buzz." as he walked. He halted before the front doors of the restaurant and stared through the glass. There was a plate full of extra Krabby Patties on a table. "Krabby Patties." It was a bitter reminder of SpongeBob's former life, he remembered the day he got hired when he saved Mr. Krabs and Squidward from the anchovies and the two weeks he had worked in the restaurant. The sponge walked away from the Krusty Krab and headed for Sandy's treedome. He eventually stopped before the treedome and stared at it, Sandy was currently sleeping inside her tree. "Sandy." The sponge remembered him and Patrick having tea with Sandy in that treedome. He also remembered how he first met Sandy and the fight with the clams that followed afterward. SpongeBob then walked to his neighborhood and headed for his pineapple. "What have I done? I had a great life and friends, and I gave all of that up."

**CRRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

He entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV. He looked at SpongeBob and his eyes bugged out.

SpongeBob quietly went to the closet and put on his squarepants, he was trying to find the right words to say to Gary.

A light bulb lit up in Gary's head. He smiled. "Meow meow."

"You've got a good idea? What is it?" SpongeBob made a wide smile.

Gary slithered up to SpongeBob and pushed him into the closet. He closed the door and locked it.

"Gary, why did you do that?" SpongeBob had a puzzled look.

"Meow meow meow." Gary slithered to the shell phone.

"I'll wait." SpongeBob sat down and waited for Gary to open the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard some strange noises. "What's going on?"

**CRREEAK**

The door became unlocked and opened. SpongeBob exited the closet.

"Welcome home, SpongeBob!" Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Squidward, Gary, and Patrick greeted SpongeBob. There were party decorations in the living room, Patrick and Squidward were wearing party hats.

"You guys are the best! I made a huge mistake. Please forgive me!" SpongeBob felt remorse for his actions.

"Ah, quit your blubbering and have a Krabby Patty." Mr. Krabs handed SpongeBob a Krabby Patty.

"Don't mind if I do." SpongeBob ate the Krabby Patty.

Mr. Krabs placed SpongeBob's employee hat on the sponge's head. "And I'll see you at work first thing tomorrow morning." The crustacean winked.

"Aye, aye, captain!" SpongeBob made a military salute and smiled.

Patrick walked over and bear-hugged SpongeBob.

SpongeBob tried his best to hug the sea star back.

Everybody else except for Squidward hugged SpongeBob.

"Can we please stop this?" Squidward was being squished as they hugged the sponge.

The sea urchin hopped off of SpongeBob and bit everybody's skin except for Sandy's, it then exited the pineapple without anyone noticing.

The others including Patrick stopped hugging SpongeBob.

"Patrick itchy!" Patrick felt an itchy sensation and scratched himself.

Everybody except for SpongeBob and Sandy scratched themselves.

"Uh-oh. I gotta get my anti-itch cream!" SpongeBob left the living room and ran to the bathroom.

Sandy scratched her head. "Well that's strange. There is no way I could've brought fleas in here."


	13. G

**Chapter 13: Valentine's Day**

* * *

Early Thursday morning.

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn went off. It was 6:30 AM.

CLICK

SpongeBob pressed the foghorn's button and hopped off his bed, he was in an especially cheerful mood. He walked to his calendar and smiled widely as he saw today's date, it was February 14th which was Valentine's Day. The sponge walked to the treasure chest, dug his hands beneath it, and retrieved the key. He unlocked the treasure chest and took out several paper-mâché hearts, a few bouquets, a few heart cases, and other things that can be used as gifts; he had prepared for the holiday in advance.

Gary slowly opened his eyes and woke up. "Meow."

"Here you go, Gary. Happy Valentine's day." SpongeBob gave Gary a heart.

"Meow?" Gary slithered on top of the heart. It felt more comfortable than the newspapers and that made the snail more drowsy. Gary closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

CRREEAK

Slam

SpongeBob quietly opened the door and exited the bedroom so he didn't disturb Gary. The sponge went downstairs and eventually entered the living room. He walked towards the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple and breathed in the fresh air. "Happy Valentine's Day, Bikini Bottom!" He shouted joyfully and skipped merrily across the neighborhood. The sponge heard some loud construction noises from Patrick's rock, the sea star had woken up earlier than SpongeBob and was working on something. 'Better leave Pat alone for now. I'll save the plan for later.' The sponge skipped towards Squidward's tiki.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki, he woke up from SpongeBob's yelling and the construction noises from the nearby rock. He wanted to find out what that ruckus was all about.

SpongeBob abruptly handed Squidward a heart and skipped to elsewhere.

Squidward looked down at the heart he was holding. "Ugh. It's that unaesthetic excuse for a holiday." He muttered to himself and ripped it to pieces.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was skipping throughout Bikini Bottom. Mrs. Puff was driving nearby as he pranced. The sponge decided to toss a paper-mâché heart to his teacher.

The heart landed on the steering wheel of Mrs. Puff's boatmobile and her eyes bugged out.

**SCREEEECH**

Mrs. Puff hit the brakes and prevented an accident from occurring. The vehicle was only a few inches away from crashing into a fire hydrant.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob passed by Mr. Krabs' anchor. The crustacean was throwing a trash bag into a trash can when SpongeBob skipped by and handed him a heart case.

"What's this?" Mr. Krabs dropped the trash bag and opened the heart case, inside was a dollar hill. He took it out and made a pirate laugh.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Plankton and Karen exited the Chum Bucket, the computer was in her mobile form which consisted of a smaller computer, a metal pole; and wheels to traverse the ground. It was a rare event for the two to go out since their relationship was rocky, Plankton spent too much time making plans to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. It was holidays such as this that the two would leave the Chum Bucket for purposes that weren't sinister or obligatory.

SpongeBob pranced near the couple and gave Plankton a tiny heart while giving Karen a normal-sized heart.

Plankton looked at the tiny heart and his eye widened in total disbelief. This was one of the few times in his life that someone other than Karen had given him a gift.

Karen chuckled at Plankton's reaction.

"What?" Plankton looked up at Karen and raised his brow, he became slightly annoyed.

"Why have you never thought of this before? I thought you were a genius." Karen's A.I. carried a bitter sense of humor.

"Uhh..." Plankton was still shocked from what just happened to him.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stopped before the front door of Sandy's treedome. He rang the doorbell.

"_Gasp! Hold on a sec!_" Sandy's electronic voice was heard, SpongeBob came earlier than the squirrel expected and she wasn't ready.

A pause. SpongeBob patiently waited.

**CRREEEEAK**

Sandy opened the front door. "Happy Valentine's Day, SpongeBob. I'm nuts for you." She handed SpongeBob a large acorn with an arrow sticking through it.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sandy." SpongeBob handed her a heart case.

Sandy opened the heart case and saw chocolates in it. "Chocolates? For me?" She made a wide smile.

SpongeBob nodded.

"Why, thank you, SpongeBob." Sandy put the heart case away.

SpongeBob smirked and blushed somewhat.

An awkward pause.

"I'm also bubbles for you, Sandy." SpongeBob broke the silence and took out a bubble wand and a soap bottle full of chocolate syrup. He put the wand into the bottle, inhaled, and blew into the wand. A heart-shaped chocolate bubble flew in the air.

Sandy loosened the pressure in her astronaut suit and allowed the chocolate bubble to squeeze through her airtight glass bubble. She ate the chocolate bubble. "Mmm, mighty tasty. By the way, Patrick's gonna love that little surprise you made for him." Sandy was aware of what SpongeBob had planned for today, the sponge talked to her about it a few days ago.

"Want me to go through the plan again just to make sure?" SpongeBob took the plan very seriously, he created this Valentine's Day plan a week ago and had been preparing for it ever since. Sandy was a crucial part of this plan and he didn't want her to make a mistake once the plan is executed.

"Sure." Sandy nodded.

"Okay." SpongeBob blew into the wand. A chocolate bubble version of a carnival squeezed out of the wand and floated in the air. "Step one, Patrick and I get to the Valentine's Day carnival." The sponge blew into the wand once again and a chocolate bubble version of SpongeBob and Patrick came out of the wand. The two bubbles flew to the carnival bubble and hopped on to it. "Step two, I position Patrick and myself on top of the Ferris wheel." SpongeBob lightly blew at the two bubble versions of the sponge and the sea star, the two bubbles were pushed to a Ferris wheel. The sponge blew at the Ferris wheel and the two bubbles rode the wheel until they got to the top. "Step three, you will arrive at the designated checkpoint for maximum visual contact." SpongeBob blew into the wand and a small chocolate air balloon came out. The air balloon flew over the minature carnival. "Step four, Patrick is thrilled. Mission accomplished." SpongeBob popped all the bubbles. He took out a basket for some sort of hot air balloon and blew a very large chocolate bubble out of his wand. The sponge tied the bubble with the strings of the basket, it became a hot air balloon. He gave Sandy a walkie-talkie."Use that so we can keep in contact.

"Roger." Sandy made a military salute and entered the hot air balloon. The balloon flew in the air and the squirrel aimed it towards the carnival.

SpongeBob walked in the direction of his neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock, he was holding a stone heart and was wearing a white shirt with a heart in the center of it. Early in the morning, he had taken a nearby rock and pounded and carved it until it was in the shape of a heart. He was going to give this to SpongeBob as a gift. The sea star looked down at the heart, he wanted to make sure it was completely polished.

"Hi, Patrick." SpongeBob's voice was heard.

"Hello?" Patrick thought that the heart was talking to him, he didn't notice that SpongeBob had walked up to him.

"Patrick, it's me, SpongeBob." SpongeBob waved his hand, he wanted to move Patrick's attention away from the stone heart.

"SpongeBob, what are you doing in there?!" Patrick's eyes bugged out and he began to panic.

"Patrick!" SpongeBob waved both of his hands, he was not getting Patrick's attention.

"Oh my gosh! Sp-SpongeBob is stuck inside this rock!"' Patrick quickly came to a conclusion. "Ahh! Hold on buddy, I'll get you out!" He threw the stone heart to the ground in a desperate attempt to 'free' SpongeBob from the rock.

"Patrick..." SpongeBob snapped his fingers.

"SpongeBob!" Patrick hugged the stone heart and began to sob, he thought that SpongeBob was permanently trapped inside the rock.

"Patrick, I'm right behind you!" SpongeBob tapped Patrick's shoulder.

"There you are." Patrick turned around and saw SpongeBob. He stopped crying and smiled. "Happy Valentine's Day! Here's your present." The sea star handed SpongeBob the stone heart.

"And I have a present for you!" SpongeBob smirked and tried to suppress his giggling.

"You do?" Patrick scratched his head and became curious.

"It's the greatest... the bestest... the most fantabulous... present ever!" SpongeBob tried to make Patrick hyped up.

Patrick was jumping up and down in excitement and joy, he was dying to know what gift SpongeBob had for him.

"But you can't have it yet." SpongeBob didn't want to reveal the gift right away.

"Huh? Why not?" Patrick became disappointed.

"Because it's not ready yet." SpongeBob was still smirking.

"Is it ready now?" Patrick became impatient.

"Not yet." SpongeBob shook his head, he wanted to make the gift a surprise.

"How about now?" Patrick had an intense desire to know what the gift was.

"Do you want to ruin the surprise?" SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"Yes!" Patrick jumped up and down in excitement once again.

"Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh!" SpongeBob refused to reveal the secret.

"Oh, come on, please!" Patrick fell to his knees and begged.

"Hmmm... nope, sorry." SpongeBob was determined to not give in to Patrick's demand.

"You gotta tell me!" Patrick fell to the ground and grabbed SpongeBob's legs.

"No can do!" SpongeBob laughed. "You'll just have to wait!" He turned to the direction of the carnival and walked away while dragging Patrick along who was still holding on to his legs.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was right in front of a Valentine's Day-themed carnival that was on a boardwalk near a shore in Goo Lagoon. There was a Ferris wheel and other rides inside the carnival. Many people were having a fun time and were enjoying the rides.

Patrick held on to SpongeBob's legs tightly. "Please. Oh please... please-please-please-please. Tell me-tell me-tell me. Please?!" He was desperate to know what was his gift.

"Okay, Patrick, here we are." SpongeBob made a wide smile and shook Patrick off his legs.

Patrick stood up and gasped as he saw the carnival. "You got me a carnival? Mine! All mine, mine, mine, mine." He ran towards the carnival.

SpongeBob chased Patrick. "Pat, wait!"

S-S-S-S-S

Larry saw Patrick running towards the carnival and scratched his head. "Where's SpongeBob?" He expected the sea star to be with his best friend.

Patrick stood in the middle of the carnival. "ALL RIGHT, EVERYBODY OUT! THIS IS MY CARNIVAL!" He screamed as loud as possible so everybody heard him.

Some people widened their eyes at Patrick while others gave him funny looks.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and tapped his shoulder.

"What?" Patrick turned around and faced SpongeBob.

"It's not the carnival." SpongeBob spoke quietly.

"Oh." Patrick felt his own stupidity.

SpongeBob took out a quarter from his pocket. "Here, why don't you take this quarter and-"

Patrick immediately snatched the quarter. "Oh my gosh, a quarter! I've always wanted a quarter!" He smiled and jumped up and down in joy, he thought that the quarter was the gift.

"It's not the quarter." SpongeBob shook his head.

"Oh." Patrick scratched his head.

"Now take that quarter and buy some cotton candy." SpongeBob smiled and pointed towards elsewhere.

Patrick walked away in search of cotton candy.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow, he had successfully distracted Patrick and he could now wait for the hot air balloon to arrive at the carnival.

Larry walked up to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob saw Larry from the corner of his eye and immediately turned to face him, he surprised the lobster somewhat. "Hey, Larry, can you keep an eye on Pat? He might become a bit wild at times if you know what I mean." He smiled nervously.

"Uhh..." Larry forgot what he was going to say since SpongeBob had done something unexpected. "'kay." He followed Patrick and monitored the starfish's behavior, the lobster was the lifeguard after all.

"Cotton candy! I can't believe it!" Patrick pointed at the cotton candy seller who was wearing a cotton candy suit, the sea star thought the seller was the actual cotton candy.

"Huh?" The seller raised his brow at Patrick.

"Cotton candy!" Patrick ran towards the seller.

"Hey, get away! Hey!" The seller ran away from Patrick, he was being chased.

Someone grabbed Patrick's shoulder and lifted him up. The sea star's shoulder was turned around and he faced Larry. "Oh, hi Larry." Patrick smiled.

"He's not made out of cotton candy. What were you thinking?" Larry was in near disbelief at what Patrick did, he had severely underestimated the sea star.

"Sorry." Patrick looked at the floor and felt remorseful.

Plop!

Larry dropped Patrick to the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Sandy to SpongeBob_." Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob took out his walkie-talkie.

"_Sandy to SpongeBob. Come in, SpongeBob._" Sandy was trying to know if SpongeBob was at the carnival.

"Ten four, Sandy. SpongeBob's here." SpongeBob spoke into the walkie-talkie.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was standing inside the basket of the hot-air balloon. The balloon was moderately high in the sky and was flying towards the carnival. The squirrel had a decent view of the carnival from her location. "I got a visual on the carnival. You want me to bring her in?" She spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"_Ohh, not yet, Sandy. Patrick's still trying to guess what his Valentine is._" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard, he wanted to have a fun time with Patrick and wanted to save the best for last.

Sandy chuckled. "You are such a kidder, Sandy out." She spoke into the walkie-talkie and put it away. "That SpongeBob..." She chuckled some more.

A group of scallops flew away from their original path of flight and headed towards the balloon. The scallops were very hungry.

Sandy saw the scallops and her eyes bugged out, she recognized what they were . "Scallops... chocolate-eating scallops!" She took out a whip that was in her suit, it was situations such as these that those things came in handy. "I can't have them eat the balloon!"

S-S-S-S-S

"So if it's not cotton candy then what is it? I can't take it!" Patrick's curiousity was killing him. He and SpongeBob were walking across the carnival.

"You'll have to guess!"' SpongeBob smirked, he was enjoying Patrick's futile search for the gift.

"This tent?" Patrick pointed at a nearby tent.

"No." SpongeBob shook his head.

"This guy?" Patrick lifted up a young man that was waiting in line for something. The man's eyes bugged out.

"Nope." SpongeBob suppressed his giggling to the best of his ability.

Plop!

Patrick dropped the man and ran to another nearby tent.

SpongeBob followed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were looking through a microscope that was pointed at the ground. They saw micro-organisms swimming across the glass hole in the microscope.

"This paramecium?" Patrick was willing to do anything at this point to find out what the gift was.

"Nope." SpongeBob couldn't suppress laughter and laughed.

Patrick giggled. "Heh, you're a sly one. I can't find it here in the carnival..." He exited the tent.

SpongeBob exited the tent as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"Because it's on top of that cliff!" Patrick pointed at a large cliff and ran towards it.

"HEY!" Larry chased Patrick, he was still watching the sea star. The lobster picked up Patrick and walked towards SpongeBob.

Plop!

Larry dropped Patrick in front of SpongeBob.

"I guess it's not there either." Patrick scratched his head.

SpongeBob took out his walkie-talkie. "SpongeBob to Sandy, you can bring it in now." He spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Sandy's gonna bring the gift?!" Patrick became excited again, he had heard SpongeBob's conversation.

SpongeBob silently nodded.

"Yippee!" Patrick cartwheeled around SpongeBob, he couldn't contain his excitement.

S-S-S-S-S

"Uhh, SpongeBob, we got ourselves a little problem. I got a pack of chocolate-eating scallops trying to rustle the balloon!" Sandy struggled to speak into the walkie-talkie as she hit the scallops with the whip. The scallops were trying to bite the chocolate balloon. "Hi-yah!" She made a mighty swing with the whip. "Get away, you sweet-toothed varmints! Hi-yah!" The squirrel made another swing. "I'm going to be a little late!" She spoke into the walkie-talkie.

S-S-S-S-S

"Late? But what about-" SpongeBob became worried.

"_Hi-yah! Take him up to the Ferris wheel and I'll meet you there! Sandy out!_" Sandy's electronic voice was heard and then the squirrel put the walkie-talkie away.

"If Patrick doesn't get his valentine..." SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he gulped. He became anxious at the thought of Patrick's reaction when he couldn't get his gift.

"Where is she gonna bring it?" Patrick asked.

"Uhh... Patrick, it's on the Ferris-" SpongeBob was revealing the location of the gift when he got interrupted.

"Ferris wheel!" Patrick smiled and grabbed SpongeBob's arm. The two ran towards the Ferris wheel. They entered one of the empty cars of the Ferris wheel and sat down in the seats. The car slowly went to the top with the other cars.

"I'm ready for the greatest Valentine's present in the whole world now, SpongeBob." Patrick smiled widely and looked at SpongeBob, he was expecting the sponge to give him the gift.

SpongeBob was staring into space and was sweating nervously. "Well, this is where you're gonna get it... I hope. Just keep looking out there, pal." He pointed at elsewhere so he could distract Patrick again.

"Okee-dokee." Patrick looked at his surroundings, he became distracted.

SpongeBob took out his walkie-talkie. "SpongeBob to Sandy, SpongeBob to Sandy, come in, Sandy!" He spoke into the walkie-talkie.

S-S-S-S-S

"Sandy to SpongeBob, I got my ox in a ditch here! I'm way off course! The scallops are eating the balloon! They're everywhere!" Sandy spoke into her walkie-talkie as she furiously whipped the scallops. The scallops' attempts to eat the chocolate balloon were becoming more and more desperate.

**POP**!

One scallop had successfully bitten the balloon and left a hole. Chocolate syrup came out of the hole and the scallops opened their mouths so they could eat some of the syrup. Once their craving for chocolate was satisfied, they flew away to other distant places.

The balloon was deflating and was falling to the ground at a rapid speed.

"Aw, shoot! We're going down, SpongeBob! Switch to plan B!" Sandy panicked as she spoke into the walkie-talkie, she was preparing for the eventual crash.

S-S-S-S-S

"No, no, B, Sandy! No, B!" SpongeBob began to panic as well, he spoke into the walkie-talkie for a final time and put it away. "Uh, Patrick, you know how sometimes you plan something special and things just don't work out?" He smiled anxiously.

"No." Patrick shook his head.

A pause.

"Holy mackerel! Is it hot up here or what?" Patrick was sweating and took off his shirt, the morning on that day was somewhat warm. He then continuously and rapidly stomped on the car with his feet, he was heavily anticipating his receiving of his gift. The Ferris wheel began to shake from Patrick's stomping, it was a glimpse of what would happen if the gift failed to arrive.

"Patrick, here it is!" SpongeBob abruptly held out his hand, he made a desperate attempt to calm Patrick down.

"What's that?" Patrick gave a puzzled look at SpongeBob's hand.

"It's a handshake... a friendly handshake." SpongeBob bit his lip and sweated even more, his body was shaking from severe anxiety.

"A handshake? That's the big gift? You got me a handshake? Where's Sandy? Didn't you say that she was gonna bring the gift?" Patrick had numerous questions in his mind.

"Sandy got into a minor accident so she couldn't come. At the end of the day, this was the gift we wanted to give you. Sooo... happy Valentine's Day!" SpongeBob tried his best to cover up Sandy's absence.

Patrick shook SpongeBob's hand and made a grumpy face, all that excitement was for nothing.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped a lot of sweat off his brow.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends were sitting on a bench.

Patrick had the same grumpy face ever since he shook hands with SpongeBob. "I've been thinking. At first a handshake doesn't seem like much, but really it's the thought that counts…" He spoke his thoughts out loud.

A young woman holding a heart-shaped box full of chocolates walked up to SpongeBob. "Hey SpongeBob, I just wanted to thank you for this box of chocolates."

"Uh, no problem, Fran." SpongeBob smiled.

Fran walked away.

"And even though I was expecting more..." Patrick continued to speak until a young man holding a bouquet of roses walked up to SpongeBob.

"Thanks for the roses, SpongeBob. Happy Valentine's Day." The man spoke.

"You too, Dave." SpongeBob wasn't able to pay attention to what Patrick was saying.

Dave walked away.

"And not that it matters that we've been friends for so long..." Patrick was starting to become annoyed.

A woman that was holding a brand-new bike walked up to SpongeBob. "Hey SpongeBob, thanks for the bike!" She turned to face Patrick. "Can you believe this guy? I just met him this morning!" The woman then walked away.

Patrick gave SpongeBob a soul-piercing glare.

SpongeBob gulped and sweated nervously.

"So as I was saying..." Patrick stopped glaring and spoke once again.

A young man holding a paper-mâché heart walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick. "Excuse me. Do you guys have the time?"

Patrick's face became red and steam came out of his ears. He abruptly stood up from the bench. "**DAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH**!" He yelled in frustration. "Patrick needs love too!" He hit his stomach with his hands like a gorilla and began his rampage. The sea star ran towards a balloon salesman and snatched the man's scissors. He cut all the balloon strings and the balloons flew in the air.

**CRRRRAAAAASSSH**

He lifted up the balloon cart and threw it across the boardwalk of the carnival.

Larry ran after Patrick.

Patrick ran towards some children playing with a man inside a heart suit. "I defy you, heartman!" He grabbed the heart suit and ripped it in half.

Loudspeakers throughout the carnival turned on. "_Attention everyone, there's a chubby pink starfish on the loose!_"

Nearly everybody in the carnival ran and screamed in terror.

"I got this!" Larry dove towards Patrick.

Patrick ran out of the way and dodged Larry.

**THUD**

Larry fell to the floor and stood up.

Patrick looked up and saw a twirl-around ride with hearts on it that was high in the sky. "Heart on stick must die!" He ran towards the large pole and tried to lift it up. "Rggghh!" The pole was too heavy for him. He released his grasp from the pole of the twirl-around ride and ran towards a little girl eating a heart-shaped lollipop. "Heart on stick must die!" He snatched the lollipop from the girl, broke the stick of the lollipop, and put it in his mouth.

SpongeBob gasped and ran after the sea star. "Patrick!"

Patrick slowly turned around and gave SpongeBob another soul-piercing glare.

A pause.

SpongeBob stopped running and simply looked at Patrick in shock.

Everybody stopped running and backed away from Patrick, they became silent.

Larry stood next to SpongeBob and folded his arms, he was prepared to tackle Patrick in case the sea star lashed out on anybody.

"Give me SpongeBob!" Patrick folded his arms.

SpongeBob's face drained of color.

A pause. SpongeBob didn't move an inch.

"I SAID, GIVE ME **SPONGEBOB!"** Patrick was very close to losing his temper once again.

Larry took a deep breath. 'As long as this calms down Patrick.' He was deeply considering about what he was going to do. The lobster eventually made a decision and pushed SpongeBob towards Patrick.

SpongeBob could hear his heartbeat as he stood a few feet away from Patrick.

"You broke my heart! Now I'm gonna break something of yours!" Patrick palmed his fist.

Larry took a few steps towards SpongeBob, he predicted the worst-cause scenario.

"Okay, Patrick, I know I deserve this." SpongeBob pointed at the surrounding crowd that was watching them. "But, do they?"

"They didn't get me anything either!" Patrick glared at the crowd.

The crowd lifted up their held items and were about to throw them at Patrick as gifts.

Patrick held his hand out at the crowd and made them stop from throwing any gifts at him. "Nope, it's too late for that now... for all of you!" His next rampage was bound to happen, the venting of his anger on the carnival will surely lead to its destruction.

"You're gonna have to get through the lifeguard before you hurt anybody." Larry lightly shoved SpongeBob aside and walked up to Patrick.

"You wanna be the first to get beat up? It's on!" Patrick raised his fists and made a karate pose.

SpongeBob covered his eyes with his hands, he couldn't bear to watch the sea star harm innocent citizens.

S-S-S-S-S

"Yee-haw! Get along little shellfish! Gallop you scallops!" Sandy had found another group of scallops and decided to lasso them to the hot-air balloon with some extra rope that was inside the basket. She controlled the path of the scallops' flight with her whip. The hot-air balloon was above the carnival at a moderate height. The squirrel looked below and saw SpongeBob, Patrick, and Larry being surrounded by a crowd.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard Sandy's voice and looked up, he saw Sandy riding a group of scallops while on a hot-air balloon. "Yeah! Sandy's here! Woo-hoo! Look Patrick, it's here! It's here! The best valentine in the whole wide world is right above you!" He jumped up and down and pointed at the sky.

Larry halted and looked at the hot-air balloon in the sky, the fight between him and Patrick was delayed.

"Sure it is."' Patrick rolled his eyes, he was skeptical of SpongeBob's claim. He thought that SpongeBob was trying to distract him.

"I'm telling you, it's right there, look up!" SpongeBob kept pointing at the sky.

"Uh-uh." Patrick shook his head.

"Patrick, just turn around!" SpongeBob yelled at the sea star.

"You must think I'm pretty dumb, huh?" Patrick narrowed his eyes at the sponge.

Sandy made the scallops dive to the floor of the carnival.

Plop!

The hot-air balloon landed on the boardwalk of the carnival.

"No you're not! Just turn around! It's behind you!" SpongeBob pointed at the hot-air balloon that was behind Patrick.

"The dude's serious. Just look behind you!" Larry was pointing behind Patrick as well.

"Nuh-uh. I'm gonna say this once and I'm not going to say it again, so pay attention. I am not, I repeat, not going to turn around or look up for any reason... ever!" Patrick was determined to not give in to SpongeBob and Larry's claims.

"Howdy, Patrick!" Sandy waved at the sea star.

"Hi, Sandy." Patrick turned around and saw Sandy, he waved his hand as well. He then saw the chocolate hot-air balloon and scratched his head.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Patrick!"' SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and patted him on the shoulder.

"Yay! My valentine!" Patrick ran to the hot-air balloon and jumped on it. "Hey, is this solid chocolate?"

"Patrick, no!" SpongeBob ran towards Patrick.

Patrick bit into the remaining part of the balloon that was inflated.

**SPLURT**!

Chocolate syrup exploded from the balloon and spilled all over the boardwalk. SpongeBob and Patrick were covered in the syrup.

"Aw SpongeBob, you didn't have to get me anything." Patrick smiled widely.

SpongeBob looked at his watch and smiled as well. "I have just enough time to clean this mess up and get to work."

"You won't have to clean anything. Allow me." Patrick licked the syrup off of his and SpongeBob's bodies and then quickly ate the rest of the syrup that was on the boardwalk.

"C'ya later, Pat." SpongeBob left the carnival.

**"BUUUUURRRRRRRRRP!" **Patrick's stomach was filled to the brim with chocolate.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was inside the laboratory of the Chum Bucket. Instead of planning a new scheme to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, he kept staring at the paper-mache heart and was absolutely speechless. Numerous thoughts were running through his mind.

"Hello?" Karen tried to get Plankton's attention.

Plankton ignored her and kept staring at the heart.

"Aren't you supposed to steal the formula? Something that you do nearly everyday?" Karen knew that Plankton was distracted and tried to make him more productive.

Plankton looked up at Karen. "I'm not doing it today, I don't feel like it. I'm just... thinking about something." He sat down on a tiny chair. The plankton looked at the paper-mache heart and dove into a world of thoughts.


	14. SO

**Chapter 14: Sandy's Rocket**

* * *

**CRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He looked at the sky and knew that it was Sunday morning. However, he wasn't sure about what to do. He looked at his watch and thought for a bit. "Hmmm..."

A pause.

A lightbulb lit up in his head. "Now's a good time to visit Sandy." SpongeBob walked away from his neighborhood and headed towards Sandy's treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward watched SpongeBob walk towards the horizon from one of the windows in the music room. He noticed that the neighborhood became quiet and he knew right away that everything became peaceful. 'Looks like luck is on my side.' He smiled widely and took out an empty canvas that was leaning on the wall, he put the canvas on a canvas holder. The octopus also took out a palette that had several different colors of paint and a paintbrush. Squidward dipped the brush into one of the colors and made slow and gentle strokes on the canvas.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick sat down on his couch and turned on the TV with his remote. For some strange reason, the television was showing an actual channel; it was functioning properly. The Bikini Bottom News Channel was the one that was currently selected.

"Boring." Patrick changed through several channels in search of a good show. He eventually stumbled upon the NASA channel. "What's this?" He saw a rocket soar up through the sky and exit the atmosphere. "Wow. That's gotta take a lot of matches and lighters to make a fire that big. And where did they get that giant can?" The sea star was fascinated by what he saw on the TV screen.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was typing on the keyboard of a bulky and advanced computer. A 3-D model of the moon appeared and she inputted a certain set of coordinates. A green dot appeared on a certain location of the moon.

"Well, now that that's done, all I have to do is bring a few more things, do a few more tests, and some check ups. I'm gonna lift this rocket up to the surface and it should be ready by tomorrow." Sandy stood up and exited her laboratory. She walked down a long set of metal stairs and entered an extremely large room that had a rocket inside of it. She pressed on one of the buttons of a control panel that was near the doorway she went through.

The ceiling split into two halves and opened up to reveal the morning sky. The circular area that the rocket stood on lifted up to the open circle that was left behind by the two halves of the ceiling.

Sandy exited the room and walked upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy exited her treedome.

"Wow!" SpongeBob had watched the rocket lift up to the surface and marveled at the size of the vehicle.

"Howdy, SpongeBob, how do you like it?" Sandy smirked.

"Isn't that a rocket?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

"Yep. Want me to show you around?" Sandy pushed a wooden staircase that was near the treedome towards the door of the rocket. She walked up the wooden stairs and opened the metal door.

"Wow, what are you gonna do with it?" SpongeBob walked up the stairs and entered the rocket. He saw several strange tools and machines inside the rocket.

"I'm going to the moon, SpongeBob!" Sandy entered the rocket and pointed at a poster of the moon.

"The moon! Can I go?" SpongeBob became curious.

"No way, SpongeBob. There's not enough room for you." Sandy shook her head, she didn't want to bring anyone along.

"But I don't take up that much space!" SpongeBob made an innocent face. He squeezed himself into a beaker. "See?" He got out of the beaker and opened a drawer. The sponge squeezed himself into the drawer. "I can fit in here." He closed the drawer with his hands. "Mmm, cozy."

"I need that drawer." Sandy opened the drawer.

"Well, how about..." SpongeBob jumped out of the drawer and squeezed into a test tube. "This?" He jumped out and squeezed into a smaller test tube. "Or this?" The sponge slowly got himself out of that test tube and stood up.

"SpongeBob, this isn't for fun." Sandy took out a clipboard that had complex math equations written on it and showed it to SpongeBob. "See this? This is science. I don't have time for games and I don't have time for stowaways."

"Fine." SpongeBob squeezed himself through a set of metal bars that was inside a vent and trapped himself in there. "Put me in the brig, I don't mind!"

"That's the air vent, SpongeBob." Sandy pressed a button on a control panel that was on the wall. "I need that too."

The air vent turned on and SpongeBob was blown out of it. The sponge landed on the floor and stood up. "Oh, please, can I go? Can I? Can I? Huh? Please?" He walked up to Sandy and fell to his knees, he begged while making puppy eyes.

"All right. Y'all can ride in the cargo hold if you just-" Sandy gave in to SpongeBob's plea.

"Yeah! Goin' to the moon! Moon ride! Moon ride! Moon ride!" SpongeBob ran through and around the several rooms of the rocket in joy and excitement.

Sandy quickly grabbed the sponge and lifted him up, she turned SpongeBob around to face her. "You will go under one condition, don't touch anything. Understand?" She had a serious demeanor.

"Roger." SpongeBob made a military salute.

Sandy dropped SpongeBob to the floor. "I'm gonna go get a few things. Don't do anything crazy." She exited the rocket.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob stood still and resisted the urge to touch any tool or object inside the rocket ship.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy dropped a pile of items into the rocket. She took out some sort of gun from the pile and pumped it.

"Wow, look at that pop gun. Are we gonna go hunting aliens on the moon?" SpongeBob was jumping up and down, he was absolutely thrilled to go on a trip to the moon and the possibilities that he was thinking were endless.

"Aww, hush, silly." Sandy exited the rocket.

SpongeBob followed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy walked down the set of wooden stairs. Sandy pulled the trigger of the gun and shot at three rocks to test it out. Three gray nets came out of the gun and covered all three of the rocks in less than a second. "This is for harvesting moon rocks." She looked at SpongeBob and pointed at the rocks.

"Well, when you're done playing with rocks, you could use that for some serious alien hunting." SpongeBob was still fantasizing about what he could do on the moon.

"Aliens? Are you nuts? I've been to the moon, there are no aliens." Sandy tried to help SpongeBob separate fantasy from reality.

"Sandy, Sandy, Sandy. How could you be so naive? There's evidence all around us. How do you explain Atlantis, cow licks, 99¢ stores?" SpongeBob walked around Sandy as he explained his viewpoint, he unintentionally formed a circle from his walking. "And how about those mysterious circles that pop up in kelp fields over night?" He looked down a saw the circle that he formed. "Ahh!, there's one now!"

"SpongeBob, go home and get some shut eye. Be here tomorrow at the crack of dawn and leave those crazy alien notions behind." Sandy walked up the wooden stairs and entered the rocket.

"C'ya later, Sandy. I guess." SpongeBob walked towards his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward finished painting on the canvas. The painting depicted the stars and galaxies of outer space, a full moon was in the center of the painting. The octopus had always appreciated the beauty of the night sky and wondered how it would be like to travel through the depths of the galaxy on a rocket. However, he didn't pursue to become an astronaut because he knew that it was only a fantasy and he could never make it become a reality. Nonetheless, the moon fascinated him as well and he had incorporated the moon into a few of his paintings.

Squidward put his paintbrush and palette away. He walked to the sheet holder and grabbed the clarinet. He flip through some sheets on the holder and found the song he wanted. He began playing with his clarinet.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick felt like he watched plenty of the NASA channel and turned off the TV. He stood up and climbed to the ceiling.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

He exited his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw Patrick and walked up to him. "Pat, I got some good news. I'm going with Sandy on a trip to the moon." He smirked.

Patrick's eyes widened. "Wow, SpongeBob. I didn't know you were a scientist." He scratched his head.

SpongeBob laughed. "I just asked her if I could come along. I'm not a scientist."

"Oh, I see." Patrick nodded. "When are you going?"

"The rocket is going to leave tommorow morning. I'm gonna have to wait for a while." SpongeBob was deep in thought, he wondered if he should go to Jellyfish Fields.

Patrick looked up at the sky. "SpongeBob, have you wondered about how it's like to be above the ocean surface?"

"Remember when we went to Sandy's treedome without having any water? It wasn't pleasant." SpongeBob shuddered.

"It's not that. I just wanna see the dry land and sky with my own eyes. I bet Sandy has seen it." Patrick kept looking at the sky.

"I've thought about that too, Patrick. Every sea creature has probably thought about that at one time or another. I'll tell you what dry land looks like when I get back from the trip." SpongeBob looked up at the sky as well.

A long pause.

"Anyways, you wanna go to Jellyfish Fields?" SpongeBob broke the silence.

Patrick saw a jellyfish flying in a certain direction and had a sudden burst in intelligence. "SpongeBob, I got a better idea. Why don't we build a plane and ride it so you could prepare for the moon trip? You'll get used to flying in the sky." He smiled.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers. "Good idea indeed." He suddenly realized something. "Wait a sec, how are we gonna get all the stuff we need to build a plane that can fit two people?" He found a flaw in Patrick's idea.

"Who do you think we're gonna ask for help?" Patrick walked in the direction of Sandy's treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Patrick and SpongeBob walked up the wooden stairs. The sea star knocked on the door of the rocket.

Sandy opened the door. "Howdy, guys. What do you want?" She was in the middle of testing the functions of the rocket.

"Me and SpongeBob want to build our own plane. We wanna know if you have materials or blueprints for a plane since you have a rocket and a bunch of other stuff." Patrick explained what they wanted.

Sandy gave Patrick a funny look and giggled. "Why would you wanna do that?"

"I thought it would be a good idea if SpongeBob could prepare for the moon trip by getting used to flying high in the sky." Patrick continued to explain.

An awkward pause.

"Alright. I'll see what I can find." Sandy entered the treedome.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the treedome as well and put on fish bowls full of water.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy walked towards the oak tree. The sponge saw a few robots roaming the treedome.

"Sandy, how many secrets do you have in this treedome? I keep getting more and more amazed the more I visit here." SpongeBob marveled at the robots.

Sandy laughed. "If you thought my robots were a secret, you've seen nothing yet."

The three entered the oak tree.

Sandy turned around and faced SpongeBob and Patrick. "Guys, when you enter the laboratory, don't you dare touch anything. Okay?" She was looking at Patrick especially.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob nodded.

"If you say so." Patrick made sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid, he was focused on more important matters such as building the plane.

The three walked down a set of stairs and entered a metal hallway.

SpongeBob's eyes widened as he saw a faint reflection of himself on one of the walls. "This place is so clean..." He looked at his reflection with wonder.

Patrick marveled at his reflection as well.

"My robots always make sure that my lab is spotless." Sandy continued to walk down the hallway while SpongeBob and Patrick looked at their reflections on the walls.

A pause.

Sandy turned around. "What're you boys waiting for?"

SpongeBob and Patrick shook back to their senses and followed Sandy.

The squirrel walked past several doors until she stopped in front of a double door. She opened the double door and revealed a small and empty room with a ladder that lead down to deeper floors. She went down the ladder.

SpongeBob and Patrick went down the ladder as well.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy landed on the floor. They were in a giant storage facility. Towering stacks of cardboard boxes and metal containers were in neat rows throughout the expansive room. The stacks were neatly organized in alphabetical and numerical order.

"So you're looking for plane parts and blueprints, right? I'll show you the way." Sandy walked down a row of stacks that had labels that all started 'P'.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed.

Sandy stopped in front of a stack that had a giant box on top.

"How're we gonna get that down?" SpongeBob looked up and scratched his head.

"That's easy." Sandy nimbly climbed up the stack and lifted up the box with all of her might. She jumped to the floor.

**THUD**

The floor shook as Sandy landed on it while holding the box.

SpongeBob and Patrick nearly fell to the floor. The stacks wobbled somewhat but soon became still.

Sandy took out some sort of remote and aimed it at the box she was holding. She pressed a red button and the remote shot out a ray that shrunk the box to a size that fitted her hand.

"I've always wanted to use super-cool gadgets like that." Patrick looked at the remote but had the willpower to not touch it.

"Wow." SpongeBob could only say one word. He marveled at Sandy's invention and it was extremely obvious by now that he hadn't visited Sandy very often and wasn't used to the strange stuff in the treedome.

The three walked back to the ladder and climbed back up to the small room. They then exited the room and entered the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked into SpongeBob's neighborhood. "Where should I leave it?" She tried to find a place to leave the box.

"Right here." Patrick pointed at his lawn.

Sandy dropped the box on the lawn and took out the remote. She pressed a green button and the remote shot out a ray that enlarged the box back to its normal size. "You got any questions before I leave?"

Patrick climbed the large box and opened one of the lids. He looked inside and saw several dismantled pieces of a plane, a small instruction book, and some equipment for pilots. "We're good. I think we can build this from scratch."

"Alright. C'y'all later." Sandy walked back to her treedome.

SpongeBob opened the other lid of the box and looked inside. "Oh my gosh, Patrick. This is perfect! We can start right away!" He smiled widely and dove into the box, he grabbed the pilots' equipment and the instruction booklet and came back out.

Patrick heaved the plane parts out of the box.

SpongeBob opened the instruction booklet and showed it to Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard loud construction noises coming from outside as he played another song on his clarinet. "What could SpongeBob and Patrick be up to now?!" He put his clarinet on the sheet holder and stomped downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

He exited his tiki and saw SpongeBob and Patrick building an old-school airplane.

A long pause.

The two friends finished building the plane.

"We're finally finished." SpongeBob wiped an excessive amount of sweat off his brow and smiled.

"SpongeBob, Patrick, what's the meaning of this?" Squidward walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick, he was in a sour mood.

"We're gonna ride this airplane we just built." Patrick smirked.

"I'm trying to prepare for my trip to the moon with Sandy." SpongeBob sat on a seat in the plane.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. "I bet you two imbeciles don't even know anything about outer space. And how are you gonna fly that plane without causing an accident? You have to take courses in aviation before you even have a chance of flying that plane without causing mayhem." He folded his arms.

"What's aviation?" Patrick scratched his head, he suddenly became dumber.

Squidward facepalmed. "Forget about it. I won't disturb you as long as you don't crash that damn plane into my house." He entered his tiki.

Patrick hopped into the other seat of the plane which was next to SpongeBob. "Who needs grumpy Squid's advice? Right, SpongeBob?"

SpongeBob handed Patrick the instruction booklet. "Squidward doesn't know that the instructions to fly this plane were in this book. I'll take control of this plane while you read the book and tell me what to do."

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs up.

SpongeBob put on his pilot helmet and handed one to Patrick, he then put the goggles over his eyes.

Patrick put on his helmet and put the goggles over his eyes as well. He opened the booklet and skipped some pages until he got to the section with instructions to fly the plane. "Turn on the switch near the control wheel."

SpongeBob flicked the switch near the control wheel from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

The engine of the airplane turned on. The turbines on the wings of the plane began to spin.

"Press into the control wheel of the plane." Patrick continued to read through the instructions.

SpongeBob pressed the control wheel into the plane and heard a light click. The airplane began to move forward. The sponge smirked and controlled his nervousness from going out of control.

"Wait for it..." Patrick turned around and looked at the neighborhood as the plane drove away from it. He held up his hand until the time was right.

A pause. The airplane drove a decent enough distance away from the neighborhood.

He made a thumbs up and then continued to read the booklet. "Pull the control wheel towards you."

SpongeBob slowly pulled the control wheel towards himself.

"Yeah, don't pull the wheel too much. The plane should gently climb up to the sky." Patrick nodded.

The nose of the airplane raised up towards the sky. The plane finally flew in the air after a few more seconds.

"We're flying! We're flying!" SpongeBob made a wide smile and shook in his seat in excitement.

"Don't get excited yet, SpongeBob. We're still not high enough in the sky. Keep pulling the control wheel until I tell you another instruction." Patrick looked down and waited until they were high enough from the ground.

"'kay." SpongeBob maintained his grip on the control wheel and made sure his hands didn't let go or pull the wheel too much. He stopped shaking in his seat and tried to relax.

A long pause.

"Alright." Patrick stopped looking down and resumed his reading of the booklet. "Push the control wheel away from you."

SpongeBob pushed the control wheel away from himself. The nose of the airplane lowered to a certain degree.

"Stop." Patrick made a command.

SpongeBob gripped the wheel normally, he wasn't pushing or pulling. The airplane was flying through the sky smoothly.

Patrick read the booklet. "You see those three levers near the control wheel?"

"Yep." SpongeBob saw a black, blue, and red lever respectively; the levers were near the control wheel.

"That's the throttle control. The black lever helps you maintain your speed while climbing, the blue lever controls the speed of the plane while flying straight such as what the plane is doing right now, and the red lever helps you control your speed while descending. If you pull any of the levers completely down, the current speed of the plane while doing that action will not change at all until that lever is pushed back up. Got it?" Patrick read through the book and spoke what he read out loud.

SpongeBob pulled the blue lever somewhat. "Like this?"

"Yep." Patrick nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward watched the plane fly through the sky from one of the windows in the music room. "Well, Squidward, you never know." He spoke to himself.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick saw a group of jellyfish flying in the sky. The jellyfish were directly in the path of the plane.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble. SpongeBob, I think you know what to do." Patrick was confident in SpongeBob's ability to fly the plane.

SpongeBob pulled the red lever and pushed the control wheel forward. The plane dove down and avoided the group of jellyfish. He then pulled the control wheel and the plane flew back up to the height that it flew through before.

"Phew. That was close." Patrick wiped some sweat off his brow and laid back in his seat.

A pause.

"Umm... SpongeBob, how can you fly this plane so easily? I thought the instructions in the book were going to be really hard to understand." Patrick scratched his head.

"It's because this plane is modeled after planes that were used in the past. Back then, planes were easier to operate, were smaller, and were more lightweight than the planes we have today." SpongeBob answered Patrick's question.

"Are you becoming smarter, SpongeBob? Maybe Sandy's intelligence is rubbing off on you." Patrick smirked.

SpongeBob laughed. "I got all of that info from the book, Pat."

"Oh." Patrick looked at the booklet that he was holding. "Why would Sandy use an old-school plane? She had built way more complicated inventions than this one."

"Using a modern plane would be inconvenient because you would probably need your own airport just to fly off the ground safely." SpongeBob spoke.

Patrick looked at the ground that was below him and enjoyed the view.

S-S-S-S-S

A jellyfish flew away from its group and followed the airplane.

S-S-S-S-S

"Patrick, how do you turn the plane left or right?" SpongeBob still couldn't fully operate the plane.

Patrick opened the booklet and skipped a few pages. "All you have to do is turn the control wheel left or right."

"Okay." SpongeBob turned the control wheel towards the right. He made the airplane raise its left wing and the aircraft turned to the right.

The jellyfish flew directly towards the plane and landed on top of Patrick's head.

"Huh?" Patrick looked up and noticed the jellyfish on top of his head. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!"" The sea star shook his head violently so the jellyfish could get off his head.

SpongeBob looked back and saw the jellyfish on top of Patrick's head. His eyes bugged out and he gasped.

"**BUUUUZZZZZZ!**" The jellyfish became angry.

**ZZZAAAAAP**

The jellyfish zapped Patrick on the head and flew towards SpongeBob.

**ZZAAAP**

The jellyfish zapped SpongeBob on the back.

SpongeBob released his hands from the control wheel and reeled in pain. The control wheel was still tilting to the right, the airplane continued to turn to the right and eventually flew in the opposite direction of the path that it was heading. At that moment, the control wheel stopped tilting to the right and returned to its normal position.

**ZZAAAP**

**ZZAAP**

**ZZAP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

The jellyfish continued to sting SpongeBob and Patrick. The sponge and sea star began to get red scars on their skin.

The airplane flew through the group of jellyfish from before. The group of jellyfish became irritated and chased the airplane.

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZAAP**

**ZZZAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAP**

The group of jellyfish were stinging SpongeBob and Patrick viciously.

SpongeBob fell on the control wheel and accidentally made it tilt forward. The plane dove down and flew directly towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" SpongeBob screamed as he tried to shove the jellyfish out of the way.

**CRRRRAAAAASSSSH**

The airplane crashed through the pineapple. Pieces of the exterior wall of the pineapple flew in the air and landed on the ground. A large hole was left on the wall of the pineapple in the aftermath of the crash. The jellyfish flew out of the hole and headed for elsewhere.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the loud sound. "What in the world?" The octopus stopped playing his clarinet and put it on the sheet holder. He walked down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki and looked at the large hole that went through SpongeBob's pineapple. "I almost jinxed it, didn't I?" He ran towards the house.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

He quickly opened the front door and entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward saw a crashed airplane inside the living room, a few puffs of smoke were coming out of the aircraft. SpongeBob and Patrick were standing in front of the airplane and were thinking about what to do next, the two had survived the crash unscathed.

Gary slithered into the living room and widened his eyes, he was in total disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Well, heheh, this is gonna take a long time to clean up." SpongeBob smiled nervously and sweatdropped.

"You said it, buddy." Patrick was grinning, he was grateful that he and his best friend had survived the potentially fatal accident.

"SpongeBob, Patrick, I'm not cleaning up your mess." Squidward stomped towards the door and exited the pineapple, he wasted his time since he thought that something horrific had occurred.

SpongeBob quietly exited the living room and searched for a broom, he was going to begin a massive clean-up.

Patrick followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob laid down on his bed and put the sheet over himself. The lights in the room were turned off and Gary was already sleeping. The sponge and the sea star had spent a large portion of the day cleaning up the mess they had made. He slowly closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

A pause. His active consciousness prevented him from falling asleep.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and looked at the clock on the foghorn, the clock's hands were showing 9:07 PM. "Oh, hurry up!" The sponge took out two clothes pins and closed his eyes. He opened and closed the clothes pins on his eyelids so he could no longer open his eyes and look at the clock. "These oughta do the trick." He wanted that night to pass by quickly so he didn't have to wait a long time before he could go on the moon trip with Sandy.

Patrick opened the window in the bedroom and sat on the windowsill, a certain thought in his mind had made him get out of bed and climb all the way up to the bedroom just to tell the sponge about it. "Hiya, SpongeBob!"

SpongeBob quickly opened his eyes and made the clothes pins fly in the air. "What is it, Patrick? Can't you see I'm sleeping here?"

"I wanted to bring you something for your moon trip tomorrow.'" Patrick digged in his pockets.

"A present?' SpongeBob smirked.

"No. Uhh, SpongeBob, is Sandy's rocket alien proof?" Patrick scratched his head while his other hand was still digging in his pockets.

"There are no aliens, Patrick. Just ask Sandy." SpongeBob found what Patrick said to be ridiculous since Sandy had said something to him about aliens earlier in the day.

"Well, I guess you won't be needing this alien repellent for your trip!" Patrick stopped digging in his pockets and took out a spray can. He had bought it from the dollar store a few weeks ago.

"Alien repellent? Let me see that." SpongeBob got out of bed and walked up to Patrick. He took the can and examined it closely. "New Alien-Out Window Protectant. Does not stop burglars." He read the text on the can out loud. "Well, I guess you're right, Patrick. We'd better go spray those windows!" The sponge found the spray can to be legitimate.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stood in front of the rocket.

"Look how big it is, SpongeBob!" Patrick marveled at the size of the aircraft.

"It's pretty impressive alright." SpongeBob nodded.

"Come on!" Patrick walked up the wooden stairs to the rocket, he was curious and wanted to explore the insides of the ship.

"We're just here to spray the windows, Patrick!" SpongeBob knew that Patrick might fool around inside the rocket.

"Wow. How do you think we get inside?" Patrick scratched his head as he stood in front of a strange-looking front door. He was trying to find the doorknob so he could open it.

"We don't, we're just spraying the-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted.

**CRRREEEAK**

Patrick opened the door. "I opened it, SpongeBob! Come on!" He entered the rocket.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and entered the rocket as well.

**SLAM**

The door was closed.

S-S-S-S-S

"Are those... bottles?" Patrick saw several glass vials on a few tables throughout the room.

"Pat, let's get out of here. This is a bad idea." SpongeBob turned around and began to walk back to the front door.

Patrick grabbed SpongeBob by the shoulder and prevented him from walking any further. "Chill out, SpongeBob. I just wanna explore this place really quick and before you know it, we'll be out of here. Sandy won't find out anyway." The sea star saw a set of metal stairs and dragged SpongeBob along as he walked up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and SpongeBob entered a room that had several advanced computers inside of it. The computers controlled the numerous functions of the rocket.

"Holy seacow, SpongeBob. This must be the control room." Patrick smiled widely and looked at the room with wonder. He guessed that the machines in the room controlled the rocket since they were super-complicated and that guess was strangely correct.

"Yeah. Just don't touch anything." SpongeBob became worried after thinking of the likelihood of Patrick accidently starting the rocket.

Patrick walked up to a computer and grabbed a joystick with a red button on top of it that was connected to the computer. The sea star moved the joystick in random directions and repeatedly pressed the red button. He saw bright and colorful flashes on the screen of the computer. "Look, I'm winning!" He thought that he was playing some sort of video game.

"Patrick, cut that out! Patrick, come on, we can't hang around in here." SpongeBob poked Patrick's shoulder as his anxiety worsened, the sea star ignored him and continued to play the 'game'. "This is Sandy's big rocket, not some kind of a fun… " He looked towards one of the larger computers and the screen of the machine distorted his image as if it was a carnival mirror. "...house?" The sponge raised his brow.

A bright and red flash came from the screen of the computer that Patrick was using.

"Woo-hoo! Winner! Yeah! High score!" Patrick dropped the joystick on the keyboard of the computer and jumped in joy at his 'achievement'.

"Hey, Patrick, what game was that anyway?" SpongeBob couldn't help himself, he was becoming carried away as well.

"I don't know." Patrick shrugged his shoulders.

A pause.

Patrick was deep in thought. "Hmmm... , SpongeBob, I think there's a way to make this rocket even more alien proof."

"What is it?" SpongeBob became curious.

"Wait right here; I'll be right back." Patrick ran downstairs and exited the rocket.

SpongeBob sat down on the floor and waited for Patrick to come back. He had the willpower to not touch any of the machines in the room because he knew that he will end up fooling around with them.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick entered the rocket and walked up the stairs to the control room. He was carrying Squidward on his shoulder. The octopus was sleeping and was wearing a pink pajama shirt with a floral pattern, one of his hands was holding some sort of red bag full of water.

"Patrick, are you crazy?! Why did you bring Squidward along? He might wake up and tell Sandy what happened here!" SpongeBob whispered loudly.

Patrick slowly took the red bag away from Squidward's hand and held it out in front of SpongeBob. "Do you remember seeing a strange lump under Squidward's blanket when we watch the sun rise to the sky from his bedroom? I don't see it all the time though."

"Yeah, I've noticed it too." SpongeBob nodded.

"I've touched the lump before and it felt really squishy. I guessed that Squidward holds something really nasty when he sleeps. When I came to his bedroom a few minutes ago, I removed the blanket and found him holding this red thing." Patrick pointed at the red bag. "I think this..." Patrick looked at the red bag closely and tried to figure out what it was. "...water sac... is so disgusting that the aliens might run away from it. I had to bring Squidward along because taking the water sac by itself would be stealing and we might get in trouble later on if I had done that." The sea star's intelligence had increased and he was thinking of the consequences of his actions.

"Alright, Pat. We'll keep him as long as that water sac scares the aliens away." SpongeBob grabbed Squidward and made him sit down on the floor.

"What to do..." Patrick wandered around the room and tried to find something to occupy his time.

A pause.

Patrick looked up and saw a lever above his head. "What does this do?" He became curious and lifted up one of his arms so he could grab it.

"Patrick, I don't think we should-" SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and got interrupted.

Patrick pulled the lever.

Half of the rocket opened to reveal the night sky and SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward were pushed out of the rocket by the floor they were standing or sitting on. The three flew in the air for several seconds, they could see Sandy's treedome from the height they were flying through.

"I like rockets." Patrick forgot about what he did or said a few minutes ago and spoke something random.

SpongeBob gasped and grabbed Squidward, he didn't want the octopus to fall to the floor and wake up.

The three succumbed to gravity and fell back to the rocket. They landed on the floor and the other half of the aircraft closed with the half that the three neighbors were in to make the rocket whole again.

Squidward moved somewhat but didn't wake up.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow and stood up.

Patrick stood up and jumped up and down. "More more!" The sea star still wanted to do foolish things on the rocket.

"No more!" SpongeBob shook his head and tugged Patrick's shoulder towards the stairs.

"What's this?" Patrick pressed a button on the keyboard of a large computer.

The rocket shook rapidly. SpongeBob and Patrick barely managed to stand on their feet as the rocket shook the floor. Squidward turned his body to another side but didn't wake up. After several seconds, the shaking stopped.

"Okay, one more." SpongeBob smirked and found the rocket's shaking to be fun.

Patrick pressed the same button.

The rocket shook and the two friends tried their best to stand on the floor without falling. The shaking eventually stopped.

"Okay, that's enough. Let's go." SpongeBob walked towards the stairs.

"Oh, wait, I think this one starts it." Patrick lowered his finger towards a certain button.

SpongeBob grabbed Patrick's hand and prevented him from pushing that button. "Patrick, what are you doing? I'm the space traveler here and I happen to know that that particular button is right over here." He pointed at an adjacent button and accidentally pressed it.

The engine of the rocket started. Smoke came from the bottom of the rocket and slowly flew across the air.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and his face drained of color.

"You started the rocket!" Patrick was showing an expression or shock.

Squidward woke up due to the loud sound of the rocket's engine and stood up. "SPONGEBOB, PATRICK, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DO-" He was screaming at his two neighbors in anger and then stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. The octopus realized that SpongeBob and Patrick had brought him to a rocket and the aircraft was about to blast off to space. 'Well, I didn't expect this to be a mixed blessing.' He thought to himself. One of Squidward's dreams was finally going to become true.

S-S-S-S-S

A small portion of the smoke entered Sandy's treedome. Sandy smelled some smoke inside her bedroom and woke up. She heard the engine of her rocket. "Oh, SpongeBob..." The squirrel stood up and exited the room, she ran down a set of stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hold on, buddy!" Patrick hugged SpongeBob. The sponge hugged the sea star back. The two friends were afraid of what was going to happen when the rocket blasts out of the ocean.

Squidward gulped in anxiety and leaned against the wall.

Nearly all the floors of the rocket abruptly opened up. The floor that the three neighbors were standing on pushed them all the way to the ceiling with several other things in the rocket getting pushed up there as well.

Fire came from the bottom of the rocket and the aircraft blasted off. It soared up to the surface of the ocean at a rapid speed. After a few more seconds, the rocket flew out of the ocean and soared through the atmosphere.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!**" SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward screamed as they fell all the way to the bottom floor of the rocket.

The rocket soon escaped the Earth's atmosphere and entered space.

The three neighbors and several other things in the rocket stopped falling and floated.

"Hey, we stopped falling!" Patrick stopped hugging SpongeBob and smiled.

"Look!" SpongeBob pointed at a window. Through the window was a dark void with several small and faint lights that they called stars. "We're in space now! Whee!" The sponge floated across the room as fast as he could.

Squidward looked through the window and marveled at the size of the blue planet that he lived in, that trip to the moon was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Hey! Whoa! Somebody get me down, or up, or something!" Patrick floated across the room and tried to touch the floor with his feet.

SpongeBob laughed.

"Hey, SpongeBob, watch this!" Patrick grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a tube of toothpaste. He opened the jar of peanut butter and took the cap off the tube of toothpaste. He squeezed the toothpaste into the peanut butter.

"Hey! You got your toothpaste in my peanut butter!" SpongeBob tried to make a joke. He then grabbed a heavy barbell. "Patrick, I can do this!" He lifted up the barbell with ease since there was no gravity.

"Will you two be quiet? I'm trying to enjoy the beautiful scenery." Squidward continued to look through the window, SpongeBob and Patrick were annoying him and that made him ill-tempered. The octopus noticed that the rocket was flying closer to the moon.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped fooling around and looked through the other windows in the rocket.

A pause.

The rocket flew around the moon at a somewhat slower speed.

"That's a lot of cheese." Patrick was fascinated by the terrain of the moon.

SpongeBob laughed. "Where are those aliens that you were talking about, Pat?" He couldn't see any extraterrestrials walking across the surface of the moon.

"They should be around there somewhere. Just keep looking." Patrick squinted his eyes and tried to find signs of life on the rocky surface full of craters.

"There is no such thing as aliens. It's just your imagination going wild." Squidward retorted what SpongeBob and Patrick said about aliens.

"Said the same grumpy Squid who told us that we couldn't fly a plane." Patrick turned around and faced Squidward. He raised his brow and folded his arms.

"Didn't you two crash that plane into the pineapple?" Squidward turned around and glared at Patrick.

"Why I oughta..." Patrick's face turned red and he shook his fist, the sea star was about to lose his temper.

"C'mon guys, now's not a time to fight." SpongeBob smiled nervously. He didn't want Patrick and Squidward's argument to ruin that precious moment in space.

Squidward and Patrick turned around and faced their backs towards each other; the tension between them lessened.

The rocket stopped flying around the moon and headed towards Earth. It accelerated as it entered the blue planet's atmosphere.

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and all the other objects in the rocket succumbed to gravity and fell to the floor.

"Hey, who turned the heavy back on?" Patrick stood up.

"We must be landing." SpongeBob stood up and walked towards a window. He looked through the glass and saw the ocean surface rapidly zooming towards his vision.

'I can't wait to go back to sleep.' Squidward stood up and smiled at what he was thinking.

The rocket flew through the ocean's surface.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy exited her treedome. She wore an astronaut suit and a jetpack that was strapped to the suit. The squirrel had to search through the laboratory to find the jetpack.

"Sometimes that SpongeBob is as dumb as a sack of peanuts." Sandy turned the jetpack on by pressing a red button that was on it; flames came from the two small rockets of the jetpack. The squirrel jumped to the air and flew across the sky in search of her rocket.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRRRAAAAAAASSSSH**

A large plume of sand.

A pause.

The plume of sand dissipated. The rocket had landed near SpongeBob's neighborhood. Most of the aircraft was buried in the sand due to how fast the rocket flew towards Earth.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEEAAK**

Patrick opened the bottom door of the rocket and looked outside. "Wow, it sure looks a lot like home." He thought that the rocket landed on a different planet.

"Are you insane?! This place IS our home." Squidward squeezed through the bottom doorway and found what Patrick said to be ridiculous.

SpongeBob barely got his head out of the doorway and narrowed his eyes. "This place is too quiet. Something smells fishy around here."

"You two are out of your minds! I know for sure that this is gonna be a recipe for disaster. I'm outta here." Squidward exited the rocket and began to walk to his tiki.

"SQUIDWARD, WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" SpongeBob grabbed Squidward and dragged him back to the rocket.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Squid, can't you see that this is all a trick? The aliens are projecting our memories onto the environment! They're trying to confuse us." SpongeBob thought that a dire situation was occurring.

"Okay, okay, I'll take whatever precaution you want so you could leave me alone." Squidward became impatient, he had a strong desire to go back to his tiki and get his beauty sleep.

"So you mean to say they've taken what we thought we think and make us think we thought our thoughts we've been thinking our thoughts we think we thought? I think…" Patrick confused himself.

"Yeah and we're not gonna fall for it!" SpongeBob walked across the rocket and grabbed three astronaut suits. "Put this on, all of you. We don't know what the aliens are trying to do to us and I'm gonna make sure we're not gonna take any risks." He showed grave concern for his neighbors. The sponge handed an astronaut suit to Patrick and Squidward.

The sea star and octopus put on their suits.

SpongeBob put on his astronaut suit. "Now you're gonna get your weapons." He searched throughout the rocket and found a pile of pop guns. He gave a gun to Patrick and Squidward and took one for himself.

"What does this do?" Patrick scratched his head.

Squidward looked at his gun and raised his brow.

"That gun shoots out nets so you could capture the aliens. If you want to shoot from a longer distance, just pump the gun." SpongeBob explained what the gun did.

"Like this?" Patrick pumped the gun by moving the stick on the end of the weapon up and down.

"You got it." SpongeBob made a thumbs up and smiled.

Squidward pumped his gun and thought of someone he could shoot at. The octopus made an evil smile and laughed by honking his nose.

"What's wrong, Squid?" Patrick made a puzzled look at Squidward.

"Nothing." Squidward returned to his signature deadpan face.

Patrick suddenly realized something. "Oh yeah!" He picked up the water sac. "We're gonna frighten the living daylight out of the aliens." The sea star giggled.

"Now that we're ready, let's go!" SpongeBob walked up to the bottom door of the rocket.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEEEEAK**

SpongeBob cautiously opened the bottom door. The three neighbors exited the rocket.

**SLAM**

The sponge closed the door.

"I'll see you guys later. I already know who to target." Squidward walked away from his two neighbors.

"Squid, make sure that you dump the aliens into the rocket when you capture them." SpongeBob spoke to the octopus.

"Gotcha." Squidward continued to walk away. He vanished from the horizon.

"Hey, SpongeBob, maybe we should go to your house first. I bet there'll be some aliens in there." Patrick pointed at SpongeBob's pineapple.

"Good idea, Pat." SpongeBob walked up to his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEEAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and the two friends entered the pineapple.

**SLAM**

The sponge closed the door. They were in a dark living room; all the lights in the pineapple were turned off.

SpongeBob and Patrick tip-toed out of the living room and entered the kitchen. There were no 'aliens' in sight so they slowly exited the kitchen and walked up a set of stairs.

**CRRRREEEEEAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and entered his bedroom. He saw a sleeping Gary and pointed at the snail. "Aha!" He pumped his gun and pulled the trigger. A gray net came out and enveloped Gary.

"Meow?" Gary woke up and slithered a bit. He was completely blind due to the net.

"You got him, SpongeBob! Won't Sandy be proud." Patrick smiled.

"Sandy, I forgot about her." SpongeBob's eyes widened. "She's gonna hate us for stealing her rocket. But won't she feel silly when I bring home a real live alien? Aww, she'll love me!" He smiled and relaxed.

"Sandy... loving you?" Patrick smirked and raised his brow.

"N-nothing." SpongeBob blushed somewhat.

An awkward pause.

"Anyways, c'mon, Patrick! The more, the merrier!" SpongeBob walked to the 'alien' and picked it up. He and Patrick exited the room. They walked downstairs and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a door on the side of the rocket and threw the 'alien' into the aircraft.

"ALIEN HUNTING! ALIEN HUNTING!" Patrick jumped up and down in excitement.

"Shh, quiet, Patrick, don't let them know that we're on to them!" SpongeBob whispered loudly. "Uhh, yeah, alien hunting. I saw that on TV, too. Gee Patrick, let's drop in on our pal Sandy and see what she's up to." The sponge quickly changed the topic of the conversation so he didn't attract attention to himself and the sea star.

The two friends walked away from the neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards Mr. Krabs' anchor and stood before the front door.

The sea star looked up and noticed that Squidward was climbing up the anchor towards the window of Mr. Krabs' bedroom. "Hi, Squidward!" He waved towards the octopus.

"SSHH! What did I tell you?!" SpongeBob whispered and put a hand over Patrick's mouth.

"Huh?" Squidward turned around. He saw his two neighbors and became surprised. "W-woah!" His hands slipped off the anchor.

**THUD**

Squidward fell and landed on the ground. He lost his temper and stood up. "Can't you leave me alone for once?! What're you two doing?" The octopus was taking his 'alien' hunt very seriously.

"We're hunting Mr. Krabs. You're doing it too?" SpongeBob asked.

"Yes I was. Now hunt someone else and leave me alone." Squidward tried to climb up the anchor once again.

"Squid, you don't have to do that. Just watch what I do." Patrick backed away by several steps and ran towards the front door.

**SLAM**

The sea star barged the door open. "See? It's way more easier this way."

"I thought that was locked." Squidward jumped down and entered the anchor.

SpongeBob entered the anchor as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ahoy there, lads! Up a bit late to be playing pirate, aren't ye?" Mr. Krabs stopped reading an old newspaper, stood up from his couch, and gave the three neighbors a funny look. The crustacean then made a pirate laugh.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward pumped their guns and aimed them at Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs gulped nervously at the sight of the weapons. "Wait! Don't shoot!" He held his hands out towards the neighbors.

An awkward pause.

"Okay, okay, shoot me, but don't take my money!" He protected the pocket that had his wallet inside by covering it with one of his hands.

"We don't want your money, moon man!" SpongeBob had a solemn expression.

"Or your low paychecks!" Squidward smirked at his own comment.

The three neighbors pulled the triggers of their guns at the same time. Three gray nets came out and enveloped Mr. Krabs.

The crab collapsed to the floor. "This is mutiny against your captain! All of you deserve to walk the plank!" Mr. Krabs struggled to move since the net constrained the motion of his limbs.

"But I don't work in the Krusty Krab." Patrick pointed out a flaw in what Mr. Krabs said.

"It doesn't matter. I can still call the police!" Mr. Krabs crawled towards his shell-phone.

"Not so fast, alien." SpongeBob picked Mr. Krabs up and carried him on his shoulder.

Squidward made a sincere smile. Almost nothing was more sweeter to him than an act of revenge.

The three exited the anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the side door of the rocket and threw Mr. Krabs into the aircraft. "Who should we target next?"

"I know one other person that we can capture. Follow me if you want to know where he lives." Squidward walked in a certain direction.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three neighbors stood before a tower-like mansion that looked similar to Squidward's house.

"Wooooowww. The aliens sure know how to make nice houses." SpongeBob looked at the mansion with wonder.

Squidward walked towards a nearby window. "Patrick, you can handle this." He pointed at the window.

"No, no, allow me." SpongeBob walked to the window and made a light karate chop.

**SHHAAATTEER**

The window shattered into several pieces.

Squidward and Patrick jumped into the building.

SpongeBob jumped into the building as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The three were in a highly fancy living room. The couches, tables, TVs, and paintings on the the walls were all extremely expensive. Most of the paintings depicted someone that looked very similar to Squidward but had a large unibrow. There were even a few statues of him throughout the living room.

SpongeBob and Patrick's eyes widened and they stared at the room with wonder.

A long pause.

"Snap out of it." Squidward snapped his fingers.

"R-right." SpongeBob shook back to his senses. He scanned the room and found a set of stairs. "Let's go up there." The sponge pointed at the stairs.

The three neighbors ran up the stairs and passed through several floors.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stopped running up the stairs and looked through the hallway. He held his hand out towards the two other neighbors. "I think the bedroom is around here." The octopus whispered.

"Squid, who is this guy? Is he a relative?" SpongeBob spoke a question that was stuck in his mind.

"He's called Squilliam Fancyson. Me and him have been rivals since high school." Squidward walked across the hallway.

"Capturing him makes sense now." Patrick nodded, he understood what Squidward said.

**CRRREEEEAK**

Squidward slowly opened a door and peeked inside. It wasn't a bedroom and there was nobody inside. "Go check the other rooms." He whispered towards SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick opened several doors in the hallway until the sea star opened a certain door and found the bedroom. "Guys, I've found it." Patrick whispered loudly and signaled with his hand for the two other neighbors to come closer to him.

The sponge and the octopus walked over to Patrick.

Squidward peeked inside the room and saw Squiliam sleeping inside a king-sized bed. "It's him alright." He pumped his gun, aimed it at Squiliam, and pulled the trigger. A gray net came from the gun and enveloped Squiliam. The sleeping octopus didn't move or wake up.

Patrick picked up Squilliam and carried him on his shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

The three neighbors quickly exited the hallway and ran down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

They entered the living room and ran towards the open and broken window. The three neighbors dove through the window but Patrick was careful to not drop Squilliam to the ground.

The sponge, the sea star, and the octopus walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the side door of the rocket and threw Squilliam into the rocket. The captured people inside the aircraft moved around as a desperate attempt to escape the rocket.

"Look at them squirming around in there." SpongeBob shook his head.

"Eww, gross." Patrick found the aliens to be disgusting.

"Well, there's plenty more where those came from." SpongeBob pumped his gun and walked away from the neighborhood.

"I think I'm gonna call this a day." Squidward opened the bottom door of the rocket. "I'm sick of this nonsense and I need my beauty sleep." He entered the rocket and closed the door.

"C'ya later, Squid." Patrick smiled and followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door. He and Patrick entered Mrs. Puff's classroom. The two were inside the boating school.

Mrs. Puff was sitting in her desk and was grading her students' tests and classwork. She noticed that SpongeBob and Patrick were in the classroom and were walking towards her. "SpongeBob, what are you doing here so late?" She gave SpongeBob a funny look.

SpongeBob aimed the gun at Mrs. Puff and pulled the trigger. A gray net came out of the gun and enveloped the pufferfish.

"Whatever this is..." Mrs. Puff spoke while she was in the net. She inflated to a larger size. "...it's going on your permanent record!" The pufferfish spoke in a deep voice.

Patrick picked her up and the two best friends exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing in front of the Chum Bucket.

"SpongeBob, can you handle this alone? I think my hands are full." Patrick looked up to the inflated Mrs. Puff that he was carrying.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob walked towards the double door of the restaurant.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The sponge entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob tiptoed across the dining room of the restaurant. Nobody except for the sponge was inside the room. It was extremely cold; the air conditioner was turned on throughout the Chum Bucket.

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the double door and entered Plankton's laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

"Huh?" Plankton stopped typing on his computer and turned around. He saw SpongeBob in an astronaut suit while holding a pop gun. The plankton was documenting his latest exploits to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. The paper-mâché heart that SpongeBob had given to him on Valentine's Day was laying near the keyboard of the large computer. "SpongeBob?"

An awkward pause.

"Uhh..." Plankton looked at the paper-mâché heart and walked towards it. He picked it up. "SpongeBob, I want to tell you something..." The plankton thought really hard about what he was going to say next.

"You're trying to make me feel bad, eh? Nice try, alien." SpongeBob didn't fall for the 'alien's' 'trick' and pumped his gun. He aimed it at Plankton and pulled the trigger.

A gray net came out of the gun and enveloped Plankton. The plankton dropped to the floor. "WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" Plankton shook furiously so he could break free from the net.

SpongeBob picked up Plankton and walked towards the exit of the laboratory.

"Oh no you don't." Karen's electronic voice was heard. A laser gun came out of the ceiling and aimed at SpongeBob.

"Yikes!" SpongeBob quickly dove to the computer and turned the switch from 'ON' to 'OFF'.

Karen's screen turned blank and she shut down. The laser gun retracted to the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick had captured several more Bikini Bottomites. They were trying to fit them through the side door of the rocket.

"SpongeBob, I think we might have to make a second trip." Patrick pushed the 'aliens' into the rocket with all the strength he could muster.

"There's no time for that! Just push harder." SpongeBob was pushing the citizens into the rocket with his shoulder. He eventually squeezed them into the rocket.

Sandy landed near the two friends and turned off her jetpack. She had seen the crashed rocket and had flown towards it. "SpongeBob, what are y'all doing? I can't turn my back on you for two seconds without you causing a whole mess of trouble. Why look at ya, bagging up all your friends and neighbors just like they were a fresh crop of hickory smoked sausages. You darned turned my little science experiment into a disaster. You two oughta should be ashamed of-" She was ranting but got interrupted.

SpongeBob and Patrick pumped the guns, aimed them at Sandy, and pulled the triggers. Gray nets came from the guns and enveloped Sandy.

"Nice try, Sandy." SpongeBob smirked and thought that he made a clever joke.

"Or should I say Ms. Alien Pants." Patrick joined the fun and laughed.

"Aliens? Is that what this is about?" Sandy fell to the ground and couldn't move because the net constrained her movement. She was in disbelief that SpongeBob and Patrick captured several citizens of Bikini Bottom over a severe paranoia of aliens.

SpongeBob and Patrick picked the squirrel up and threw her into the rocket.

"This isn't another planet, we're still in Bikini Bo-" Sandy was saying something but got interrupted.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the side door of the rocket. "It just goes to show you that you can't trust anyone." He looked at Patrick.

A long pause. The two were staring at each other.

SpongeBob pumped his gun. "So, you were an alien all the time and you didn't even tell me!"

Patick pumped his gun. "Well, I didn't even know!"

The two friends' paranoia over the aliens worsened as they captured each citizen. It led to the point where they were going to shoot each other in fear of the other being an alien.

"Yeah, well, I got you now." SpongeBob aimed his gun at Patrick.

"Oh, but it's not you that's got me, it's..." Patrick aimed the gun in the wrong direction. He pulled the trigger and a gray net came out of the gun. The net enveloped the sea star. "...me that's got me."

"Boy, I can't wait to see the look on Sandy's face when she sees this!" SpongeBob picked up the 'alien' and walked towards the rocket.

The faint sounds of police sirens were heard.

SpongeBob stopped walking. "Looks like the aliens brought reinforcements." He dropped the 'alien' and pumped his gun.

A pause.

Several police cars drove towards SpongeBob and surrounded him. SWAT team members came out of the vehicles with ballistic shields and actual guns. The officers aimed the guns directly at SpongeBob. Leashed police worms came out of the cars and barked at SpongeBob.

"Uh-oh." SpongeBob dropped his pop gun and put his hands up.


	15. ON

**Chapter 15: F. U. N.**

* * *

**CRRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward exited the courtroom; the three weren't wearing their astronaut suits. They were brought to the court on the same night that they captured several citizens of Bikini Bottom. The judge had given them the option to either pay a large fine or go to jail. The three neighbors were given these options because they hadn't injured any of their victims. They obviously chose to pay the large fine so they didn't go to jail.

"Even though I had to pay nearly a fortune, it's still better than getting beat up by inmates in prison." Squidward wasn't too thrilled to pay a large amount of money but was relieved that he wouldn't have to waste a chunk of his life in jail.

"Imagine if you and the thugs who kidnapped you were in the same jail." Patrick spoke his thoughts out loud.

Squidward shivered at the thought.

SpongeBob was oddly quiet, he was deep in thought.

**CRRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

The three neighbors opened the large double door and exited the courthouse.

S-S-S-S-S

They walked down a large set of steps.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and noticed that the sponge was staring into space. "Umm... SpongeBob, are you okay?" He waved his hand towards his best friend so he could grab the sponge's attention.

"I'm thinking about something, Pat." SpongeBob spoke but didn't show any emotion in his voice or facial expression.

"What're you thinking about? Is there something wrong?" Patrick scratched his head.

"I think I should go now." SpongeBob walked down the steps with haste and jogged towards elsewhere. He soon vanished from the horizon.

Squidward felt a sense of déjà vu.

A pause.

He suddenly remembered that SpongeBob had acted this way more than two weeks ago. "This day can't get any stranger."

"Today was awesome! We went to the moon, visited a strange planet that looked like ours, and captured aliens!" Patrick made a wide smile. He had temporarily forgotten about the events that had occured several minutes ago.

Squidward facepalmed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the Chum Bucket.

**CRRREEEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the double door and entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked through the dining room and entered Plankton's laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Karen was still turned off and Plankton wasn't inside the room, the plankton was still trying to get himself out of the net that he was caught in and was inside Sandy's rocket with the other caught Bikini Bottomites. SpongeBob picked up the paper-mâché heart that Plankton dropped on the floor. He felt remorse for capturing Plankton and frowned. The sponge stared at the heart for several seconds and then slowly turned around. He walked towards the double door and exited the room. SpongeBob eventually exited the Chum Bucket

S-S-S-S-S

Three days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the afternoon. Lunch was being served at the Krusty Krab and numerous customers were waiting for or eating their meals.

C-Creak

S-Slam

Plankton pushed the front doors of the Krusty Krab ajar and entered the restaurant, a metal backpack was strapped to his back. "Heheheh." He made an evil smile as he saw someone sitting down on a table with a fresh Krabby Patty. The plankton ran as fast as he could so the customers wouldn't notice him. He climbed up the table and snatched the Krabby Patty. He jumped to the floor and sprinted towards the front doors of the restaurant.

"Hey!" The customer stood up and chased the burger.

Several sirens in the restaurant blared and red lights flashed throughout the Krusty Krab. All the customers in the dining room screamed and ran around the restaurant in terror.

The glass windows and doors that led to the outside world were blocked off by sturdy metal shields.

"That won't stop me!" Plankton whispered loudly as he ran across the dining room while holding the Krabby Patty. The security system of the restaurant had detected the tiny plankton and the metal shields covering the doors and windows prevented him from escaping the Krusty Krab unless he could find a way to penetrate them.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door to his office open and walked into the dining room. "Can you spot him, Mr. Squidward?" The crab looked at the octopus who was sitting in the boat with the cash register.

Squidward took out a telescope that was in the boat and looked through it. He spotted Plankton running towards the front doors of the Krusty Krab with a Krabby Patty. "Down there, sir!" He pointed at the tiny plankton.

CTHUNG

A laser gun came out of Plankton's metal backpack.

**ZZZAAAAAAAAAAP**

A green laser came out of the gun and traced a small hole through one of front doors and the metal shield covering it. The laser gun retracted to the backpack and Plankton dove through the hole. "Finally, victory is mine! I win, I win, I win!" The plankton made an evil laugh, he successfully escaped the Krusty Krab..

"He got away, sir." Squidward put the telescope away.

"No! He's finally stolen my secret recipe!" Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out.

"I'll handle this!" SpongeBob was looking through the ordering window and jumped into the dining room.

Mr. Krabs took out a remote and pressed a red button.

The metal shields covering the Krusty Krab retracted.

SpongeBob ran towards the double door.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

The sponge exited the Krusty Krab and chased Plankton.

Plankton noticed this and ran even faster. Two rockets came out of the backpack and the metal backpack became a jetpack. Fire came out of the rockets and Plankton flew above the ground. The laser gun came out of the backpack once again.

**ZZZZAAAAAAAAAP**

The gun shot a bright green laser towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob nimbly dodged the laser.

**Z-Z-Z-ZZZZAAAAAAAAAP**

The gun shot four green lasers towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob jumped four times and dodged each one. The sponge sprinted and nearly catched up with Plankton.

Plankton made the jetpack reach its fastest speed and he flew towards the downtown area of Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob eyes the small Plankton and continued to chase him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked through a large crowd of pedestrians with his binoculars. "Aha!" He eventually spotted a Krabby Patty walking through the crowd. The sponge put his binoculars away and chased Plankton. The two ran through an alley and entered another neighborhood.

The metal backpack became a jetpack once again. Fire came out of the two rockets and Plankton flew to the roof of a tall building.

"Hey!" SpongeBob shook his fist and scaled the building. He eventually reached the rooftop. "Okay, that's far enough!" He scanned the rooftop in search of Plankton. "Huh?" The sponge noticed that Plankton jumped off the building and flew towards elsewhere. "Tartar sauce!" SpongeBob ran across the rooftop and jumped to the ground. He took the employee hat off his head and used it as a balloon to break his fall. He gently landed on the ground and continued to chase the tiny Plankton.

Creak

Slam

Plankton flew towards and entered a certain store within a blink of an eye. A sign above the store said 'MAGIC SHOP'.

SpongeBob didn't know where Plankton went. He scratched his head and walked down the street in search of the small plankton. He eventually walked past the Magic Shop.

CREEEAK

Slam

Plankton exited the Magic Shop while still holding the Krabby Patty. He bought a pair of glasses that had a fake nose and fake eyebrows glued to it. He had put the glasses on top of the Krabby Patty so he could use it as a disguise.

SpongeBob turned around and looked down. He noticed the Krabby Patty 'wearing' the glasses. "Have you seen a Krabby Patty?" His credulousness got the better of him. "It's about this tall and.." The sponge put his hand near the ground so he could show how tall the Krabby Patty was. He looked up and saw the sign of the Magic Shop. "Wow, a magic shop! Are you a magician? One time, I saw this magician and he did this magic trick and then he told us, If you believe in yourself and with a tiny pinch of magic, all of your dreams can come true." The sponge spoke about a childhood memory that popped up in his mind.

Plankton gritted his teeth. "Argh! I can't take it!" He became frustrated and tossed the Krabby Patty to the ground.

SpongeBob gasped. "Plankton! It's you!"

"Yes, and after all these years, I thought I was the master of torture. But that..." Plankton sat on the ground, folded his arms, and thought about what he was going to say next for several seconds. It was difficult for him to express his emotions through words.

A pause.

"...that just wasn't fair! Here. Take the stupid patty, I don't want the secret recipe anymore." Plankton stood up and threw the Krabby Patty towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He clumsily caught the burger and was in total disbelief at what Plankton said.

"I guess my restaurant will never be as good as the Krusty Krab. You don't know what it's like to be a loser." Plankton's eye moistened and he put his hands over his face. He began to weep silently.

"Aww, cheer up, Plankton. I think you're a winner." SpongeBob smiled. He couldn't bear to watch the plankton cry without doing something to cheer him up.

"Wh-what did you say?" Plankton stopped crying and his eye widened. He slowly looked up and made eye contact with SpongeBob.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob. The two were trying their best to follow SpongeBob ever since he started to chase Plankton. Police officer Rob and a nearby citizen walked up to the scene as well.

"I said, you're a-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted.

"LOSER!" Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Officer Rob, and the citizen yelled at the same time and pointed at Plankton.

"How does it feel to be the most hated thing in Bikini Bottom, Plankton? It hurts, doesn't it? I know!" Squidward smirked.

"Yeah and since I forgot to do it during the last time this boy was fighting crime, we're going to make this boy honorary town rookie of the day." Officer Rob pinned a large red ribbon to SpongeBob's shirt.

"For he's a jolly good rookie, for he's a jolly good rookie, for he's a jolly good rookie." Squidward, Mr. Krabs, the citizen, and Officer Rob surrounded SpongeBob and sang. "For he's a jolly good rooookieeeee!" They threw SpongeBob to the air.

'I'll bet if Plankton had just one friend, he wouldn't be such a meanie.' SpongeBob thought about Plankton as he flew in the air. The sponge eventually fell down and was caught by the four people.

Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Officer Rob, and the citizen dropped SpongeBob to the ground and walked away.

SpongeBob looked at Plankton and took out the paper-mâché heart. "C'ya later." He smiled, handed the heart to Plankton, and walked away.

Plankton's eye widened in shock as he looked at the heart. He stared at if for several seconds and then walked back to the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab. The crustacean locked the front doors of the restaurant with his key. Squidward walked towards his home while SpongeBob walked towards the Chum Bucket.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the double door of the Chum Bucket.

"A customer?" Plankton's voice was heard from inside.

**C-CRRREEEEEAAAK**

Plankton opened the double door. "Our special today is chum..." He looked up and made eye contact with SpongeBob. "...balaya."

"Hi, Mr. Plankton." SpongeBob waved.

"Haven't you degraded me enough for one day?" Plankton raised his brow.

"No. I mean... I want you to come out and play with me." SpongeBob smirked.

"What?" Plankton became shocked at what SpongeBob said. He hadn't 'played' since he was a child and had been trying to get the Krabby Patty secret formula for so long that he no longer had any other hobbies.

"Play. With. Me." SpongeBob tried to speak clearly.

"You know how to induce thermonuclear fusion?" Plankton didn't understand many colloquial terms because he stays in his laboratory for entire days in near-isolation.

"No, but I like to go jelly-" SpongeBob got interrupted.

**S-SLAM**

Plankton closed the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

"That naive cube! How long must I suffer this?" Plankton stomped into his laboratory. He couldn't bear to talk with SpongeBob for another minute.

"You're not letting him leave, are you? Can't you see? This is the perfect opportunity for revenge!" Karen tried to give Plankton some new ideas for stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula.

"Elaborate." Plankton folded his arms.

Karen showed a digital image of SpongeBob and a Krabby Patty on her screen. "Befriend the sponge, then when the time is just right, take the Krabby Patty!" She explained her plan.

"Take the Krabby Patty?" Plankton slowly made an evil smile.

"Get moving, genius, don't let him get away." Karen commanded Plankton.

Plankton turned around and quickly exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

Plankton opened the double door. SpongeBob was still standing in front of the Chum Bucket, he was waiting for Plankton to come back. "Alright, SpongeBob, I'll play your little game." The plankton was smiling.

"Great!" SpongeBob put Plankton on his hand and ran towards Jellyfish Fields. "Last one to the fields is a rotten clam!"

The two vanished from the horizon.

Mr. Krabs was watching the sponge and the plankton and decided to follow them.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Plankton were in Jellyfish Fields. The sun was setting and the sky was a dark orange.

"So, I get the big net and you get the little net." SpongeBob took out two jellyfishing nets and handed the smaller one to Plankton.

Plankton struggled to hold his jellyfishing net, it was numerous times his size.

"What happens after we eat them?" Plankton was curious about the sport of jellyfishing.

"You don't eat 'em, you catch 'em, like this!" SpongeBob caught a jellyfish with his net in only a few seconds. "Like that." He pointed at the jellyfish inside his net.

"And?" Plankton knew that SpongeBob hadn't explained everything about the sport.

"And then you throw them back." SpongeBob threw the jellyfish back into the air with his net. "But watch out for the stingers! They'll zap you."

"Stingers?" Plankton fantasized about himself sitting on a giant jellyfish and ruling Bikini Bottom thanks to the power of the jellyfish's stingers. "All knees will bow to Plankton! Hail, Plankton! I win, I win!" He unintentionally spoke his thoughts out loud.

"It's not about winning, it's about fun!" SpongeBob made a wide smile.

"What's that?" Plankton scratched his head, he forgot what the term 'fun' meant.

"Fun is when you... fun is... it's like... it's kinda... sort of like a..." SpongeBob struggled to explain what 'fun' was.

An awkward pause.

A lightbulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "What is fun? Let me spell it for you." He began to sing. "F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, N is for anywhere, anytime at all, down here in the deep blue sea."

"F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium... bombs! N is for no survivors, when you-" Plankton sang his interpretation of the song but got interrupted.

"Plankton! Those things aren't what fun is all about." SpongeBob shook his head. "Now, do it like this. "F is for friends who do stuff to-" The sponge sang the song once again but got interrupted.

"Never! That's completely idiotic!" Plankton folded his arms and shook his head.

"Here, let me help you." SpongeBob pointed at himself. "F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, try it!" He pointed at Plankton.

"N is for anywhere, anytime at all!" Plankton sang.

"Down here in the deep blue sea." The two sang the song at the same time.

"Wait, I don't understand this, I feel all tingly inside. Should we stop?" Plankton wasn't used to feeling this strange emotion that they called joy.

"No! That's how you're supposed to feel!" SpongeBob smiled widely.

"Well, I like it. Let's do it again!" Plankton slowly moved his lips and made a smile.

"Okay!" SpongeBob made a thumbs up.

"F is for frolic through all the flowers. U is for ukelele. N is nose-picking, chewing gum, and sand-licking, here with my best buddy. Hahahahahahahaha!" SpongeBob and Plankton sang the song at the same time. The two frolicked across the grassy plain.

"Umm, SpongeBob?" Plankton wanted to ask a question that popped up in his mind.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob looked down and made eye contact with Plankton.

"I know this is so sudden but... can we be..." Plankton hesitated for a few seconds. "...friends?" He smiled nervously and took out the paper-mâché heart.

"Sure... buddy." SpongeBob grinned widely as he tried to make a joke.

They both held the heart and continued to joyfully run across Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was watching the two by looking through a telescope.

"Arr, mutiny!" He frowned and wasn't pleased by what he was seeing.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"And after that we frolicked through the flowers and then we-" Plankton was talking to Karen about what he did with SpongeBob in Jellyfish Fields. He was hiding behind a small metal table and was putting on something that he bought from a nearby store a few minutes ago.

"Sounds like fun." Karen interrupted Plankton by speaking.

"Well, the really fun part was when we-" Plankton continued to tell his story but got interrupted.

"Where's the Krabby Patty?" Karen asked Plankton a crucial question.

"The what?" Plankton had forgotten about the goal of his mission because he formed a new friendship with SpongeBob and that friendship became a major distraction.

Karen showed a digital image of a Krabby Patty on her screen. "The Krabby Patty, remember?"

"You can't rush these things, you know." Plankton made an excuse for the failure of his mission.

"You're forgetting about the mission!" Karen stated what wouldn't have been obvious for Plankton. She showed a digital image of the Krabby Patty secret formula on her screen.

"What are you talking about?" Plankton's mind was filled with numerous thoughts that weren't about Krabby Patties. He was thinking of countless possibilities for the activities he could do with SpongeBob tomorrow.

"You're going native, Plankton! Look at yourself!" A metal arm came from the ceiling and picked up Plankton by his antennae. Karen made the metal arm lift Plankton from the table. It revealed that Plankton was wearing miniature squarepants.

"What?" Plankton shrugged his shoulders. "Wouldn't people recognize me and SpongeBob as friends if we wore the same clothes?"

The metal arm dropped Plankton to the floor. It picked up the squarepants and took it off of Plankton. "You can still be friends with SpongeBob but don't wear those clothes. Remember that the goal of this mission is to get a Krabby Patty." Karen reminded Plankton of his original reason to become friends with SpongeBob.

"Alright, alright, sheesh." Plankton stood up and leaped to the computer. He began to type what he did with SpongeBob that day in his journal.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the afternoon.

SpongeBob was flipping some Krabby Patties inside the kitchen. A fan was plugged in and had been turned on. It was located near the grill and blew air towards SpongeBob's face. The sponge thought that the kitchen was too hot to work comfortably so he searched through the kitchen until he found the fan.

A photo flew out of SpongeBob's pocket due to the fan blowing air towards the sponge's body. The photo flew through the ordering window and past and above Squidward's head. The two employees didn't noticed the photo since they were focused on their jobs.

It slipped under the door to Mr. Krabs' office.

S-S-S-S-S

The photo slid across the floor and stopped before Mr. Krabs' desk.

Mr. Krabs looked up from the money he was counting and saw the photo. He stood up and picked up the photo. The crustacean looked at the photo closely and noticed that it showed SpongeBob and Plankton smiling and playing in Jellyfish Fields. The word 'FUN' was written by pencil on a white tag which stuck to the bottom of the photo so as to label it. 'Just as I feared." Mr. Krabs made a solemn face.

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

He exited his office.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked to the door to the kitchen and opened it. He stepped inside the kitchen and signaled for SpongeBob to come out with one of his hands.

"Okay." SpongeBob flipped the last patty on the grill and made the last Krabby Patty. He put the burger on the plate and handed it to Squidward through the ordering window. He and Mr. Krabs exited the kitchen.

"I haven't seen Plankton in a while. He must be scheming." Mr. Krabs pretended to think and sat down in a table.

"Who knows? Maybe he's changed." SpongeBob smiled and sat in the same table with Mr. Krabs.

"Who knows? I think you knows!" Mr. Krabs took out the photo and showed it to SpongeBob.

"He's changed, I tell you!" SpongeBob was truly thinking that Plankton turned over a new leaf.

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Slam

"Sponge-buddy! Yoohoo!" Plankton exited the Chum Bucket and walked towards the Krusty Krab. He was searching for SpongeBob who was his new friend.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Plankton opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob saw Plankton, grinned, stood up from his seat, and walked towards the plankton."Plankton-buddy! Let's go! I forgot this is a no friend zone!" He turned around and glared at Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen and came back with a fan and a spare Krabby Patty that was on a plate. "SpongeBob, may I speak to you in private?" The crab looked down and made eye contact with Plankton. "You won't mind if I set this here, will you?" He put the Krabby Patty on the table. Mr. Krabs connected the fan to an outlet that was on the large mast and turned the fan on. He moved the fan until it faced the Krabby Patty. It blew air on the Krabby Patty and the smell of the delicious burger wafted in the air.

**CRRREEEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen and watched Plankton through the ordering window.

"What's this all about, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob whispered to Mr. Krabs' ear.

"He's a thief. Look at the lust in his eye, he's-" Mr. Krabs spoke quietly so Plankton couldn't hear him but got interrupted. It was extremely obvious by now that he had a heavy suspicion that Plankton is up to a new scheme.

"Why cant you just accept our friendship?!" SpongeBob was beginning to lose his temper, it was something he almost rarely does.

"You're friends with Plankton?" Squidward turned around and gave SpongeBob a funny look. He overheard the conversation that was occurring behind him.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Plankton is just after my recipe. I'll prove it to you." Mr. Krabs exited the kitchen and walked up to Plankton. "Ah, you must be hungry after that long walk over here." He looked down at Plankton.

"Oh, yes, but I'm saving my appetite for some popcorn at the movies." Plankton smiled.

"Uhh... suit yourself." Mr. Krabs moved the Krabby Patty towards Plankton by pushing the plate. He put the fan behind the Krabby Patfy and it pushed the smell of the burger towards Plankton.

**CRRREEEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen and stomped towards Mr. Krabs, he was irritated at the crab's behavior. "We've had enough of your little tests, Mr. Krabs!" He turned the fan off and picked up Plankton by his antennae. "Come on Plankton, let's get out of here." The sponge dropped Plankton to one of his hands. He took the employee hat off his head and put it away.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

He and the Plankton exited the restaurant.

"Maybe the lad was right. Maybe Plankton's gone straight." Mr. Krabs grabbed the Krabby Patty that was on the plate and ate it. "Or maybe scallops will fly out of my pants!" Mr. Krabs scrambled to the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab. "Hold on there laddie, I'm a-comin'!" He followed SpongeBob and Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward groaned. The moment that Mr. Krabs left the Krusty Krab, he knew that he will temporarily be both fry cook and cashier.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Plankton entered the sponge's neighborhood. The sponge saw Patrick standing in front of his rock and doing nothing so he decided to walk up to him.

"How's it going, buddy?" Patrick smirked.

"Hey, Pat. This is my new friend." SpongeBob pointed at Plankton.

"What's your name?" Patrick became curious and looked at the plankton that was standing on SpongeBob's hand.

"Sheldon J. Plankton." Plankton told Patrick his full name.

Patrick chuckled. "No, no, I didn't ask for your full name. I was just asking for a name to call you." The sea star smiled widely.

"Oh. Umm... Plankton." The signs of the plankton's isolation inside his laboratory were quite obvious. Some of the things that he had said to people were awkward and saying his full name to Patrick was one of them.

"Hi, Plankton." Patrick waved.

SpongeBob giggled.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Plankton made eye contact with SpongeBob and asked a question.

"Yep. He's a best friend of mine." SpongeBob grinned.

"Oh." Plankton nodded.

An awkward pause.

"Where do you live?" Plankton still had a few questions in his mind.

"I live right there." SpongeBob pointed at his pineapple. "Me, Pat, and another friend of mine called Squid are neighbors."

Plankton's eye bugged out as he saw the sponge's house. 'That explains a lot.' He thought that that odd choice for a house showed a large portion of SpongeBob's personality.

"So, what should we do? I was thinking that me and my new friend should do some other activity before we go to the movies." SpongeBob couldn't decide on a fun activity to do with Plankton.

"How about bubble blowing?" Patrick took out a bubble wand and a bottle of bubble soap.

"Good idea." SpongeBob took out his bubble wand and bottle of soap. He looked down at Plankton who was on his hand. "Bubble blowing may sound silly but it's actually really fun." The sponge dipped his wand into the bottle of soap. "Watch." He inhaled and blew into the wand. A bubble that looked like a wheel came out of the wand and flew in the air. "You can't blow bubbles like the one that I just blew right away though. It's gotta take some practice."

Patrick searched through the memories in his mind until he found the right thing to say. "As they say, practice makes perfect. It's how I became good at bubble blowing." The sea star's intelligence had slightly increased, he remembered something and said something appropriate. He dipped his wand into the bottle of soap, inhaled, and blew into the wand. A bubble that looked like a bird came out of the wand and flew in the air.

"I think I know how to blow bubbles now." Plankton had watched the two best friends blow bubbles and wanted to blow bubbles exactly as they did.

"You wanna try?" SpongeBob looked at Plankton.

"Yeah." Plankton nodded and felt confident in his abilities.

"Alright." SpongeBob put the hole of the bubble wand in front of Plankton.

Plankton walked towards the wand and made a deep inhale. He then blew into the wand with all the air he could muster. A small bubble came out of the wand but was stuck halfway through its formation. Plankton was leaning forward as blew into the wand and tripped on the edge of the hole of the wand. He fell into the bubble and stood up. The plankton tried to get out of the bubble but slipped and fell into the bubble because of its slippery surface. "I could use some help here."

"I'll help you. That's what friends do." SpongeBob put his index finger into the hole of the wand so he could help Plankton escape the bubble.

Plankton held on to SpongeBob's finger.

SpongeBob tried to pull his finger out of the wand but realized that his finger was stuck inside the hole. "Uh oh."

Patrick saw what was happening and wanted to assist the sponge in pulling his finger out of the wand so he grabbed the sponge's arm. The sea star pulled his friend's arm and got the sponge's finger out of the hole with ease. However, air rushed into the bubble due to the quickness of SpongeBob's finger getting out of the wand; Patrick had pulled the sponge's arm too hard. Plankton slipped and fell deeper into the now bigger bubble.

The bubble came out of the wand and floated in the air.

"HEELLLP!" Plankton began to panic.

"I know what to do!" Patrick inhaled and blew into the wand. A giant bubble came out of the wand and floated in the air. He jumped and squeezed into the bubble. Patrick's bubble flew towards Plankton's bubble and the two bubbles fused together to form an even bigger bubble.

Patrick jumped up and down so he could lower the bubble to the ground. He bounced around the inside of the bubble instead and couldn't make the bubble reach the ground that was below them. "Umm... SpongeBob, can you help us out here?"

SpongeBob stabbed the bubble with his wand so he could pop it. He accidently squeezed himself into the bubble and became trapped with Patrick and Plankton.

"Don't worry, lads! I'll save you!" Mr. Krabs ran towards the bubble. He had followed SpongeBob and Plankton and watched the event unfold. He snapped his claws on the bubble.

**POP**

The bubble popped.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton fell to the ground.

"Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob stood up and raised his brow.

Mr. Krabs ran towards elsewhere and vanished from the horizon. He didn't want SpongeBob and Plankton to realize that he was following and watching them.

"Oh well." SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders.

"Shouldn't we go to the movies?" Plankton stood up. He jumped behind SpongeBob and took something out of the yellow square's pocket without the sponge noticing. The plankton then quickly put it away.

"You wanna come with us, Pat?" SpongeBob looked at Patrick.

"Why not?" Patrick stood up and smiled.

The three walked towards a theater.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton entered one of the movie rooms in the theater. The sea star bought a bag of popcorn and was holding it. They sat in the seats that were in the front row.

S-S-S-S-S

An employee changed the movie that was being displayed on the projector as the audience walked into and sat in the movie room. There was a somewhat small window that was adjacent to the projector. He could see the people inside the other and larger room through the window.

A long pause.

The employee was drowsy and slowly fell asleep.

Another pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs slowly opened the door and entered the small room. The coast was clear.

S-S-S-S-S

An obese man sat on Plankton's seat and squished Plankton, he didn't notice the tiny plankton.

"I sure like sequels, Plankton." SpongeBob was paying attention to the movie that was on the large screen.

"Uhh..." Patrick stopped eating the popcorn that he bought and looked to the side and noticed the obese man sitting in Plankton's seat.

SpongeBob looked down so he could make eye contact with Plankton but saw the obese man instead. "Hey!" He tapped the obese man's shoulder.

"What?" The man was slightly annoyed that someone interrupted him while watching the movie.

"You're sitting on my friend." SpongeBob tried to tell the man to get off the plankton's seat in the most polite way possible.

The obese man sat to the edge of the seat to see if anyone was sitting there. He squished Plankton even more in the process.

SpongeBob grabbed some of the popcorn that Patrick was eating and threw it to the far side of the movie room.

The obese man stood up from his seat and ran towards the popcorn so he can eat it.

"Thanks for that, friend." Plankton looked up at SpongeBob and smiled.

"Sure thing, pal." SpongeBob smirked.

Patrick ate the rest of his popcorn in one gulp.

**BUUURRRRRRP**

Patrick made a loud burp and leaned in his seat. He then tried his best to watch the movie.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs opened the small window that was near the projector. He then moved the table that the projector was on to the back of the room. The crustacean stood in front of the projector and his shadow blocked most of the screen that was showing the movie.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, the movie is broken." Patrick pointed at the blocked screen.

"That shadow strangely looks like a boss of mine." SpongeBob narrowed his eyes.

"LISTEN UP!" Mr. Krabs yelled through the window.

"It's Krabs alright." Plankton became grumpy.

SpongeBob turned around and saw Mr. Krabs leaning through a small and opened window in the projector room.

"He's deceiving ya! Reach into his pocket now and take what he's got!" Mr. Krabs yelled a command.

Patrick digged through both of his pockets and found lint. The sea star shrugged his shoulders.

Many other people searched through the other person's pockets and found their belongings.

"You too, boy!" Mr. Krabs saw SpongeBob within the audience and shouted at him.

SpongeBob digged through Plankton's pockets and found a Krabby Patty. *gasps* "I can't believe this!" His eyes widened in shock.

"I-It's not what you think." Plankton began to sweat. SpongeBob discovering that Plankton betrayed him made the plankton extremely anxious

"What is it then? What do you see here?!" SpongeBob shoved the Krabby Patty in front of Plankton's face. The sponge's eyes moistened at the tragic discovery.

"I..." Plankton thought about what he was going to say for several seconds. "I don't see anything." He made a futile attempt at denying about the crime that he had committed.

"How can you not see it?" SpongeBob began to cry.

Plankton's eye moistened and a tear fell from his eye. "Okay, okay, I see it! It's a Krabby Patty, okay? I couldn't help it!"

"But we sang the F. U. N. song!" SpongeBob clutched his stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick! How long?"

"How long what?" Plankton didn't understand SpongeBob's question.

SpongeBob grabbed Plankton with one of his hands and held the plankton tightly. "How long were you planning on doing this?!" A tear ran across the sponge's cheek. "Tell me!"

Plankton put his face on SpongeBob's hand and sobbed.

"What?!" SpongeBob scratched his head.

Plankton made eye contact with SpongeBob. "Alright, it's true! I tricked you to get the Krabby Patty! It was part of a mission to get the secret formula." The plankton made a sincere confession. "But then you showed me friendship! And now I realize... that's all I really wanted!"

SpongeBob made a wide smile and stopped crying. "Really?"

Plankton dove out of SpongeBob's hand and took the Krabby Patty. "No, not really. Being evil is too much fun!" He smiled and made an evil laugh. He made a mighty leap and ripped through the movie screen.

**SLAM**

Plankton hit something that was behind the screen.

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

Mr. Krabs had exited the projector room after watching SpongeBob and Plankton and entered the movie room by opening the double door. The crustacean walked up to SpongeBob.

"Mr. Krabs, he's gone. He got the patty. He won." SpongeBob looked at the floor and couldn't even bear to make eye contact with Mr. Krabs.

"Ho ho, no he didn't, boy! Don't you know whats behind these screens?" Mr. Krabs opened the ripped screen and revealed a dizzy Plankton on the floor and a squashed Krabby Patty that was on a concrete wall. "Solid concrete!" The crab made a pirate laugh. He took the squished Krabby Patty and gave it to SpongeBob.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Krabs. I thought Plankton had changed." SpongeBob looked at the Krabby Patty.

"Don't blame him, lad. No friendship could withstand the allure of a Krabby Patty! Now let's go back to the Krusty Krab and have a fresh one on me!" Mr. Krabs walked towards the exit of the movie room.

"Aye, aye, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob ate the Krabby Patty, put on his employee hat, and followed Mr. Krabs.

"Well, maybe on a discount." Mr. Krabs smirked.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was a bit after 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob walked into his neighborhood; he was coming back from work.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. "Hey, SpongeBob, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is on!" He yelled at the sponge.

SpongeBob gasped and made a wide smile. He ran towards Patrick's rock.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The two friends entered the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick sat on a sofa of sand. They looked at the screen of a sand TV and watched a rerun of an episode of 'The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy'. That TV show was their favorite show and they always watch a new episode every Saturday morning or a rerun episode such as now when they have some spare time.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and noticed something. "Where's that new friend of yours? I thought he was with you."

"He wasn't a true friend, Pat. He wanted to become friends with me just so he can get the Krabby Patty secret formula." SpongeBob frowned.

"Oh." Patrick made a solemn face. "But I wouldn't honestly do that to you. No matter how much I destroy our friendship, it just repairs itself and comes together again." His intelligence had increased.

SpongeBob smiled and giggled. "You said it, Pat."

"I'm not as dumb as you sometimes think." Patrick smirked.

SpongeBob laughed.

Patrick scratched his head and became confused, he didn't intend what he said to be a joke. "Was that a joke?"

"You're killing me!" SpongeBob nearly suffocated in laughter.

Patrick's eyes bugged out and he ran to the phone, the sea star had taken SpongeBob's words seriously.

"Wait!" SpongeBob grabbed Patrick's arm and prevented the starfish from picking up the phone.


	16. Culture Shock

**Chapter 16: Culture Shock**

* * *

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Krusty Krab was nearly deserted. There wasn't a single customer eating a Krabby Patty or sitting in a table. Only the employees and the boss of the restaurant remained. No customers came to the Krusty Krab ever since it opened in the morning.

Mr. Krabs put a sign that said 'FREE' on the condiments bar which was near the boat that Squidward was sitting in; the crustacean was desperate to attract customers. "I just don't get it. If free condiments doesn't bring in customers, what will?!" The crab took a deep breath and sat in a table. He was deep in thought as he searched for new ideas to bring in customers.

Squidward was reading a magazine and looked at the photos of the ballet dancers, he imagined his head on the photos of the dancers and entered a realm of fantasy.

SpongeBob was wiping the dust off the tables with a towel. He dipped the towel into a bucket full of water and made it wet again. He then continued to wipe the tables with the towel. The tables in the dinning room had gathered dust due to the lack of customers,

Squidward was ballet dancing across the dining room while his eyes were closed. He was so absorbed into this fantasies that he didn't notice he was dancing.

Mr. Krabs noticed what Squidward was doing and narrowed his eyes. "Squidward!"

Squidward opened his eyes. "W-woah!" He tripped on a nail that was on the floor.

**THUD**

He fell to the floor. "Yes, sir?" Squidward stood up.

"There's gonna be some changes around here." Mr. Krabs took the Krusty Krab's drought of customers very seriously.

**C-CRRREEEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A young man who was wearing a purple shirt entered the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs gasped and grinned. "A customer! Welcome to the Krusty Krab!" He took out a chair from a table and put it in front of the 'customer'.

The young man sat on the chair. He was surprised by the warm welcome that he was given.

Mr. Krabs pushed him to the table where the chair came from. "SpongeBob, cater to his every whim. And don't screw this one up." He commanded SpongeBob.

"Aye aye sir!" SpongeBob made a military salute, stopped wiping one of the tables, and walked up to the customer. "Welcome aboard, sir! Here at the Krusty Krab, you are the captain, and I am your cabin boy. You just say the word and I will throw myself in the brig! May I take your order?" He wanted to give the customer a good impression of the Krusty Krab.

"All I wanted was change for the payphone." The young man handed SpongeBob a dollar that was in his pocket.

**"**Aye aye, sir!" SpongeBob ran to the cash register and opened it. He put the dollar into it and took out four quarters. He ran back to the young man and gave the four quarters to him. "Monsieur's change."

"Thanks." The young man put the quarters into his pocket and laughed nervously. He was creeped out by SpongeBob's behavior. "Here you go." He put a spare penny on the table and stood up from his seat. The young man then ran to the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The young man exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs' nose detected the familiar scent of a penny. "Yeah!" He smiled, ran to the penny, and snatched it. "SpongeBob, Squidward, come into my office." He put the penny away.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

**CRREEEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward entered Mr. Krabs' office as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs sat in his desk.

SpongeBob and Squidward sat on a chair respectively.

"Now as you may have noticed, profits are way down this week." Mr. Krabs took out a large chart and showed it to the two employees. It had a zig-zag line that was in a downward slope. "We've got to think of a gimmick to bring in customers." The crustacean put the chart away. "Do you lubbers have any ideas?"

A lightbulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "I've got one!" He quickly exited the office and came back with a tray. The sponge took off his pair of socks and put them on the tray. "A free pair of socks with every purchase! Or maybe 'Double Patty Midnight Madness'! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! I know! I know! I know! How about 'mouth full of clams' day! Everyone who shows up with a mouthful of clams..." SpongeBob had numerous ideas running through his mind. He took out some clam clips and clipped them on his tongue. "...gets a free drink! Huh? Huh?" He spoke while the clips were on his tongue.

"Well, uhh, I was thinking more along the lines of live entertainment." Mr. Krabs scratched his head.

SpongeBob put his socks on and put the tray away. He took the clam clips off his tongue and put them in his pocket.

Squidward gasped as he heard what Mr. Krabs said and a lightbulb lit up in his head. "That's it, a floor show! Wait, a talent show! With your host, me!" He got out of his seat and stood in front of Mr. Krabs, he couldn't miss this opportunity to make one of his dreams come true. "This is the moment I've... I mean, we've been dreaming of. Think of it, Mr. Krabs, you will be responsible for bringing culture to this cultural wasteland we call Bikini Bottom! And not to mention, the money." The octopus tried to persuade Mr. Krabs to the best of his ability.

"The money?" Mr. Krabs' eyes widened and he fantasized about all the profits that he would earn.

"And I can see it now... your daughter, Pearl, her name up in lights." Squidward held Mr. Krabs' shoulder.

"Little Pearly... a star?" Mr. Krabs looked at the photo on his desk that showed him and Pearl.

"Hoppin' clams! A talent show! I'm talented!" The sponge was confident in his strange talents. "I'd better tell everybody about this!" SpongeBob smiled widely and stood up.

"Squidward, you've got a deal. Make my little girl a star!" Mr. Krabs stood up and held out his hand.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs shook hands.

"Anyways, who's Pearl?" SpongeBob was curious.

"She's my daughter." Mr. Krabs smirked.

SpongeBob gasped. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you lived alone." He grinned.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh.

SpongeBob giggled. "C'ya later. I'm gonna make some posters." He walked towards the door.

**CRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the office.

"Mr. Squidward, how much is this gonna cost?" Mr. Krabs asked a question that got into his mind since Squidward began to talk about the talent show.

"As much as necessary. The stuff we need to buy is definitely expensive." Squidward folded his arms and became serious.

Mr. Krabs sighed. "As long as it's for Pearly." He imputed a code and opened the safe. The crustacean took out a large amount of money and closed the safe. "We're going to shop now?"

"Yep." Squidward nodded.

The two exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered his neighborhood so he could spread the news.

Patrick was standing in front of his rock and was doing absolutely nothing; the sea star's face was deadpan and his limbs were completely still. His was up to his usual behavior.

"Hey, Pat, there's gonna be a talent show at the Krusty Krab!" SpongeBob informed Patrick.

Patrick's eyes bugged out and he made a wide smile. "Can I go?!" He jumped up and down in excitement.

"Absolutely. Also, can you do me a favor?" SpongeBob needed assistance with a certain task.

"What do I need to help you with?" Patrick was willing to help SpongeBob since they were friends.

"I need to make a lot of posters for the talent show and put them all over Bikini Bottom." SpongeBob explained to Patrick about what he was going to do.

"Oh no. You don't need my help. I know just the person who can help you." Patrick smirked.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of Sandy's treedome. "Why haven't I thought of this before?" He felt silly for not thinking about getting help from Sandy.

"_Hello?_" Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"It's us, SpongeBob and Patrick." SpongeBob replied.

The front door was unlocked.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick opened the front door and entered the small hallway. The hallway was slowly drained of all of its water and the two friends put on a fish bowl full of water each.

**CRREEAAAK**

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Sandy raised her brow.

"I'm trying to make some posters for a talent show that will be hosted at the Krusty Krab." SpongeBob smiled innocently.

Sandy's eyes widened. "A talent show?" Her eyes sparkled as she fantasized about showing her talents to all of the Bikini Bottomites and the fame she would get. "I'll definitely help ya."

The sponge, the sea star, and the squirrel walked across the treedome and entered the oak tree. They went down a long set of stairs and entered a metal hallway. The three walked through the hallway and eventually entered the laboratory.

"The computer is over there." Sandy pointed at a closed laptop computer that was on an empty table.

SpongeBob walked towards the table and opened the laptop.

Sandy pushed a chair towards SpongeBob. "You can sit here." She put the chair behind the sponge.

"You're taking this talent show seriously, aren't you?" SpongeBob giggled.

"Hell yeah!" Sandy palmed her fist.

SpongeBob winced. "Watch the language!"

"Oops." Sandy put her hand over her mouth. "I'm just too excited. Anyways, how do I sign up for the show?"

"You can just come along with me if you want." SpongeBob pressed the power button on the computer and turned it on.

"Then count me in too." Patrick overhead the conversation between SpongeBob and Sandy. He was touching robots and other strange things that he found in the laboratory.

Sandy walked to a large printer and picked up a long wire that was laying on the floor. She walked to the laptop and connected it with the printer.

"Which icon do I have to click?" SpongeBob scratched his head as he saw the numerous icons that nearly filled the entire main interface of the computer.

"Click the icon that looks like a paintbrush." Sandy looked at the screen of the computer.

"'kay." SpongeBob clicked on the icon that looked like a paintbrush. It opened up a program that one would use to create art or design something.

"Is this the first time you have ever used a computer?" Sandy gave SpongeBob a funny look.

SpongeBob laughed. "Nope. I've used a computer at my parents' house before I moved out, it wasn't mine though."

"Just do your thing." Sandy continued to watch SpongeBob.

SpongeBob began to design the poster.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm done." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow. Sandy had given him a few tips about the program while he was making the poster.

"All we have to do now is print it out." Sandy was sitting on a chair next to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob clicked on a icon that looked like a printer.

Numerous paper copies of the poster came out of the printer.

SpongeBob stood up and noticed that Patrick was sleeping on a table. He snapped his fingers.

"H-huh?" Patrick woke up.

SpongeBob walked to the printer and picked up the pile of posters.

"Oh yeah." Patrick walked towards SpongeBob and took out a portion of the posters. He held some of the posters for him.

Sandy took some posters as well. "Where you're gonna place these?"

"I'm gonna put it all over Bikini Bottom so everybody could know about the show." SpongeBob walked towards the exit of the laboratory.

Sandy and Patrick followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were putting up posters throughout the downtown area of Bikini Bottom.

Larry was walking down the street and noticed them. The lobster walked up to them. "Hey, guys. What're you doing?" He was curious about what SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were doing.

"We're putting up posters for a talent show." Patrick handed a poster to Larry.

Larry smiled as he read the poster. "It's at the Krusty Krab? I wanna join."

"Then tag along with us. We have to put these posters all over the city." SpongeBob handed Larry a portion of the posters that he was carrying.

"As long as I get to join." Larry began to put up the posters as well. He wasn't too thrilled to perform a tedious task such as this, he would rather do more physically rigorous work.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourty five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs and Squiward watched as several construction workers built a wooden stage and set up purple curtains that sticked to the ceiling in the dining room.

A long pause.

The construction workers were soon finished with their work and exited the Krusty Krab.

"When is this show gonna start?" Mr. Krabs scratched his head.

"It will start not too long after the Krusty Krab closes; more or less during the evening. SpongeBob probably said or put that in whatever form of information he had given to the people that live here." Squidward was thinking of ideas for the talent show.

"I see." Mr. Krabs nodded. 'I wonder when SpongeBob is gonna come back.'

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and Larry entered the Krusty Krab.

"We're back!" SpongeBob was in a good mood.

"Of course." Squidward took a deep breath. "He had to bring people along."

"I think these are going to be my money-makers for the night." Mr. Krabs patted Squidward on the shoulder and winked.

"But they gotta have talent." Squidward folded his arms and glared at SpongeBob.

"Give them a chance." Mr. Krabs pushed Squidward towards the four others. He seized every opportunity for gaining money due to the very low amount of customers that ate at the Krusty Krab that day.

"Is your boss gonna run the show?" Larry looked at SpongeBob and asked a question.

"The 'boss' who is running this show would be me." Squidward replied.

"Oh." Larry spoke.

An awkward pause.

"Can we join now?" Patrick jumped up and down in excitement.

"Not so fast." Squidward shook his head. "Assuming that all of you have potential, you're going to have to find more talented people like you. Once all of you are gathered here, I'll judge if your talent is decent enough for the show." The octopus spoke in a solemn voice.

"Roger that." Larry turned around and walked towards the double door.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob made a military salute and walked away as well.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Larry exited the Krusty Krab.

"This is gonna be easy, I'll get in that talent show for sure. Ain't that right, Patrick?" Sandy smirked and turned around.

"You're one talented squirrel alright." Patrick turned around as well.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Sandy and Patrick exited the Krusty Krab.

Squidward was suppressing his giggling after he heard what Sandy said. He then laughed by honking his nose.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple. He walked towards the shell-phone and picked it up. The sponge dialed a number and put the phone near his ear.

"_Hello?_" His mother's electronic voice was heard.

"It's me, mom. There is gonna be a talent show at the Krusty Krab and I guarantee you that I'll be in it. Tell this to dad and Brian." SpongeBob spoke into the phone.

"_So, when will this show start?_" SpongeBob's mother asked a question through the phone.

"It will start during the evening. I would say around 6:30." SpongeBob answered his mother's question.

"_Alright. Anyways, how's your career life? Did you get hired at the Krusty Krab?_" His mother had several questions to ask. SpongeBob hadn't contacted his parents in a while.

"Yep. I'm the Krusty Krab's fry cook." SpongeBob giggled. "I should've told you earlier."

His mother gasped through the phone and dropped it to the floor.

An awkward pause.

"_Do you want to put your brother on the phone?_" His father's electronic voice was heard.

"Go ahead." SpongeBob smiled widely.

Another pause.

"_SpongeBob, is that you?_" Brian's electronic voice was heard.

"Hey, big bro. I've got a job as a fry cook at the Krusty Krab." SpongeBob told the news to Brian.

"Umm... congratulations." Brian thought about what he was going to say for a few seconds, his social skills weren't the best.

SpongeBob tried his best to suppress his laughter. "There's also gonna be a talent show at the Krusty Krab during the evening. But your super-busy so that means..." He smirked.

"_I won't come._" Brian didn't mince his words and chuckled. "_Tell me what happens when you come back to your home. Alright?_"

"I promise." SpongeBob made a sincere promise. "I always find the time to tell you about the stuff that happens to me."

"C'ya later." Brian put the phone down on his end.

A long pause as SpongeBob thought of several talented people that he could bring to the Krusty Krab.

A lightbulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He dialed a number and put the phone near his ear.

Another long pause.

"_Hello?_" An uncle of SpongeBob picked up the phone on the other end.

"It's me, SpongeBob. There's going to be a talent show at the Krusty Krab and I was thinking that I should bring you along so you could be one of the 'talented' people at the show." SpongeBob spoke into his shell-phone.

"_Oh, that restaurant? I would love to. The Krusty Krab has always been one of my favorite eateries. Y'know what's even better? Stanley is in his first year of college so now I don't have to worry about him destroying the house. I'll come right over, 'kay?_" His uncle spoke through his phone.

"Alright, c'ya later, uncle Sherm." SpongeBob put his shell-phone down.

"Meow." Gary slithered by.

"Gary, do you want to go to a talent show? You got all sorts of strange talents." SpongeBob thought that the snail was another person with potential and didn't want to miss this opportunity.

"Meow meow." Gary slowly nodded.

SpongeBob smiled widely and picked up Gary. "Then you're coming with me."

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood in front of the entrance to his pineapple and waited for uncle Sherm.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob's pineapple. "C'mon, SpongeBob! Let's go!" Uncle Sherm yelled towards the sponge and signaled with his hand for him to come to the car. He was also a yellow sponge and wore a set of squarepants that looked similar to SpongeBob's except that he wore a red bow tie instead of a tie.

"Coming!" SpongeBob ran towards the boat and hopped into it while still holding Gary. He put the snail on his lap.

Uncle Sherm hit the pedal with his foot and drove the boatmobile across the road towards the Krusty Krab.

"Do you know how to get to the Krusty Krab? I don't want us to get lost." SpongeBob had a minor concern.

Uncle Sherm chuckled. "Of course I know my way. The only thing you should be worrying about is me getting into that damn show." He smirked.

SpongeBob couldn't help himself and giggled.

An awkward pause.

"I already know what talent you're gonna show. It's that one where you stick a watermelon up your nose." SpongeBob tried to break the silence.

"You guessed it right." Sherm took out a large watermelon. "I bet all the folks at that restaurant are gonna be impressed after they see what I'm gonna do."

"What about my bubble blowing skills?" SpongeBob took out a bubble wand and a bottle of soap. He opened the cap of the bottle and dipped the wand into the bottle. He inhaled and blew into the wand. Numerous bubbles that looked like rockets came out of the wand and flew through the air. "I think they'll be impressed as well after seeing my bubble blowing."

"I'll have to see it to believe it. Plus, why're you blowing bubbles at this age? Aren't you a grown man?" Sherm raised his brow and smiled from ear to ear.

SpongeBob stopped smiling and became strangely quiet, reality had catched up with him. Many of his talents were childish and not a single mature adult would recognize the silly acts as marvelous feats. Nevertheless, his optimism prevailed and he would try to show his talents anyway since he wouldn't give up that easily. "Umm..." SpongeBob tried to speak but nothing would come out of his mouth. The sponge was deep in thought.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sherm's boatmobile parked in front of the Krusty Krab. Sherm got out of the vehicle and SponeBob grabbed Gary and got out of the car as well.

**C-CRRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two sponges opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick, Larry, and Sandy were already at the restaurant and were helping Squidward and Mr. Krabs with the preparation of the stage for the talent show.

"He's back!" Patrick pointed at SpongeBob.

"I see that you've brought more people." Squidward walked up to SpongeBob. "However, we're gonna need a few more candidates to make the show have a decent length so it could be worth people's money."

"You better fetch Pearl then. We forgot to get her." Mr. Krabs reminded Squidward and SpongeBob about Pearl.

"Then who else can we find that's talented? We couldn't find anybody else that we know." Sandy brought up something important.

Squidward looked through the glass of the double door and looked at the Chum Bucket. He took a deep breath.

A pause.

"Bring Plankton over here. He might have something that could be passed off as an excuse for a talent." Squidward folded his arms.

SpongeBob's eyes widened until he realized something. "You're right, Squid. With all the attempts that he made to steal the formula, he's gotta have something up his sleeve other than his intelligence."

"Since bringing Plankton over here will give him a new opportunity to steal the formula, I want you to keep a good eye on him during the talent show." Mr. Krabs added to the conversation and pointed at SpongeBob.

"Roger." SpongeBob made a military salute.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the Chum Bucket.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

The sponge knocked on the double door of the restaurant.

**CREEAAK**

"Yes?" Plankton opened the door until it was ajar and peeked through. He saw SpongeBob and sighed. "What do you want this time?"

"Do you want to be part of a talent show at the Krusty Krab? It's gonna start during the evening." SpongeBob informed Plankton.

Plankton looked at the Krusty Krab and made an evil smile. He was given a new chance to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. "Sure. Why not?"

"What talent do you have?" SpongeBob asked another question.

"I'm just gonna do some magic tricks." Plankton shrugged.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob picked up Plankton by his antennae and dropped him on one of his hands. The sponge turned around and walked towards the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob re-entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs took out an empty glass bottle. "This is to make sure you're not gonna steal the formula behind our backs." The crustacean opened the cap of the bottle and picked up Plankton by his antennae. He dropped Plankton into the bottle and closed it. The crab put the bottle on a table.

"Well this sucks." Plankton sat down and folded his arms.

"Don't worry, you won't be in there for long." Mr. Krabs smirked.

"Now we have to get Pearl." Patrick walked towards the double door.

"Wait! Don't go out yet!" Mr. Krabs held out his hand towards Patrick. "She's in high school and won't come back until around 3 in the afternoon."

"Oh." Patrick turned around and sat in a table.

An awkward pause.

Squidward thought for several seconds until he broke the silence that was in the dining room. "Since Mr. Krabs will force me to put Pearl on the show, I want all of you to show your talents so I can get that over with." At this point, the octopus was acting more like a boss than Mr. Krabs since he was directing the talent show and it was his idea.

"Can I go first?!" Patrick stood up from his seat and raised his hand.

"Fine. Go ahead." Squidward sat at a table and watched Patrick.

Patrick played a song by making drumming sounds with his stomach.

SpongeBob clapped to the beat of the song as a way of supporting his best friend.

Patrick finished playing the song and bowed.

"Patrick, I'm somewhat impressed. Even though the way you played the 'drums' wasn't artistic at all, the sound was what made the song decent. Your skills aren't even comparable to how good my skills are at playing clarinet but I'll allow you to be on the show." Squidward gave his verdict while preserving his ego.

SpongeBob and Patrick giggled since they knew that Squidward is really bad at playing clarinet.

"I'll go next." Sandy gently shoved SpongeBob and Patrick out of the way and stood in front of Squidward. The squirrel made eye contact with the octopus. "You're going to have to wait for a few seconds. My robots are bring the equipment that I need." She looked through the glass of the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Sandy's robots entered the Krusty Krab and were carrying a bench for bench pressing and a barbell with a large anchor on each end. They put the bench on the the floor and put the barbell on top of the bench.

"Watch this." Sandy laid down on the bench and grasped the barbell. The squirrel slowly lifted the barbell with all the strength she could muster and the barbell went as high as it could go. Sandy then cautiously lowered the barbell to the bench. She stood up from the bench. "How's that?"

"Meh. I think that's enough to pass. It's always good to have some variety with the talents." Squidward shrugged his shoulders and signaled for Sandy to walk away.

The robots picked up the bench and the barbell.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The robots exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Several of Larry's friends were carrying a very long water slide towards the Krusty Krab. They eventually stopped before the building and dropped the water slide to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

"My turn." Larry took out his surfboard and ran towards the double door.

**C-CRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The lobster exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Larry ran all the way to the back of the water slide. He put his surfboard on the slide and backed away. Once he read a certain distance from the water slide, he ran towards it and hopped to the surfboard. The surfboard glided through the water as Larry stood on it and a wave was eventually formed due to the speed of the surfboard. The lobster surfed through the wave and did a hand-stand, stood on one foot, and laid down while he was on the surfboard so he could show off his skills.

A pause.

The lobster noticed that the wave was reaching the end of the water slide and he dove to the ground.

The large wave crashed on the windows of the Krusty Krab and didn't cause any damage. All of Larry's friends who carried the water slide backed away so they could be safe from the water. A massive amount of water went across the ground and was soaked up by it.

Larry walked towards the Krusty Krab after he waited for the water of the wave to no longer be a threat.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The lobster entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's eyes widened as he watched Larry surf. The octopus admired the beauty of the wave and how Larry surfed it effortlessly. He looked at Larry who had just entered the Krusty Krab and didn't know what to say.

"Well? Was that enough?" Larry really wanted to know if he got into the talent show.

Squidward silently nodded his head.

"Yes!" Larry pumped his fist.

"Next." Squidward spoke to the people that were behind Larry.

"Can I go?" Sherm walked up to Squidward and stood in front of the table that the octopus was sitting in.

Squidward took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." He continuously tapped his foot in impatience.

Sherm took out the watermelon and squeezed it up his nose. He managed to put the watermelon completely inside his nose after several seconds.

"Dear Neptune." Squidward cringed in disgust. Sherm's act was almost as repulsive as some of the things that Squidward had witnessed Patrick doing.

"Cool." Patrick marveled at Sherm's 'feat' and clapped.

SpongeBob smiled nervously and sweatdropped.

"Is he okay? I can always be a lifeguard off duty." Larry expressed some form of concern for Sherm.

"You're right, Larry. It's highly likely that he can't take that watermelon out of his nose. I think he needs to go to the hospital." Sandy walked up to Sherm.

"You don't have to worry about me." Sherm chuckled and quickly took the watermelon out of his nose. "I've practiced many times."

"I can't put you on the show." Squidward shook his head. "Not only what you did wasn't artistic in the slightest, it will also make the audience either demand a refund or leave the Krusty Krab and that will eventually lead to me getting fired."

"Can I have one of the best seats then?" Sherm took out his wallet and digged through it. The older sponge took out a moderate amount of money.

Mr. Krabs saw what Sherm did and made a wide smile. "It's a deal!" He walked up to Sherm and took the money.

Squidward sighed.

"SpongeBob, remember that if you get nervous during the show, you can always look at me because I'll always watch you from the crowd." Sherm patted SpongeBob on the back and walked away.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Sherm exited the Krusty Krab.

"Who's left?" Squidward slowly looked across the people in the dining room.

SpongeBob raised his hand.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to Squidward.

"An animal like you think he has talent? Well this is gonna be interesting." Squidward looked down and made eye contact with Gary.

Gary took out a sheet of paper that was inside his shell. "Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow." The snail read a poem out loud.

"I'm surprised. You definitely have potential." Squidward nodded his head. "You're in." He made a thumbs up.

Gary smiled and put the sheet of paper away. He slithered back to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob took out his bubble wand and bottle of soap. He then walked up to Squidward.

"Oh boy." Squidward deeply inhaled and exhaled. He dreaded this moment and wasn't too enthusiastic to allow SpongeBob to show off his talents. The octopus made his hand support his head.

SpongeBob dipped the wand into the bottle of soap and blew at the wand. Two bubbles that looked like elephants wearing tuxedos came out of the wand. The two 'elephants' danced elegantly throughout the dining room until they...

**P-POP!**

...popped.

SpongeBob couldn't stand still. The sponge heavily anticipated for Squidward's verdict.

Squidward shook his head and made a thumbs down. "It would have been better if you were the one dancing but I don't think bubbles are going to make the cut. The dancing moves that the bubbles made weren't the best and I know for sure that a young child could have more talent in dancing than them. I can't put you into the show."

SpongeBob frowned and looked at the floor. His eyes moistened and he walked towards a table. He sat in the table and put both of his hands over his face. Not a single sound came from his mouth and he didn't shed a single tear. All the excitement he had for him being in the talent show was for nothing.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to SpongeBob's lap.

Sandy looked at SpongeBob and then glared at Squidward. The squirrel became angry. "What is wrong with you?!" She marched up to Squidward and folded her arms.

"My show. My rules. It's that simple." Squidward spoke clearly and in a somewhat loud voice.

"But at least give us some constructive criticism! All you do is either lash out at the people you don't like or allow the people who aren't the people you hate into the show. It's biased and you don't tell us how to improve either way. Someone that you thought wasn't good enough for the show could've improved if you at least tell that person how to fix the things they did wrong and then you might change your mind after you see their improved performance. But, no! You didn't do that. I bet you didn't even consider the options I just told you before you made us show our talents." Sandy ranted about how much of a jerk that Squidward was.

"Sandy, I have a good reason for this." Squidward was acting as calm as he could. "Anybody who I hate has made my life more miserable in a certain way. A high school rival of mine, Squilliam, and SpongeBob are the best examples for this. Whenever I allow these two people or other similar people to help me out or get too involved in my life, they end up getting in my way and ruin all the progress that I've made for a certain goal. If you've had SpongeBob as a neighbor for a year, you'll understand." The octopus explained why he did the actions he had done.

"That's baloney!" Patrick yelled at Squidward and walked up to him. "You can't deny someone's talent even if that person was someone you hate. I've known SpongeBob far longer than you and I'm confident that SpongeBob has some sort of talent. If my best friend really tried, he could probably play the clarinet better than you!" The sea star's intelligence had dramatically increased.

"I have to be insane to allow SpongeBob into the talent show. As I've implied before, he's going to ruin the whole show if he interferes too much and all the effort I made would go to waste." Squidward was firm in his beliefs.

SpongeBob shed a tear as he heard what Squidward said.

"Since you're rejecting SpongeBob, you probably won't need my talents as well." Sandy turned around and walked towards the double door. "C'mon SpongeBob, let's go!" The squirrel yelled at the sponge and signaled for him to walk towards her with her hand.

SpongeBob slowly stood up and walked towards the double door. He was still upset.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Sandy and SpongeBob exited the Krusty Krab.

"Jerk!" Patrick blew a raspberry at Squidward and exited the building as well.

Squidward, Gary, Larry, Plankton, and Mr. Krabs were the remaining people in the restaurant.

"Mr. Squidward, I know one talent that you have." Mr. Krabs walked up to Squidward. "Ruining my business!" The crustacean was furious after he saw Squidward making more than half of his money-makers leave the restaurant.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Another young man entered the restaurant. He saw the stage in the dining room. "Umm... is this place open?"

"We're open alright." Mr. Krabs smiled. "We're just practicing for the talent show."

"Oh." The young man walked towards the cash register.

"You two." Squidward pointed at Gary and Larry. "Just practice until I'm done serving this customer."

Larry put his surfboard on a table and practiced his surfing skills.

Gary slithered to the wooden stage and took out the sheet of paper. The snail then practiced his skills at reading out loud.

Squidward sat inside the boat with the cash register. "How can I help you?" He spoke to the young man.

The young man looked up at the Galley Grub. "I would like a Krabby Patty with some fries."

Squidward turned to the ordering window. "SpongeBo-" The octopus noticed that SpongeBob wasn't in the kitchen.

An awkward pause.

Squidward got out of the boat. "I'm sorry, sir, but our fry cook isn't in the kitchen. I need to bring him back." The octopus ran across the dining room.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward quickly exited the restaurant in search of SpongeBob.

"What happened?" The young man scratched his head and looked at Mr. Krabs.

"Don't worry, he'll be back." Mr. Krabs smirked. "Have a seat." The crab pointed at the same table where the bottle with Plankton inside of it was on.

The young man shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? I've got alota time on my hands." He sat in the table.

Mr. Krabs sat in the table as well. "I'll tell you a story about me during my pirate days so we can pass the time."

The customer tried to pay attention as Mr. Krabs began to tell his tale.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick sat on a cliff. They gazed at the ground below the cliff and at the sky.

"Don't listen to Squidward, SpongeBob. He's just having a bad day." Patrick tried to console his best friend.

SpongeBob silently shook his head. 'That's not true.'

"SpongeBob, you didn't need to be in a talent show in the first place. You're already famous by being the Krusty Krab's fry cook." Sandy tried to cheer SpongeBob.

"You're kinda right." SpongeBob felt iffy about what Sandy said.

"C'mon, SpongeBob, snap out of it." Patrick shook his shoulder. "You know who you are. You know that you're talented."

"I guess you could say that." SpongeBob scratched his head. The sponge's eyes moistened somewhat and he looked down at the ground. His two friends weren't completely understanding the sponge's situation.

Sandy looked at SpongeBob and entered a deep level of thought.

A pause.

"Pat..." Sandy looked at Patrick. "I think SpongeBob is taking Squidward's words seriously. What we're saying isn't cheering him up and because of that we made him more upset."

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and noticed that the sponge shed another tear. The sea star bit his lip.

A boatmobile parked behind them. Sherm got out of his car and walked up to the three friends. "Shouldn't you three be at the talent show?" The older sponge raised his brow.

Sandy turned around and made eye contact with Uncle Sherm while still siting on the cliff. "Squidward didn't want SpongeBob in the talent show so we got angry at Squidward and quit being in the show. If SpongeBob can't be in it, then we can't be it either." The squirrel explained what had happened.

"Hmmm..." Sherm sat next to SpongeBob and thought about what he was going to say for several seconds. "Guys, you're not understanding SpongeBob." The uncle looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye.

Patrick and Sandy looked at the ground and became silent.

"When the director told me that my talent was too disgusting for an audience to watch and that I wasn't enough for the show, I still tried to find the silver lining in the dark cloud. That's why I asked if I could sit in the tables that are the closest to the stage. I thought that even if I can't participate in the talent show, at least I could watch my nephew become even more famous. While I was in my car and was driving home, I thought about the other talents that I had. I also noticed that there was more than one watermelon in my car. Then the idea came to me; that idea was that I should come back to the Krusty Krab and show my juggling talents to the director. You may not be aware of this but I'm also well known for my talent to juggle watermelons. Not only was I trying to find the positive in the negative, I also didn't give up and wanted to try again." Sherm gave a mini-speech.

"S-Squidward is still my friend." SpongeBob wiped the tear off his cheek and made eye contact with Uncle Sherm.

"That the director's name?" Sherm asked SpongeBob a question.

SpongeBob nodded.

"If he had given you criticism, then he has given you something that you can build upon. Maybe your talent was lacking in some way. It can't be a talent show if it accepts anybody who thinks they have 'talent'. SpongeBob, this isn't the adult child that I know. Act like your past self. Try again." Sherm stood up.

SpongeBob stood up and slowly smiled. "Now I know what to do."

Sandy and Patrick stood up and smiled as well.

"SPONGEBOB!" Squidward yelled at SpongeBob so he could get the sponge's attention as he ran towards the sponge.

SpongeBob saw Squidward and his eyes bugged out.

"There's your chance." Sherm smirked and pushed SpongeBob foward.

SpongeBob walked up to Squidward. "What's wrong?"

Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's arm. "I need you on the grill ASAP."

"You can ride with me to the Krusty Krab." Sherm walked up to Squidward and pointed at his vehicle.

"You again? Well, if you say so." Squidward dragged SpongeBob along and sat in the vehicle.

SpongeBob sat in a seat as well.

Sherm, Patrick, and Sandy sat in the car. Sherm turned the keyhole and turned on the engine of the boatmobile. The uncle then slammed his foot on the pedal.

**VRRROOOOMMM**

The boatmobile drove across the road and disappeared from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The boatmobile parked in front of the Krusty Krab. Sherm, SpongeBob, Squidward, Patrick; and Sandy got out of the boat and walked towards the building.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK **

**S-SLAM**

The five entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, the customer asked for a Krabby Patty and some fries." Squidward told SpongeBob the order.

"On it!" SpongeBob entered the kitchen and quickly made a Krabby Patty. He took out some french fries from the fryers and put them in a pack. The sponge took out a plate and put the Krabby Patty and the pack of french fries on it.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen. "Order up!" The sponge ran towards the customer who was sitting with Mr. Krabs and put the plate on the table.

The young man ate the Krabby Patty and french fries and made a thumbs-up. He stood up and walked to the cash register.

Squidward walked to the boat with the cash register and sat in it.

The young man handed Squidward the necessary amount of money for the order.

Squidward put the money in the cash register.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The young man exited the restaurant.

Sherm walked up to Squidward. "Can I show a different talent?" He took out several watermelons.

"What're you gonna do this time?" Squidward raised his brow.

"Juggling these watermelons." Sherm spoke.

"Very well. As long as you don't stick them into your nose." Squidward took a deep breath and watched Sherm.

Sherm chuckled and threw the watermelons into the air. He then juggled them.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**P-P-P-PLOP**

The older sponge caught all of the watermelons and bowed.

Squidward narrowed his eyes at Sherm and entered a deep level of thought.

A long pause.

"Even though your juggling wasn't artistic enough for my standards, you're one of the best jugglers that I've ever seen." Squidward looked at his watch and his eyes widened. Ten minutes had passed. "It's hard to believe that you juggled for ten minutes without stopping. You're definitely going to be in the show." The octopus held out his hand towards Sherm.

Sherm and Squidward shook hands.

"What about me?" SpongeBob took out his bottle of soap and bubble wand. He walked towards Squidward and stood in front of his uncle.

"Good luck." Sherm spoke to SpongeBob and then sat at a table so he can watch the younger sponge.

"Same thing, eh?" Squidward frowned somewhat and shook his head. "You never give up, do you?"

SpongeBob smiled widely after hearing what Squidward said. He dipped the wand into the bottle and inhaled as deeply as he could. The sponge then blew into the wand with as much air as he could muster; he had a strong desire to impress Squidward thanks to the motivational speech that Sherm had told him. Several bubbles that looked like tigers, jellyfish, monkeys, men in tuxedos while wearing top hats, butterflies, snakes, elephants, giraffes, bears, ballerina dancers; and scallops came out of the wand. SpongeBob ran to the center of the room and twirled on his two feet.

The ballerina dancers twirled around the sponge. The men with top hats danced in a circle beyond and around the ballerina dancers. The jellyfish, butterflies, and scallops flew above the other bubbles and danced in a path that looked like an infinity loop. The snakes slithered in a path that looked like a triangle and surrounded the ballerina and top hat bubbles. The elephants stood on two feet and blew musical notes with their noses; it sounded like a song. The bears, giraffes, monkeys, and tigers danced throughout the dining room in a path that looked like a square.

Patrick was clapping. "GO SPONGEBOB!" He cheered for his best friend.

Sandy, Larry, Mr. Krabs, and Uncle Sherm began to clap as well.

**P-P-P-P-POP!**

All the bubbles popped.

SpongeBob ran back to Squidward and jumped up and down in anticipation. "Was that good?"

Squidward was envious at SpongeBob's talent and didn't want to give him the praise he deserved. "To put it simply, I'll allow you to participate into the show. Are you happy now?" The octopus wasn't in a good mood.

"Yipee!" SpongeBob jumped high in the air.

**THUD**

The sponge safely landed on the floor.

"However, you'll stay in the show under one condition." Squidward spoke in a solemn voice.

SpongeBob paid attention to what Squidward said.

"You will not interfere with the preparation for the show. You'll have to practice your talent outside so we can practice our talents inside the Krusty Krab. Your bubble blowing might become a distraction for the others." Squidward explained the condition to SpongeBob.

"Roger." SpongeBob made a military salute. He quickly ran to the double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The sponge exited the Krusty Krab. He began to practice his bubble blowing outside the restaurant.

"I'll now show my superior talent in dancing." Squidward announced what he was going to do to the people in the dining room.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the bathroom and changed his clothes.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus exited the bathroom. He was wearing his dance clothes, sweat wristbands, and a sweatband on his forehead. Squidward walked up to the wooden stage and began to dance in a certain way that looked like the flight of a bird. His movements were somewhat graceful and his dancing was pleasing to watch.

"Wow." Patrick's eyes widened and he looked at Squidward with wonder as the octopus continued to dance. The sea star initially thought that Squidward was just as bad in dancing as he could play clarinet.

Squidward changed his form of dancing. Both his arms and legs wiggled in the air and he bobbed his head. The octopus's dancing looked similar to the flight of a jellyfish.

'Oh. Never mind.' Patrick changed his mind back to his initial thoughts.

"What a poor excuse for dancing." Plankton shook his head as he sat down inside the bottle and watched Squidward.

Sherm began to giggle at the ridiculousness of Squidward's dancing. He held a hand up and made a thumbs down.

Sandy, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs made thumbs downs with their hands as well.

Squidward felt like he was finished with his dance and stopped dancing. "Are any of you jealous ye-" The octopus noticed that most of the people in the dining room were making a thumbs down. "Well, your opinion won't matter anyway. This is my show so I'll definitely be in it." He smirked and got off the wooden stage.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the bathroom and changed back to his normal clothes.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus exited the bathroom. 'If I had brought my radio, I would've been completely ready for the talent show.' Squidward was thinking about going home so he could get his radio.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Several customers entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Krusty Krab became empty of customers once again. Many customers came to and left the restaurant.

Squidward looked at his watch. The hands on the watch showed 3:00 PM and it was only a few hours before the talent show will begin. "Now's a good time to get Pearl."

"Can I come with you?" SpongeBob walked up to Squidward and asked.

"As long as you don't cause any mayhem." Squidward walked across the dining room.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward exited the restaurant. They walked towards Mr. Krabs' anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of the anchor.

**CRREEEAAK**

Pearl opened the door. "Yes?"

An awkward pause. Pearl realized something.

"Aren't you that employee that works in my dad's restaurant?" Pearl made eye contact with Squidward and then looked at SpongeBob. "I don't recognize you. Are you new?" The whale raised her brow.

"Yep. I've been hired about a month ago." SpongeBob smiled. "We're here to tell you that you can become part of our talent show at the Krusty Krab. I should say..." The sponge pointed at Squidward. "...Squidward's talent show."

"You'll automatically be accepted into the show if you agree to come with us since Mr. Krabs will force me to anyway." Squidward continued the explanation about the talent show.

Pearl gasped. "Wait a sec!" She ran into the anchor and went upstairs. The whale entered her bedroom and found a pair of pom-poms. She ran downstairs and exited the anchor. "I'm ready."

"You're going to cheerlead?" SpongeBob became curious.

**SLAM**

Pearl closed the front door. "Yeah." She nodded.

"Let's go." Squidward droned and walked towards the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob and Pearl followed.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Pearl, and Squidward entered the Krusty Krab.

Squidward pointed at the stage and looked at Pearl. "Just do your talent on the stage so we can know what're you gonna do."

"'kay." Pearl walked up to the wooden stage. "GIVE ME A K-R-U!" She held out her arms and shook the pom-poms. The whale jumped up and down.

The floor of the Krusty Krab shook violently as if an earthquake was happening due to Pearl's weight.

"W-woah!" Patrick fell from his seat and landed on the floor.

**CLINK**

The bottle that Plankton was inside of fell from the table and rolled across the floor.

"GIVE ME A S-T-Y!" Pearl shook the pom-poms and jumped up and down once again.

The wooden floor of the Krusty Krab shook even more.

Squidward tightly hugged the mast so he didn't fall to the floor.

Mr. Krabs sat inside the boat with the cash register and held on for dear life. "Good job, Pearly!" The crustacean tried his best to clap while the floor still shook.

"Krusty Krab!" Pearl jumped up and down three times. "KRUSTY KRAB!" The whale jumped as high as she could and landed on the floor. "How did I do?"

Everybody by then had fell to the floor due to the massive amounts of shaking that the floor made.

A pause.

Every single person other than Pearl stood up.

"Pearl, I think you need to improve on your jumping. You might accidentally destroy the Krusty Krab." Mr. Krabs smiled nervously.

"For once, I completely agree with you." Squidward folded his arms and glared at Pearl.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:30 PM. It was the evening.

Johnny Erain and other cameramen from the Bikini Bottom News station were doing a news report about the talent show in front of the Krusty Krab. Numerous people in formal clothes were entering the restaurant so they could watch the show that was about to begin.

SpongeBob's mother and father entered the Krusty Krab and paid a small fee by giving a few dollars to Mr. Krabs. The two were an orange and brown sponge respectively. The father had a gray moustache and wore glasses while the mother had black hair and brought a purse with her.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was behind the purple curtain of the wooden stage and peeked over the edge of the curtain so he could see the crowd that was in front of him. The sponge saw a large amount of people sitting in tables with white cloth put over it. One lit candle and several plates of Krabby Patties were on each table. "Wow! A full house!" He whispered to himself loudly. The sponge then noticed that his mother and father sat at one of the tables that was in the front row. SpongeBob gasped. "There's Mom and Dad! They are gonna be so proud!" He made a smile that went from ear to ear.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob's parents and held out his hand. The crustacean shook hands with both of the sponges. "Hello, I'm Mr. Krabs, and I like money." The crab smirked.

"You must be our son's boss, right?" SpongeBob's mom asked a question.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "Doesn't all the money in my pockets give my status away?" The crab digged into his pockets and took out all the money he collected.

SpongeBob's mom and dad chuckled.

Mr. Krabs sat in the same table with SpongeBob's parents. "I can tell that you have another question on your mind." The crab could feel both parents' feet moving under the table. "But I'll ease your worries right now. SpongeBob will be in the show. Squidward accepted him into it." The crustacean assured the sponge's parents.

"Thank Neptune." SpongeBob's dad wiped sweat off his brow. "We were worried about not seeing our son showing his talent to the world."

S-S-S-S-S

"I gotta get ready!" SpongeBob saw what just happened and bit his lip. He stepped back into the curtain and saw Squidward entering the back of the wooden stage. The octopus was wearing a tuxedo that he brought from his home after taking a trip to that tiki too long ago. He also held the bottle with Plankton inside of it. The Plankton was practicing his magic trick inside the bottle.

"Alright people, listen up. Gather around everyone, chop, chop." Squidward yelled to the people who were practicing behind the curtain. He opened the bottle, grabbed Plankton by his antennae, and dropped him to the wooden floor.

SpongeBob, Sandy, Patrick, Larry, Gary, and Sherm gathered around Squidward.

"Now, you may be thinking this is your one shot at the big time. Well, it's not. It's mine." Squidward pointed at himself. He was extremely worried about something going wrong during the talent show. "If even a single person messes up while doing their talent, it's going to be my fault."

SpongeBob nodded.

One of Larry's friends ran up to the stage and stood in front of Squidward. "The water slide is ready!" He pointed at the water slide that was in front of the Krusry Krab and was viewable from the glass windows.

"That's good to know. Now get out of here." Squidward pointed to the exit of the stage.

Larry's friend quickly exited the stage.

Sherm looked at his watch. "It's just about time." The older sponge walked to Squidward and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it and get in there!" He pushed the octopus towards the curtain.

Squidward turned around and glared at Sherm. The uncle's behavior was very similar to that of SpongeBob's. The octopus then opened the curtain, walked across the stage, and stood in front of the crowd.

Everybody in the dining room became quiet.

He took out the cue cards that he had written from a pocket in his tuxedo, quickly read them, and put the cards back into the pocket. "Good evening and welcome to the first Squidward Tentacles Talent Show. Sponsored by the Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty, because no one else would give it a home." The octopus spoke while having a bitter sense of humor.

Patrick laughed from behind the curtain after hearing what Squidward said.

An awkward pause.

"Thank you. Our next act is living proof that nepotism is alive and well." Squidward continued to speak.

Patrick laughed even more.

"Put your fins together for-" Squidward was saying something but got interrupted.

Patrick was suffocating in laughter.

"Put your-" Squidward got interrupted once again.

Patrick was banging his fists on the wooden floor of the stage. The sea star couldn't contain his laughter. He didn't realize that Squidward's subtle jokes weren't meant to be laughed at.

"Pearl." Squidward finished his sentence and muttered to himself as he walked through the curtain.

The people who were sitting in the tables clapped as the curtain rose. Everybody who was on the wooden stage except for Pearl walked to back of the stage since it wasn't their turn yet.

"Hooray! My little girl is finally a star." Mr. Krabs was the last one to stop clapping.

Pearl took out her pom-poms. "GIVE ME A K-R-U!" The whale jumped to the air and landed on the stage.

The floor of the dining room shook rapidly. The tables rattled and people struggled to sit in their seats.

"GIVE ME A S-T-Y!" Pearl shook her pom-poms and jumped once again.

The crowd flew high in the air after Pearl landed on the stage.

**T-T-T-T-T-THUD**

The people fell to the floor and sat back into their seats.

"Krusty Krab!" Pearl jumped higher than before.

The crowd held on to their seats and the tables as if their life was on the line.

"KRUSTY KRAB!" Pearl jumped as high as possible and landed on the stage.

**GRRRROOOOAAAAANNN**

The wooden stage shook unsteadily. It was about to break into pieces due to Pearl's weight.

"Krusty Krab!" Pearl jumped lower than before and lightly landed on the stage. The wooden stage stopped shaking. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The whale bowed and the curtain fell down to cover the back of the stage.

Mr. Krabs was clapping the loudest out of all the people sitting in the tables. "That's what I call talent!" The crab still supported his daughter regardless of the danger she had posed to him and the other people in the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary slithered up to a wooden stool and took out the sheet of paper that had his poem written on it. The snail knew that it was his turn.

Squidward pushed the stool and Gary in tow through the curtain and left the snail and the stool in front of the crowd. "And now, poetry. By Gary." The octopus spoke to the crowd and walked back to the part of the stage that was behind the curtain.

"Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow. Meow." Gary read his poem out loud and eventually finished.

The crowd clapped and cheered for the snail.

Squidward pulled the stool and Gary in tow through the curtain.

The curtain then immediately opened and Plankton walked across the stage in a magician's suit and a top hat. He was holding a magical wand. "I, the amazing Plankton, with the use of prestidigitation..." He pressed a small button that was on the bottom of the wand when no one was noticing and the wand turned into a bouquet of flowers as if it was a magic trick. "...will make a Krabby Patty disappear before your very eyes."

Mr. Krabs stood up from his seat, what Plankton said set up a red flag. The plankton had been practicing silently in the bottle for a good reason and no one participating in the show or working in the Krusty Krab was aware of what he was going to do.

"First, I'll need a volunteer from the audience." Plankton jumped from the stage and landed on a random table. He grabbed a Krabby Patty that was on a plate and jumped to the floor. The plankton then ran towards the double door with as much speed as he could muster.

Mr. Krabs ran to the plankton and squished the Krabby Patty with one of his feet. "Nice try. Your act's over, bub." The crustacean picked up the squished burger and noticed that the plankton dove out of the way before he could get crushed.

"You may win this time." Plankton took out a smoke bomb and smirked. "She-hah-kazeek!" He clapped his hands on the smoke bomb and ignited it.

**BOOM**

The bomb exploded and a large puff of smoke came from the remains of the bomb.

A pause.

The smoke cleared and reveled a charred Plankton whose eye had widened. The smoke bomb had a small device inside of it that would teleport Plankton to the Chum Bucket when the bomb explodes. He became surprised when the puff of smoke wasn't as big as he expected and he wasn't in his laboratory at the Chum Bucket. "Crap." He cursed quietly. Plankton then turned around and walked towards the double door.

The crowd booed at him and made thumbs downs.

CREAK

SLAM

Plankton exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs stomped to the wooden stage, opened the curtain, and entered the backstage. "Squidward! This show is becoming a disaster! You're ruining me!" The crustacean was angry at his employee.

"Now, now, don't you worry, Mr. Krabs. Plankton trying to steal the Krabby Patty was inevitable and I knew this ever since I considered Plankton to become part of the show. Sit back down and relax because everybody over here had practiced enough times to the point of mastery." Squidward assured his boss.

"For your sake, I hope you're right." Mr. Krabs still had a few doubts in his mind and walked back to his table. The crab sat down and resumed his watching of the show.

Squidward opened the curtain and stepped into the front of the stage. "If you had heard someone laughing while I was speaking, here he is, Patrick Star." The octopus opened the curtain again and Patrick walked across the stage. The octopus entered the backstage when Patrick stopped walking and stood in front of the crowd.

Patrick hit his stomach with his hands and made drumming sounds. The sea star played a song for several minutes before he finished and bowed.

The crowed clapped and whistled.

Patrick opened the curtain and entered the backstage.

Squidward opened the curtain and moved out of the way so Larry could walk across the stage. "And now, one of the best surfers in town, Larry the Lobster."

Larry jumped off the stage and landed on the floor. The lobster was holding a surfboard and ran across the dining room.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Larry exited the restaurant and ran to the back of the water slide. He got on his surfboard and glided across the water of the slide. He eventually formed a wave and did several tricks on his surfboard as he surfed. Larry dove to the ground as the wave hit the windows of the Krusty Krab and got soaked by the ground.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Larry re-entered the restaurant.

The crowd clapped, made thumbs ups, and cheered for Larry.

Larry smiled and entered the backstage.

Squidward opened the curtain and allowed Sherm to enter the front of the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, the infamous uncle of SpongeBob, Sherm." Squidward walked through the curtain

The crowd except for SpongeBob's parents and Mr. Krabs booed loudly at Sherm. They thought that he was going to his disgusting talent of putting a watermelon up his nose.

Sherm was holding several watermelons and threw them to the air. The older sponge then began to juggle them.

Some people in the audience gasped and widened their eyes. They did not expect Sherm to show this talent of his.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sherm had been juggling for fifteen minutes straight before he messed up.

**P-P-P-P-PLOP**

Sherm caught all of the watermelons and bowed.

The crowd clapped and whistled loudly.

Sherm walked through the curtain.

A pause.

A bench for lifting weights was pushed by Sandy to the front of the stage. The squirrel went to the backstage to get something else.

Another pause.

"Rrgggh!" Sandy heaved a barbell which had anchors on each end and that was larger and heavier than the one she practiced with.

**CLANK**

Sandy dropped the barbell to the bench. She laid down on the bench and grabbed the barbell. The squirrel slowly lifted the barbell until it was as high into the air as possible. She then carefully brought the barbell back down and got off the bench.

The crowd clapped and made thumbs ups.

Sandy opened the curtain, pushed the bench and barbell until it was behind the curtain, and entered the backstage.

Several spotlights lit up the wooden stage.

Squidward put a sweatband on his forehead, put sweat wristbands on his wrists, and put on his dancing clothes. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for. We've saved the best for last. Put your hands together for the incomparable Squidward!" The octopus announced his presence behind the curtain. He then opened the curtain and walked to the front of the stage. The octopus danced as if he was flying like a bird for a few minutes and then wiggled his arms and legs and bobbed his head.

"What the?!" One of the people sitting in the tables raised his brow. He thought that Squidward was terrible at dancing.

The crowd booed and made thumbs downs.

Squidward became irritated and stopped dancing. He perceived his talent in a far more positive light than what the crowd was thinking. "You bottom feeders! You don't even know talent!"

"Know talent! Know talent! Know talent!" The crowd yelled in unison.

Squidward became frustrated and stomped his foot. The octopus began to yell out profanities.

SpongeBob opened the curtain slightly and saw Squidward's predicament. The sponge bit his lip in sympathy and pulled Squidward to the backstage.

S-S-S-S-S

"Can I go now?" SpongeBob sweatdropped and smiled nervously. "I think it's my turn."

"Go ahead. The crowd has no taste in the arts whatsoever." Squidward folded his arms and sat on the floor. He was definitely in a grumpy mood. The octopus no longer had the dignity to perform on the stage, reality had bitten a large chunk of his soul.

SpongeBob took out his bubble wand and bottle of soap. He took a deep breath and opened the curtain. The sponge wore a smile as he walked across the front of the stage so he could feel less nervous.

His parents whistled for him.

SpongeBob slowly opened the cap of the bottle of soap. He knew from the corners of his eyes that everybody in the dining room was watching him. The sponge then dipped the wand into the bottle. He took the wand out and inhaled deeply. SpongeBob then exhaled and blew several bubbles that looked like zoo animals or people. He twirled at a rapid speed and the bubbles danced around him. It was nearly the exact same stunt that he had shown to Squidward so he could get into the talent show.

The crowd silently watched as SpongeBob made a spectacular show with the bubbles.

**P-P-P-P-P-POP!**

All of the bubbles popped and SpongeBob bowed.

The entire audience stood up from their seats and cheered the loudest compared to when they cheered for other people showing their talents. People chanted SpongeBob's first name and some even threw flowers at the sponge's feet.

"Why, thank you." SpongeBob smirked and picked up the flowers; he was somewhat bashful. He then wrapped the flowers into a bouquet and waved at his parents.

SpongeBob's mother and father waved back.

Squidward was watching SpongeBob from a slit in the curtain. A green flame known as envy could be seen in his eyes and he gritted his teeth.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The dining room was almost completely empty. The people who were sitting in the tables except for SpongeBob's parents had realized that the show was over and exited the Krusty Krab. Most of the people who participated in the show had left the Krusty Krab as well.

SpongeBob was cleaning the tables with a wet towel, putting out the candles and taking them off the tables, and taking the white cloths off the tables.

Squidward was washing the dishes in the kitchen. He groaned as he realized that he still had a few piles of dishes left to clean.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs was pushing a wheelbarrow full of money through the kitchen so he could pat Squidward on the back. "You did it, Squidward! What a great show!"

"It's not my show anymore. SpongeBob stole the spotlight." Squidward spoke quietly and struggled to clean the dishes as he thought of several ways to get revenge on SpongeBob.

"As long as it brings in money." Mr. Krabs smirked.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh my, our son's a star!" Mrs. SquarePants smiled as SpongeBob finished cleaning the tables and walked towards the double door.

"Who ever knew he had such talent." Mr. SquarePants scratched his head.

"You should be on TV, buddy!" Patrick held out his hand.

SpongeBob and Patrick made a high-five.

'Bikini Bottom's got talent alright.' Sandy chuckled after she thought of the amazing feats that SpongeBob, Larry, Gary, and Patrick had done during the talent show. She initially thought that sea creatures weren't able to have such talents or reach such achievements when she first came to Bikini Bottom. The squirrel opened the double door so the other four and her could exit the restaurant.

The five left the restaurant and headed back for their homes.

**S-SLAM**

The double door became closed.


	17. MuscleBob BuffPants

**Chapter 17: MuscleBob BuffPants**

* * *

The next morning...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked through a dark hallway where there was a nightlight on one of the walls and entered the exercise room. He was starting to incorporate some vigorous exercise into his morning routine.

SpongeBob walked to the mat and stood on it. He took a deep breath and picked up a barbell with a pink bunny and blue bear on each end respectively. The sponge did fifteen brutal repetitions without stopping or else the exercise wouldn't be as effective. The muscles of his arms became strained to the limit and rivulets of sweat ran across his body. SpongeBob slowly and shakily lowered the barbell and then lifted it up using all the strength that his arms had to make his sixteenth repetition.

Ding dong

The faint sound of the doorbell was heard.

**PLOP!**

SpongeBob dropped the barbell and shook his arms to loosen them up since they were tense from the weightlifting. The sponge exited the exercise room and ran down the hallway. He rapidly went past the kitchen and entered the living room.

The yellow sponge walked up to the front door.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and saw Sandy.

"Howdy, SpongeBob. How's it goin'?" Sandy greeted SpongeBob. The squirrel thought that she should visit SpongeBob's house since the sponge had visited her home many times.

"Not too close, Sandy. I tend to get smelly when I'm pumping iron." SpongeBob's nose detected an odor coming from his armpits and the sponge went back a few steps. "Check it out." He flexed one of his arms as another futile attempt to impress Sandy. Only a small bump came from his bicep. The effort he put into his exercise wasn't proportional to the output he got with his muscles.

"Well, you're smelly." Sandy could partially smell the odor from SpongeBob's armpits and wasn't impressed by the small bump from SpongeBob's biceps.

"It's all thanks to my state-of-the-art work set." SpongeBob signaled with his hand for Sandy to follow him. The sponge exited the living room.

Sandy followed the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy entered the exercise room.

Sandy looked at the barbell with the plush dolls on each end and raised her brow. "Uhh, I don't wanna disappoint you, SpongeBob, but you won't see any progress with that." She shook her head and tried her best to suppress her giggling. The squirrel knew that SpongeBob was physically weak but she overestimated the sponge, he was far weaker than she initially thought.

"Oh, really?" SpongeBob scratched his head. He thought that the barbell made him far more muscular than before.

"That is, if you want arms like these." Sandy flexed her right arm so she could showcase her strength. The squirrel had a large and well-developed bicep. "Or these!" She flexed her left arm and that arm also had a robust bicep. "Or THESE!" Sandy showed her back muscles to SpongeBob.

"Well, uhh, maybe I could use a little help." SpongeBob was impressed by Sandy's muscles and could tell that the squirrel was an expert at bodybuilding.

"Well, if you want arms like mine, you just gotta follow my training program." Sandy pointed at herself with her thumb. She was confident that she could teach SpongeBob how to properly strengthen and enlarge his muscles since she had thought him how to fight in the martial art of karate.

"Wow, really? That'd be great Sandy!" SpongeBob became enthusiastic about trying out Sandy's training program. "I can see me now." He fantasized about him doing daily activities while being tall and having a muscular physique. The sponge thought that certain physically demanding tasks would become pathetically easy if he gained enough strength. "Yeah... that would change everything!"

"Then be at my place within thirty minutes. See you around." Sandy exited the exercise room and left the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of the treedome.

"_SpongeBob? Is that you?"_ Sandy asked a question electronically.

"Yep. I'm ready to train." SpongeBob was preparing his muscles for the workout that he was about to do.

"_Come right in._" Sandy unlocked the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the treedome. He put on a fish bowl as all of the water in the small hallway was drained.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Sandy opened the door in front of SpongeBob and moved out of the way so SpongeBob could walk through the doorway.

SpongeBob walked through the doorway and saw several robots putting and setting up exercise equipment outside of the oak tree. "Oooooh. Can I go on one?" The sponge pointed to a treadmill wheel and jumped up and down in excitement. He wanted to run on it.

"You gotta develop your arm muscles first since those are weaker than your legs. You're already a good runner so you won't need to go on the treadmill." Sandy pointed at SpongeBob's thin arms and then pointed at the ground. "Do twenty-five push-ups."

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he then took a deep breath. The sponge laid down on the ground and tried to make a proper push-up position.

"You're doing it wrong." Sandy moved SpongeBob's arms until they were near his shoulders. "Your arms are supposed to be near your shoulder."

"Oh." SpongeBob nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Come on, SpongeBob, it's only push-ups! Come on. Come on! You can do it!" Sandy yelled words of encouragement at SpongeBob.

"O-one." SpongeBob made one push-up. He had to do it very slowly because his arms weren't used to exerting this much force.

"Is that the best you can do?" Sandy gave SpongeBob a puzzled look.

"Y-yeah." SpongeBob shakily stood up.

"Alright, follow me." Sandy walked towards a boxing ring.

SpongeBob followed.

The sponge and squirrel climbed into the arena. Some of the robots gathered around to watch SpongeBob and Sandy fight each other.

Sandy put on a pair of boxing gloves that was laying on the polished floor.

SpongeBob put on another pair of of boxing gloves and noticed that they were very heavy. The gloves were pulling his arms to the floor.

"Alright, put 'me up!" Sandy got into a boxing stance.

SpongeBob barely managed to move his gloves up by a few inches. "They're up." He spoke quietly as he tried to make and maintain a boxing stance.

"Ding ding!" Sandy imitated a boxing bell and that meant that the match begun.

**BAM**

Sandy punched SpongeBob.

**THUD**

SpongeBob flew out of the arena and landed on the ground. He didn't even had a chance at beating Sandy in a boxing match.

"You okay?" Sandy was concerned with SpongeBob's health.

"I'm alright." SpongeBob took off his boxing gloves and managed to stand up. He shook back to his senses.

"Hmmm..." Sandy was deep in thought.

A pause.

"Maybe I should've started with the treadmill first. I don't think you'll be able to do the other exercises without doing a warm-up." Sandy took off her boxing gloves and dropped them to the floor of the ring. She jumped off the ring and walked to the treadmill wheel.

SpongeBob smiled and quickly followed her. He became thrilled at the thought of doing an exercise that wasn't as punishing to his muscles as the previous ones.

Sandy stopped walking and stood in front of the wheel. "Stand in it." She pointed at the wheel.

SpongeBob climbed into the wheel.

"Run!" Sandy took out an timer that looked like an acorn and pressed a red button. The device began to count the time.

SpongeBob ran at a moderate speed. He didn't want to get tired too quickly.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was tired and his shirt was nearly soaked in sweat. As he continued to run, his pace became slower and slower as every single second passed by. His legs were going to reach their limit very soon.

"Feeling the burn?" Sandy looked at the timer and noticed that SpongeBob had been running non-stop for several minutes. That was just the outcome that she expected. The squirrel wanted to know if SpongeBob was trying his best.

"I'm-fee-ling-some-thing!" SpongeBob struggled to speak as he tried to run faster after hearing Sandy's words. One of his feet slipped and he fell to the wheel; the sponge had run too fast. SpongeBob became dizzy as his body went around the wheel and he eventually fell from the wheel and landed on the ground with a loud **THUD**.

Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's arm and assisted him in standing up by pulling his arm. "Well, now that we've got warmed up, it's time for the arm-cruncher." She thought that SpongeBob was now prepared to do more rigorous exercise.

"Arm-cruncher, great." SpongeBob was confident in his physical abilities after doing that warm-up and felt like he could take on any new challenge. However, he didn't know what that 'arm-cruncher' actually was. The sponge assumed that it was some sort of barbell.

"It's over there." Sandy pointed at the 'arm-cruncher'. The machine consisted of a tall wooden pole where two cement blocks were tied to it by two metal strings. The cement blocks repeatedly swung from the opposite sides and collided into each other over a metal pedestal. Two robots made sure that the cement blocks continued to swing and hit each other, they knew exactly where to grab the strings so the blocks can swing at an equal speed. There was an open strap on the metal pedestal where an arm was supposed to go through to begin the exercise.

SpongeBob's eyes slowly widened in horror and his face drained of color. "This squirrel's trying to kill me!" He perceived the arm-cruncher as some sort of torture device.

"What're you waiting for, SpongeBob? Let's get to it!" Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's arm and dragged him to the machine. She put the sponge's arm on the strap and closed it.

SpongeBob gulped as the cement blocks swung down.

Time slowed.

**SLAM**

The two cement blocks hit SpongeBob's arm instead of colliding into each other.

An unbearable pain shot through SpongeBob's arm.

Time resumed.

"**AAAaaaaAAAAAaaaAAAAHHHH!**" SpongeBob yelled in agony as he continued the exercise.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in the living room. He was sitting on the couch with Gary and they were watching TV. He had returned to his home after he finished that brutal arm-cruncher exercise at Sandy's treedome. It was difficult to move his arms because they throbbed in pain from the relentless workout.

The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnarcle Boy ended and a commercial was shown. There was a muscular shark who was wearing fake arm muscles that had a light red color. "_Hey, you!_" The shark pointed at the screen that was in front of him. "_Are you too much of a wimp to work out? Are you a weakling built like a sponge? Well, now you too can have muscles._"

"Huh?" SpongeBob heard what the shark had said. That commercial was well-timed since the sponge had recently survived an unbearable workout and he paid attention the the TV screen.

"_With anchor arms!_" The shark took off the anchor arm from one of his arms and put it on again. "_They slip on like a glove. Just add air." _The shark took out a plug and put one end of it into his mouth while he put another end into one of the anchor arms. "_How big do you want 'em?_" He blew into the plug and enlarged the anchor arm, he put the plug into the other arm and did the same thing. "_Normal?_" The shark blew into the plug and eventually enlarged the anchor arms to a bigger size. "_Veiny?_ _And for the ladies..._" The shark blew a small amount of air into both arms by blowing into the plug and made the anchor arms grow hair as if they were real. "_...hairy._" The TV screen changed to an older photo of the shark where he wasn't muscular, didn't wore anchor arms, wore glasses and braces on his teeth; and wore nerdy clothing. "_I was a wimp before anchor arms._" The TV screen changed back to the older and muscular shark. "_Now, I'm a jerk and everybody loves me._" He flexed his fake muscles. "_So order now, wimp!_" A phone number popped up on the bottom of the screen for several seconds. The commercial ended and switched to another commercial.

"Wow, now that's a good idea!" SpongeBob smiled widely and stood up from the couch. The anchor arms were the key to escaping Sandy's exercise regimen.

"Meow meow meow meow meow." Gary warned SpongeBob that the commercial could be faulty so that the company who made the anchor arms could gain more money.

"Don't worry, Gary." SpongeBob petted the snail. "I think those anchor arms were advertised honestly. That ad wasn't faulty at all." He tried to assure Gary.

Gary sighed.

"Anyways, I wanna be just like that guy on TV. Yeah..." The sponge imagined himself wearing those anchor arms. "...I've gotta get to a phone!" SpongeBob stopped daydreaming and walked to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed a phone number and put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

An electronic voice was heard.

"I would like to order some anchor arms." SpongeBob spoke into the phone.

The person on the other end asked a question.

"Just for one person." SpongeBob said the quantity of his order.

The person asked for SpongeBob's address.

"124 Conch Street, Bikini Bottom." SpongeBob said his address into the phone.

The person asked for SpongeBob's name.

"SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob said his name.

The person's electronic voice said the amount of time it will take for the anchor arms to be delivered.

"In less than a hour?! Yes!" SpongeBob pumped his fist and put the phone down. 'I was afraid that it would take a few days for it to get here.' He thought to himself.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Someone knocked on the pineapple's front door.

"It's already here!" SpongeBob became excited and ran to the front door. He thought that the person delivering the anchor arms had knocked on the door.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and saw Patrick instead. "Oh. Hey, Pat." His wide smile lessened to a smirk.

"You seen that episode of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy?" Patrick had watched the same show that SpongeBob had seen on TV.

"Yep. I didn't know that Man Ray could do that." SpongeBob tried his best to contain his excitement for the anchor arms.

"Why're you giddy?" Patrick already noticed what SpongeBob was feeling.

"I saw this commercial after the show about anchor arms and I just ordered it. It's coming right now." SpongeBob looked behind Patrick to see if there was a person carrying a box. No one was behind Patrick.

"Oh. Those fake muscles?" Patrick flexed his muscles. "Why do you want to get them?"

"I want them because I wanna look cool and make Sandy think that I don't need to do her exercises." SpongeBob flexed his muscles.

"Anyways, you wanna go to Goo Lagoon? I'm kinda bored at my home." Patrick wanted SpongeBob to come along with him to Goo Lagoon.

A lightbulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Perfect!" The sponge smiled widely again.

"What's perfect?" Patrick scratched his head.

"I'll definitely go with you to Goo Lagoon. It would be the perfect place to show off my anchor arms. But we gotta wait for my delivery first." SpongeBob walked to his mailbox and stood next to it. He continued to wait for the anchor arms.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

A boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob's pineapple. A deliveryman came out of the vehicle and was carrying a clipboard and a box.

SpongeBob gasped and walked up to the deliveryman.

"Are you SpongeBob SquarePants?" The deliveryman asked the sponge a question.

"Yeah!" SpongeBob nodded his head rapidly.

"Sign this." The deliveryman gave SpongeBob a pen and the clipboard.

SpongeBob signed his name on the clipboard and gave it and the pen back to the deliveryman.

"Here you go." The deliveryman handed the box to SpongeBob and walked back to the boatmobile. He sat in the vehicle and drove it to the horizon.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door of his pineapple. "C'mon Pat, let's open it." He signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him. The sponge entered the pineapple.

Patrick entered the pineapple as well and followed SpongeBob.

**SLAM**

The sea star closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dropped the box to the floor of the living room. He then opened the lids of the box and took out the anchor arms. The sponge put them on but they only fit his arms and didn't made the muscular.

Patrick searched through the box and found the pump. "What's this?" He became curious and wanted to know what this strange object was.

SpongeBob took the pump from Patrick's hands. "Thanks, Pat." He put one end of the pump on his mouth while he put the other end on one of the anchor arms. In the center of the pump was a meter that went from 'WIMP' to 'JERK'. The sponge blew into the pump and the arrow on the meter moved to 'NORMAL'. The anchor arm inflated until it looked muscular. SpongeBob did the same thing to the other anchor arm.

"That looks so cool! I bet people are gonna think that those are my actual arms if I wore them." Patrick looked at the anchor arms with wonder and noticed that they had the same color as his skin.

"Wanna go to Goo Lagoon now? I'll probably become popular really really fast when everybody in the beach sees my new muscles." SpongeBob flexed his muscles and exited the pineapple.

Patrick put on a pair of sunglasses and followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was laying down on a lounger in his front yard. He was pleasantly reading a novel and was content since SpongeBob and Patrick hadn't bothered him early in the morning.

"Hi, Squidward!" SpongeBob waved at Squidward as he and Patrick walked across the neighborhood.

Squidward looked up and saw the fake muscles that SpongeBob had. "SpongeBob?" His eyes bugged out in shock. 'No wonder SpongeBob didn't annoy me yet.' He tried to find a reason for why SpongeBob had those large muscles on his arms.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking down the street and were near Mr. Krabs' anchor.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the anchor and had Mr. Doodles on a leash. He was beginning to walk his pet worm.

"Ahoy, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob waved at his boss and then flexed his anchor arms.

"Mother of Pearl!" Mr. Krabs' jaw dropped in shock. He assumed that he didn't know that SpongeBob was a bodybuilder as well as a fry cook.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered Goo Lagoon. They walked towards a group of bodybuilders who were lifting weights both big and small.

"Hi, guys." SpongeBob smirked and flexed his muscles at the bodybuilders.

Larry saw SpongeBob and immediately lowered the barbell that he was lifting. The lobster walked up to the sponge with widened eyes. "SpongeBob, is that you?" He was in total disbelief and stared at SpongeBob's anchor arms.

SpongeBob stood on his hands. "Who were you expecting, Tiny Tim? Wait... wait..." He flexed the anchor arms while he stood on his hands and enlarged them slightly. "They're big aren't they?" The sponge tried to the best of his ability to impress Larry since that lobster was the second strongest bodybuilder in Bikini Bottom.

"Dude, you're ripped!" Larry had to state the obvious so he could accept the fact that what he was seeing was reality.

"Thanks. I've been working out. Excuse me for a second." SpongeBob flexed his 'muscles' again and enlarged them even more. "Yeah. Anyone up for the juice bar?" He walked towards a nearby juice bar.

Larry, Patrick, and a few other bodybuilders followed SpongeBob and they all entered the juice bar. They sat on a few seats.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm tellin' ya, he's huge!" Scooter entered the juice bar and pointed at the sponge. His friend had followed him and weren't believing what Scooter said until now.

"Larry, what happened?" Sandy walked into the juice bar and asked Larry a question. She was lifting weights with the group of bodybuilders and wondered why Larry left the group all of a sudden.

"I start off with twenty raw eggs everyday. But that's just me." SpongeBob began to boast to the bodybuilders about how he got 'ripped'. He was becoming distracted from the real reason that he bought the anchor arms.

"Pardon me." Sandy tapped SpongeBob's shoulder. She tried to interrupt the sponge as politely as possible since he was telling a story.

The sponge ignored Sandy. "Working out is my life! I remember when I used to look like that guy over there." SpongeBob pointed at a nerdy-looking man who had thin muscles and was drinking some juice.

"Who, me?" The young man looked at SpongeBob and raised his brow.

Everybody in the bar except for Sandy and Patrick laughed.

Patrick narrowed his eyes after he saw what SpongeBob just did. His intelligence increased rapidly and he thought critically for a minute.

"Here's your drink, sir." The bartender handed SpongeBob a cup of orange juice.

"Thank you." SpongeBob drank all of the juice in the cup in only a few gulps. He then looked at Sandy. "So what were you gonna say?"

"Where'd you get those muscles?" Sandy asked a question that popped up in her mind when she entered the juice bar. She found it quite strange that SpongeBob had muscular arms in less then a hour.

"I've created my own workout routine that's given me amazing results." SpongeBob said an excellent lie. He showed no signs of nervousness and was confident that he could hide the truth with ease. One of his anchor arms abruptly slipped off somewhat. "Whoops!" He quickly slipped it back on while nobody noticed. "Yeah, I have never felt better." The sponge smiled widely.

"Heck, what's your secret?" Sandy became curious and wanted to know how SpongeBob gained those muscles so quickly.

"What?" SpongeBob was somewhat confused and didn't really understand what Sandy said.

"Your secret workout. What is it?" Sandy asked her question in a more clear manner.

Larry, Scooter and his friends, the bodybuilders, the bartender, and other people in the bar surrounded SpongeBob. They heard Sandy's question and wanted to know the secret as well.

SpongeBob thought of a lie that he could tell them that wouldn't make them realize that his muscles were anchor arms. "Hmmm... I, uhh... first I take my hand..." He put his hand under his armpit. "...And I do this..."

**TOOT**

The sponge made a farting noise with his armpit.

"Are you kidding?" Larry raised his brow and became skeptical of SpongeBob's claim.

"Do these muscles lie?" SpongeBob flexed his muscles so as to change Larry's mind.

The other bodybuilders in the bar began to make farting noises with their armpits so they could become just as muscular as SpongeBob.

"I'm glad to see you found an exercise program that works for you." Sandy smiled, she was content that SpongeBob had retained what she taught him about bodybuilding and made her teachings even better.

"Yeah, your workout routine wasn't quite tough enough for me." SpongeBob said a blatant lie but knew that Sandy wouldn't bother to figure out if his muscles were real or not since the squirrel thought that the anchor arms were real muscles and that his workout routine worked.

"Can't argue with those results. What you need to do now is put those muscles to the test." Sandy tried to intimidate SpongeBob to see if he would accept a challenge from the strongest bodybuilder in the town.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and his face drained of color. What Sandy said was one of the worst and most embarrassing ways that his muscles could be revealed to be anchor arms. "Uhh, what do you mean?" He pretended to be ignorant.

"The big Goo Lagoon anchor tossing competition. You heard about it?" Sandy began to explain about what her 'test' for SpongeBob was.

"Yeah. I've also seen it a few times." SpongeBob said something that was true.

"Anyways, the competition is gonna start today and almost everybody in the beach will be there." Sandy continued her explanation.

"Here's another drink." The bartender passed a cup full of lemon iced tea to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob grabbed the cup and quickly drank the tea.

"Hey, with those arms, you'll do great!" Sandy looked at SpongeBob's anchor arms closely and became confident that the sponge will perform well in the competition.

"Uhh, well, I'm not sure." SpongeBob began to show signs of nervousness and stood up from his seat. He wanted to avoid the competition in a certain way so people wouldn't give him a funny look and begin to question his appearance.

"C'mon, let's go." Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's arm and dragged him out of the bar.

Patrick somewhat envied SpongeBob because he was becoming popular quickly and the sponge abandoned his best friend in the process. However, he knew better than to find a way to get some sweet revenge on SpongeBob since that would no longer make him a loyal friend. The sea star also realized after he thought critically that SpongeBob wouldn't be able to impress the bodybuilders in the beach for much longer once someone question or tests his strength. He knew that this was what Sandy just did. The pink star got out of his seat and exited the juice bar so he could warn his best friend.

S-S-S-S-S

"Here it is, the sign-in list." Sandy walked up to a paper taped to a wooden pole that had a list of signed names.

'Oh no.' SpongeBob's eyes bugged out.

Sandy took out a pen and began to sign her name on the list.

"Sandy, wait!" SpongeBob tried to grab Sandy's arm so she wouldn't sign his name.

**SLAM**

He hit the wooden pole instead.

Sandy finished signing her name and then signed SpongeBob's name on the list. "It's okay, SpongeBob, I already signed your name in." She smiled and released SpongeBob's arm from her grasp.

**THUD**

The sponge fell to the ground and stood back up. "Oh, great. Thanks, Sandy." The words he spoke weren't sincere and had a tone of sadness in them. He frowned and looked at the ground. The moment that Sandy signed his name on the list, she sealed SpongeBob's fate. An embarrassing revelation during the competition was bound to happen.

"C'ya there, SpongeBob." Sandy walked to a field where bodybuilders were practicing for the competition and where there was several giant anchors. The squirrel knew before the competition even began that she was going to win 1st place due to her excessive pride in her physical abilities.

SpongeBob leaned on the pole and his face lost all signs of expression as he contemplated about the several ways he could accidentally reveal the secret of the anchor arms during the competition for what seemed to him like an eternity. One thought eventually stood out in his mind, trying to avoid Sandy's exercise regime by wearing fake muscles wasn't going to last for very long once someone puts them to the test and he should've tried to do Sandy's exercises again and not give up. Trying to hide the embarrassing truth from everybody wasn't going to make his actual muscles any stronger.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob. He had seen what had just happened. The sea star made eye contact with the sponge and nodded his head in silence. "I think you already know. Anyways, c'ya around, SpongeBob." The sea star knew from SpongeBob's facial expression that the sponge was thinking what he was thinking. He walked to an unoccupied part of the beach's ground, laid down on it, and allowed the sun to tan him.

SpongeBob stopped leaning on the pole and gulped nervously. He slowly walked to the field as an acceptance of his fate.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The bleachers that were near the field brimmed with spectators. One of these spectators was Patrick but he wasn't cheering for his friend. He had an accurate prediction about how SpongeBob was going to perform in the competition.

"_We're on! Welcome to the Goo Lagoon 8th annual anchor toss competition._" A lifeguard who was sitting in a nearby lifeguard tower managed to turn his megaphone on and spoke into it. He announced the beginning of the competition.

"Ready, SpongeBob?" Sandy stopped practicing and walked up to SpongeBob to see what he was doing.

"Oh, yeah. Great. No problem." SpongeBob wore a smile and tried to hide his anxiety.

"Good luck, then." Sandy turned around and walked away.

SpongeBob took out the pump while nobody noticed and rapidly enlarged both of his anchor arms. He put the pump away and then looked at the lifeguard tower for the next announcement.

"_First up, Don the Whale._" The lifeguard spoke into the megaphone.

A whale called Don lifted up the anchor in front of him and threw it across the field with all of the strength in his arms.

The anchor landed and kicked up a large plume of sand.

Another lifeguard measured the distance between Don and the anchor with some measuring tape. He started to run from Don and stopped before the anchor while the end of the tape firmly stuck to the ground. "200 yards!" He yelled his measurement and retracted the tape.

The crowd clapped.

"_Up next, Larry the Lobster._" The lifeguard announced the next competitor.

Larry picked up the anchor in front of him and twirled it before he threw across the field.

**SLAM**

The anchor landed in front of the previously thrown anchor and the lifeguard flinched since the anchor nearly hit him. He then measured the distance between the two anchors with his measuring tape. "210 yards!"

The crowd yelled and whistled for Larry.

Sandy grabbed the anchor that was in front of her.

"_Here goes, Sandy Cheeks._" The lifeguard spoke who was going next into the megaphone.

Sandy tossed the anchor into the air and karate kicked it. The anchor flew across the field at a lightning-fast speed and landed near the edge of the field.

The other lifeguard measured the distance between Larry's anchor and Sandy's anchor and added the total distance in his head. "510 yards!"

"_Wow! Fabulous!_" The lifeguard in the tower commented on Sandy's performance.

Nearly everybody sitting in the bleachers stood up from their seats and chanted Sandy's first name.

"Beat that, SpongeBob!" Sandy made a second attempt at intimidating SpongeBob. She thought that SpongeBob couldn't beat the distance that she made.

SpongeBob could no longer hide his anxiety. Large amounts of sweat ran down from his brow.

"_Up next, SpongeBob SquarePants._" The lifeguard announced that it was SpongeBob's turn to throw an anchor.

The yellow sponge bit his lip, began to hear his heartbeat, and his face changed to a light yellow.

The crowd made farting sounds with their armpits and chanted SpongeBob's first name as a way of cheering for the sponge.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and grabbed the anchor. He tried to lift it up but...

**THUD**

He slipped and fell to the ground due to his arms exerting too much force. The sponge then stood up and smiled nervously. "Just kidding. Just kidding." SpongeBob tried to brush off the minor accident as a joke.

The crowd in the bleachers and some of the bodybuilders in the field laughed.

"That SpongeBob is funnier than ears on an acorn." Sandy giggled and commented on SpongeBob's joke.

SpongeBob became even more nervous. The crowd laughing was just a glimpse into what was inevitably going to happen. 'Oh, this is it. They're all gonna find out I'm a fake. I can't give up. I've got to try. I can do it! I've got anchor arms!' He mentally assured himself that he can minimize his embarrassment. "I'm no wimp, I'm a jerk!" He yelled and took out the pump. He enlarged both of his anchor arms until the arrow in the meter pointed to 'JERK'. SpongeBob put the pump away and stomped to the anchor. He grabbed it and tried to lift it with all of his might.

The anchor didn't move off the ground by a single centimeter. SpongeBob's second attempt to lift the anchor wasn't affecting it at all.

SpongeBob noticed that large amounts of air was coming out of the holes of his back. He then looked down and realized that his anchor arms were shrinking. "Uh oh."

**P-POP!**

The anchor arms exploded into pink shreds and was blown away from the beach by the wind.

SpongeBob fell to the ground due to the force of the explosion.

Everybody in the bleachers and in the field became silent.

"I think he lost." One of the spectators in the bleachers broke the silence.

The crowd then resumed their chanting of Sandy's first name.

The lifeguard in the tower then announced the next competitor's turn.

Sandy stomped up to SpongeBob and stood in front of him while tapping her foot. She then signaled with her hand for SpongeBob to follow her. The squirrel then walked away. She was definitely angry at the sponge for lying to her.

SpongeBob stood up and followed her. He was frowning and looked at the ground as he walked.

"Wait for me!" Patrick jumped off the bleacher and caught up with SpongeBob.

"Hey, Pat." SpongeBob spoke quietly.

"Cheer up, buddy." Patrick patted the sponge on the back. "Sandy might show you an exercise you can do so you can look strong without those anchor arms."

"I guess you're right." SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders. He then walked up to Sandy and whispered to her ear. "Can we forget that ever happened?"

"Only if we find an exercise you can do." Sandy didn't give eye contact to SpongeBob and continued to walk. She wasn't going to lighten her mood so quickly.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were sitting on a couch in the squirrel's treedome's oak tree. The sponge and sea star were wearing fish bowls. The three were watching TV.

"Ninety-six. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One-hundred." SpongeBob was changing the channel on the TV by constantly pressing a button on the remote.

"I want one-hundred more." Sandy made sure that SpongeBob wasn't going to end the exercise early.

"It hurts." SpongeBob's tired arm shook as he struggled to hold the remote. "One. Two. Three. Four."

"I think we finally found an exercise for you, SpongeBob." Sandy smiled, laid back on the couch, and relaxed.


	18. The Chaperone

**Chapter 18: The Chaperone**

* * *

Three days later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sniffed a Krabby Patty that he just made as a way of checking if he missed any ingredients. He then squirted some mustard on top of the patty and put a bun on top so he could complete the burger. "Okay." The yellow sponge made a thumbs-up and put the burger on a plate. SpongeBob then put the plate and the Krabby Patty in tow on the ordering window.

**DING DING DING**

SpongeBob rung the bell. "Order up!"

Squidward took the Krabby Patty and walked to the customer who ordered the burger.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had a thought that was stuck in his mind as he checked the money in his safe. It was about something that occurred in the morning before the Krusty Krab was opened on that day. 'Pearl should've called me by now. I wonder what happened to her date.' He became nervous and sweatdropped as he thought of what might happen if Pearl's date dumped her. He was aware that there was going to be a prom at Pearl's high school and that Pearl told him earlier in the day that she will call Mr. Krabs when his date agreed to go with her to the prom.

Mr. Krabs glanced at the shell-phone in his office and then resumed his checking of the money in his safe.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

A heavily upset Pearl barged into the Krusty Krab and bawled loudly. Numerous tears were running down her cheeks.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window and became concerned for the whale.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward covered his ears so he didn't have to hear Pearl's loud bawling. He was irritated by the loud noises that were assailing his ears.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. "Don't cry, love. Daddy's going to make it all right. Calm down, girl!" The crab walked up to his daughter and tried to calm her down.

"Mr. Krabs, what's wrong with Pearl?" SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs and wanted to know the reason why Pearl was bawling. He cared for this person that he only met several days ago.

"Her scurvy prom date stood her up, boy, and now she can't seem to find another." Mr. Krabs spoke solemnly.

SpongeBob bit his lip after hearing Mr. Krabs' words. He felt sympathy for the whale since what is happening to her is nearly the equivalent of losing his best friend, Patrick.

"That's because t-there's only one fish in the sea that's long, tan and handsome as h-he is. And that's him!" Pearl managed to speak and then bursts back into tears. What she said made herself even more sorrowful.

"No, no baby, no more crying. We'll get you a date. Why, uhh..." Mr. Krabs thought for several seconds about a replacement for Pearl's date.

An awkward pause.

"I'll take you!" Mr. Krabs made a slight smile because he didn't know if Pearl calmed down or not.

SpongeBob immediately cringed after hearing what Mr. Krabs said.

Pearl bawled louder than before and more tears raced down her cheeks. Mr. Krabs didn't help her at all.

"Well, what about Squidward?" Mr. Krabs pointed at the octopus in desperation.

"You've gotta be kidding me. There's no way in hell that I'm going with her." Squidward shook his head and folded his arms. Taking Pearl to the prom was the last thing on his mind after hearing her bawling.

Pearl's bawling became even louder and the floor was nearly shaking.

"Wait, wait. Here, take SpongeBob!" Mr. Krabs smiled widely and grabbed the sponge. The crustacean held him in front of Pearl. The crab knew that SpongeBob was a loyal employee and would do almost any favor from his boss.

"Ahh, the fry cook? Do you know what that would do to my complexion? People would mistake me for a planetarium." Pearl gave SpongeBob a funny look. She didn't want him to come to the prom with her.

"What do you mean?" Mr. Krabs scratched his head. He almost didn't understand the modern generation of teenagers at all.

"I don't know. But I can't take him, daddy! They'll kick me off the committee that's most frequently pictured in the yearbook." Pearl didn't want her status in her high school to become ruined.

"Yeah, they would. We've got to find someone else." Mr. Krabs dropped SpongeBob to the floor and turned around. "Listen up! Which one of you lucky lubbers wants to take me lovely daughter Pearl to the prom?" He yelled at the customers that were in the dining room.

All of the males in the restaurant except for SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs shook their head.

Pearl sighed, by that time she had stopped crying. "Just don't be late, SpongeBob." The whale had no other choice.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Pearl exited the Krusty Krab.

"Now listen boy, I'm-a counting on you to make this a very special night for a very special girl. Remember, you're doing it for good old Mr. Krabs." Mr. Krabs put one of his hands on SpongeBob's shoulder and explained what the sponge had to do.

"Really? Oh, wow! Don't worry Mr. Krabs, I am a prom expert!" SpongeBob made a military salute. However, he had said a lie so Mr. Krabs didn't have to worry about the prom anymore.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

It was 6:18 PM.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh Gary, I'm a prom failure. I couldn't even get a date for my own junior prom." SpongeBob was sitting on his couch in the living room and was looking down at the floor. He felt that he had made a mistake when he agreed to do Mr. Krabs a favor by taking Pearl to the prom. He was in a state of self-doubt because he thought that him and Pearl might be insulted by her peers when they get to the prom due to the ridiculousness of them as a couple.

"Meow meow meow." Gary slithered up to the sponge.

"No, that was Patrick who brought his mom. Besides, how am I supposed to compare with Pearl's old boyfriend who was long, tan, and handsome?" SpongeBob thought that he couldn't replace the whale's previous boyfriend.

"Meow." Gary had something inside his shell.

"What is it Gary? What do you have?" SpongeBob became curious.

Gary went into his shell and came back out with a magazine that was being held by his mouth.

SpongeBob took the magazine and looked at the cover. The title of the magazine was 'Long, Tan, and Handsome' in red text and the cover featured a handsome young man in a tuxedo. The sponge then flipped and scanned through the pages of the magazine. "Hey Gary, this magazine gives me an idea!" He closed the magazine and stood up from the couch. "I'm gonna go on a little shopping spree. Wanna come along?" SpongeBob looked at the snail.

Gary slithered up SpongeBob's back and stopped on top of his head.

"Let's go!" SpongeBob walked to the front door.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The sponge exited his pineapple with Gary while still holding the magazine so he could know what to buy.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered the pineapple, he was holding a large amount of stuff that he bought. Gary slithered behind him and entered the building as well.

The sponge entered the kitchen and walked to a table. He dropped everything to the wooden table and took out some black fabric from the large pile. SpongeBob then took a pair of scissors from the pile and cut the fabric in half. The sponge took out a needle and a roll of string and put the string through the hole of the needle. He then sewed the fabric together and eventually made a black coat and pants out of the fabric by cutting the fabric in half again and continuing to sew. SpongeBob took some white fabric and made a white shirt out of it by cutting the fabric and sewing it together.

SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow and exited the kitchen. He eventually walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob twisted the faucet and the water stopped showering, he was finished with his shower. The sponge wrapped a towel around his lower body and opened the curtain. The sponge stepped out of the shower and walked to a sink where a cabinet with a mirror covering it was above it. He brushed his teeth and washed his face while looking at himself in the mirror.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

He exited the bathroom and walked through the rooms of the house until he got into the kitchen. He picked up the pile on the table and went to the bedroom. He sat on his bed inside the bedroom and taped his feet to a pair of prosthetic legs that had shoes and socks being worn on their metal feet. SpongeBob wanted to be around the same height as Pearl so they could look like a normal couple. The sponge then put on his tuxedo and put on a wig that consisted of black hair so he could look extra-handsome. He then put a flower inside the pocket of his tuxedo as a way of putting a cherry on top of the 'cake' that he 'made'. SpongeBob exited his bedroom and clumsily walked downstairs, he was getting used to walking on prosthetic legs. The sponge walked through the kitchen and entered the living room. "Okay, Gary. Wait till Pearl gets an eyeful of this!" SpongeBob felt confident that he had a handsome-enough appearance to go to the prom with Pearl.

"M-meow?" Gary stopped watching TV and smirked, he tried his best to not chuckle. The snail thought that SpongeBob looked silly in that outfit.

'What's funny?" SpongeBob smirked as well and wanted to know why Gary was chuckling.

"Meow meow." Gary shook his head and leaned his head towards the front door.

"Hold on." SpongeBob walked to the shell-phone and picked up a phone book that was adjacent to it. He flipped through the yellow pages and put his finger on the phone number that he wanted. "Aha!" The yellow square put the phone book down and picked up the shell-phone. He dialed the number and put the phone near his ear. He had called Bikini Bottom Limousine Service.

An electronic voice came from the phone.

"I wanna take my girlfriend to the prom so can you come right over? I live at 124 Conch Street. I'll tell you where to go once you get here." SpongeBob spoke into the phone and slightly blushed as he pretended that Pearl was his girlfriend.

The person on the other end told him the price.

"I'll pay you directly from my bank account. My name is SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob spoke a bit more of his personal information into the phone.

An electronic voice assured SpongeBob that they will get to his home as soon as possible.

"Alright." SpongeBob put the shell-phone down and sat next to Gary as he waited for the limousine. He watched the TV with the snail and focused on the screen so time would pass quickly.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**DING DONG**

Someone rung the doorbell.

SpongeBob grinned and stood up from the couch. He walked to the front door and opened it. The sponge saw a middle-aged green man in a fancy suit. A parked limousine was behind him by a few feet.

"You must be called SpongeBob, am I right?" The man asked the yellow sponge a question. He was the driver of the limousine.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded and walked to the limousine. He opened one of the doors and entered the vehicle.

The driver entered the limousine as well and sat in the driver's seat. Both the driver's seat and the shotgun seat were separated from the other seats by a glass window behind the two seats and there was a hole where people can talk with the driver.

SpongeBob began to give the driver the directions to Mr. Krabs' house by speaking into the hole.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The limousine parked in front of Mr. Krabs' anchor.

SpongeBob told the driver to wait by speaking through the hole and exited the limousine. He walked up to the front door of the anchor.

**DING DONG**

The sponge rung the doorbell.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

"Hello?" Mr. Krabs opened the front door.

SpongeBob tried to make eye contact with Mr. Krabs since his legs made him taller than the doorway.

"What do you think Pearl? Cleans up pretty well, doesn't he?" Mr. Krabs turned around and spoke to his daughter.

"Well, at last no one will recognize you. Now listen, SpongeBob, I just want to get through this with my social status intact." Pearl walked through the doorway and stood in front of SpongeBob. She was wearing a fancy pink dress.

SpongeBob took out a notepad and a pencil. He wanted to write down what Pearl wanted to do so he won't mess anything up during the prom.

"I want to go to the prom, get my picture taken, and I want to dance..." Pearl began to tell SpongeBob the things she wanted to do.

SpongeBob jotted what she said into the notepad as fast as he could.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

"...I want to drink punch with my friends and don't do that other thing you're always doing..." Pearl was still telling SpongeBob what she wanted to do at the prom.

SpongeBob had written down an unusually large list by now. "Uhh, Pearl, we've got to get back to the limo." He turned his head around somewhat so he could look at the limousine.

Pearl clapped her hands together. "A limo! Why didn't you say so?" She grabbed SpongeBob's arm and dragged him to the limousine. "I love limousines!"

The sponge put the notepad and pencil away as Pearl dragged her.

Pearl released SpongeBob's arm from her grasp and they both entered the limousine.

"Go easy on him, lassie! I can't afford to break in a new fry cook!" Mr. Krabs yelled at Pearl and made a pirate laugh.

**SLAM**

The crab closed the front door.

Pearl told the driver the directions to her high school by speaking into the hole through the window.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The limousine parked in front of a large building that was Pearl's high school.

SpongeBob and Sandy exited the limousine. The vehicle that was behind them drove to the horizon.

SpongeBob took out his notepad and looked at the list that he had jotted down. "Well, I guess the first thing we should do is-" He saw a bright flash and stopped talking.

One of the staff members in the school was taking photos of people attending the prom.

"Yay! My first prom picture!" Pearl ran to the staff member.

"Uh, uh, uh..." SpongeBob became embarrassed that he had to be in a photo while wearing his outfit. He thought that he in a tuxedo would look better in real life than in a photo.

"C'mon, SpongeBob." Pearl grabbed SpongeBob's arm and dragged him until they were in front of the staff member. The previous people whose photo was taken had walked away. "Let's get this over with." The whale smiled for the camera.

"Cheese!" SpongeBob stood up and grinned so he could look good in the photo. He tried his best not to look nervous.

A bright flash.

The staff member took the photo.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow and walked to a double door with Pearl. They were going to the back entrance of the gym where the prom was taking place.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

They entered the gym. Numerous students and other people were talking to each other and there were several tables that had several different types of food in bowls on top of them. Loud music was being blasted into the room by a stereo system that was being controlled by a DJ.

"Hey look, it's Pearl!" One of Pearl's friends who was her best friend saw Pearl and pointed at her. She walked up to Pearl and Pearl's other friends followed the friend.

"SpongeBob, here come my friends. Uhh, go get me some punch!" Pearl whispered loudly into SpongeBob's ear.

"Prom expert, away!" SpongeBob made a military salute and jumped away from Pearl by using his prosthetic legs.

"Hi, Pearl!" Pearl's best friend greeted the whale.

"Hi, girls." Pearl smiled and waved at her friends.

"I'd like you to meet Billy Fishkins!" Pearl's best friend stepped aside and allowed an anchovy who was wearing glasses and was named Billy to walk up to Pearl.

"Meep." Billy spoke.

"And you know Will Flounder from math class." Pearl's best friend spoke as another anchovy walked up to the group of friends.

"Meep meep meep." Will spoke.

"Hi Will." Pearl greeted the anchovy.

"So, like, where's your date Pearl? We're all dying to meet him." Pearl's best friend smirked and looked around the gym for Pearl's 'boyfriend'.

"He's over at the punch bowl getting me some punch." Pearl pointed at SpongeBob.

The sponge stood in front of a table that had a bowl full of punch and struggled to pick up the soup spoon that was in the punch since his prosthetic legs were too tall for him to reach the spoon easily. He managed to grab the spoon and then grabbed an empty cup from a pile of cups. He poured the punch into the cup with the spoon and then walked up to Pearl. "Here you go." SpongeBob handed Pearl the cup of punch.

The music in the room was changed to dance music. The people in the room walked up to their partners and began to dance.

SpongeBob gasped and smiled widely. He was confident in his ability to dance. "Let's go!" He grabbed Pearl's arm and they begun to dance in a way that was far more different than the dancing that the other people were doing.

Pearl gave SpongeBob a funny look and stopped dancing. "SpongeBob, what are you doing? Can't you see everybody here is doing 'the whack'?"

"The whack?" SpongeBob looked at the other people that were dancing. He noticed that people were jumping to the air at the same time and colllided into their torsos and then landed on the floor unscathed. The sponge then imitated their dance by trying his best to jump while standing on prosthetic legs.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Pearl raised her brow. She was worried that SpongeBob might make an accident while doing the dance with her.

"Trust me." SpongeBob nodded.

Pearl lowered herself as a way of preparing for her jump.

SpongeBob lowered himself as well.

They jumped at the same time and hit each other in the torso. The two then landed on the floor without getting any injury.

"Told you." SpongeBob smirked.

They continued to do 'the whack'.

S-S-S-S-S

A group of four very familiar students were hanging out around the back entrance of the high school's gym. They couldn't go to the prom because they performed poorly in school.

"I gotta thank Shawn back there for saving our butts from the slammer. It's too bad that he didn't got no mo' money to get the Strangler out." Jack took out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He took a cigarette, lit it up, and smoked it.

"I heard from my other homies that he's working hard to get the Strangler back in action." Mike was leaning against the wall.

"Can one of you tell me why're we doing nothing again?" Ricky was tossing and catching his baseball cap.

"We're waiting for Shawn to come over and take us somewhere so we can make a plan on getting our revenge on that little sponge." Marcus put on his black jacket after he felt a cold breeze.

"I wonder what they're doin' in there." Mike looked through one of the windows of the double door and saw SpongeBob, Pearl, and other people doing the whack. "Sweet Neptune, guys, that yellow bastard's dancing in there!" Mike gritted his teeth.

"Let me see." Jack looked through the other window of the double door. When he saw SpongeBob, he crushed the pack of cigarettes that was in his hand. "How did that guy in there?! We should've beated him up the moment he stepped a foot into this campus."

Ricky gently pushed Jack out of the way and looked through the window. "Man, Mike was right, he's freaking rich. How the hell can you get fake legs, a giant tuxedo, and a wig without becoming broke?"

"So how are we gonna beat him up then? There's a crapload of people that are gonna see us fighting him. We'll definitely get in trouble with the cops and that'll put all of Shawn's money to waste." Marcus was thinking of ways to pummel SpongeBob as a form of revenge without people witnessing his actions.

"I think I know the trick." Ricky took out a bottle of whisky. "I bought this for my dad but I'm gonna use this to spike the punch bowl. The people in there are gonna be too tipsy to take what we do seriously." He made a wide smile.

"Dude, you're a genius!" Jack patted Ricky on the shoulder.

"No offense to our boss, but you can make plans that are almost just as good as his. Maybe you should be our leader when the Strangler isn't around." Mike smiled and spoke to Ricky.

"What're we wait in' for? Let's do it!" Ricky was about to open the double door.

The others nodded.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The thugs entered the gym.

S-S-S-S-S

The four thugs walked through the dancing crowd and got to the table with the punch bowl. The people were too busy with their dancing to wonder why the thugs were in the prom. Ricky chuckled as he poured some whisky into the punch. They then walked away and sat an empty table as if nothing happened.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob noticed something from the corner of his eye and stopped dancing. He stopped smiling and made a solemn face. SpongeBob and Pearl had been dancing not too far from the table with the punch bowl.

"What's wrong?" Pearl stopped dancing as well and became concerned for the sponge. She thought that something had had happened and SpongeBob had seen it.

"Someone put something into the punch." SpongeBob spoke in a serious manner and narrowed his eyes on the punch bowl.

"Why would they spike the drinks?" Pearl scratched her head and became curious about what was poured into the punch.

SpongeBob walked up to the table and carefully looked at the punch bowl. He wanted to see if anything suspicious had been put into the juice. The sponge was trying his best to prevent himself from causing an accident and thought that drinking the punch might mess him up if he wasn't watchful.

S-S-S-S-S

"That dude's on to us." Marcus was watching SpongeBob.

"Let's go to our lockers to get our weapons then. The school hadn't inspected the lockers in a while so we're safe. That sponge won't give us another choice." Mike stood up from the table and walked towards the double door that led to a hallway.

The other thugs followed him.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The thugs exited the gym and walked down the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

They inputted the numbers for their lockers and opened the lockers. Jack took out a pocket knife. Mike took out his metal baseball bat. Marcus took out a pair of brass knuckles and put them on. Ricky took out a taser and made sure that it was turned off so he didn't electrify himself by accident.

**S-S-S-SLAM**

The thugs closed their lockers, walked up the hallway, and re-entered the gym.

S-S-S-S-S

"So, who's gonna get the first hit?" Jack looked at the other thugs.

"Leave it to me." Marcus pointed at himself. "That barnacle head'll be blown out of here by my punches before he'll know it." He then walked up to SpongeBob and waited for the sponge to notice him.

SpongeBob looked up and saw Marcus. His face drained of color and he sweatdropped in anxiety. He was too frightened by the thug to react in the half-second that was given to him. He didn't have his karate gear on and the prosthetic legs had greatly limited his movement. SpongeBob was completely vulnerable to an assault by the thugs.

"S'up." Marcus grinned.

**BAM**

Marcus punched SpongeBob and made him fly across the gym.

**CRRRAAASSSH**

SpongeBob crashed into a table that had several bowls of food. The table was split in half when the yellow square landed on it and all of the food was spilled to the floor. Thanks to his brass knuckles, Marcus's punches became extremely powerful.

The DJ saw this and stopped the dance music. Everybody stopped dancing and looked at SpongeBob and Marcus.

SpongeBob shakily stood up and his vision became blurred. The heavy blow that he received made him extremely dizzy. He noticed that a silhouette holding a long object was getting closer and closer to his vision.

**SMACK**

Mike walked up to the sponge and slapped him across the face. "Batter up!"

**BAM**

He swung his baseball bat with all the strength that he could muster and hit the sponge on the side of his body. SpongeBob flew across the room.

**SLAM**

The yellow sponge landed on one of the walls.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor. His arms and legs shook when he tried to stand up and this made it very difficult to do so.

Jack walked to the sponge and stepped on the sponge's back with one of his feet. He crouched then and inched the pocket knife to SpongeBob's skin. "This is what happens when you mess with us." The thug made an evil smile.

All of the people in the gym except for the thugs and SpongeBob gasped. They were petrified in fear and didn't have the guts to stop the thugs from beating up SpongeBob since the four could easily knock all of them out in several minutes.

The gasps faded into a long silence.

"I thought those idiots weren't allowed to be in the prom." Pearl's best friend whispered into the whale's ear.

"It doesn't matter right now, they've got some grudge against SpongeBob." Pearl whispered loudly and watched SpongeBob as she waited for the inevitable.

Jack raised the pocket knife, he was about to carve letters of blood into SpongeBob's back.

**CLINK**

SpongeBob raised one of his legs and kicked the pocket knife out of Jack's hands with accurate precision. The pocket knife flew across the floor and landed near the crowd that was surrounding and watching the thug and the sponge.

Jack's eyes bugged out. "What the hell?!" He turned around and looked at the pocket knife that was laying on the floor.

Pearl sweatdropped and took a deep breath, she might regret what she was about to do. The whale picked up the knife. Out of all the people in the gymnasium to do such an act, it had to be her.

"GIVE THAT BACK!" Jack sprinted to the whale so he could retrieve his weapon.

SpongeBob raised his other leg and made his pant legs fall down to reveal that his legs were actually prosthetic and that his real legs and feet were standing on them. He took the tape off his feet, grabbed the fake legs, and stood up. He tucked the long pant legs into his pants so it didn't limit his movement. His face had a serious expression and almost everybody knew that he wasn't playing any games. While his feet were just in socks, he ran across the gym and towards Jack.

**B-BAM**

SpongeBob swung both of the metal legs and they both hit the back of Jack's head.

Jack fell to the floor in front of Pearl and managed to snatch his pocket knife from the whale's hand. He turned his body in less than a second and landed on the floor back-first. He then thrust the pocket knife towards SpongeBob's chest.

SpongeBob blocked the attack with one of the prosthetic legs. The knife didn't even leave a slight mark on the durable metal. "Everybody get away!" He yelled to the crowd.

All of the students and guests backed away from the sponge and the thugs and hugged the walls of the gym.

Ricky ran towards SpongeBob from behind and turned on his taser. He jumped and thrust the taser towards SpongeBob's back.

SpongeBob noticed that Ricky's shadow was enveloping him and blocked the taser with the other prosthetic leg. He bit his lip as his hand felt a moderate sting since the metal of the leg could conduct electricity.

Ricky collapsed to the ground, dropped the taser, and held the hand that held the taser with the other hand. The electricity from the taser was conducted by the leg and the foot of the prosthetic limb had touched his wrist. His hand was closer to the taser than SpongeBob's hand was and received more pain in the process.

Jack rolled out of the way as an incoming Mike raised his baseball bat.

SpongeBob saw Mike and dove out of the way.

Mike swung his baseball bat but missed.

**SMACK**

SpongeBob slapped Mike across the face with the foot of one of the fake legs as a way of payback for the thug slapping the sponge across the face.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob kicked Mike in the chest and made him fall to the floor.

Marcus charged towards SpongeBob like a bull.

**CLANK**

He tried to punch the sponge but ended up hitting one of the prosthetic legs instead. SpongeBob had blocked his hit.

SpongeBob spun one of the metal legs and threw it towards Marcus's face.

**SMACK**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

**BASH**

**BOFF**

The fake leg hit several parts of Marcus's body. The thug nearly fell to the floor but stopped his fall with his hands. He shakily stood back up and tried to pummel SpongeBob with his brass knuckles. It was too early for him to give up.

**C-C-C-C-CLANK**

SpongeBob blocked every punch made by Marcus with both of his prosthetic legs. He then pushed Marcus with all of his might.

Marcus unsteadily walked backwards and tripped on a chair.

**THUD**

He fell to the floor. Marcus immediately stood up and picked up the chair as if he was a professional wrestler. The thug threw the chair towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob nimbly dodged the chair. The chair crashed into a table.

Mike stood back up and ran towards SpongeBob with his bat.

Jack dove to the sponge and aimed his pocket knife towards SpongeBob's throat.

Ricky's hand no longer stung and he grabbed the taser. He ran towards SpongeBob so he could give him some electrifying punishment.

SpongeBob hit Jack on the shoulder with a prosthetic leg, deflected the swing of Mike's baseball bat with another fake leg, and dodged the thrust of Ricky's taser.

**S-SLAM**

Two security guards opened the double door that led to the hallway and entered the gym. "**STOP RIGHT THERE!**" One of the security guards shouted at SpongeBob and the thugs. The two then ran towards the combatants.

"Make us." Ricky smirked and ran towards the guards.

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

Ricky electrified the thugs with his taser.

**T-THUD**

The security guards collapsed to the floor and became unconscious. They didn't stand a chance of stopping the thugs since they didn't even had weapons to use.

Jack endured the hit that he got on his shoulder and tried to stab SpongeBob from behind.

SpongeBob held both prosthetic legs with one hand.

**BAM**

He punched Jack in the stomach.

Jack reeled in pain.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob karate chopped Jack on the side of his body.

Jack was still standing up, he was stern in getting his revenge on Spongebob. He sliced the knife at Spongebob as if it was a sword.

**CLANK**

SpongeBob now held both fake legs and blocked the pocket knife with one of them.

"Will you give up already?!" Jack became frustrated at SpongeBob's determination to continue fighting.

"When all of you are back in jail." SpongeBob spoke in a solemn voice and his lips didn't curve at all to form a smile. After receiving that punch from Marcus and crashing into a table, he knew that the prom was ruined. He thought that the thugs were an extreme danger to him and everybody nearby since they were the ones that accidentally started a fire and nearly slit Squidward's throat.

Jack held the pocket knife with both of his hands and stabbed down at the sponge.

SpongeBob quickly ducked...

**POW**

...and hit Jack's ankles with one of the metal legs.

**THUD**

Jack tripped on the leg and fell to the floor.

"I'm tired of this crap." Ricky took out the whiskey bottle.

"What're you gonna do?" Marcus looked at the bottle and raised his brow. "You're gonna drink it or somethin'?"

"Nah." Ricky shook his head. "That yellow guy won't expect this." He walked up to the sponge from behind.

SpongeBob immediately saw a baseball bat swinging into his vision.

**CLANK**

SpongeBob blocked the bat with one of the prosthetic legs. However, he couldn't let go because Mike was pushing the bat towards the sponge. The yellow square tried his best to push the bat away.

Mike grabbed the other prosthetic leg and pulled it towards him.

SpongeBob couldn't change his position and his hands were full.

Ricky stood behind SpongeBob and raised the whiskey bottle.

The students and guests yelled at SpongeBob and pointed at something that was above him.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked up and saw a whiskey bottle.

**CRRAAAASSH**

Ricky swung the bottle down and made it hit SpongeBob's head. The whiskey bottle shattered on the sponge's head and glass shards littered the floor that was near him. The wig fell down and revealed SpongeBob's naked head. The remainder of the bottle that Ricky was holding spilled the rest of the whiskey to SpongeBob's body. The whiskey ran down SpongeBob's body and landed on the floor. The sponge fell to his knees and his eyes became irritated by the spilled whiskey. He dropped the metal legs, closed his eyes, and covered his eyes with his hands. His eyes were stinging from the irritation and the worst part was that SpongeBob could do nothing but wait for it to stop.

**BAM**

**POW **

**SLAM**

**SMACK**

**POW**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

Marcus repeatedly and brutally punched SpongeBob on the back.

**CLANG**

Mike swung his bat and hit SpongeBob's chest.

SpongeBob silently reeled in extreme pain.

Jack sliced his pocket knife through SpongeBob's tuxedo and left a few minor cuts on the sponge's skin.

**SLAM**

He kicked SpongeBob on the back of his head and made him fall to the floor.

The four thugs proceeded to jump on top of the sponge, they did this for several seconds.

Marcus grabbed SpongeBob and lifted him to the air. He then threw him to a table.

**CCRRRAAAASSSHH**

SpongeBob crashed into the table and made all of the empty plates and bowls on it fall to the floor. The sponge moaned and couldn't move his limbs.

"This is the most brutal fight I've ever seen." Pearl's best friend watched the fight and commented on it.

"C'mon Judy, I'm gonna call the cops. SpongeBob can't handle this by himself." Pearl walked to the double door.

Judy followed her.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two exited the gym and ran down the hallway.

Mike walked over to the punch bowl and picked it up. "Hey lil' square, you thirsty?" He walked back to the sponge and poured all of the punch over SpongeBob's face. The whiskey in the punch irritated SpongeBob's eyes even more. SpongeBob soaked all of the juice up and became a red cube full of punch.

The four thugs laughed at how SpongeBob looked.

The alcoholic content of the whiskey that was in the punch began to make the sponge feel light-headed. This made SpongeBob shake back to his senses. The sponge quickly blew all of the contaminated punch through his holes and out of his system.

The punch got all over the thugs' clothes.

Marcus looked at his ruined coat and shirt and gritted his teeth, he lost his temper. He picked up SpongeBob once again and twirled him in the air. He then threw him to the double door that led to the hallway.

**S-SLAM**

**CRRRAAASSSH**

SpongeBob flew through the double door and crashed into a locker. The shape of his body was pressed into the door of the locker due to the force of Marcus's throw. His vision was very hazy and he was clinging to consciousness.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Someone with a baseball cap opened the double door and walked up to the SpongeBob. He was holding something that was giving off sounds of electricity.

**ZZZZZAAAAAAAP**

Ricky thrust the taser into SpongeBob's stomach and electrified him.

"**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**" SpongeBob yelled in agony. However, he didn't became unconscious.

"You're still moving? Damn." Ricky was surprised that SpongeBob continued to endure the unbearable torment. He then picked up SpongeBob by the collar of his shredded shirt and pulled him towards his face until the sponge was a few inches away from his face. The thug inched the taser towards SpongeBob's body until it was only centimeters from the yellow sponge's skin. "One more shock from this thing will put ya out for good." He waved his taser as an attempt to intimidate SpongeBob. "And once you're knocked out, I'll make sure that you'll never wake up again." Ricky spoke what the group of thugs immediately thought of when they saw the yellow sponge dancing in the prom. The thugs were going to murder SpongeBob for starting a fight that would led to one of their best and most secret hideouts being burned down. They were seeking vengeance for what SpongeBob and Patrick had done to them and they didn't allow that past opportunity to pass by. The people that were in the prom knew that the group of four were murderous just from seeing the harm they had inflicted on SpongeBob.

"Y-You're a jerk, do y-you k-know that?" SpongeBob managed to speak and had the guts to say what he had spoken. He wouldn't let Ricky and the other thugs who ruined the prom to get away with what they thought were their 'clever' words.

Ricky narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob and lost his temper. "You still trying to spew freaking crap at us?! **GO TO HELL ALREADY!**" He raised his taser so he can give the finishing blow.

The three other thugs walked up to the scene and watched SpongeBob's final moments of consciousness.

S-S-S-S-S

A handsome anchovy that was wearing a fancy tuxedo and was named Octavius Rex looked at SpongeBob through the glass windows of the double door. He was Pearl's ex-boyfriend and wasn't jealous at all for SpongeBob being Pearl's new 'boyfriend'. Rex felt bad for the sponge and was the only person in the crowd that was brave enough to want to find a way to help him. He looked at a fire extinguisher and the prosthetic legs that SpongeBob dropped. A lightbulb lit up in his head. He pushed the crowd out of the way and grabbed the fire extinguisher and then grabbed the metal legs. Rex ran back to the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

Rex barged the double door open.

"The heck?" Ricky dropped SpongeBob and turned around.

The other three thugs turned around as well.

**BONK**

Rex swung the fire extinguisher towards Jack and it hit him on the head. The force of the swing was powerful enough to make Jack fall to the floor and become unconscious.

"Oh no you don't!" Mike swung his baseball bat at Rex.

**CLANG**

Rex blocked the swing with the fire extinguisher and pushed the device towards Mike.

The fire extinguisher was heavier than the baseball bat and this made Mike walk backwards for a few steps.

Marcus attempted to punch Rex.

Rex ducked and dodged the thug's fist.

**BAM**

The anchovy swung the fire extinguisher and made it hit Mike's leg.

**THUD**

Mike fell to the floor and grabbed his injured leg with both of his hands. He couldn't move due to the immense pain coming from the leg that he was holding.

Rex tossed the prosthetic legs to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob saw the faint silhouettes of the metal legs and shook back to his senses. His vision was no longer hazy and he grabbed the legs.

**POW**

SpongeBob thrust one of the legs into Ricky's chest.

Ricky's eyes widened and he fell to the floor because he didn't expect the foot of the leg to hit him. He forgot that SpongeBob was behind him while he was watching Rex. His hand released its grip of the taser and the taser slid across the floor.

Rex dove to the taser and snatched it.

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

The anchovy thrust the taser into Marcus who was running towards him two times and the thug got electrified two times.

**THUD**

Marcus collapsed to the floor and got knocked out.

Ricky grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the taser and tried to retrieve the taser from Rex.

**GLOK**

Rex kicked Ricky across the chest.

Ricky's hand let go of Rex's wrist and he walked back by one step.

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAPP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

Rex repeatedly electrified Ricky with the taser.

Ricky moaned, fell to the floor, and became unconscious.

Mike was beginning to stand up.

SpongeBob stood up and walked up to Mike.

**BAM**

He swung both of the prosthetic legs and they both hit Mike's back.

Mike fell back to the floor.

Rex walked up to Mike.

**ZZZZAAAAAAPPP**

The anchovy electrified the thug with the taser.

Mike became unconscious.

SpongeBob tried to put his gratitude into a few words. "Thanks for saving me." He smiled widely.

"Meep meep." Rex replied and smiled as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Pearl and Judy had entered their classroom and had dialed 9-1-1 into a shell-phone.

Pearl put the shell-phone near her ear.

An electronic voice was heard.

"Four students in my school are beating up my date for the prom. They won't stop fighting and I think they're gonna kill him." Pearl spoke into the shell-phone and explained the situation.

The electronic voice asked for an address.

Pearl said the address of her school into the phone.

The electronic voice assured the whale that the police will come as soon as possible.

Pearl put down the phone. "They're coming. We just gotta wait." She spoke to Judy.

Pearl and Judy exited the classroom.

S-S-S-S-S

A Cadillac boatmobile parked in front of the back entrance to the gym.

Shawn got out of the car. He was carrying a pistol that was in his pocket. The thug noticed that no one was outside. "What happened?" He thought that the four other thugs were waiting outside the back entrance.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

He opened the double door and entered the gym.

S-S-S-S-S

Shawn took out the pistol from his pocket.

The people that were in the gym looked at the gun and screamed in terror. They clinged to the walls even more. They were terrified of what Shawn could do with the gun.

Shawn chuckled and walked across the gym floor.

S-S-S-S-S

"What's with the screaming?" SpongeBob was hearing mass hysteria from the gym.

"Meep meep meep." Rex narrowed his eyes and looked through one of the windows of the double door. He saw a thug that was holding a gun. "Meep." He pointed at one side of the double door. "Meep meep." He pointed at another side of the door.

"Roger." SpongeBob made a military salute and walked to one side of the double door.

Rex walked to the other side of the double door and got into a pose where he can easily thrust the taser into Shawn.

A long pause.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Shawn opened the double door and saw the still bodies of the four other thugs. "What the hell?!" He raised his brow.

**B-BAM**

SpongeBob swung the prosthetic legs at Shawn and they hit the thug on the shoulder and back.

Shawn reeled in pain.

**ZZZZZAAAAAPP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

Rex electrified Shawn with the taser three times.

Shawn collapsed to the floor and became unconscious.

CRREEAAK

A few people from the crowd opened the double door and noticed the five motionless bodies of the thugs. They smiled widely and yelled to the rest of the crowd in excitement.

The crowd in the gym cheered for SpongeBob and Rex.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and relaxed. The battle was finally over.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Police officers handcuffed the unconscious thugs and brought them to the police cars.

SpongeBob and Pearl were outside the back entrance of the gym. SpongeBob had band-aids on minor cuts he got from Jack's pocket knife after a visit to the nurse's office and held the wig and prosthetic legs in his hands. His valiant efforts to fight the thugs so as to protect him and the people in the prom had paid off.

The police cars drove away to the horizon and the limousine from before parked in front of the two.

SpongeBob and Pearl entered the limousine so they can go home.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple. "Hey, Gary." He greeted the snail.

Gary stopped watching the TV and winced as he saw how SpongeBob looked. "M-meow."


	19. Employee of the Month

**Chapter 19: Employee of the Month**

* * *

The next morning...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put a Krabby Patty and a pack of french fries that were on a plate on top of the ordering window. "Order up!" He announced that he completed the order.

Squidward took the plate, got out of the boat, walked to the table where the customer who ordered the food was sitting, gave the food to the customer, and returned to the boat.

"Hey, Squidward. Hey, Squidward. Hey, Squidward. Hey, Squidward. Hey, Squidward." SpongeBob was still looking through the ordering window and poked the octopus's shoulder.

Squidward sighed. "Alright, I'll bite. What is it, SpongeBob?" He turned around and made eye contact with SpongeBob. He wanted to hear what SpongeBob was going to say so the sponge will stop annoying him. Working in the Krusty Krab would be more tolerable if he could make SpongeBob shut his mouth.

"Do you know what today is?" SpongeBob knew a certain fact that Squidward forgot.

"Annoy Squidward Day?" Squidward said something that occurred on every single day of the week.

"No, silly!" SpongeBob laughed. "Today is the beginning of the judging for employee of the month." He took out a calendar and looked at it for a few seconds before putting it back. The sponge wanted to make sure that he was right.

"SpongeBob, don't you know that award's a scam?" Squidward pointed something out that wasn't obvious to SpongeBob.

"What do you mean?" SpongeBob scratched his head in confusion.

"Mr. Krabs gives you that award so you'll work harder for no extra money. Plus, I've been the employee of the month ever since our last fry cook quit his job." Squidward explained why he thought that the employee of the month award was a scam.

"That's only partially true, Squidward. He would give it to me because I work harder. You could win it again too if you tried harder since you've got competition now. He only gave that award to you because you were the only employee still working in the restaurant." SpongeBob smirked and pointed at Squidward and then at himself.

**"**What's the point of working and trying harder? To get my face on the Wall of Shame?" Squidward looked at a frame with a photo inside of it that was on a wall. It was a photo of Squidward and there was a label on the top of the frame that said 'Squidward Tentacles' and a label on the bottom of the frame that said 'January'.

"Squidward, you've got it all wrong. Having pride in your work is nothing to be ashamed of, why it's the only thing that makes it all worthwhile." SpongeBob was being sincere.

Mr. Krabs was inspecting the kitchen when he heard what SpongeBob said. "Thattaboy, SpongeBob!" The crustacean gave the sponge a thumbs up. "This is going to be a tough one though! There's no clear cut winner!" The boss tried to encourage his employees to work harder so one of them could get the award. However, the words that he spoke weren't honest.

Squidward took out a magazine and began to read it.

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob. "Watch out, SpongeBob. You might see the same face on the wall this month." He whispered into the sponge's ear and tried to intimidate SpongeBob since he could receive his first employee of the month award tomorrow.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked at Squidward and raised his brow.

"That's right, SpongeBob. He might have a few tricks up his sleeve." Mr. Krabs smirked.

SpongeBob quickly exited the kitchen and looked at the frame with Squidward's picture on it. The photo of the octopus laughed in SpongeBob's head as Mr. Krabs and Squidward laughed at him in real life. The yellow sponge knew right away that he had to get the award and couldn't let Squidward get away with another picture on the wall. A new face was going to be on the wall for all to see. 'I can't let the quality of my work slip up.' He thought to himself. SpongeBob then returned to the kitchen and waited for the next order from Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was flipping Krabby Patties on the grill until he put his spatula under a certain patty. He tried to flip it but couldn't lift it from the grill; it was stuck to the grill due to the build-up of grease that was under it and that was caused by negligence. The sponge focused too much on flipping the other patties.

Spongebob sweatdropped and bit his lip. It reminded him that Squidward might get the award tomorrow because he was a better worker than him, he had taken Mr. Krabs' words very seriously and the lie that he said was the truth to him. He was completely oblivious to the fact that he put much more effort into his job than Squidward does and would probably become employee of the month anyway.

The sponge managed to get the patty off the grill but put too much force in his lift. The patty soared and became stuck to the ceiling.

SpongeBob searched through the kitchen for something that he can throw at the patty to make it fall down.

Squidward looked through the ordering window and saw what had happened. "Need some help?" A line of customers that was of moderate length was in front of the octopus.

SpongeBob yelled in fright for a second and then covered his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Squidward raised his brow.

"Making... Krabby Patties?" SpongeBob smiled nervously.

"That award is getting into your head! Don't you know that picture on the wall is just a load of-" Squidward was going to say something but got interrupted.

SpongeBob found a spoon and threw it at the patty that was stuck on the ceiling. The spoon fell to the floor and the patty fell down as well. The patty fell into a fan that was near the grill and was grinded into small pieces of meat. The pieces of meat flew from the fan and covered Squidward's face and shirt.

"...garbage." Squidward finished his sentence and then wiped the pieces of meat off his face and clothes.

"Please don't tell Mr. Krabs about this! It'll hurt my chances of winning the award!" SpongeBob begged for Squidward's forgiveness.

"I already told you, that award is a bunch of baloney!" Squidward lost his temper.

"That is not true, Squidward. Like this hat, that award is a symbol of-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted by Squidward.

"It's a symbol that you're a chump!" Squidward made a nasty remark and grabbed SpongeBob's employee hat.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he gasped. "No, Squidward!"

Squidward entered the kitchen and threw the hat to the floor. "And this is a symbol of what I think of the employee of the month award!" The octopus stomped on SpongeBob's employee hat multiple times. He then stomped out of the room in anger.

SpongeBob picked up the hat, quickly fixed it, and put it back on. He was still worried about not becoming the employee of the month and was now also concerned for Squidward's well-being.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was staring at the picture of Squidward that was on the wall. "What if Squidward's right? What if the award is a phony? Does this mean my whole body of work is meaningless?!" He was talking to himself as he tried to answer several questions that was on his mind after hearing what Squidward said.

The photo in the frame transformed to a photo of SpongeBob in an army hat and that sponge had a solemn expression on his face. This was occurring inside SpongeBob's mind. 'Stop that kind of talk, sailor! This is war now, private! That's exactly what he wants you to think! This is no time to go lily-livered on us!' The sponge in the picture spoke.

"But, sir..." SpongeBob spoke out loud but was only communicating with his subconscious.

'There's no room for 'but's' in war, soldier! He wants you to crack! He's trying to trick you, get inside your mind! You will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing to defeat him! Have I made myself clear, private?' The sponge in the army hat replied. He was a representation of SpongeBob's true feelings. He wanted SpongeBob to not think that he won't get the employee of the month award instead of Squidward.

"Crystal, sir!" SpongeBob made a military salute.

'Good! Now move out!' The yellow sponge pointed towards the kitchen and transformed back to a picture of Squidward.

SpongeBob made a facial expression that was just as serious as the picture of himself wearing an army hat. He made a half-way turn and marched to the kitchen like a soldier.

Squidward raised his brow at SpongeBob's behavior and shook his head. 'SpongeBob's becoming more and more crazy by the minute.' He thought to himself.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 6:00 PM.

**C-CRREEEAAK **

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs locked the double door with his key. "Well, I'm gonna judge to see who's gonna be the employee of the month. You two lads better come on time tomorrow." The crab smirked and walked to the horizon.

SpongeBob and Squidward walked towards their homes.

SpongeBob was still marching like a soldier and pretended that Squidward didn't exist. Not a single word came out of his mouth.

Squidward was pleased that SpongeBob was being quiet but knew there was something amiss with the sponge. "SpongeBob, I think you're becoming insane. You're taking that scam way too far for my health and your own health." The octopus broke the silence. He feared that SpongeBob will start doing antics to make sure that he won't get the award.

SpongeBob ignored him and continued to march. His eyes were glued to the horizon that was in front of him.

Squidward took a deep breath and kept his mouth shut for the rest of the walk.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The clock on the foghorn showed 8:45 PM.

SpongeBob opened the window in his bedroom and took out a pair of binoculars. He looked through the binoculars and aimed it at the window of Squidward's bedroom. He watched Squidward as the octopus prepared his bed so he could go to sleep, he was in his pajamas. The octopus exited the bedroom and entered the bathroom. "I won't let Squidward win!" SpongeBob spoke while gritting his teeth. He was doing exactly what the picture of himself told him to do, trying to the best of his ability to earn the employee of the month award. The sponge noticed an alarm clock inside the bedroom and made his binoculars zoom in on the object. "He can't go to work if he doesn't wake up. Target sited." SpongeBob put his binoculars away and closed the window. He quickly exited the bedroom and ran downstairs. He eventually exited the pineapple and walked up to a window of Squidward's tiki.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob stealthily climbed the wall below the window, opened the window, and crouched on the windowsill. He scanned the living room to see if anyone was there but nobody was in sight and he then jumped into the room. The sponge then tip-toed up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

He entered a small hallway and saw four doors. There were lights coming from the two doors at the end of the hallway. He also heard a sink and someone brushing his teeth from the left door at the end of the hall. SpongeBob guessed that the left door was where he can enter the bathroom and the right door was where he can enter the bedroom. He walked down the hallway.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the right door and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the opening and closing of a door outside the bathroom and stopped brushing his teeth. He turned around and walked towards the exit. The octopus wanted to know where the sound was coming from.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the door and exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sweatdropped as he heard Squidward exiting the bathroom. He darted his eyes around the room in search of a hiding spot so Squidward won't see him. The sponge found a green plant that was on a drawer and was near the door. He ran towards it and crouched behind the drawer. The sponge was completely covered from sight by the drawer.

**CRRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the room and saw not a single person or suspicious thing. 'I probably left this door ajar.' The octopus shrugged his shoulders and exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

He returned to the bathroom and resumed the brushing of his teeth. Squidward brushed his teeth quickly so he can go to sleep on time.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up from the drawer and crawled across the bed. His eyes were locked to the alarm clock and he slowly moved his hand towards the alarm clock.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward finished brushing his teeth, turned off the lights, and exited the bathroom once again. He grabbed the doorknob but struggled to open the door that led to the bedroom since he closed the door too hard as he left. It was one of those nuisances that occur at the worst possible times, Squidward might miss out on his beauty sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the doorknob moving and bit his lip. He looked at the pillow that was on the bed and crawled into it. His body almost perfectly fitted into the pillow. "Phew." He wiped a few drops of sweat off his brow as he was inside the pillow.

**CRRREEEAAAK **

**SLAM**

Squidward managed to open the door and entered the bedroom. He flicked the light switch from 'ON' to 'OFF' and the lights in the room turned off. The octopus laid down on the bed and put the blanket over himself. He rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

A pause.

The pillow felt far more uncomfortable than usual since it wasn't as soft as it was on previous nights. Squidward tossed his head around the pillow and then tried to adjust it with his hands.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's hands tickled SpongeBob's skin. The sponge smiled widely but couldn't contain his laughter. He released a giggle from his mouth for a second.

S-S-S-S-S

"Huh?" Squidward sat up in his bed and looked around the room. Nobody else was there and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The octopus eventually laid down on his bed and adjusted the uncomfortable pillow once again.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's face turned red and scrunched up as the sponge tried to contain his laughter. The octopus's hands continued to tickle SpongeBob's skin for several seconds until they stopped.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward gave up with trying to adjust the stubborn pillow and decided to sleep with the uncomfortable pillow for the night. He closed his eyes and instead tried to clear his mind so he can fall asleep.

A long pause.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a deep and quiet breath, his eyes focused on the alarm clock that was only less than a foot away from him. An excellent opportunity to seize the alarm clock was given to him. He reached his arm from the pillow and towards the alarm clock.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward felt something moving inside the pillow and opened his eyes. He looked at the alarm clock through the corner of his eye to see what time it was. He saw a yellow arm coming from his pillow and it was trying to grasp the alarm clock. The octopus nearly had a heart attack and flinched. He was frightened by the arm. "**AAAHHHH!**" Squidward screamed in terror.

"AAAAHHH!" SpongeBob screamed as well due to becoming frightened by Squidward's screaming.

Squidward picked up the strangely heavier than normal pillow and threw it across the room.

**SLAM**

**THUD**

The pillow hit the wall and landed on the floor. SpongeBob crawled out of the pillow, stood up, and made a poker face. One of the worst ways to get caught in the act had just happened.

"SPONGEBOB?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Squidward became berserk and yelled at the yellow sponge.

SpongeBob ran to the alarm clock and grabbed it. "You can't win that award if you don't get up for work!" He threw the alarm clock to the floor with all the force he could muster into his arm.

**CRRAAASSH**

The alarm clock broke into numerous pieces.

Squidward stood up from his bed, opened the drawer where the alarm clock used to be on, and took out another alarm clock. The octopus laughed by honking his nose as he put the clock on the drawer and began to adjust it to the right time.

SpongeBob snatched the alarm clock from Squidward's hands and threw it to the floor.

**CRRRAAASSH**

That alarm clock broke into many pieces as well.

Squidward walked to the closet of the room and opened the door. He smirked as he revealed that there was a large amount of alarm clocks on the middle shelf of the closet.

SpongeBob ran to the closet and grabbed some of the alarm clocks.

**C-C-C-CRRRAAASSH**

The sponge threw the alarm clocks to the floor at the same time and broke all of them. He proceeded to break all of the alarm clocks on the middle shelf of the closet.

"Stop it, SpongeBob! If I really wanted that award, I could win it with my tentacles tied!" Squidward grabbed one of SpongeBob's arms and pulled him from the closet. His anger had lessened to irritation.

"That can be arranged." SpongeBob glared at Squidward. He thought that Squidward had challenged him to a competition. The yellow square's personality from previous days and nights had been eroded to a jerk who doesn't have any consideration for other people. His determination to get that award from Mr. Krabs had destroyed the other traits of his personality and replaced them with more despicable ones.

"You're a lunatic, SpongeBob!" Squidward stated something that was very obvious by now.

"Maybe so, but I've never won the employee of the month award!" SpongeBob folded his arms and continued to glare at Squidward.

"Are you trying to say that I should feel sorry for you?!" Squidward raised his brow and was about to lose his temper again.

"More like better than you. Mr. Krabs always relies on me when he needs help from someone and I always work to the best of my ability. All I've seen you do is goofing off and sleeping on the job." SpongeBob smirked.

"Oh, that's it, square-for-brains! That's it! I'm going to show you how easy it is to win that award. I'm going to be the new employee of the month! I will prove to you that I am far more competent than you!" Squidward became pissed off and actually challenged the sponge.

"Well, I'm going in early to wax the floors!" SpongeBob turned around and walked towards the exit of the bedroom. He wanted to go back to his home so he can sleep and wake up early in the morning.

"Don't bother. I'll have done it already by the time you get there!" Squidward narrowed his eyes at the sponge.

"Well, you'll have to get up pretty early to get there before me!" SpongeBob knew that Squidward sometimes oversleeps.

"I don't need to sleep! Loser!" Squidward decided to deprive himself of sleep so he can prove his point.

"Well, me neither!" SpongeBob accepted the additional challenge.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom and eventually exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward were watching and glaring at each other through their open bedroom windows.

S-S-S-S-S

"Look at him. Watching me." SpongeBob spoke his thoughts out loud.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm watching you, SpongeBob. You're not leaving before me." Squidward assured himself that he will exit his tiki and run to the Krusty Krab when he sees SpongeBob moving away from the window. If that sponge can sneak into his house, he could have other tricks up his sleeve.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hey Squidward, getting sleepy huh?!" SpongeBob yelled out his question so Squidward can hear him, it was an attempt at intimidating the octopus.

S-S-S-S-S

"No, how about you?!" The question didn't affect Squidward at all. The octopus yelled the question back to SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

"Nope!" SpongeBob shook his head.

S-S-S-S-S

A pause. There was silence between the two neighbors.

S-S-S-S-S

'Time for some drastic measures.' Squidward took out his clarinet. He then played a decent-sounding lullaby so SpongeBob can fall asleep. If the yellow sponge fell asleep, the octopus would have a major advantage in the race to the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes became heavy after he heard the music for several seconds. The music from Squidward's clarinet had suddenly made him more drowsy. "Night night." He spoke quietly and made a goofy smile.

**THUD**

He collapsed to the floor and fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward chuckled and put the clarinet away.

**SLAM**

He closed the window.

**CRRREEEAAK **

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the door and quickly exited his bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the closing of a window and woke up. "Huh?" He wiped his eyes until his vision was no longer hazy and stood up. The sponge looked through his bedroom window and noticed that Squidward's bedroom's window was closed. "He won't get there on my watch."

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob rapidly exited his bedroom and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

He entered the garage and snatched a shovel. The sponge then exited the garage and ran to the front door.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the door and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

He sprinted towards Squidward's tiki and stopped in front of the entrance. He quickly dug a hole in the shape of a square with the shovel. Once he was finished, he climbed out of the hole and hid behind the tiki. The yellow sponge was waiting for Squidward to fall into the trap.

A pause.

**CRREEAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and stepped out of the tiki. He fell through the square hole.

**THUD**

The octopus landed on the ground that was below the surface. "SpongeBob!" Squidward stood up, looked up to the night sky, and shook his fist.

SpongeBob walked to one of the edges of the hole, looked below him, and twirled his shovel. "Hey Squidward! Going somewhere?" He smiled at his success of trapping Squidward.

"I'm going to wring you dry when I get out of here! Now get me out of here!" Squidward tried to climb one of the walls of the hole but his hands continued to slip and he repeatedly fell to the ground. He threatened to do something nasty to the sponge once he escaped the trap.

"Alright, Squidward, I'll stop by after work!" SpongeBob laughed and walked towards his pineapple. He predicted that Squidward will get out of the hole by the time he was already working at the Krusty Krab.

"SpongeBob! SpongeBob!" Squidward continued to yell at SpongeBob. He stomped with one of his feet and pounded one of the walls of the square hole with his fists.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in his bedroom. "Now to get some rest." He took off his shoes and laid down on his bed. He put the purple blanket with the floral pattern over himself. "Don't want to look tired for my employee of the month photo." He decided that depriving himself of sleep so he can prevent Squidward from getting to the Krusty Krab before him wasn't a wise decision and was confident that he dug a large-enough hole so Squidward can't get out of it until the morning.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Gary was sleeping on the newspapers. The snail had begun to sleep long before SpongeBob was up to his antics.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Rrrggghh!" Squidward climbed to the edge of the hole and finally managed to get out of the hole. He laid down on the ground in exhaustion and wiped some sweat off his brow. The octopus eventually stood up and walked to the front door of his tiki. The octopus knew that SpongeBob had entered his pineapple since he heard the pineapple's door while he was in the hole.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward hastily opened the door and entered his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus opened the door and entered the closet in his living room, and took out several wooden planks, many nails, and a hammer. He closed the door and ran towards the front door. He then exited the tiki. Squidward was in his home for only a minute. He had a trap of his own to make sure that SpongeBob wasn't going to get to the Krusty Krab on time.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran towards the front door of SpongeBob's pineapple. He put a few planks on the door.

**WHACK**

**WHACK**

**WHACK**

**WHACK**

He nailed them to the metal door with the hammer. The octopus then quickly scaled the exterior walls of the pineapple and nailed the rest of the planks to the windows of the pineapple. He wanted to make the sponge think that it was still nighttime during the morning since the planks will block the sunlight. Squidward then slid across the wall of the pineapple and safely landed on the ground. "That oughta hold him." He smiled and returned to his tiki. The octopus decided that now would be a good time to get some sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had heard some loud sounds coming from outside and woke up. He looked at the window and noticed that it was covered in darkness. The sponge's eyes bugged out and he knew the culprit who had made the window this way. "Squidward!" SpongeBob put on his shoes and exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

He ran downstairs, ran straight through the kitchen, and entered the living room. He walked to the front door and tried to open it. He could twist the knob but couldn't open the door. 'He must've covered the door too.' SpongeBob thought to himself and took out his karate gloves, he was going to open the door with force. He put on his karate gloves and stepped back.

**CLANK**

SpongeBob punched the door and heard the breaking of some wood and a few small metal objects falling to the ground.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and looked around it from outside the pineapple. He noticed that there were broken wooden planks and a few nails on the ground. "Nice try, Squidward." The sponge put his karate gloves away.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door and walked up to Squidward's tiki.

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the front door of the tiki open and walked up to SpongeBob.

The two stopped walking and glared at each other menacingly.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "I think I know a way we can settle this." The octopus spoke and walked away from the neighborhood.

SpongeBob followed Squidward.

Squidward stopped walking in front of a group of large rocks. "You got some rope?" He made eye contact with SpongeBob.

"Wait a sec." SpongeBob ran to his pineapple and entered the building.

A long pause.

SpongeBob exited the pineapple and ran up to Squidward with a long piece of rope. "What now?"

"Cut it in half." Squidward was looking at the group of rocks and was trying to find the best rocks that he and SpongeBob can pull.

SpongeBob took out a pair of scissors and cut the rope into two pieces that were equal in length.

Squidward took one of the pieces of the rope and tied one end to one of the rocks and tied the other end to his torso. "We're going to pull two rocks to the Krusty Krab. Whoever gets there first will have the right to speak and impress Mr. Krabs. Is that a deal?"

"Alright. I'll do it." SpongeBob tied himself to a rock as well and pulled the rock until he was next to Squidward. "Who's gonna do the countdown?"

"I'm gonna do it." Squidward spoke and faced the horizon. "Three..."

SpongeBob leaned forward and made his hands touch the ground as if he was an Olympic runner.

"Two..." Squidward took a deep breath and made sure that the rope wasn't too tight.

SpongeBob did a few warm-ups by stretching his muscles.

"One..." Squidward leaned forward and put his hands on the ground as well. "GO!" He announced that the race had begun.

SpongeBob and Squidward pulled their rocks forward. Not a single person was ahead of the other.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven hours and forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

SpongeBob and Squidward could see the Krusry Krab but were still far away from the restaurant. The two were extremely exhausted and could barely move their limbs or pull the rocks. They hadn't slept or eaten anything in more than eleven hours and it took a toll on their bodies. Just like how the race began, no person was ahead of the other.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Squidward collapsed to the ground.

"SpongeBob, truce?" Squidward looked at SpongeBob. He wanted to end the race since he knew that they can't finish the race and that Mr. Krabs has probably decided the employee of the month already.

"Truce." SpongeBob made eye contact with the octopus and nodded. He agreed with Squidward.

"SpongeBob, I can't take it anymore. If we keep this up, neither of us will win the award." Squidward said his thoughts out loud.

"You're right. We should save our energy for work where we really need it." SpongeBob said what was on his mind as well.

"Okay, let's have a good clean fight." Squidward wanted to have a competition between him and SpongeBob where they don't trap or pull dirty tricks on each other.

"And may the better man win." SpongeBob added to Squidward's statement and held out his hand.

SpongeBob and Squidward smiled and shook hands.

'He's nothing but a lying, boneless, ink-squirting, big-nosed phony!' SpongeBob thought to himself. He was still paranoid about Squidward tricking him into a trap.

'Look at that buck-toothed, corn-fed smile. You can't trust him as far as you can throw him.' Squidward spoke in his mind. He thought that SpongeBob was luring him into a trap.

The two were still shaking hands since they were thinking to themselves.

'As soon as he stops shaking my hand...' SpongeBob continued to think to himself.

'...I'm gonna make a run for it.' Squidward was thinking exactly what SpongeBob was thinking.

The two laughed nervously and then sprinted towards the Krusty Krab. Even when the two were in extreme fatigue, they continued to try to beat the other and become the employee of the month.

Mr. Krabs whistled as he walked up to the front door of the Krusty Krab with his key. "Money, money, gonna make some money!" He unlocked the double door and noticed the reflection of a running sponge and an octopus on the glass doors. "Ah, it warms me wallet to see me employees coming in so early." The crab smiled, turned around, and saw SpongeBob and Squidward. "Boys, you're early!" He stated the obvious.

SpongeBob and Squidward didn't stop sprinting and headed straight for Mr. Krabs.

"Wait!" Mr. Krabs held his hands out as a signal for them to stop sprinting.

**S-SLAM**

The two pushed Mr. Krabs forward and barged open the double door. The sponge and octopus entered the Krusty Krab.

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs fell to the wooden floor.

SpongeBob and Squidward ran to the kitchen.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

They quickly entered the kitchen and turned on the sink. They filled a bucket with water and dipped a towel in water each.

**SLAM**

The two employees exited the kitchen. Squidward ran to a table while SpongeBob crouched over the floor.

"CLEAN TABLES, MR. KRABS! " Squidward made eye contact with Mr. Krabs, wore a smile, and furiously washed the table with his wet towel. He then ran to another one.

"LOOK, MR. KRABS! CLEAN FLOORS!" SpongeBob washed certain parts of the floor as fast as he could with his wet towel and dipped it into the bucket when needed. Once he was finished, he stood up and ran back to the kitchen while still holding the towel. He opened the cabinet and took out a pile of sparkly clean dishes. "CLEAN DISHES, MR. KRABS!" The sponge turned on the blue faucet of the sink and washed the dishes with the wet towel.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs stood up and scratched his head. "What's going on here?! He was dumbfounded by what he was seeing. This was one of the few times in his management of the restaurant that he had seen Squidward do something nice instead of slacking off.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRAASSH**

SpongeBob accidentally dropped a dish to the floor and made it break into several pieces. "IT'S MUCH MORE EFFICIENT TO CLEAN DISHES THIS WAY, MR. KRABS!" The sponge grabbed a mop that was leaning on the wall of the kitchen, dipped it into the bucket full of water, and mopped the remaining pieces of the dish. He was becoming extremely desperate to impress Mr. Krabs, he would try to mend every accident he made to the the best of his ability.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard the breaking of a dish and ran to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged open the door and saw SpongeBob mopping the dish with a mop. His eyes widened in shock.

SpongeBob released the mop from his grasp and jumped through the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge landed on the boat and opened the cash register. "LOOK, I'M PUTTING MY OWN MONEY IN THE REGISTER, MR. KRABS!" He took out his wallet and snatched a few dollar bills from it. He put the dollar bills into the cash register.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran through the doorway and entered the kitchen. He took out a spatula from the cabinet, turned on the grill, snatched a patty from a bag full of patties; and was about to drop the patty to the grill.

"**SSTOOOOOOOOOP!**" Mr. Krabs yelled at his employees.

S-S-S-S-S

Silence fell into the rooms of the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob got out of the boat and walked into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned off the grill and put the patty back into the bag.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Mr. Krabs asked a question in a clear voice.

"I want to become the employee of the month." SpongeBob and Squidward spoke at the same time and then glared at each other for saying the same words.

"I've already decided." Mr. Krabs smirked. "SpongeBob's the new employee of the month." He walked up to SpongeBob and patted him on the shoulder.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled and he grinned; he was overjoyed.

Squidward narrowed his eyes at the yellow square and green, envious fire burned in the pupils of his eyes.

"Now we just gotta get the camera." Mr. Krabs entered his office through a door in the kitchen. He was in search of the camera so he could take a photo of SpongeBob. That photo would be for the new picture that would be hung up on the wall.


	20. Arrgh!

**Chapter 20: Arrgh!**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the afternoon. The Krusty Krab was in a drought of customers that occurred weekly. There weren't any customers in the dining room. Squidward was lying in the boat and was reading a novel. SpongeBob was sitting at a table and was waiting for someone who was going to arrive at the restaurant. Mr. Krabs was looking through the windows for potential customers.

An empty horizon and the building of the Chum Bucket was all that the crustacean saw.

"Where could they be? They should've been here hours ago! Arrgh! Not a customer in sight. If I don't make any money today, I'll surely break out in a rash!" Mr. Krabs was frustrated since there wasn't any money that was being put into the cash register.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs saw a pink sea star walking from the horizon and towards the Krusty Krab. The crab gasped and made a wide smile. As the sea star walked closer and closer to the building, Mr. Krabs noticed that he was carrying some sort of box in one of his arms.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick entered the Krusty Krab. He dropped the thin and rectangular box that he was holding to the table where SpongeBob was sitting.

"Hey, Pat. Let's start right away!" SpongeBob grinned and stood up. He opened the box and took a red piece out of the five pieces that were available. "It would've been cool if they had my favorite color in there." The sponge said his thoughts out loud.

Patrick snatched the green piece. "This one is kinda like my favorite color." He looked at the piece closely.

SpongeBob took the board, put it on the table, and opened it. The board looked like a treasure map with certain things 'popping out' as if the players who play this game were hunting for real treasure. The sponge put his piece on the tile that had green text that said 'START'.

Patrick put his piece on that tile as well. "Rock paper scissors to see who goes first." He prepared one of his hands for the game of 'rock paper scissors'.

SpongeBob prepared his hand as well.

"Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!" The two best friends spoke in unison. Patrick's hand was a 'rock' while SpongeBob's hand was a 'paper'.

"Best two out of three." Patrick prepared his hand again.

SpongeBob smirked and prepared his hand as well.

"Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!" The sponge and sea star said the same words at the same time. SpongeBob's hand was a pair of 'scissors' while Patrick's hand was a 'paper'.

"Tartar sauce." Patrick mumbled and folded his arms.

SpongeBob grabbed a die that was in the box and threw it across the table. The die showed a five. SpongeBob moved his piece by five tiles.

Patrick took the die and threw it across the table. The die landed on a six. "Yes!" He pumped his fist and moved the green piece by six tiles.

"Not on my watch." SpongeBob took the die and shook it in his hands. "C'mon, c'mon..." He closed his eyes and whispered to himself so the die could land on a good number. The yellow sponge then threw the die across the board. The die landed on a two.

SpongeBob sucked his teeth and moved his piece by two tiles. He was only a tile ahead of Patrick.

Patrick giggled at SpongeBob's failure and rolled the die across the table. The die landed on a four. "Not bad." The starfish moved his piece by four tiles.

SpongeBob snatched the die and shook it in his hands. He stuck out his tongue as he rolled the die across the board. The die landed on a six. The yellow square gasped and smiled widely. He moved the red piece by six tiles and landed on a pile of sand that was supposed to represent a hill. "Yippee!" The sponge yelled in delight and took a miniature shovel from the box. He dug through the 'hill' and revealed eight gold coins. "I'm rich! Look Patrick, eight gold doubloons!" SpongeBob took all of the coins and showed them to Patrick.

Mr. Krabs heard what SpongeBob said and his eyes widened. It reminded him of when he had discovered some doubloons in a treasure chest during his pirate days. "Wait, I saw it first!" The crustacean leaped

**THUD**

His claws grabbed the edge of the table where SpongeBob and Patrick were playing but the rest of his body landed on the floor. "Mine, mine!" Mr. Krabs then stood up and noticed that the two friends were playing a board game. "Huh?!"

"Boy, Mr. Krabs, you sure are sweaty." SpongeBob noticed that Mr. Krabs was sweating in excitement.

"What's this? Where are the doubloons?" Mr. Krabs searched through the board and box for the doubloons.

SpongeBob laughed. "There are no real doubloons, Mr. Krabs! This board game is called 'The Flying Dutchman's Treasure Hunt'."

"Based on a real treasure map." Patrick flipped the cover of the box and pointed at something in small print that was below the name of the game.

"Take a break and play around with us." SpongeBob took the three other pieces from the box and held them out for Mr. Krabs.

"Yeah! C'mon sweaty." Patrick moved to another seat so Mr. Krabs can sit at the table.

"Have you finished cleaning the tables?" Mr. Krabs wanted to make sure that SpongeBob had finished his duties.

"I cleaned the tables Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob was confident that he cleaned all of the tables in the dining room.

"Ay, but did you scrape all the gum off the underside?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow and smirked.

"I already took care of it." SpongeBob quickly looked under all of the tables to make sure that he removed all of the gum from them.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "Alright, lads. Looks like you've shanghaied me." He sat in one of the seats of the table and took a blue piece from SpongeBob's hand. The crab put his piece on the tile that said 'START'.

"My turn." Patrick shook the die in his hands and rolled it across the table. The die landed on a five. "Five." He moved the green piece by five tiles and landed on a tile that had small black text saying 'CARD'. The sea star took a deck of cards from the box, shuffled them, and put it on the table. He picked up a card and read it out loud. "One of your shipmates has committed mutiny! Send him to the brig! Hmmm..." The sea star narrowed his eyes and looked at SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. He was deciding who was going to be sent to the 'brig'. "It's off to jail for you, Mr. Krabs." The starfish pointed at SpongeBob's boss, he didn't want to be unkind to his best friend. Patrick then moved Mr. Krabs' piece to a red tile that had text saying 'BRIG' and was outside the main road of tiles.

"Patrick, you're fired!" Mr. Krabs became irritated.

"But I don't even work here!" Patrick pointed out a detail that Mr. Krabs missed.

"Would you like a job, starting now?" Mr. Krabs smirked and took out an employee hat. He put it on Patrick's head.

"Boy, would I!" Patrick grinned and jumped up and down in excitement. He never had a job before.

"You're fired!" Mr. Krabs snatched the employee hat from Patrick's head and put it away.

"My turn." SpongeBob grabbed the dice and threw it across the table. The die landed on a four. "One, two, three, four." He moved his piece by four tiles and landed on a tile that had black text saying 'CARD'. The yellow square took a card from the deck and read it out loud. "Look for the 'Deacon's Goose' through the fork in the old tree and head that way." SpongeBob then stood up and walked to the other side of the table. He looked through the hole of a green tree that was on the board. "Well, I see Mr. Krabs' zipper is undone." The sponge tried to make a joke.

Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out and he gasped. "Shiver me timbers!" He looked down at his pants and noticed that it was completely zipped.

SpongeBob laughed. "Just kidding, Mr. Krabs. I'm almost to the treasure. Your turn again Mr. Krabs." He moved Mr. Krabs' piece back to the 'START' tile and gave the crustacean the die.

"Ooh, fish eyes." Mr. Krabs shook the die with one claw and rolled it across the table. The die landed on a three. "One, two, three." He moved his piece by three tiles and landed on a 'CARD' tile.

SpongeBob picked up a card and became surprised by what he saw. "Wow, this card's a rare one. Anyways, You are a real pirate. Go straight to the 'X' that marks the spot." He pointed at the sand pile marked by a red 'X' that was on the center of the board and gave his boss a miniature shovel. "You get to dig for treasure Mr. Krabs!"

"Treasure!" Mr. Krabs smiled from ear to ear and dug through the sand pile with the tiny shovel. He revealed a plastic treasure chest and opened it. "There it is! It's the Flying Dutchman's treasure!" Numerous tiny gold coins were inside of it and he took all of them out. "Gold, gold, gold. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine." He was in a state of euphoria as he held the gold coins and shook them to the air. Several rivulets of sweat ran down his neck and face due to his intense excitement.

"Hey, Mr. Krabs is getting all sweaty again." Patrick stated something that was obvious.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A young green man in brown pants entered the restaurant. "Rev up those fryers, 'cause I am sure hungry for one-" He got interrupted by Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs stood up, ran to the potential customer, and picked him up. He lost his temper since the man ruined his moment of achievement by interrupting it.

"Help! Help!" The young man was yelling for help as Mr. Krabs opened the double door so he can throw him out.

Mr. Krabs threw the young man out of the restaurant.

**THUD**

The young man fell to the ground and one of his legs hit it first. "My leg!" He held on to his leg with both hands and waited for the pain to go away.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the double door closed. "Can't you see we're closed?!" He flipped the sign on the double door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. The crab wanted to play the board game several times without getting interrupted. "Ready for another round? This is my kind of game!" He turned around and sat in the table where SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting.

"Hooray!" SpongeBob and Patrick grinned and yelled at the same time. They were glad that Mr. Krabs liked the game and wanted to play some more.

Meanwhile, Squidward found it to be very difficult to read his novel since SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs were making a ruckus over a board game. "Can you three be quiet?! I can't read with all of the sounds that you're making." He made a complaint since he was irritated at their behavior.

"We're yelling because the game is so fun! C'mon, Squidward, join us! You won't understand unless you play the game." SpongeBob signaled with one of his hands for Squidward to walk to the table. He wouldn't miss this opportunity to catch and reel in more players.

"You expect me to play such an unaesthetic game as that? SpongeBob, that game's for children. Haven't you read the label on the cover of that board game?" Squidward rejected SpongeBob's invitation.

"Who cares! The game's fun anyway. If we're annoying you, then join us already." Patrick moved out of the way so Squidward could have an available seat.

"If you keep complaining, I'll fire you." Mr. Krabs threatened Squidward with making him lose his job if the octopus continued to complain and in the process ruin the game. He thought that Squidward was almost just as annoying as the young man who interrupted the board game.

Squidward groaned, put his novel away, and got out of the boat. "You promise to stop annoying me when I finish trying the game?" He only wanted to play the board game so the others could stop yelling.

"We promise." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time and were being sincere. Mr. Krabs nodded.

Squidward sat in the table and took a brown piece from the box. "What now?"

"We gotta shuffle the treasure before playing the game again." SpongeBob picked up the board and pointed at how thick the bottom of the board was. "The board moves the treasures by doing it inside the bottom." He put the other pieces from the board to the table and filled the dug-through sand piles with sand. The sponge then folded the board and shook it. Numerous clicking and rattling sounds came from the board.

"It's like magic." Patrick looked at the board with wonder.

SpongeBob opened the board and put it on the table.

Everybody put their piece on the 'START' tile.

"Since Squidward's the newest player, he gets to go first." SpongeBob handed Squidward the die.

Squidward rolled the die across the table. The die landed on a four. He moved his piece by four tiles.

SpongeBob took the die and threw it across the table. The die landed on a one. "Fish paste." He frowned and moved his piece by one tile. He wanted to get a good throw on his first turn.

Squidward couldn't help himself and smiled. He was already enjoying the board game because he found SpongeBob's failures to be quite amusing.

Patrick took the die and shook it with both of his hands. He rolled it across the table and the die landed on a three. The sea star moved his piece by three tiles and landed on a 'CARD' tile. He shuffled the deck of cards and took one card from the deck. Patrick read the card out loud. "You have an extra boat. Which crew mate will you give it to?" The starfish immediately made eye contact with SpongeBob. "It'll be for you, buddy." He pointed at his best friend and continued to read the card out loud. "The crew mate can now move by an extra tile whenever he/she moves for the next three turns."

"Thanks, Pat." SpongeBob smiled widely.

Mr. Krabs took the die and shook it in his claws. He then threw it across the table. The die landed on a five. The crab moved his piece by five tiles.

"It's your turn again, Squidward." SpongeBob pointed at the octopus.

Squidward took the die and quickly rolled it across the table. The die landed on a three. The octopus moved his piece by three tiles and landed on a 'CARD' tile. He took a card from the deck and read it out loud. "One of your shipmates has committed mutiny. Send him to the brig." He smirked and pointed at SpongeBob. "See ya later, SpongeBob."

SpongeBob frowned and moved his piece to the 'BRIG' tile.

Squidward began to laugh. "I'm starting to like this game."

"I'm glad that you're enjoying it." SpongeBob didn't smile.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:30 PM.

Squidward walked back to his home at 6:00 PM while the others stayed at the Krusty Krab and continued to play the board game.

Mr. Krabs shook the die in his claws and rolled it across the table. The die landed on a six. "Six! One, two, three, four, five, six." He moved the piece by six tiles and landed on the sand pile that was on the center of the board. "I win again!" He grinned and pumped his fist. "Oh, that's seventeen times in a row."

Patrick was sleeping on the table. He fell asleep out of boredom by the time the eleventh game begun.

SpongeBob was lethargic and was bored as well. The board game had lost all of its appeal for him by the time that Mr. Krabs wanted to play the game again for the tenth time. "I think we ought to call it a night, Mr. Krabs. I really got to get some sleep."

"Oh, you can't walk out on me now." Mr. Krabs put his piece and SpongeBob's piece on the 'START' tile. He still didn't want to stop playing the board game.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob stood up from the table and yawned. "I can't play anymore." He grabbed Patrick's arm and dragged him from his seat. "See you tomorrow." The sponge walked to the double door while he dragged the sea star.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the restaurant with Patrick. He forgot to bring the board and thin box with him.

"I can't send my crew to the brig just yet. I'll forgive their mutiny." Mr. Krabs folded the board and put it into the box. He then put the pieces, the die, and the deck of cards into the box and closed it. He carried the rectangular box with one of his arms, lifted the table where the four had played, and carried it with the other hand.

He walked towards the double door.

**FLICK**

He turned off the lights right before he left the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

He exited the restaurant and locked the double door with his key.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sleeping in his bed. He decided to sleep earlier than usual since playing the board game with Mr. Krabs numerous times had made him extremely tired. He had brought Patrick to the rock and left him on the couch.

Gary was sleeping soundly on the newspapers.

All of the rooms in SpongeBob's pineapple were silent and still.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob's pineapple with the table, the thin box, and a chair that he had brought from his home. The crustacean had went back to his anchor and waited until he felt like the time was right to visit SpongeBob's house. He put the table on the ground and opened the box. He unfolded the board and put it on the table. He took out the deck of cards, the die, and the pieces and put them in their appropriate places. The boss then stepped to the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Knock

Knock

SpongeBob heard some knocking on the front door that came from below and immediately opened his eyes. "Huh?" The sponge stood up from his bed. He was in his pajamas. "Who's there?" He walked up to the door to the right.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked downstairs and entered the kitchen. He then entered the living room and turned on the lights.

**CRRREEEAAK**

The yellow sponge opened the front door and saw Mr. Krabs.

"C'mon, SpongeBob. One more game. I can smell the treasure." Mr. Krabs sat in his chair and put the pieces that he and SpongeBob previously chose on the 'START' tile.

"Mr. Krabs, it is late. Go to bed. Good night, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob droned and began to close the front door. He wanted to brush off his boss from his shoulder so he can resume his sleep.

"Wind is perfect, the tide is right. Let's hunt for treasure." Mr. Krabs refused to leave.

"Mr. Krabs, you gotta-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted.

"That's awful lad." Mr. Krabs shook his head and picked up the die. "If the Dutchman hears ya, we'll never get his treasure." He was determined to play another session of the board game with SpongeBob.

"But, Mr. Krabs-" SpongeBob said something but got interrupted by Mr. Krabs again.

"I'll roll for ya boy." Mr. Krabs rolled the die across the table. The die landed on a six. "Six paces, now that's a good start, lad."

"But, Mr.-" SpongeBob got interrupted by the crab for the third time. He was losing his temper very quickly.

"One, two, three-" Mr. Krabs began to move SpongeBob's piece and was saying something but got interrupted by the sponge.

"**MR. KRABS! I WANNA GO TO BED!**" SpongeBob yelled at Mr. Krabs in frustration.

Mr. Krabs stopped moving the sponge's piece and became silent.

"Mr. Krabs, I'm sorry, but it's just a game, ya know?" SpongeBob apologized for his yelling and then slowly closed the front door further and further.

"A game. That's... right. Of course it is, my mistake. I guess I got a little carried away, eh? On this treasure we're dealing here. Sorry, for disturbing ya, lad." Mr. Krabs became more disappointed then before and put the pieces, the deck of cards, and the die into the box.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door and turned off the lights in the living room.

Mr. Krabs folded the board and put it into the box. He closed the box and picked it up. The crab also picked up the table and his chair. The crustacean then walked back to his anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his couch and was looking at the box of the board game.

"Based on a real treasure map, eh?" Mr. Krabs read the small text on the cover out loud and opened the box. He took out the board and unfolded it. At close inspection, the board looked remarkably similar to a treasure map.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. It was an idea that could make the board game far more engaging and entertaining by incorporating it into real life.

"If only I still had me old ship..." Mr. Krabs began to think of the materials that were needed for this real life pirate adventure. He stood up from the couch and walked up to the shell-phone. "I'd better tell me old pirate crew about this." The red crustacean picked the phone up and dialed a number. He was going to call the crew from his pirate days so that he can request for them to assist him in the building of a new ship. Mr. Krabs then put the phone near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten hours later...

Loud construction sounds were coming from something that was in front of Mr. Krabs' anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

Mr. Krabs and his old crew members pushed the pirate ship until it was in front of SpongeBob's pineapple. "Perfect. Stop right there!" The crab held out one of his hands as a signal for his crew members to stop pushing the ship. He was wearing clothes that a pirate captain would wear.

The crew released the ship from their grasp.

"You can go home now." Mr. Krabs smiled and signaled with one of his hands for the crew members to leave.

The crew walked away and went back to their homes.

Mr. Krabs climbed the ship and stood on the deck of the wooden vessel. "Avas! Pineapple, ho! Rock, no! Heave two, and prepare to be boarded!" He yelled at SpongeBob's pineapple and Patrick's rock so he could get he two friends' attention.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard Mr. Krabs' yelling and woke up. "Aw, go home already! I'm done playing that game, Mr. Krabs!" He was grumpy since it was his boss that woke him up in the morning. He rubbed his eyes until his vision was clear and got out of his bed. The sponge walked up to the bedroom's window and opened it. He looked through the opened window and saw Mr. Krabs in a pirate ship. The sponge's eyes widened in shock.

"It's Captain Krabs to you, and this is no game. We're gonna be pirates." Mr. Krabs spoke in an authoritative voice.

"Pirates?" SpongeBob was in a state of disbelief at what he was seeing and what Mr. Krabs was saying.

"Ay! How'd you like to go on a real treasure hunt, with a real treasure map?" Mr. Krabs turned around and took out the board. He quickly unfolded it, turned around, and showed it to SpongeBob. He didn't want the yellow square to know that the map was actually the board of a board game since that would make him look insane. The crustacean turned around again, folded the board, and put it away.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting in his couch and was watching TV while he overheard what Mr. Krabs was saying. His eyes widened and he smiled widely. The sea star stood up from his couch and jumped up to the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. "Treasure?" He walked up to the pirate ship that Mr. Krabs was standing on.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple after quickly running downstairs and entering the living room. "Treasure?" He was smiling from ear to ear.

SpongeBob and Patrick made eye contact with each other. "We're gonna be pirates, we're gonna be pirates!" They held their hands and danced. The two also chanted as they danced.

"Ay, ay, ay. Relay that skipping. Pirates don't skip." He ordered them to stop dancing. Mr. Krabs slid the wooden walkway that was on the deck until it was touching the edge of the vessel and the ground below. The crab then threw a large bag towards SpongeBob and Patrick. "Put on these pirate garbs, so I won't be embarrassed to be seen with ya. Arrgh." He ordered them to put on the clothes that were in the bag.

SpongeBob and Patrick opened the bag.

"Oh, Patrick. Look! Peg legs and eye patches." SpongeBob searched through the clothes in the bag and found a few black eye patches and wooden peg legs. He put two of the patches on his eyes and put a peg leg on both of his feet.

"Now don't you feel more like a pirate?" Patrick put on a worn shirt and asked SpongeBob a question.

"Look, I'm Peggy the Pirate!" SpongeBob smirked and tried to walk while wearing the eye patches and peg legs. He struggled to do so and clumsily walked up to the wooden walkway.

**THUD**

SpongeBob tripped on the plank and fell on it since the eye patches made him blind. "Ow."

Patrick put two eye patches on his eyes as well. "I'm Blind Beard the Pirate." He pretended that he was a real pirate and walked towards the walkway while he was blind. "Woah!"

**THUD**

The sea star tripped over the sponge and fell to the wooden walkway.

"Arrgh!" Mr. Krabs shook his head and walked down the large plank. He took the eye patches from the two friends' eyes and folded his arms.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up, they smiled nervously. The two thought that they pissed off Mr. Krabs.

"Hehe. Sorry, we got a little carried away." SpongeBob giggled in anxiety and sweatdropped.

"Since we're going on an actual pirate adventure, you'll be treated like pirates for the time being. REMEMBER. THAT." Mr. Krabs spoke in a stern manner since he was the captain.

"Loud and clear." SpongeBob made a serious facial expression and made a military salute.

Patrick saw what SpongeBob did and made a military salute as well. He wanted to look and act like a pirate to the best of his ability.

"Take off those peg legs." Mr. Krabs pointed at SpongeBob's peg legs. "You'll only need one of them."

"I didn't want them anyway." SpongeBob took off the peg legs and dropped them to the ground. "I was just playing around when I put them on."

Patrick took a peg leg and put it on one of his feet.

SpongeBob walked back to the bag and took out a pair of blue pants that had tears on the legs. He put on the pants and then took out a shirt that had red and white stripes. The sponge put on the shirt and dug through the bag for one final thing. He took out a pirate hat and put it on his head. "I'm ready!" The sponge smiled and made a thumbs up. He was confident that he looked like an authentic pirate.

Patrick walked to the bag and took out a red pirate rag. He tied the rag around his head and walked to the plank.

SpongeBob followed the sea star.

The two best friends walked up the walkway and entered the deck of the pirate ship.

Mr. Krabs took out a compass and showed it to the two crew mates. "I'll guide ya as you oar the ship."

SpongeBob looked at the ground that was below him and raised his brow. "How can we steer and oar a ship if we're on land?"

"Then just put more force into pushing the oars." Mr. Krabs walked towards the cabin.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and entered the cabin.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs came back out while carrying two very large oars. He put the two oars through the two holes that were on the edges of vessel and were near the center of the wooden ship. "I need to tell you two about one more thing." The crustacean walked to a chest and opened it.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the captain and stood next to the crab. They saw a few guns and swords. They sweatdropped and their faces drained of color at the sight of the weapons.

"In case if anyone tries to rob or attack the ship. You know what to do. Pirates don't do those karate moves when defending themselves." Mr. Krabs pointed at the weapons and closed the chest. He made the two crew mates realize that being a pirate wasn't something to be taken for granted and was a serious career. "Get on those oars." He spoke a command.

SpongeBob walked to the right oar and sat down behind it. He grabbed the oar with both of his hands.

Patrick ran to the left oar and sat behind it. He grabbed the oar with both of his hands as well.

Mr. Krabs took out the map, walked to the steering wheel, and grabbed it with both of his hands. "Off we go!"

SpongeBob and Patrick began to oar the ship. It was very difficult to oar the ship across the street but they managed to do it. The vessel was as slow as a snail as it moved across the street. The ship was meant to be propelled across water and not across land.

Mr. Krabs looked at the compass, unfolded the board, and then looked at the 'map'. "Move more to the left, lads." He made sure that the pirate ship was going exactly in the directions shown on the map.

SpongeBob and Patrick directed the oars towards the left. The ship soon got off the street and touched the ground. It became easier to oar the vessel since the sand wasn't as rough as the asphalt of the street and the ship went faster in the process.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Are we near our first stop?" SpongeBob continued to oar the boat as he spoke.

"Nope." Mr. Krabs looked at the map and compass and shook his head. "We've still got a few nautical miles to go."

SpongeBob became silent and concentrated on oaring the boat.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Keep a sharp lookout. According to the map, we're close to the first landmark." Mr. Krabs looked at the map and compass. He noticed that they were getting particularly close to the first landmark.

"Really? Can we see the map?" SpongeBob wanted to see the map so he could know what the landmark looked like. He wanted to search for the landmark with his eyes as he oared the ship.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped in sudden unease. "Uh... no! Only the captain can lay eyes on the map." He tried to make an excuse for not showing the map to SpongeBob. "Phew." The crab wiped some sweat off his brow

"Okie dokie, then." SpongeBob nodded in consent.

"Arrgh, a pirate doesn't say, 'okie dokie, then'. A pirate says, 'arrgh'!" Mr. Krabs wanted SpongeBob to speak more like a pirate.

"Okie... oops." SpongeBob laughed at his mistake. He was about to say "okie dokie" again. "I mean... arrgh! Captain Krabs." He smiled and sweatdropped. The sponge abruptly saw a moderately large plateau, the ship was heading directly towards it. The yellow square's eyes bugged out in shock. "Captain, we're about to hit... uhh... I mean... arrgh, Capt, arrgh, we're, arrgh, about, arrgh, to hit, arrgh-" SpongeBob tried to warn Mr. Krabs about the incoming plateau while trying his best to speak like a pirate but got interrupted by the captain.

"Out with it man, arrgh!" Mr. Krabs wanted to make SpongeBob's speech short and easy to understand.

"I, arrgh, think, arrgh, he's trying, arrgh, to say-" Patrick continued to mimic SpongeBob's behavior and words so he could act more like a pirate. He interjected "arrgh" between every word he spoke just like what SpongeBob did. The sea star got interrupted while he was speaking.

SpongeBob and Patrick were still oaring the ship towards the plateau.

**CRRRRAAAAAASSSSH**

The front of the vessel crashed into the plateau and broke into several pieces.

"Land..." Patrick finished his sentence.

"ARRGH! From now on, only the captain says 'arrgh'!" Mr. Krabs found a solution to SpongeBob and Patrick's problem of saying "arrgh" correctly. "Status report, Mr. SquarePants?" He looked at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob took his hands off the oars and stood up. He looked below the edge of the ship and saw the damage done to the front of the wooden vessel. "The whole ship is underwater captain." The sponge told Mr. Krabs that they could no longer oar the ship.

"Arrgh, we're marooned then. Our treasure hunt will have to continue on foot." Mr. Krabs walked to the edge of the ship and jumped.

**THUD**

The crustacean landed on the ground below.

"At least we landed on our first landmark." SpongeBob tried to stay optimistic even if the ship had crashed and was no longer usable.

SpongeBob and Patrick jumped as well.

**T-THUD**

The two friends landed on the ground.

"There's nothing of much use in the ship so we'll leave it alone. Just follow me." Mr. Krabs glanced at the map and compass and walked in a certain direction.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed the captain.

Mr. Krabs stopped walking, turned around, and handed Patrick the compass. "Just make sure that we're going in the same direction."

"Roger." Patrick made a military salute and looked at the compass.

The three resumed their walk.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs stopped walking and stood in front of a group of seaweed.

"This is the second landmark, boys. The seaweed with two leaves on it. 10,000 paces east." Mr. Krabs pointed at the seaweed and smiled at his success at leading his crew in the right direction.

"But captain, that seaweed had more than two leaves. I can also see a few more groups of seaweed not too far from it." SpongeBob pointed out two details that Mr. Krabs missed.

"Answer Patrick. Which way is east?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow, turned around, and made eye contact with Patrick.

"Ooh! East? I thought you said 'weast'!" Patrick looked at the compass and shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't aware of mistake that he had made while navigating the pirate crew.

"Weast? What kind of compass you reading lad?" Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes at the sea star. He was beginning to be suspicious of Patrick.

"This one, sir." Patrick held out the compass.

Mr. Krabs looked at the compass and facepalmed. The three had went ten-thousand paces west. "That's west, Patrick. You're fired again." The captain pointed out Patrick's mistake by pointing at the 'WEST' direction of the compass.

"Oops." Patrick bit his lip and sweatdropped.

The three turned around and began to walk east.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were sweating heavily and walked very slowly. The two struggled to follow their captain since they were exhausted. The sponge and sea star weren't used to walking across such a long distance.

Mr. Krabs didn't show any signs of weariness. The crustacean had went on many journeys as a pirate across numerous miles of land and sea. This adventure was quite short in distance compared to some of the extensive trips that he had experienced.

"Mr. Krabs, we're tired." SpongeBob stated the obvious.

Patrick's stomach grumbled; the sea star didn't eat or drink anything in a while. "And hungry." He added to SpongeBob's statement.

"Ooh. So this is my crew. You get a little tired, and a wee-bit hungry, and you want to shove off for home. Arrgh! That sickens me." Mr. Krabs turned around, folded his arms, and glared at his crew. He had went through far more severe hardships when he was a pirate, the crab had suffered near-starvation on a few journeys across the sea with his former pirate crew.

"A pirate is not judged by the notches in his compass, but by the sides of his booty. A pirate is judged by the loyalty of his crew. And without a loyal crew, what am I captain of? Just a bunch of sand!" Mr. Krabs kicked some sand in frustration and looked down at the ground.

Patrick felt some concern for Mr. Krabs but also didn't want to 'walk the plank' for not being loyal to his captain. "Don't get mad, Captain Krabs." He patted the crab on the shoulder and said such words so as to cheer Mr. Krabs up.

"Yeah, we'll be your loyal crew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow and smiled. He stopped slouching and stood up straight. He didn't feel as tired anymore and his loyalty to his boss had given him more energy to endure the many miles of walking.

"You'll stay with me then?" Mr. Krabs looked up and made eye contact with his crew. He smiled widely.

"We'll be the most loyal pirate crew ever!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled at the same time.

"I knew I could count on you boys. One for all!" Mr. Krabs held out one of his hands.

SpongeBob and Patrick stacked one of their hands each on Mr. Krabs' hand. "And all for one!" The two friends yelled simultaneously.

The three pirates raised their hands to the air.

A pause.

The three then continued their walk towards the second landmark.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs had already passed the second landmark and were walking to the third landmark. They saw a cave that went into a mountain and Mr. Krabs immediately thought that they had reached the third landmark. The mountain was only a mile away from Jellyfish Fields and the three pirates could even see the green edge of the lush plain.

"Looks like we're here." Mr. Krabs glanced at the map and was self-assured that he had navigated his crew to the third landmark. "We'll just rest in the cave but don't get too comfortable because we won't be staying there for long." The captain walked to the cave and entered it.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed the captain and entered the cave as well.

"When you lay down, watch out for sea urchins. You don't want to make the same mistake that I made." SpongeBob pointed at the ground of the cave and warned Patrick of sea urchins that were lurking in some parts of the cave.

"'kay." Patrick looked at the ground with caution.

The two friends laid down on the floor after they walked a certain distance into the cave. The sponge and starfish began to nap.

A long pause.

The sound of a rock falling to the ground was heard and it was coming from far away.

SpongeBob opened one of his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He didn't see anything suspicious and closed his eye. He resumed his nap.

The same but even louder sound was heard. It was definitely coming from somewhere deep inside the cave.

SpongeBob opened both of his eyes and sat up. He crawled over to Patrick and poked his shoulder. "Patrick, you heard that?"

Patrick woke up and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. It's just some rocks moving, SpongeBob. Nothing to worry about." He laid down again and was about to resume his nap when...

**ZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAPPP**

**ZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAPP**

**"AAAAHHHH!" **

The two best friends heard the electricity of a jellyfish's stingers and the shrieking of a certain captain. SpongeBob and Patrick gasped and stood up. The two pirates sprinted into the depths of the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was trying to fend himself from an attacking jellyfish but kept getting zapped by the pink creature. The crab had walked past a jellyfish hive as he went deep into the cave and unfortunately saw a jellyfish come out of the hive. The creature had noticed him and had attacked him because it thought that Mr. Krabs was an intruder to the hive.

**ZZZAAAP**

The jellyfish stung one of Mr. Krabs' feet.

"Yeow!" Mr. Krabs hopped on one foot.

"Captain Krabs!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled the same words at the same time as they entered the scene.

"**BUUUZZZZZ!**" The jellyfish thought that an invasion was occurring since it also thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were intruders to the hive as well. "Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz!" It called for the other members of the hive.

Nine angry jellyfish came out of the hive and prepared their stingers by charging them with painful amounts of blue electricity.

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZAAAAAAAAAPPP**

**ZZZZAAAAAPP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAAPP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

The ten jellyfish repeatedly stung SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs on several parts of their bodies.

Mr. Krabs noticed that the group of jellyfish were avoiding his claws and the areas near them. A light bulb lit up in his head. The crustacean lifted his arms towards the jellyfish.

The group of jellyfish backed away.

**SNAP**

**SNAP**

**SNAP**

**SNAP**

**SNAP**

**SNAP**

Mr. Krabs snapped his claws at the ten jellyfish.

The jellyfish fearfully flew back to their hive.

"Wow." SpongeBob's jaw dropped and could only utter one word. He marveled at how Mr. Krabs made the jellyfish fly back to their hive.

"That's amazing." Patrick said his thoughts out loud.

"No jellyfish could harm a true pirate." Mr. Krabs smirked and walked towards the exit of the cave. "C'mon, let's get out of here. This place is probably crawling with other nasty creatures that could attack us."

SpongeBob and Patrick made a military salute and followed the captain.

The three pirates exited the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

"So we're just gonna rest later on?" SpongeBob asked Mr. Krabs a question that was on his mind after Mr. Krabs had told him and Patrick to get out of the cave.

"Yep. We'll get to as many landmarks as possible before we become tired." Mr. Krabs looked at his map and walked in a certain direction. He handed SpongeBob the compass. "I can trust ya to make sure that I'm on the right direction."

"Ay, ay, sir." SpongeBob looked at the compass and diligent in making sure that Mr. Krabs was walking in the right direction.

S-S-S-S-S

One hour and thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The pirates had seen and walked past several landmarks. The three were very close to the Flying Dutchman's treasure.

"Alright. Let's stop here." Mr. Krabs stopped walking and put his map away. He took out the wooden pieces of a tent and a large cloth from his coat. The crab dropped the wooden pieces to the ground and built a tent with the pieces and the cloth. "I'll be napping in here." The captain entered the tent.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs unfolded the 'map' and put it on the ground. He laid down on the ground, closed his eyes, and began to nap.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick laid down on the ground near the tent.

"I'm so loyal that I don't even mind sleeping out in the open while Captain Krabs sleeps in his comfortable tent." SpongeBob told Patrick about how loyal he was to his boss.

"I'm so loyal, I haven't bathed in weeks." Patrick smiled and told SpongeBob how loyal he was to his captain. He was trying to make a joke instead of saying something stupid.

"But we've only been gone a few hours." SpongeBob pointed something out that he thought that wasn't obvious to Patrick.

"I know." Patrick giggled and then laughed at his own joke. However, his joke was a fact.

"Ew." SpongeBob moved away from Patrick somewhat while still laying on the ground. He took Patrick's joke seriously and knew that it was probably a fact. "I'm so loyal, I don't wanna sleep 'till we find the treasure."

The two friends closed their eyes.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs exited his tent and explored his surroundings to make sure that not a single dangerous creature was going to attack his crew. The thought of a creature attacking him by surprise had made him wake up from his nap.

Another pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick opened their eyes.

"You heard that?" Patrick asked SpongeBob if he heard someone leaving the tent.

"Yep. Let's go see if the captain will go now!" SpongeBob became excited and stood up. He thought that Mr. Krabs exited his tent and was already trying to find the treasure.

Patrick stood up as well.

The two pirates walked to the tent and entered it. "Captain Krabs?" SpongeBob and Patrick asked the same question at the same time. They looked around and realized that Mr. Krabs wasn't inside the tent.

"He's not here." SpongeBob spoke quietly and wondered where Mr. Krabs had went.

Patrick saw the unfolded 'map' laying on the ground and his eyes widened in sunrise. "Look! The treasure map." He pointed at it.

"Only the captain can look at the map, Patrick." SpongeBob covered Patrick's eyes with one of his hands and turned around to face one of the walls of tent. He didn't want him and Patrick to see the map or else they would be betraying their captain.

"Yeah..." Patrick nodded and took SpongeBob's hand off his eyes. He continued to look at the 'map'. His curiousity was too potent to be overthrown by willpower.

"Patrick, what are you doing?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick and raised his brow. He was taking his job as a pirate very seriously.

"Nothing." Patrick shrugged his shoulders, looked away from SpongeBob, and whistled as if he was innocent.

"Patrick, you're not suppose to look at the map." SpongeBob stood in front of Patrick and folded his arms. He was blocking Patrick's view of the 'map'.

Patrick walked around SpongeBob and poked the 'map' with his finger. "I'm not looking, I'm touching. There's no rule against that is there?" He made an excuse for his actions by pointing out a loophole in what their captain said. The sea star looked at the 'map' as he poked it.

"No, guess there isn't." SpongeBob didn't stop Patrick from poking the map. He watched his friend poke the map for several seconds and became curious about how the 'map' looked like as well. He walked up to the map and poked it with his crew mate.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was standing on a rock and was looking through the telescope at the surrounding area. 'Nothing dangerous yet.' He thought to himself as he saw not a single creature that could cause any harm. He slowly turned around on the the rock so he could scan the entire area and eventually made the telescope face the tent. The captain didn't see his other crew mates laying on the ground. "Huh? Where did me crew go?" Mr. Krabs put his telescope away and jumped from the rock to the ground. He walked back to the tent in search of his other crew mates.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were poking the 'map' for nearly half a minute.

"Let's see what's under it." Patrick flipped the 'map' upside down because his curiosity wasn't limited to the surface of the 'map' and only saw black. He scratched his head at the sight.

SpongeBob pressed his hand onto the 'map' and realized that it was solid. He flipped the 'map' to the other side and noticed that the 'map' looked awfully similar to the board of the board game that he, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs had played at the Krusty Krab. His eyes bugged out in utter shock.

"Sp-SpongeBob?" Patrick's eyes widened since he had noticed the similarity between the board of the board game and the map as well.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye.

"Did you notice something familiar about this map?" Patrick asked SpongeBob if he thought the same thing that he was thinking.

"You mean, like that the map is actually our game board?" SpongeBob confirmed that they were both thinking the same thing.

Mr. Krabs entered the tent and walked up to the crew mates silently. "Do you think this is a problem?" He overheard what SpongeBob and Patrick were saying.

"**MR. KRABS!**" SpongeBob and Patrick turned around and saw Mr. Krabs. They screamed in terror.

"Sneaking peeks at me map?!" Mr. Krabs snapped his claws shut and gritted his teeth, he lost his temper. His crew mates betraying him made the captain extremely angry.

"We're sorry." Patrick frowned and looked at the ground. He felt sincere regret for his actions.

"That's mutiny on my ship. So you think ol' Captain Krabs has gone crazy, do ye?" Mr. Krabs snatched the board from the ground, folded it, and put it away. He wanted to know if his crew thought that he was insane for using a game board as a treasure map.

"Not at all, Captain Krabs. We don't think that at all!" SpongeBob smiled nervously and shook his head. He didn't want to make Mr. Krabs any more angry.

"I think that." Patrick's words were as honest as his apology. He thought that speaking the truth was the best course of action.

"I'm gonna throw you overboard for saying that!" Mr. Krabs took out a sword from his coat. He had taken it from the chest before the ship crashed into the plateau.

SpongeBob and Patrick's faces drained of color and they backed away from their captain. The two didn't stop backing away as they exited the tent.

Mr. Krabs continued to walk towards the former crew as they backed away from him. The crustacean had a solemn face and aimed his sword towards them.

"Captain Krabs, stop! Don't do this!" SpongeBob begged his captain to not hurt him and his friend with the sword.

"You think a captain will just scold crew mates who committed mutiny? I think not. I'm only using this sword to make you two walk back a certain distance. Once you get far away enough from the tent, I'll consider you two 'thrown overboard'." Mr. Krabs explained why he had taken out his sword.

S-S-S-S-S

The three walked away from the tent for almost a minute.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob noticed something that was on the ground and gasped. "LOOK! IT'S THE 'X'!" He pointed at a large red 'X' that was on the ground and smiled widely. He yelled in excitement.

Mr. Krabs took out the game board and unfolded it. He looked at the 'X' on the board and then looked at the 'X' on the ground. "'X' marks the spot!" He smiled and pumped his fist.

"Wow! That game really is based on a real treasure map." SpongeBob looked at the game board that Mr. Krabs was holding with wonder and sparkling eyes.

"Well, what are you waiting for lads? Dig! Dig! Dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig!" Mr. Krabs was jumping up and down in excitement.

SpongeBob and Patrick quickly dug through the red 'X' with their hands and unearthed a treasure chest.

"We got it Captain Krabs." SpongeBob looked up at Mr. Krabs and made a thumbs-up.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "Hand it up to me lads. Heave!" He signaled with his hands for the two friends to come up to the surface with the treasure.

SpongeBob and Patrick lifted the treasure chest from the ground with all of their might and slowly walked up to the surface while carrying the wooden chest.

**THUD**

The two pirates dropped the treasure chest to the ground.

"We finally found it. The Dutchman's treasure." Mr. Krabs marveled at the ancient chest with dollar signs on his eyes. He couldn't imagine all of the money he could get when he sold all of the treasure.

A chilling breeze blew on the three pirates.

"Wwooowww." SpongeBob and Patrick said the same word at the same time while looking at the treasure chest with wonder.

"What are you going to do with your share, Patrick?" SpongeBob asked Patrick a question that was on his mind since the two unearthed the wooden chest.

"I don't know." Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "How are you going to spend your share, SpongeBob?" He asked the same question back to SpongeBob.

Dark clouds quickly came from the horizon and covered the sky, the pirates didn't notice this.

"What shares? You're not getting any of my treasure!" Greed consumed the mind of Mr. Krabs. It made him forget about all of the effort that SpongeBob and Patrick put into the journey to find the treasure.

"We found it together. So we deserve a share!" SpongeBob said his thoughts out loud.

"Well, I'm the captain. And I say it's mine!" Mr. Krabs made an angry facial expression and pointed at himself.

"Looks like someone isn't being loyal to their crew." Patrick's intelligence abruptly increased and the sea star said a clever comment.

The breeze became stronger and turned into a powerful wind. The wind howled as it blew at the three pirates. Some sand was picked up from the ground and flew with the wind.

"All for one." Mr. Krabs grabbed one side of the treasure chest and pulled it towards him.

"And one for all." SpongeBob spoke while he and Patrick grabbed another side of the wooden chest and pulled it towards themselves.

"All for one." Mr. Krabs pulled the chest towards himself.

"And one for all." Both SpongeBob and Patrick spoke and pulled the chest towards themselves.

"All for one." Mr. Krabs pulled the chest towards himself with all of the strength that he could muster.

"And one for all." SpongeBob and Patrick pulled the chest towards themselves with all of the strength that they could muster as well.

**B-B-BOOOMMMMM**

A lightning bolt flashed and thunder followed.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs stopped pulling the wooden chest after hearing the thunder. They looked up to the sky and noticed that it was covered with dark clouds.

**RRRRUUUUUMMMMBLLE**

The ground shook violently. Green mist floated from the treasure chest and the ground. The mist gathered together to form the green sleeping ghost of a pirate. "_I'm the Flying Dutchman._" The ghost spoke in his sleep.

"ALL FOR ONE!" Mr. Krabs heaved the treasure chest towards himself.

The ghost heard the sound and opened his eyes, he woke up. "_Who dares wake the Flying Dutchman? Keep it down will ya? I'm trying to get some sleep._" The Flying Dutchman wasn't immediately hostile.

"AND ONE FOR ALL!" SpongeBob and Patrick lifted the chest from the ground and backed away from Mr. Krabs.

**B-BOOOMMMMM**

**RRRUUUMMMBBLLEE**

Another lightning bolt flashed and thunder followed once again.

"_Who dug up the Dutchman's treasure?!_" The Flying Dutchman glared at the pirates. He was brought to the physical world because someone was moving his treasure.

"They did!" Mr. Krabs smiled nervously and pointed at SpongeBob and Patrick. He was being honest.

"_Arrgh! So you two scallywags dug up me treasure?!_" The Flying Dutchman floated to the sponge and starfish. He asked the two pirates a question in a stern voice.

"Uh-huh!" SpongeBob and Patrick bit their lips, sweatdropped, and nodded.

"_Well, I'm fairly impressed. I can tell by your looks that you aren't real pirates. It's hard to believe that ordinary people like you could find me treasure. Anyways, you saved me a lot of diggin'. I had a connection to me treasure but forgot how to find it myself._" The Flying Dutchman took the treasure chest from the two friends' hands. "_Here's a reward for the two of ya's_." He opened the chest and gave the duo a gold doubloon each.

SpongeBob looked at the doubloon that he was holding with wonder.

Patrick repeatedly tossed and caught his doubloon, his eyes were following the coin since he was fascinated by the shininess of the coin.

"Wait! I'm captain of this crew. Where's my reward?" Mr. Krabs crossed his arms and stomped with one of his feet. He thought that he was being treated unjustly by the ghost.

The Flying Dutchman thought for a few seconds. "_Hmmm, I guess you're right. A little something for your trouble._" The ghost magically made a miniature treasure chest appear on his hand. He handed the chest to the captain.

"Gold, gold, gold, gold, gold!" Mr. Krabs became excited and jumped up and down. He opened the chest and realized that the tiny gold coins inside of it were fake. The chest was made up of plastic. "Huh? Why, it's just a little plastic treasure chest." He became disappointed.

"_Ay, but it's based on a real treasure chest."_ The Flying Dutchman laughed and vanished.

The wind stopped and the dark clouds parted. The sky became clear and the sun shined on the ground.

Mr. Krabs threw the plastic treasure chest to the ground, put his hands on his face, and began to sob. All of his effort that he put into this journey had only produced a sour reward.

SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs. "C'mon, Mr. Krabs. Don't cry. You get alota money from the Krusty Krab's profits anyway." He patted his boss on the shoulder and spoke his words as a way of cheering him up. He knew the journey was over so the sponge called him with the title of "Mr." instead of "Captain".

"Very true." Mr. Krabs wiped the tears from his eyes. "At least me crew is somewhat loyal even after the adventure is over."

"Should we go home now?" Patrick was thinking of activities that he could spend on for the rest of the Sunday.

"Do you really know who that ghost was?" Mr. Krabs asked both SpongeBob and Patrick a question.

"Other than his name, nope." SpongeBob shook his head. "He seems to be a kind person though." He smiled.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "He is far from a friendly ghost." The crab walked towards the tent. "Follow me." He signaled with one of his hands for the other two to follow him.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs entered the tent.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the tent as well.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, and Patrick sat down on the ground.

"I'm going to tell you two about the origin of the Flying Dutchman." Mr. Krabs said the reason he brought the sponge and starfish to the tent.

"Go ahead." SpongeBob nodded and prepared himself to pay attention to Mr. Krabs' story.

"The Flying Dutchman was probably the best pirate that ever lived." Mr. Krabs began to tell his tale. "All of his adventures occured right in the middle of the golden age of piracy. That's around the late 1600's and very early 1700's. The ship that he owned, The Flying Dutchman, was obviously named after him and was very famous for haunting the seas after his death. With the crew that he commanded, he had robbed hundreds of ships and found numerous amounts of hidden treasure throughout the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. His success had made many pirates envious and even his own crew had succumbed to this. When the Flying Dutchman was eighty-two years old, he died of old age and his corpse wasn't given a proper burial. His crew was glad that he was dead and his body was thrown to the sea, they then abandoned the ship and became captains themselves with other crews. It was Halloween when the body landed on the sea floor. Since humans are far more larger than sea creatures, the corpse became infamous for rotting to bones in public view and this began the tradition of wearing a costume that looks like the Flying Dutchman for Halloween. He had a family before he died and a descendant of him still lives to this day. The many treasures that he buried before his death had been searched for by many pirates including some of his former crew and by a bit before the year nineteen-hundred, almost all of the treasures were found except for one treasure chest. The chest that you two have seen and the two doubloons that you're holding is the last of the Dutchman's treasure. Consider yourselves fortunate and you should sell them before some other pirate steals it from you." Mr. Krabs smirked and pointed at himself.

"And it all started from just playing a board game." SpongeBob was looking at the doubloon that he was holding with sparkling eyes.


	21. Jellyfish Jam

**Chapter 21: Jellyfish Jam**

* * *

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Spongebob and Patrick were walking across Jellyfish Fields with their jellyfishing nets. SpongeBob was wearing a pair of glasses as he walked across the plain. The two were looking for a decent jellyfish to catch. The sponge and sea star had decided that jellyfishing would be the best way to spend the rest of their Sunday after the adventure to find the Flying Dutchman's treasure was over. The two friends had already caught numerous jellyfish and were looking for one that was challenging to catch.

"I think I found one." Patrick pointed at a jellyfish that was flying really fast and in a complex pattern.

"Good job, Pat." SpongeBob patted Patrick on the shoulder. "Go to that rock." He pointed at a rock that was near the location that the jellyfish was flying towards.

"Roger." Patrick nodded and ran to the rock. He dove behind it and spied on the jellyfish that was being targeted.

SpongeBob dove to another rock and hid behind it. He spied on the jellyfish as well.

A pause. The jellyfish continued to fly without noticing its pursuers.

The jellyfish flew near the rock that SpongeBob was hiding behind.

SpongeBob leaped from the rock and nimbly caught the jellyfish with his net in mid-air.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the ground. "Aha! I gotcha!" He pumped his fist and slowly walked to a nearby rock while the jellyfish was still contained in the net. The sponge took out a piece of bread that was in his pocket and gently held the jellyfish by the head and took him out of the net. The jellyfish didn't fill its stingers with electricity since SpongeBob's gentle movements didn't provoke it. SpongeBob put the piece of bread on the rock and grabbed the stingers of the jellyfish. He 'milked' the jellyfish of its jelly and released the pink creature from his grasp.

The jellyfish flew away.

SpongeBob ate the bread and found its taste to be delicious. "Ah, there is nothing better than the taste of natural jelly from a jellyfish." He then looked up at the sky and noticed that it was orange. "Huh? The sun's setting already? Time flies fast when you're having fun." He took off his glasses and put them on the rock. He took out a case and put his jellyfishing net into the case.

"Let's go home." Patrick stood up from the rock and briskly walked towards the exit of the plain. He was exhausted from the events that occured that day.

"Wait for me." SpongeBob tried to catch up with his friend. He forgot to pick up his glasses.

The jellyfish that was captured noticed that SpongeBob's glasses were on the rock. It became interested in the person who captured it and flew towards the glasses. The jellyfish picked the glasses up and followed SpongeBob. He wanted to give the glasses to SpongeBob to see how he would react. "Buzz!" The jellyfish flew in front of SpongeBob and gave the sponge the glasses.

"Oh, my glasses! Thanks little guy! Bye." SpongeBob put his glasses into a pocket and waved at the jellyfish. He walked around the creature and catched up with Patrick.

The jellyfish thought that SpongeBob's home might be an excellent shelter for it. The pink creature was alone and needed to find a place to temporarily stay. It continued to follow SpongeBob.

SpongeBob noticed that the jellyfish was flying next to him. "I can't play anymore, jellyfish. I got to get home." He shook his head and tried to walk faster.

The jellyfish wrapped its stingers around SpongeBob's nose and hanged on to it.

"No, you can't go home with me." SpongeBob took the jellyfish off his nose and tossed it in the direction behind him.

The jellyfish thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were a different group and had unique rules compared to the other jellyfish groups. It also thought that it had to conform to the rules so he can be accepted into the group and believed that SpongeBob was making it go away because it wasn't following the rules. The jellyfish flew to the ground and made its four stingers into 'legs' by sticking each pair of stingers together. The creature then mimicked the walking motion that SpongeBob was making. The jellyfish was eventually right behind the yellow sponge.

SpongeBob heard some faint buzzing and turned around to see the jellyfish walking behind him. "Jellyfish, you've got to stay here!" He picked it up by its head and put it on top of a rock that was near him. "Stay!" The sponge slowly walked backwards. "Stay." He smiled and turned around. He was near the gate of the plain where he can exit.

The jellyfish flew towards SpongeBob at a rapid speed and stuck to the sponge's back.

"Jellyfish! For the last time, you cannot come home with me!" SpongeBob took the jellyfish off his back and folded his arms. He couldn't bring the jellyfish to his pineapple because Jellyfish Fields was its proper home.

The jellyfish fell to the ground and became flat. It was disappointed because SpongeBob continued to make it go away no matter what the creature did and that meant it couldn't go to SpongeBob's home.

SpongeBob looked at the jellyfish and realized why it was following him. He thought that the jellyfish was lonely and was looking for a shelter. "Ahh, what the heck!" The sponge took out Gary's leash and put the collar on the head of the jellyfish. "You can come with me." SpongeBob winked at the jellyfish and walked towards the gate.

Patrick had already exited the plain.

SpongeBob soon exited Jellyfish Fields as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sky was a dark blue with shades of orange near the horizon. It was twilight.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked into their neighborhood. The sea star already knew about SpongeBob's new 'pet' since the sponge had told him about it before they got into the neighborhood.

"Squidward! Hey, Squidward! Squidward! Squidward-iard!" SpongeBob yelled at Squidward's tiki so he could get the octopus's attention.

Squidward opened one of the windows. "What?" He wasn't as grumpy as usual because he had one of the best Sundays in his life. SpongeBob and Patrick were nearly gone for the whole day.

"Squidward! Look at my new pet!" SpongeBob pointed at the leashed jellyfish who was his new friend.

"That's no pet, that's a wild animal." Squidward thought that SpongeBob was crazy for bringing a jellyfish to his home. It was almost as ridiculous as SpongeBob living in the wild with groups of jellyfish which he did at one time.

"No he isn't! Watch this!" SpongeBob took out a wooden stick and threw it in a certain direction.

The stick landed on the ground.

The leashed jellyfish flew to the stick and picked it up with its stingers. It flew back to SpongeBob and gave him the wooden stick.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" SpongeBob held up three of the fingers of one of his hands.

"Buzz. Buzz. Buzz." The jellyfish buzzed for each finger.

"Play dead." SpongeBob spoke another command.

The jellyfish fell to the ground and became motionless for ten seconds. It then flew back up and became normal.

"I wouldn't let that thing into my house even if it was potty-trained!" Squidward still thought that the jellyfish wasn't tame enough to be a pet for a household.

"Well, we're going to my house to have a little fun." SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple.

"How can you possibly have fun with a jellyfish?" Squidward closed the window and took out his clarinet.

"Hey, Pat, can you help me with something?" SpongeBob called his friend.

"Alright." Patrick made eye contact with the sponge and walked up to him.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob, the jellyfish, and Patrick entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick pushed a stereo system into the living room.

SpongeBob connected the plugs to the right places and outlets.

Patrick put a ladder on the wall of the room and walked back to the garage.

A pause.

Patrick came back with a disco ball. He climbed the ladder and took out a container of super-strong glue. He stuck the disco ball to the ceiling with the glue and jumped to the floor. He grabbed the ladder and brought it back to the garage.

Another pause.

Patrick came back with empty hands. He had put the container of glue in the garage as well.

"Thanks, Pat. You can go now." SpongeBob smiled widely and made a thumbs-up.

"See ya later, SpongeBob." Patrick walked towards the front door.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the pineapple.

SpongeBob walked to the stereo system and turned a switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'. He took out a CD and inserted it into another part of the system. He then went to a button input and inputted to 'TRACK 8'. The sponge then turned a control knob that was below the button input to 'STEREO MODE'.

Dance music came from the stereo system. The disco ball turned on and projected colorful lights. The ball spun and the lights from the ball went in a circular path throughout the room because of that.

The jellyfish liked the sounds it was hearing and began to dance to the music.

SpongeBob danced as well.

The two made some very hard to perform dance moves as they danced.

SpongeBob walked to the stereo system and turned a control knob from '76' to'100'. He put the stereo system on the highest volume. The sponge then resumed his dancing.

S-S-S-S-S

The pineapple vibrated from the loud music.

S-S-S-S-S

Four hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was completely awake as he was laying on his bed. He was in his pajamas and the blanket was covering most of his body. His eyes were wide open and bloodshot, they were looking at SpongeBob's vibrating pineapple. The loud music from SpongeBob's home had kept him awake ever since the music was heard by his ears, no matter what the octopus did; he couldn't fall asleep. Squidward sat up on his bed and looked at the alarm clock on the drawer, he gritted his teeth as he saw how much time has passed. "SpongeBob is the only guy I know who can have fun with a jellyfish... **FOR FOUR HOURS!**" He yelled to the top of his lungs, banged his fist on the top of the drawer, and stood up from the bed. He was going to exit his tiki and complain to SpongeBob about the loud music.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob became tired since he danced for a long time. He stopped dancing and walked to the stereo system. "Wow, you sure like to dance." The sponge looked back and was somewhat surprised that the jellyfish still had the energy to continue to dance."Well, that's enough for tonight. Time to go to bed." The yellow square yawned and turned off the music and the disco ball. He then walked towards the kitchen.

The jellyfish was addicted to dancing to the music by that time and wanted to dance some more. It flew to the stereo system and turned the music back on.

"Huh?" SpongeBob turned around and raised his brow. He thought that the jellyfish misunderstood what he said. He walked back to the stereo system and turned the music off. "You got it all wrong, little fella."

The jellyfish was stubborn and turned the music back on once again.

"Bed. Repeat after me." SpongeBob unplugged the stereo system and slowly walked backwards as he continued to look at the jellyfish.

The jellyfish re-plugged the stereo system and turned the music back on for a third time. It then resumed its dancing to the music.

SpongeBob unplugged the stereo system and took out Gary's leash. He put the collar on the head of the jellyfish. "Bed!" He turned off the lights and exited the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and the jellyfish entered the bedroom. Gary was already sleeping on the newspapers. The sponge turned off the lights in the room.

"We'll just keep you right here." SpongeBob tied the leash to one of the bedposts and tightened the collar on the jellyfish's head. "This way, you won't get in trouble."

Gary woke up after hearing SpongeBob's words and saw the jellyfish. The snail narrowed his eyes at the pink creature. "Meow meow meow meow meow meow."

"Quit worrying, Gary. He'll be just fine." SpongeBob took off his shoes, put on his green pajamas, laid down on his bed, and put the blanket over himself. "Good night everybody." He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

A long pause.

The jellyfish flew to the window while being constrained by the tied leash and pushed the window open. "BUUUZZZZ!" It called out to nearby jellyfish since it thought that SpongeBob's pineapple was a good home and could serve as a decent shelter to other jellyfish as well.

Some other jellyfish heard the jellyfish's call and flew towards SpongeBob's pineapple. They flew through the window and entered the home.

"Meow?" Gary gave the group of jellyfish a funny look.

One of the jellyfish squirted some jelly on Gary and made a loud buzz as if it was saying that it was superior to the snail.

Gary hissed at the group of jellyfish.

The jellyfish constrained by the leash managed to slip its head off the collar. It then opened the door to the right and flew to the kitchen.

The other jellyfish followed it.

Several groups of jellyfish flew through the window and entered the pineapple. They flew through the open door and flew to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

The jellyfish that became friends with SpongeBob plugged the stereo system into the right places and outlets. It then turned the music back on.

The groups of the jellyfish also liked what they heard and began to dance to the music.

The jellyfish that was SpongeBob's friend showed off its dance moves.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and yawned. He put on his shoes and stood up from his bed. "Good morning, Gary." The sponge smiled as he saw the sleeping snail. "Good morning, jellyfish." He turned around and expected to see the jellyfish to be still constrained by the leash. He saw the leash on the floor instead. "Jellyfish? Jellyfish? Here, jellyfish. Oh, jelly! " The yellow square searched around the room for the pink creature but couldn't find it. SpongeBob noticed that the right door was open and he exited the bedroom. "Oh jellyfi-" SpongeBob was speaking but something interrupted him. He was walking downstairs when he slipped on some jelly. Various amounts of jelly were squirted on the stairs.

**THUD**

He landed on a step of the stairs and tried to stand up. His body was covered with the jelly. He stood up and his feet slipped from the step.

**THUD**

**THUD**

**THUD**

**THUD**

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell across the stairs and landed on the floor. He stood up and took the jelly off his body so he would no longer slip. The door that was in front of the sponge was open and SpongeBob walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and walked straight to the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the living room and saw numerous jellyfish dancing to the music of the stereo system. "Where'd you all come from?" He raised his brow and scratched his head.

Some jellyfish flew to SpongeBob and grabbed him with their stingers since the sponge had holes. They flew to a turned on light bulb on the ceiling while carrying SpongeBob and put the sponge's head through the light bulb. One of the jellyfish made him spin. SpongeBob became a disco ball because he projected several lights from his holes across the surface of the living room.

**THUD**

SpongeBob's head slipped off the light bulb and he fell to the floor. The yellow square then stood up. "Okay, that's it. This party is over! You guys have overstayed your welcome." He didn't want all of these jellyfish to be in his home. The sponge marched to the stereo system so he can turn it off.

Some of the jellyfish formed a flight of stairs with their combined bodies. They tried to stop the sponge from turning off the music.

SpongeBob walked up the stairs and looked down. His eyes bugged out as he noticed that the stereo system was below him.

The jellyfish that made up the stairs flew to other parts of the room.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor. He then stood up. "This music is way too loud." He was determined to turn off the stereo system and drive the jellyfish out of his house.

Several jellyfish picked up the sponge and threw him to a side of the room.

Another group of jellyfish caught him and threw him to the other side.

The jellyfish were throwing SpongeBob across the room so he couldn't turn off the stereo system.

"I'm serious!" SpongeBob spoke as he flew in mid-air.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward managed to sleep for a few hours but woke up more drowsy than before he fell asleep. He still heard the dance music coming from SpongeBob's pineapple. He looked at the alarm clock to see how long the music was playing and gritted his teeth once again. "GRRRRR! **ELEVEN HOURS!**" Squidward screamed in anger because he was tired of hearing that music from the pineapple. The octopus stood up from his bed and walked towards the exit of the bedroom.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the door and exited the bedroom. He walked down the hallway and went down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room. He picked up the shell-phone and dialed SpongeBob's number. "I'm going to give that SpongeBob a piece of my mind!" He put the phone near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone in the pineapple's living room rang.

One of the jellyfish heard the shell-phone and became curious. It picked up the shell-phone with one of its stingers and inspected it.

"_Hello? SpongeBob, listen to me, you square-headed assault on my ears, I've had enough of this!_" Squidward's electronic voice was heard.

The jellyfish squirted jelly on the phone and put it down. It didn't like the sound that came from the phone.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward didn't hear a response and knew that 'SpongeBob' put the phone down. "Two can play at this!" He lost his temper and stomped up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the music room and grabbed his clarinet. He opened the window to the left and played the clarinet. Awful notes came from the instrument.

S-S-S-S-S

"Come on guys, enough is enough!" SpongeBob ran to the stereo system.

The jellyfish in the pineapple heard the terrible notes and it ruined the dance music for them. They didn't know where those sounds were coming from so they flew to the owner of their shelter, SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned around and sweatdropped as he saw the incoming jellyfish and heard Squidward's dreadful music. "Uh-oh." He gulped in anxiety.

**ZZAAP**

**ZAP**

**ZZAAAP **

**ZZAAP**

**ZAP**

**ZAPPP**

**ZZAPP**

The jellyfish in the pineapple began to sting SpongeBob to make him stop the awful music coming from outside.

"Okay, I'll talk to him!" SpongeBob dove out of the way so he couldn't get any more stings from the jellyfish.

**CRREEEAAAK **

**SLAM**

The sponge opened the front door and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked up at the nearby tiki and saw Squidward playing the clarinet. "Squidward! Would it be possible to play your clarinet a little better? I don't think the jellyfish like it." He projected his voice to the octopus.

"The jellyfish don't like? Why sure, pal, I can play better." Squidward smiled and was being sarcastic. He was going to try harder to make SpongeBob turn off the loud music. He was unaware of the fact that he provoked the jellyfish inside the pineapple.

SpongeBob smiled widely. He took Squidward's words as if they were true.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and re-entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Okay, he said he'll play better." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up at the group of jellyfish so as to assure the creatures that the cringe-worthy music will no longer be heard.

The jellyfish stopped filling their stingers with blue electricity.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped the sweat that ran down his brow.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward searched through his tiki and found a mega-phone. He came back to the music room and put the megaphone in front of his clarinet. He played the clarinet and the megaphone was aimed towards SpongeBob's pineapple. The terrible notes were louder and went straight to the dwelling.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the music and sweatdropped. "Uh-oh! That's not better!" He bit his lip and began to panic. He knew that the jellyfish were going to become enraged. The sponge opened the front door so he could tell Squidward to stop playing the clarinet.

The jellyfish filled their stingers with electricity and exited the pineapple through the doorway.

S-S-S-S-S.

They found the source of the awful music as they saw Squidward play his clarinet through a megaphone. The jellyfish flew towards the octopus.

Squidward saw the large group of jellyfish flying towards him and almost had a heart attack in fright. "Uhh, w-wait, I can turn it down!" He stopped playing the clarinet and signaled with his hands for the jellyfish to not fly towards him and sting him.

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAPPP**

**ZAAAAPP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZAAAAAAAPP**

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAP**

**ZAP**

**ZZZAAP**

**ZAAAAPP**

Squidward got electrified by the group of jellyfish anyway. The pink creatures wanted to eliminate the source of the sounds.

The octopus had several red marks on his skin. He made a deadpan face, dropped the megaphone, and exited the music room through the stairs.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and exited the tiki. He slowly walked towards the pineapple.

The group of jellyfish flew back into the pineapple through the open doorway.

Squidward stopped walking and stood in front of the doorway.

"Hey, now, that wasn't nice!" SpongeBob pointed at the jellyfish and scolded them for stinging his neighbor.

Squidward sighed. "Everybody's a critic. You won't be hearing from me anymore." He handed his clarinet to SpongeBob and walked back to his tiki. He would rather hear the loud music than endure the pain of being stung by jellyfish.

One of the jellyfish snatched the clarinet from SpongeBob's grasp and broke it in half with its stingers. It then dropped it to the floor and made a loud buzz to grab the attention of other jellyfish. Other jellyfish flew to the broken clarinet and they all electrified the broken clarinet with their stingers. The wood in the clarinet became ignited by the blue electricity and the pieces of the clarinet were submerged in flames. The jellyfish in the living room made some sort of victory dance around the burning pieces of the clarinet since that instrument was the actual source of the dreadful sounds and Squidward wasn't entirely responsible for playing the awful notes.

"OKAY, THAT IS IT! EVERYBODY OUT!" SpongeBob became angry at the jellyfish for breaking and burning Squidward's clarinet. He yelled at the jellyfish and stomped his foot. He felt that the jellyfish's behavior became too chaotic for them to be at his home. The yellow square then pointed at the doorway so he can guide the jellyfish out of the pineapple.

**SLAM**

One of the jellyfish shut the front door and all of the jellyfish in the pineapple continued to dance to the dance music.

SpongeBob tightened his fists, he couldn't tolerate the jellyfish's defiance. He stomped to the stereo system, turned off the music, and unplugged the system. He grabbed one of the two large speakers and lifted it from the floor with all of his strength. SpongeBob was going to put the stereo system back into the garage.

The group of jellyfish flew to the speaker that SpongeBob was holding and grabbed it as well. They jellyfish tried to pull the speaker out of the sponge's hands.

**ZAAP**

One of the jellyfish flew behind SpongeBob and stung him in the back.

SpongeBob lurched in pain and dropped the speaker.

**CRRRAAASSSSH**

The speaker fell into the rest of the stereo system. The stereo system broke into many pieces.

All of the jellyfish in the pineapple filled their stingers with almost deadly amounts of blue electricity.

"Meow." Gary slithered into the living room. The snail had finally woken up after hearing a loud crashing sound.

"C'mon, Gary!" SpongeBob grabbed the snail and ran out of the living room as fast as he could. He quickly went through the kitchen and ran upstairs. He entered the bedroom and barged the door to the left open. The sponge slid down the slide and entered the library. He climbed a ladder and opened a trapdoor on the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the roof of the pineapple and dropped Gary to the roof. The roof consisted of a grassy floor and a few giant leaves surrounding that floor.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the trapdoor and sat on the roof. He heard the opening of a few windows on the pineapple.

Numerous angry jellyfish flew through the opened windows, flew to the roof, and surrounded it by rapidly flying around it. All of them were targeting SpongeBob.

"Gary, you were right. Thanks for not rubbing it in." SpongeBob whispered his possibly last words to his pet snail.

Gary repeatedly clicked his eyes together in anxiety. He thought that he will get stung by those jellyfish as well.

The jellyfish stopped surrounding the roof. Gary had unintentionally created a beat by clicking his eyes together and the group of jellyfish were beginning to like what they were hearing.

"Huh? They stopped?" SpongeBob looked up at the jellyfish and scratched his head. He noticed that they stopped flying around the roof right after Gary began to click his eyes together. The yellow sponge then held Gary's eyes together to see how the jellyfish are going to react.

The jellyfish resumed their rapid flying around the roof.

SpongeBob released Gary's eyes from his grasp. The snail's eyes resumed their clicking together.

The jellyfish stopped surrounding the roof once again and even began to dance somewhat to the beat of Gary's eyes' clicking.

"Gary! Don't stop shaking it!" SpongeBob grinned and grabbed Gary. He found a possible way to bring the large group of jellyfish back to Jellyfish Fields. He snapped his fingers to the beat so he can make the jellyfish dance even more.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the trapdoor and exited the roof. He climbed down the ladder of the library.

S-S-S-S-S

Sixteen seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple while he continued to snap his fingers and Gary continued to click his eyes together. The jellyfish danced as they followed him.

SpongeBob walked towards the horizon and vanished from it. The jellyfish soon disappeared from the horizon as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Alright, we'll stop here." SpongeBob stopped walking and snapping his fingers. He was standing in Jellyfish Fields. He held Gary's eyes together.

The jellyfish stopped dancing and noticed that they were at their home. All of the pink creatures scattered across the plain.

"Bye, guys!" SpongeBob waved at the jellyfish. He then turned around and walked towards the exit of Jellyfish Fields. He took out his wallet and searched through it to see how much money he had while he was stilling holding Gary. The sponge was going to buy a brand-new clarinet for Squidward as a form of an apology for the loud music that was blasted throughout the night and the jellyfish breaking his clarinet.


	22. Karate Choppers

**Chapter 22: Karate Choppers**

* * *

Later that day...

S-S-S-S-S

6:44 PM. It was the evening.

SpongeBob and Sandy were in the treedome. SpongeBob was assisting Sandy by bringing in materials as she built and programmed a robot in the laboratory. The sponge thought that he could spend the rest of his day after work wisely by helping a friend in need. Buying a new clarinet for Squidward during the morning had given him this idea. It was also a way of mending the tension between him and the squirrel after he caused mayhem with her rocket.

Sandy made some finishing touches on the robot and wiped some sweat off her brow. "Finished." She stood up and grabbed a remote from a table. She pressed a red button on the remote.

The robot's eyes glowed a bright yellow; it had turned on. Rockets popped out of its feet and fire came out of the rockets. The robot rose by a few feet and hovered in the air.

**C-C-C-CTHUNG**

Four laser guns popped out of each of its wrists.

SpongeBob's face drained of color and he winced. He wasn't aware of the fact that the materials that he brought to Sandy were needed to make the weapons for the robot.

Sandy grabbed a dart target from the same table and ran to the wall that was in front of and was across the robot. She put the dart target on the wall and moved out of the way.

The robot raised its arms until the laser guns were directly aimed at the dart target.

**Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAAAAAPP**

Eight bright blue laser beams came out of the eight laser guns on the wrists.

The laser beams went straight through the center dot on the dart target and left a hole through the metal wall of the laboratory.

Sandy smiled widely at her successful creation and then made eye contact with SpongeBob who was shocked by what he had seen. "Thanks a lot, SpongeBob. You can go now if ya want." She felt that SpongeBob helped as much as he could without unintentionally ruining what she had started.

**C-C-C-CLACK**

The laser guns retracted to the robot's wrists.

**THUD**

The rockets retracted to the robot's feet and the robot landed on the floor.

Sandy pressed the red button on the remote.

The robot's eyes no longer glowed; it had shut down.

"Why did you put weapons on that robot?" SpongeBob raised his brow at the still robot and then scratched his head.

"I gotta protect my treedome from robbers or invaders. With the recent rise of crime in Bikini Bottom, who knows what those guys can do when they steal my technology." Sandy explained why she built the robot.

SpongeBob entered a deep state of thought. He was considering the validity of Sandy's words.

A pause.

"Very true." Spongebob nodded. "What you said was kinda like the reason I learned karate." He remembered Sandy teaching him karate when he was a hall monitor, he had needed to find a way to defend himself.

"I've taught you and Patrick pretty well. I was impressed when you took down those thugs that had weapons. It wasn't long after that that Patrick fought me and lost although he did put up a good fight, and all of that fighting was just so he could keep you as a friend." Sandy was reminiscing of what happened nearly a month ago. She was beginning to go off-topic as she spoke her words.

"It's not like I could beat you in a fight of karate. I've beaten up the same thugs at a prom solo with two fake legs." SpongeBob smiled and sweatdropped. He couldn't imagine fighting Sandy with his karate skills and beat her.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head.

"Never fought your teacher before, eh?" Sandy tried to intimidate Spongebob. "I'm going to change that. SpongeBob, don't underestimate your skills, if you could beat up five or six goons all by yourself then you can definitely fight someone as good at karate as me and leave a few marks while making me tired." Sandy folded her arms and smirked. She was assuring SpongeBob of his fighting abilities.

"Are you challenging me?" SpongeBob made a wide smile. Nothing could end the day better for him than having fun by having a karate fight.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sandy raised her brow while still smirking.

"Challenge. Accepted." SpongeBob puffed up his chest and wanted to fight Sandy. The squirrel's words of encouragement had worked.

"We can't fight here though, I don't wanna leave my lab as a mess once the battle is over." Sandy walked towards the exit of the laboratory.

"I see." SpongeBob smirked as well. "You're gonna sneak up on me, won't you?" He followed the squirrel.

Sandy giggled. "You won't know what hit ya." She exited the laboratory and went upstairs to get her karate gear.

"See ya later then." SpongeBob waved at the squirrel as he walked up the stairs as well. He then walked out of the oak tree and walked across the treedome.

**CRREEEAAK **

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the hallway that was between the doors.

The hallway was then flooded to the ceiling with water.

SpongeBob took off his fish dome and put it on the floor.

**CRRREEEAK **

**SLAM**

The yellow sponge exited his treedome and walked towards his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob cautiously looked at his surroundings as he tip-toed to his pineapple. He was trying to locate Sandy before she attacks him by surprise.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob slowly opened the front door and didn't see the squirrel inside the living room.

**SLAM**

The sponge entered the pineapple and closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob abruptly heard the sound of quick movement. "Huh?" The sponge looked around the living room but didn't see anybody. He walked to his closet and opened it. He took out his karate gear and put them on. SpongeBob then closed the door of the closet slowly. He quickly turned around in a karate pose but still didn't see Sandy. His eyes narrowed at the couch, he thought that the couch would be a potential hiding spot for Sandy. The yellow sponge tip-toed to the couch and raised one of his hands so he can karate chop the squirrel.

**SQUEAK**

SpongeBob looked down and noticed that he stepped on a rubber duck.

Gary slithered out of the inside of the couch with a remote being held by his teeth. He had searched for the remote that slipped into the couch and was responsible for making those movement sounds. He had found a rubber duck while searching through the couch and had tossed it to the floor.

SpongeBob became frustrated and kicked the rubber duck to another part of the room. He was anticipating the fight between him and Sandy. However, SpongeBob wasn't going to give up so easily. The sponge looked at the couch and knew that Sandy could still be hiding behind it. "I know you're back there, Sandy! And I also know that nobody can hide from Sponge-" He leaped and...

**THUD**

...landed on the floor that was behind the couch. Sandy wasn't there. "...Bob." SpongeBob finished his sentence.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. Since Sandy was a karate master, she could've ran from the back of the couch in the blink of an eye.

"I got you now!" SpongeBob jumped and landed on the couch. He then leaped to the TV and made a karate chop in mid-air. "Hi-yah!"

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed in front of the TV. The squirrel was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, I guess the coast is clear." SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders and took off his red karate gear. He walked to the couch and sat in it. He took the remote from Gary's mouth and cleaned it with his shirt. The sponge pressed a button on the remote and turned the TV on. He switched through several channels until he found a show that was one of his favorites.

There was an orange fish on the TV screen. "_Yeah, shopping's weird. Did you ever go into the seafood aisle and say 'Who eats this stuff?'_" The person on the screen was saying a joke.

SpongeBob laughed as the audience in the TV show laughed. "I love this show!"

The sponge didn't notice a squirrel quietly opening the front door and entering the pineapple, the TV was loud enough to block out the sound of the front door.

Sandy sat next to SpongeBob. "Me too!" She grinned.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" SpongeBob screamed in fright and fell out of the couch.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor. He then stood up, took out his karate gear, and put them on in five seconds.

Sandy took out her green karate gear and put them on.

"Hi-yah!" SpongeBob made a high kick.

Sandy jerked her head to the side and dodged the attack. She then tried to karate chop SpongeBob on the side of his body.

SpongeBob jumped and dodged the attack. He then karate chopped Sandy on her helmet in midair.

**SHOOOP**

Sandy became somewhat dizzy and walked back a few steps from the impact. She soon shook back to her senses and ran towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob dove out of the way.

Sandy tried to punch SpongeBob.

SpongeBob rolled out of the way and kicked Sandy in the chest.

**BAM**

Sandy reeled in pain and then grabbed SpongeBob by his legs. She lifted the sponge and spun him in the air.

"Reversal!" SpongeBob grabbed one of Sandy's arms as he spun and jumped to the floor.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor and continued to hold on to Sandy's arm for a few more seconds as the squirrel flew over him.

**CLANG**

Sandy fell to the floor and hit the front door. "I'm gonna get you tomorrow, SpongeBob!" She stood up, smiled, and shook her fist. She decided that now was a good time to quit, she was better than SpongeBob at karate anyway and it would be a waste of time to fight an opponent that isn't strong as her when she has other stuff to do.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy opened the front door and exited the pineapple.

"That'll be the day." SpongeBob took off his karate gear and smiled from ear to ear. He was satisfied with the fight since he had won. The sponge had to be alert and cautious tomorrow if he was going to beat Sandy again in the upcoming fights. He sat down in his couch and resumed his watching of the humorous TV show.

"Meow meow." Gary slithered to the couch and watched the TV as well.

"Relax, Gary. We don't knock each other out or anything like that." SpongeBob petted Gary so the snail can be at ease. He didn't want the pet to worry too much about the safety of his owner.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and opened the fridge so he can find something to eat for breakfast. The fridge was almost completely empty save for a few bottles of water. "I'm gonna have to go shopping again." The yellow sponge closed the fridge and walked towards the living room.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to Spongebob. His stomach grumbled.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers as a light bulb lit up in his head. "Oh yeah! I need to get a few more packs of Snail Chow. You must've ate the last portion and crumbs last night." The sponge smiled nervously.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to a table and waited for his meal.

"Hold on, Gar-bear. I'll be back here ASAP." SpongeBob winked and made a thumbs-up. His words dispelled any doubts in Gary's mind about SpongeBob coming back with the snail food.

The sponge entered the living room and walked to the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple and walked towards Barg'N Mart.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking across the shopping isles of Barg'N Mart while moving a shopping cart that already had several groceries. "Hmmm..." The sponge was carefully eyeing the shelves for cans that had the 'Snail Nip' label. He went through the entire isle without finding the snail nip and walked straight to the adjacent isle. The yellow square knew that the snail nip was around that section of the supermarket that he was in. As he walked across that isle, he took a box of Bran Flakes, put it into the shopping cart; and pushed it forward as he resumed his walking.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was shopping for groceries and pushing a shopping cart as well. She was walking in the isle that was right next to the one that SpongeBob was in.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob found several boxes of canned snail nip on one of the shelves. "Aha!" He smiled at the success of his search, took some of the boxes, and put them into the shopping cart. He accidentally moved a box of Kelpo cereal with his elbow as he took the snail nip boxes from the shelves.

S-S-S-S-S

A box of Kelpo cereal fell from the shelf...

"Yah!" Sandy released the shopping cart from her grasp and made a karate stance. For a second, she thought that the yellow cereal box was SpongeBob.

...and landed on the floor.

Sandy realized that the cereal box wasn't SpongeBob. "Heh, silly me." The squirrel giggled and shook her head at her own silliness. She was fortunate that no one saw what she did. Sandy whistled and put the cereal box back into its original place.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had already looked through the gap left by the cereal box out of curiosity before it was put back into the shelf. He saw Sandy covering up that opening with the cereal box and this gave him an opportunity to sneak up to the squirrel and attack her. He narrowed his eyes and smirked, he took out his karate gear that he left in the shopping cart just in case if he saw Sandy and put it on. The sponge nimbly climbed the shelves until he reached the top. SpongeBob looked down at Sandy and jumped.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed in front of Sandy. He saw a large pile of cans that wasn't too far from the isle that the two were in. "Hey Sandy, have you ever heard the one about the squirrel and the tin cans?" The sponge said a joke before doing his karate move.

"I don't think so." Sandy quickly took out her green karate gloves.

"Well, it goes like this!" SpongeBob stepped back and moved his fists back.

**B-BAM**

SpongeBob punched Sandy with both of his fists.

Sandy flew across the isle from the impact.

**CRRRAAAAAASSSSSH**

Sandy fell into the pile of cans and made the cans fall to the floor. She was buried within the tin cans.

"Yes!" SpongeBob loudly whispered to himself and pumped his fist at another victory. "That's a good one, isn't it?" He took off his karate gear and watched as Sandy dug herself out of the pile of cans. Sandy was letting her guard down by underestimating SpongeBob. The yellow sponge then walked back to his shopping cart.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was skipping merrily back to his pineapple with a few bags of groceries in his hands. He whistled a song as he skipped. Nothing could have started the day better for him than beating Sandy in a karate fight again. "What a beautiful day." The sponge's happiness made him notice the beauty of his natural environment. "Beautiful sky." SpongeBob looked up at the azure sky and the large flowers on it. "Beautiful plants. Hi plants." He looked down at the ground and saw a group of flowers. He waved his hand and greeted the flowers. "Beautiful-" The sponge suddenly saw a few rolling tin cans. "...pile of cans? Mmm, mmm, Sandy, that is your worst disguise yet." He shook his head, took out his red karate gear, and put them on. The yellow square thought that Sandy was nearby and that she used a disguise that was poor in quality.

**THUD**

Sandy leaped and landed in front of SpongeBob, she was already wearing her green karate gloves. She had been quietly following him and a few remnants from the pile of cans that she crashed into were sticking to her suit since their contents were opened. The squirrl had been taking them off her suit as she sneaked behind the sponge. "No it's not, SpongeBob." She took out a squirrel mask and pointed at it. "This is!" Sandy put the mask away and quickly opened SpongeBob's mouth. "Now, prepare for a long, merciless whooping!" She grabbed his tongue and pulled it out of the sponge's mouth. She could already taste her act of sweet revenge while SpongeBoh sweatdropped when he thought of the ways that Sandy could torture him. The squirrel took out a bottle of hot sauce. "Mmmm, my favorite." Sandy smiled as she opened the bottle by flicking the cap off with the fingers of one of her hands.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out when he saw the bottle of hot sauce. It was definitely going to kill his taste buds if it touches his tongue. He had to find a way to get his tongue out of Sandy's grasp. "Sandy! Wait! Victory is yours." The sponge became desperate and decided that forfeiting his winning streak was the only way to escape.

"I knew you'd come to your senses, SpongeBob." Sandy drank some of the hot sauce and closed the bottle. She then put the bottle of hot sauce away. The squirrel had eaten a lot of spicy food before so she was used to the taste of hot sauce. She then released SpongeBob's tongue from her clutch.

SpongeBob quickly made a karate stance and raised his hand so he can karate chop Sandy.

"I can't let you go so easily." Sandy smirked and stepped back.

**BOFF**

The squirrel made a mighty kick at the sponge.

SpongeBob soared to the air and flew across a large distance. "CUUUURRRRSSEEEESS!" He screamed in mid-air. The sponge didn't react quickly enough to Sandy's kick.

Thud

A large cloud of sand rose to the air and dispersed.

'SpongeBob's gonna have to go to work soon.' Sandy watched SpongeBob as he flew high in the air and landed on the ground. 'I don't wanna be too mean to him. I'll bring his groceries.' She picked up the grocery bags and walked towards SpongeBob's pineapple. Despite what she had just did to SpongeBob, she was somewhat concerned for him after seeing that large cloud of sand.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly a hour and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

A customer was saying his order to Squidward. "With extra cheese. To go." He finished saying his order.

Squidward jotted the order down on a yellow sticky note and stuck it to the metal wheel that was on the ordering window. "Three patties, four large oyster skins, on the double, SpongeBob!" The octopus looked through the ordering window and yelled the order, he wasn't in the mood to do anything foolish since there was a large amount of customers in the Krusty Krab that were waiting to say and get their order.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in his karate gear and was practicing his karate skills inside the kitchen. He did a few kicks, punches, and karate chops before he heard an order from Squidward. "Oh yeah. Gotcha!" He stopped doing those karate moves and walked towards the exit of the kitchen without completing the order at all. He was obsessed with beating Sandy in the next fight and this made his mind far, far away from the Krusty Krab.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward noticed that SpongeBob wasn't holding a tray and that the sponge was wearing his red karate gear. "SpongeBob!" He became irritated at his co-worker for neglecting his duties. The octopus snapped his fingers so he can bring SpongeBob back to reality and make him work faster.

SpongeBob winced since he thought that the snapping of Squidward's fingers were the sounds of Sandy trying to punch him but missing and hitting the floor instead.

**SMACK**

SpongeBob karate chopped Squidward, it was a reflex.

Squidward covered his face with his hands and shook back to his senses. "I'm going to pretend that didn't happen." He didn't had the time to scold SpongeBob or complain to Mr. Krabs about SpongeBob's behavior. The octopus took the sticky note from the ordering window and handed it to the sponge. "Now fill these orders or leave, SpongeBob. We're very busy today!"

SpongeBob returned from his thoughts to the real world and gasped. He put away his karate gear and turned around.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen while holding a tray that had a few Krabby Patties and oyster skins. "Order up!" He announced that he completed the order. The sponge then saw the same customer that told Squidward the order trying to karate chop a fly that was annoying him. He entered the world of fantasy once again. The customer transformed to Sandy who was wearing her karate gloves and she winked at the sponge.

"SpongeBob! Now are you gonna-" Squidward watched SpongeBob as he stared at the customer and was saying something but got interrupted.

SpongeBob threw the tray backwards. The tray flew towards Squidward and landed on the floor. The Krabby Patties and oyster skins fell from the tray and landed on Squidward's head. He took out his karate gear and put them on.

The octopus made a deadpan face and folded his arms. He was embarrassed to have food on his head in front of the public.

**CRRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. "Oh, Squidward. I was going through some records back in me office and... Huh? So, you got the hairpiece after all." The crab thought the food on the octopus's head was a hairpiece. He was looking through the records in his office instead of counting his money.

"Hi-yah!" SpongeBob karate chopped the floorboard that the customer was standing on. The floorboard flipped upside-down from the impact of SpongeBob's hit and made the customer fly across the dining room.

**THUD**

The customer landed on the floor shin-first. He managed to stand up and hop on one foot. Both of his hands grabbed his injured shin. "My leg!"

SpongeBob still couldn't separate reality from fantasy. His desire to win in the next karate fight had blocked the real world from being perceived. "Thought you could sneak up on me at work, did ya? Well, you can't! Cause I'm fast, I'm mean, and I can do this!" He made several karate stances and moves. "Ssss!" He pointed at the customer and walked backwards. "Took care of her, yes I did." SpongeBob rejoiced in his 'victory'. He didn't notice that Mr. Krabs was behind him and he accidentally bumped into his boss. The sponge then turned around. "Oh, ahoy, sir!" The yellow square greeted the crustacean. He didn't realize that his behavior was repugnant.

"What was that?" Mr. Krabs looked at the injured customer and then made eye contact with SpongeBob. He folded his arms and raised his brow. After being with the sponge at the Krusty Krab for more than a month, the boss definitely knew that harming innocent citizens wasn't normal behavior for the yellow square and that something was wrong with SpongeBob.

"But sir, she snuck up on me. In my own dojo." SpongeBob came back to reality once again and tried to make an excuse for his actions. He put his karate gear away but still thought that Sandy was behind him, he didn't take a second glance at the injured customer yet.

"Are you on some new allergy medication, boy?" Mr. Krabs was in total disbelief at what SpongeBob said. He thought that the sponge became insane due to a side-effect of a drug.

"No, sir. Just practicing my karate, sir. Or kara-tay, as some call it." SpongeBob smiled as if nothing serious had happened. He was completely blind to the direness of the situation.

"Kara-tay? You should be making me money-ay! With your spatu-lae! Now get back to work." Mr. Krabs dismissed what SpongeBob did to the customer in hopes that he wouldn't do it again. The crab thought that SpongeBob was having a bad day due to a lack of sleep or other reasons.

"Aye aye, capi-tay." SpongeBob made a military salute and walked back to the kitchen. "Nice hairpiece, Squidward." The sponge walked past Squidward and thought that the food on his head was a hairpiece as well. He then saw the customer with the injured leg and widened his eyes. SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth and became speechless. It was almost unthinkable that he would injure a customer with his karate moves. SpongeBob thought about helping the young man but then thought that it wasn't possible since the customer might show resentment.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob quickly returned to the kitchen so he could stop dawdling. His face showed no sign of the happiness that he once had. The sponge was completely dry of enthusiasm and it would be long before he can absorb his former joy back on.

S-S-S-S-S

A bit more than nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the evening.

Squidward was wiping the tables in the dining room with a wet towel. "SpongeBob, did you get those bathrooms mopped yet?" The octopus wanted to make sure that the sponge was doing a fair share of the work, he didn't want to do tedious chores that SpongeBob should be doing.

SpongeBob was staring at his hands. He wondered how his feeble hands could make such mighty karate chops. "Yes, ma'am. I mean, sir. I mean, boss. I mean, poobah!" The sponge struggled to get the right words out of his mouth since his thoughts were elsewhere.

"GO!" Squidward pointed at the door to the bathroom. He was beginning to lose his patience with SpongeBob.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob turned on the sink and filled a bucket with water. He then took a mop and the bucket.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the bathroom door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob quickly entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

The room was silent.

SpongeBob dipped the mop into the bucket full of water and began to mop the floor. He abruptly heard a sneeze. The sponge immediately thought that Sandy was in the room since he was still thinking about karate, it had only been a minute since he had been staring at his hands. "Hah!" SpongeBob ran to a stall door.

**CREEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door but saw no one inside the stall. He ran to the next stall.

**CRREEEAAK**

"Sandy!" SpongeBob quickly opened the door and jumped into stall without taking a long-enough look at the person who was inside of it.

Mr. Krabs gasped and stood up from the toilet. He dove out of the way and zipped up his pants. The crab became extremely irritated at the sponge and knew that his employee was going too far in trying to beat Sandy in 'kara-tay'. He marched to SpongeBob and picked him up from the toilet. He turned the yellow square around until the sponge was facing him. "No more." Mr. Krabs summarized his thoughts into two words. He spoke the words in a solemn manner.

"But Mr. Krabs-" SpongeBob was saying something but his mouth was almost immediately covered by one of Mr. Krabs' claws.

"Shh!" Mr. Krabs shushed SpongeBob. "No more of this karate stuff, lad. Or you're fired." The crustacean said the biggest threat that he can possibly say to the sponge. If SpongeBob continued his behavior, Mr. Krabs predicted that the restaurant will go out of the business due to the customers being afraid of SpongeBob and his karate moves.

"_Fired?_" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he spoke in a high-pitched voice. "I-I-I'll stop." He managed to get two words out of his mouth. He took the mop and bucket and resumed his cleaning of the bathroom.

Mr. Krabs watched SpongeBob clean the room for almost a minute and was confident that his employee will stop making those 'kara-tay' moves. SpongeBob would do almost anything to not get fired from his job.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, and Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs locked the double door. "Remember what I said." He looked at SpongeBob and reminded the sponge to not do anymore karate around him and the restaurant.

SpongeBob silently nodded his head and looked at the ground with his head down as he walked away from the Krusty Krab. "No more karate? How am I gonna tell Sandy?" He was talking to himself.

**THUD**

Sandy jumped from a certain place and landed in front of SpongeBob. "Hi-yah!" The squirrel tried to karate chop the yellow sponge with both of her hands. She was wearing her green karate gloves.

SpongeBob nimbly dodged each attempt. "Sandy, wait! I can't. Mr. Krabs said I have to give up karate." He tried to inform Sandy that Mr. Krabs threatened him by saying that he will fire him if he sees him doing karate moves or having a karate fight.

"Uh-huh. Sure, SpongeBob." Sandy stopped karate chopping but didn't take what SpongeBob said seriously. She then tried to punch the sponge with both of her fists. The squirrel thought that the sponge was being a coward.

"No, no. Really, Sandy. Stop." SpongeBob was backing away from Sandy. He didn't want to get in trouble and lose his job.

"I'm not falling for it, SpongeBob!" Sandy smirked and tried to trip SpongeBob by sticking one of her legs out. She knew that SpongeBob was trying to escape.

**THUD**

Sandy successfully tripped SpongeBob and the sponge fell to the ground.

"No, really! Please, stop!" SpongeBob covered his head with his arms so Sandy's punches wouldn't hurt too much. He hoped that Mr. Krabs wasn't watching the fight.

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob who was laying on the ground. He had witnessed the entire fight. The crab looked down at the sponge.

Sandy stopped her fist mid-way into her punch and looked at Mr. Krabs. She had been with SpongeBob enough times to know that that crab was the sponge's boss.

SpongeBob stopped covering his head with his arms and saw Mr. Krabs who was standing behind him. "AAHHHH, MR, KRABS!" The sponge was frightened by the crustacean and stood up. One of his biggest fears was about to become true.

"What did I just get through telling ye, lad?" Mr. Krabs had enough of SpongeBob's antics.

"But I uhh, she-" SpongeBob began to explain why Sandy was fighting him but got interrupted.

Mr. Krabs took a deep breath. This decision was very difficult for him but he had to do it in order to keep the Krusty Krab in business. SpongeBob had only worked at the Krusty Krab for a month so the pain of not having him work at the restaurant wouldn't be severe. "SpongeBob, you're fired." He spoke quietly and slowly took the employee hat from SpongeBob's head.

"Huh?" Sandy stopped making a karate stance and returned to her normal posture. She immediately began to care for his well-being after hearing Mr. Krabs' words. The squirrel knew that SpongeBob loved his job and would go to work every morning with a smile on his face.

"_Fired?_" SpongeBob spoke in a high-pitched voice again. He closed his eyes and and his face became scrunched up. Tears flooded his eyes.

"Eh?" Mr. Krabs scratched his head. He didn't understand why SpongeBob was making that face.

A tear ran down SpongeBob's cheek.

"SpongeBob?" Sandy walked up to SpongeBob and put her hand on his shoulder.

Mr. Krabs suddenly realized why SpongeBob made that face. He braced himself for his former employee's reaction to what he said.

SpongeBob burst into tears. He bawled loudly and his crying could be heard from almost half a mile away. On the day got hired as the fry cook of the Krusry Krab, that was one of the best days of his life. This day had to be one of the worst.

Mr. Krabs bit his lip and turned to the direction of his anchor.

"Wait, Mr. Krabs, it's not his fault!" Sandy ran towards the crab and stood in front of Mr. Krabs. "I-it's mine. He tried to tell me but I wouldn't listen."

The two then watched SpongeBob as he rolled on the ground while continuing to bawl.

"Give him another chance, please?" Sandy begged Mr. Krabs to show some mercy to SpongeBob.

"Hmmm..." Mr. Krabs was deep in thought.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob, picked him up, and turned the sponge around until he was facing the crab. The crab decided to give SpongeBob another chance since Sandy presented a reasonable explanation for what happened. "Alright, me boy, I'll give you a second chance. But no more karate. It's poisoning your mind." Mr. Krabs warned the sponge about 'kara-tay' being too dangerous for SpongeBob to handle without losing his mind. The crustacean dropped the sponge, walked towards the horizon, and vanished from it.

"Aww, shoot, SpongeBob. I guess you ain't fibbing." Sandy looked at the ground, she couldn't bear to make eye contact with the sponge. She felt remorse for trying to have a karate fight with SpongeBob.

Both SpongeBob and Sandy sighed. The yellow square perceived the squirrel's emotions by looking at her facial expression and his empathy made her unhappiness pass on to him.

"Aww, that game was getting old anyway. It's not fun anymore. I mean, what's so fun about..." Sandy made a karate chop. "...this?" She put her karate gloves away. The squirrel tried to make karate look boring so they can focus on other activities and forget about the marital art.

SpongeBob laughed but then suddenly became silent. He nearly forced that laugh out of his mouth. "Nothing. Nothing is fun about that at all." The sponge could see where Sandy was going with her words and agreed with her so they can stop talking about karate. Even saying the word 'karate' would give him an urge to fight Sandy in a match.

"We can find something to do that's almost nine times as fun." Sandy slowly smiled and looked at her surroundings so she can gain ideas about what she and SpongeBob could do next.

"We can? I mean, sure we can." SpongeBob grinned. His positive attitude returned with the smile. "Yeah! Like we can, uhh..." The sponge picked up a nearby rock. "We can squeeze things!" He tried to squeeze the rock but it didn't affect the rock at all. "Woo!" The sponge sweatdropped and dropped the rock to the ground. He had put effort into his squeezing of the rock. "How much fun was that?"

"Almost some." Sandy made a gesture with one of her hands that indicated that she thought what SpongeBob did was neither boring or fun. It was somewhere in between.

"I know! We can act like plants." SpongeBob wanted to play a game where he was acting like someone or something else. He laid down on the ground and made a deadpan face. "Photosynthesis." He opened his arms and legs as he spoke that word. The sponge then closed his limbs. "Photosynthesis." He opened and closed his arms and legs once again as he spoke.

Sandy thought of the local wildlife in Bikini Bottom and a light bulb lit up in her head. "Wanna go to the park?" In her opinion, the park would be the best place to spend the rest of their day at.

SpongeBob gasped and stood up. "That's a great idea! I'll definitely go with you. But what're we gonna do there?" The sponge wanted to go to the park as well but another question appeared in his mind and he said that question out loud as well.

"I'm kinda hungry so we can just have a picnic there." Sandy didn't eat in a while and thought that a meal would satisfy her hunger.

"Then wait in front of my place. I'll prepare the food and the blanket." SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple.

"How 'bout I get the blanket so you don't have to do all of the work. It was completely my idea anyway." Sandy wanted to help SpongeBob with preparing for the picnic.

Squidward silently walked past the two friends. Since SpongeBob was distracted by Sandy, he could avoid his neighbor altogether.

SpongeBob saw Squidward from the corner of his eye and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Hey, Squid! You wanna come with us to a picnic? Me and Sandy are going to the park." He invited Squidward to the picnic.

"No." Squidward glanced at SpongeBob and didn't mince his words. He continued to walk towards his home.

"Oh well." SpongeBob shrugged. "I can probably bring Pat with us." He resumed his walking towards the pineapple.

Sandy walked towards her treedome.

The sponge and squirrel went their separate ways.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple while holding a basket full of food. He walked towards Sandy's treedome when he saw Patrick standing outside of his rock, the sea star was doing nothing and has a deadpan face. "Hey, Pat! Wanna come with me and Sandy to a picnic? I've got the food right here." The yellow sponge pointed at the basket being held by his hand.

Patrick walked up towards SpongeBob. "You can count me in. Nothing could be more fun than spending my time with my best buddy." He smiled. The starfish wondered about where the picnic will be at. "So where we going?"

"It's gonna be at the park. Follow me." SpongeBob smiled widely and signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him. He became enthusiastic since Patrick might bring up an idea about what to do for fun that he and Sandy hadn't thought of.

SpongeBob resumed his walking towards Sandy's treedome while Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing in front of the entrance to the treedome; they were waiting for Sandy.

Patrick whistled and began to roam around the area that surrounded the glass dome.

SpongeBob heard the opening and closing of a door inside the treedome.

A pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy opened the front door and exited the treedome. She was holding a folded blanket that had a pattern of red and white squares. "Let's go." The squirrel walked towards the park.

SpongeBob made a loud whistle so Patrick can walk back to him and follow him.

Patrick quickly ran back to SpongeBob. "We're going now?"

"Yep." SpongeBob followed Sandy.

Patrick nodded and followed SpongeBob.

"You've brought Pat along? As long as he doesn't do anything too crazy, he'll be fine with me." Sandy was aware of Patrick's stupidity and his sudden drops in intelligence. The starfish might do something stupid that will ruin the picnic.

"Your name's... Sandy, right?" Patrick made a deep search through the information in his mind for Sandy's name.

"Good job, Patrick!" SpongeBob clapped. Patrick remembering a relatively new person's name was definitely something to clap for.

Sandy giggled as she walked.

Patrick smiled widely and pumped his fist. It was as if remembering her name was a significant achievement.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

They sky was orange and was turning into a dark blue.

The three friends were in the park. They found some free space near a large piece of coral.

Sandy unfolded the blanket and put it on the ground.

SpongeBob sat on the blanket and put the basket on the blanket.

Sandy and Patrick sat on the blanket as well.

"You two should be having a karate match. It would be fun to watch and I can probably join as well. It's a good way to improve our skills." Patrick's intelligence had suddenly increased. He had seen SpongeBob and Sandy fighting in a karate match near his home that day.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip. He used almost half of his willpower to not take out his red karate gear. "Karate sure is dumb." The sponge wore a smile and discouraged Patrick from talking about karate.

"Yeah, you can say that again." Sandy wore a smile as well and winked at SpongeBob.

"I feel dumb just thinking about it." SpongeBob made a goofy face. "Duuuuh! I'm stuuuupiiid! I like karaaateee! Doyeee!"

"It's quite obvious who brought it up." Patrick smirked and pointed at himself. "There's almost always something else that we can do." He wasn't offended by what SpongeBob said at all. He knew who he was.

"You like what?" Sandy asked SpongeBob a question to see if he was still thinking about karate.

"Not karate." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He made karate look more boring and even made it sound like a game that only ignorant people play.

"Ha! I don't even know what that is." By that point, Sandy was in her own world of fantasy and denial.

"Me too. I don't know what anything is!" SpongeBob made a desperate attempt to get karate out of his mind.

Patrick scratched his head in utter confusion. "Why you two don't like karate anymore? I thought you two had fun when fighting matches."

SpongeBob made a facial expression that showed his nervousness. He stood up from the blanket. "Patrick, I need to tell you something."

"Alright." Patrick stood up as well.

The two friends walked to the large piece of coral and stood behind it.

S-S-S-S-S

"The reason me and Sandy are denying our liking and interest in karate is that Mr. Krabs is going to fire me if he sees me having a karate match near him or the Krusty Krab. The eatery might go out of business if I keep getting carried away with karate. I nearly blew it but Sandy explained to Mr. Krabs that she started the fight. Mr. Krabs was nice enough to give me a second chance. Whenever we talk about karate with enthusiasm, it tempts us to fight in a match. Do you understand?" SpongeBob explained his situation to Patrick.

"I see but karate isn't stupi-" Patrick was saying something but his mouth got covered by SpongeBob's hand.

"Don't talk about karate." Spongebob smiled nervously.

Patrick silently nodded and took SpongeBob's hand off his mouth.

SpongeBob walked back to the picnic.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick sat on the blanket again.

A fisherman from a somewhat far distance was repeatedly putting in and taking out the hook of his fishing rod into and out of the river in the park. He was searching for some small fish that he can cook and eat. He said "Hi-yah!" for each attempt at catching the fish.

SpongeBob heard the fisherman and giggled. "For a second that sounded like-" He was saying something but got interrupted by Sandy.

"Karate?" Sandy said an observation that she made by finishing SpomgeBob's sentence.

"Sshhh!" Patrick shushed Sandy. He obeyed the words that SpongeBob said.

"Right now? I mean, no! What is this karate?" SpongeBob pretended that he was ignorant of the martial art called karate. He opened the basket so he can quickly change the topic of the conversation to food. "Uhh, what do you two want on your sandwich?" The sponge became hungry after he saw the fisherman.

"Karate." Sandy's mouth had a mind of its own and she didn't mean to say that word. The squirrel's eyes bugged out and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"What did you say?" SpongeBob looked at Sandy and raised his brow. 'Karate' had almost became a forbidden word by that point.

"Uhh, mustard. Mustard! I want mustard on my sandwich." Sandy sweatdropped and took out a container of mustard from the basket. "There we go." She smiled.

SpongeBob took out some barnacle loaf and a plastic bag that had slices of bread in it.

"Ooh! Ooh! Can you put alota barnacle loaf on my sandwich?" Patrick had a fondness for the taste of barnacle loaf. He jumped up and down in excitement.

"'kay." SpongeBob nodded. "How many slices of barnacle loaf do you want on your sandwich, Sandy?" He made eye contact with Sandy.

"One. Just one." Sandy extended her index finger. She didn't want too many slices of barnacle loaf on her sandwich unlike Patrick.

"One for you!" SpongeBob raised his hand and karate chopped the barnacle loaf with precision, a slice was made. He then took two slices of bread from the plastic bag and made a sandwich with the barnacle loaf slice and the slices of bread. "Here you go." The sponge gave the sandwich to the squirrel. SpongeBob then karate chopped the barnacle loaf again and seven slices were made. He took out four slices of bread and stacked the slices of barnacle loaf and the slices of bread to form a large sandwich. The sponge gave the sandwich to Patrick.

Patrick gobbled down the sandwich and made a loud burp.

"And one for me!" SpongeBob karate chopped the barnacle loaf and a slice was separated from the loaf. The slice flipped in the air and the yellow square caught it with one of his hands. He made a sandwich with two slices of bread and the loaf slice. The sponge began to eat the sandwich.

Sandy ate her sandwich and liked the taste of the barnacle loaf. She could see why Patrick wanted many barnacle loaf slices on his sandwich. "Uhh, SpongeBob?"

"Hmm?" SpongeBob stopped eating when he was half-way through his sandwich.

"Maybe just one more. I'm still kinda hungry." Sandy opened the plastic bag and took out two slices of bread.

Patrick rummaged through the basket and found a jar of jellyfish jelly. The sea star then found a spreading knife and took two slices of bread from the bag. He opened the jar and spreader the jelly over the bread slices with the knife. The sandwich wouldn't be complete for him without the barnacle loaf so he waited for SpongeBob to slice the barnacle loaf for Sandy.

"Sure thing, Sandy." SpongeBob made a thumbs up and slowly aimed his hand at the barnacle loaf so he can slice it accurately.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob lowered his hand towards the barnacle loaf. His hand was like a yellow knife as it cut through the loaf. A slice was made and it fell on the blanket.

Time resumed.

Sandy noticed that SpongeBob had sliced the barnacle loaf by making a karate chop. When the sponge previously sliced the barnacle loaf, his hand was too fast for Sandy to notice that he was karate chopping. Her urge to fight SpongeBob in a karate match had resurfaced. She needed to find a way to satisfy her urge without actually fighting the yellow square. The squirrel looked at the barnacle loaf and a light bulb lit up in her head. 'Guess I'm gonna be doing some karate chops as well.' She thought to herself and then spoke. "SpongeBob?"

Patrick took the barnacle loaf and quickly cut it with the spreading knife. He made a few thin slices.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob spoke. He wanted to know what was Sandy's next request.

Sandy took the barnacle loaf. "Do you think, umm do you think I could cut this one?" She raised her hand so she can karate chop the loaf. She was asking for SpongeBob's permission since it was cooked at his pineapple.

"Uhh, sure." SpongeBob shrugged and just went along with what Sandy wanted to do.

"Thanks. Hi-yah!" Sandy karate chopped the barnacle loaf and made one slice. "Is that enough?"

SpongeBob's heartbeat quickened and the urge to fight in the martial art of karate had resurfaced in him as well. The sponge could hear his heartbeat as Sandy spoke her words after making that karate chop. "Maybe just one more. Or two!" The sponge found karate chopping the barnacle loaf or making sandwiches using karate moves to be decent ways to control his urge.

"Or three!" Sandy spoke.

"Or ten!" SpongeBob wanted to karate chop the barnacle loaf again.

"Yes, ten! Because we're really hungry!" Sandy raised her hand again.

"Right!" SpongeBob nodded.

Sandy rapidly karate chopped the barnacle loaf ten times. She made ten slices and those slices flew across the blanket and landed at different spots.

"Time for buns!" SpongeBob opened the basket and searched through it until he found a plastic bag with buns inside of it. He opened the bag and threw the buns into the air. The sponge stood up and made a karate stance.

A pause. The buns soared in the air and then succumbed to gravity.

SpongeBob grabbed all of the slices on the blanket and punched them towards the buns with accuracy. All of the slices landed in the buns.

"How about some tomatoes?" Sandy took out a few tomatoes from the basket.

"And I'll cut the cheese!" SpongeBob took out a pack of thin cheese and opened it. He took the cheese from the small plastic bag.

Both SpongeBob and Sandy threw the tomatoes and cheese to the air.

A pause. The cheese and tomatoes returned to the earth by gravity.

SpongeBob and Sandy karate chopped the cheese and the tomatoes into many slices within several seconds.

The slices of tomatoes and cheese landed on the buns. The sponge and squirrel were making sandwiches by karate chopping the ingredients.

"And, what else should we slice?" Sandy was shaking in excitement.

"More buns!" SpongeBob took more buns from the bag.

"And lettuce!" Sandy took out two heads of lettuce from the basket.

SpongeBob and Sandy threw the lettuce and buns to the air. They karate chopped them into slices.

The lettuce and buns landed on the other buns. The sandwiches were then completed.

Patrick realized that SpongeBob and Sandy were karate chopping the ingredients to make the sandwiches. He was too busy eating the jelly in the jar to notice what was happening until that moment. "Guys, you gotta stop doing that! What happens if Mr. Krabs sees us?" The sea star was still intelligent enough to be aware of the danger of what the sponge and squirrel were doing.

"Don't worry, Pat, I bet Mr. Krabs is at his house. He's probably reading his old newspapers or something." SpongeBob didn't think of Mr. Krabs as a threat. "Anyways, making sandwiches sure is fun. Right, Sandy?" The sponge looked at Sandy but noticed that she was staring into space. "Right?" He snapped his fingers to grab her attention.

Sandy didn't make eye contact with SpongeBob and continued to stare at nothing in particular.

"I guess I'll eat one now." SpongeBob took a sandwich and began to eat it.

Sandy was using all the willpower that she can muster to not take out her karate gloves and fight SpongeBob. When she saw Patrick eating several of the sandwiches on the blanket, she could no longer control herself. The squirrel took out her green karate gloves and put them on.

SpongeBob was eating his sandwich when a green karate glove karate chopped his arm. He dropped the sandwich to the blanket. The sponge's eyes bugged out and he slowly turned around to face Sandy.

Sandy was smirking. "You're mince meat!" She tried to intimidate SpongeBob before fighting him.

SpongeBob quickly took out his red karate gear and put them on. "In your dreams! Hi-yah!" He tried to punch Sandy in the torso.

Sandy dodged the attack and...

**BAM**

...punched SpongeBob in the stomach as a counterattack.

The yellow sponge reeled in pain.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" Patrick stood up and yelled at SpongeBob and Sandy. He leaped towards them.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs whistled as he entered the park with Mr. Doodles who was on a leash. The two strolled across a path.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy dove out of the way.

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the ground.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob karate chopped Sandy.

Sandy blocked the hit. She grabbed SpongeBob by the ankle and lifted him up. The squirrel threw the sponge towards the large piece of coral.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob hit thn piece of coral and became dizzy. He then shook back to his senses and stood up. The yellow square ran towards Sandy and made a might kick.

**BOFF**

Sandy got hit and walked backwards by a few steps.

**SMACK**

"Hi-yah!" SpongeBob slapped Sandy's glass helmet and made the squirrel dizzy. He then pushed the squirrel.

**THUD**

Sandy fell to the ground.

Two pink arms tightly hugged SpongeBob and lifted him from the ground.

The sponge turned his head around somewhat and saw Patrick's face.

"No more!" Patrick spoke in a stern voice. He became serious about making sure that SpongeBob keeps his job at the Krusty Krab.

Sandy stood up and raised her hand so she can karate chop SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was walking towards a large piece of coral when he saw Patrick hugging SpongeBob and Sandy with her hand raised.

Mr. Doodles immediately barked at the three friends once he saw them.

"What the barnacle?" The crab raised his brow and walked to the scene.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw Mr. Krabs from the corner of his eye. "**MR. KRABS!**" The sponge shouted in terror.

Sandy gasped and put her karate gloves away.

Patrick released SpongeBob from his grasp and bit his lip.

Mr. Krabs folded his arms, looked at SpongeBob, and then looked at the blanket with sandwiches on it.

"Alright, Mr. Krabs. You caught me." SpongeBob slowly put his red karate gear away. "But you know what? I just cant help myself. You're just gonna have to fire me." His eyes became moist and he looked at the ground. Despair filled his heart.

"Did you make those sandwiches?" Mr. Krabs pointed at the picnic blanket.

"Yeah. Me and Sandy karate chopped the ingredients so we can make them." SpongeBob nodded his head and tried to fight back the tears that we'e going to flood his eyes.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. "Fire you?" The crustacean walked to the blanket, took one of the sandwiches, and ate it. "I've got something else in mind." He liked the taste of the sandwich and slowly made a smile. "Show me how you did it." The crab became curious about how SpongeBob used his karate skills to make sandwiches.

SpongeBob wiped the tears that began to run down his cheeks and walked to the blanket. He took out all of the ingredients used for the sandwich and threw them to the air. He karate chopped the ingredients as they fell to the ground within the blink of an eye and those ingredients became sandwiches as they landed on the blanket.

Mr. Krabs nodded, he liked what he was seeing. "I guess karate isn't so bad after all. If you used those skills in the kitchen, I bet you can make Krabby Patties way faster than before and I'll get more profits." Dollar signs appeared on his eyes. Another opportunity to get more money was given to him and he will definitely seize it. He looked at Sandy and another light bulb lit up in his head. "Would you like to join the Krusty crew? Your karate skills can make you serve as an excellent assistant for SpongeBob." Mr. Krabs tried to persuade Sandy into becoming an employee of his.

"No thanks. I got a job that already takes up most of my time." Sandy politely rejected Mr. Krabs' request.

Mr. Krabs looked at the ground and sighed.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were walking towards their homes. They decided to finish the picnic early. SpongeBob held the basket while Sandy held the folded blanket.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. "I thought I was gonna get fired for sure."

"Maybe I went a bit too far with those rematches." Sandy smiled nervously and sweatdropped.

"I went too far as well. It's hard to believe that this all started because of some robot you made." SpongeBob smiled and made eye contact with Sandy.

"You said it, SpongeBob. I should've said this earlier but I didn't mean to make you almost lose your job. I was too caught up in the moment to listen to you." Sandy confessed.

"It's okay, Sandy. Everybody makes mistakes." SpongeBob forgave the squirrel for what she did. He was too kind to hold any more anger towards the squirrel. He was glad that he kept his job and his karate skills had made him more efficient as a fry cook.

SpongeBob and Sandy's conversation made Patrick wonder about what job he might get in the future. If he had the right skills, working at the Krusty Krab would be a viable option.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his bedroom in his pajamas, he was about to go to sleep. He looked at the calendar to see what tomorrow's date was going to be. When he looked at the next date, his eyes widened and his face drained of color. The crab began to sweat in sudden anxiety. "D-Dear Neptune..." He spoke quietly.


	23. Hooky

**Chapter 23: Hooky**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had a deadpan face. He didn't sleep at all last night. His eyes were baggy and sweat was running down his brow and neck. The old crab knew it was one of those dreaded times of the year again. These certain days of the year increased the rate of injuries and deaths in Bikini Bottom exponentially. The crustacean was also paranoid about him or one of his employees being the next victim of the thin, metal monsters from the sky. He eventually reached the double door of the Krusty Krab and took out his key. He unlocked the door.

SpongeBob and Squidward walked up to Mr. Krabs, they were wearing their employee hats as usual.

"Are you okay, Mr. Krabs? You look tired and sweaty." SpongeBob felt concerned for his boss. He assumed that something bad had happened to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs slowly turned around. "T-The hooks." He managed to speak a few words that summarized his thoughts.

Squidward rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." He had seen Mr. Krabs like this many times during his job as a cashier at the Krusty Krab.

"The hooks?" Spongebob scratched his head. He had no clue about what Mr. Krabs said.

"Aye. The hooks." Mr. Krabs hanged one of his claws as if it was a hook. "They dangle down and draw you close with their pleasing shapes and their beguiling colors. And just when you think you found the land of milk and honey they grab you by the britches..." The boss grabbed SpongeBob's underpants and lifted them and the sponge from the ground. "...and haul you way up high. Then higher, and higher, and higher until you're hauled up to the surface flopping and gasping for air. And then they cook ya, and then they eat ya, or worse..." Mr. Krabs vividly described what would happen if you got caught by the 'hooks' but stopped talking.

SpongeBob gasped. "What could be worse than that?" He sweatdropped.

"SHELL. CITY." Mr. Krabs spoke slowly.

"What's Shell City?" SpongeBob scratched his head again.

"A gift shop." Mr. Krabs spoke in a serious manner.

Horrific images entered SpongeBob's mind and his eyes bugged out. His face drained of color and sweat ran down his brow. "Don't let 'em get me, Mr. Krabs." He became absolutely terrified of the 'hooks'. The sponge almost had the same thoughts and facial expression as the crustacean.

Plop!

Mr. Krabs dropped SpongeBob to the ground.

"You're getting scared over nothing. Only pirates and adventurers can get to really see these so-called 'hooks'. The people from the surface only fish around the outskirts of Bikini Bottom. Plus, you've got to be a moron to fall for those traps. The air creatures that made those hooks severely underestimate us sea creatures." Squidward tried to remove the fear-mongering from what Mr. Krabs said. He was more rational than his boss.

"There, there, boy. They wont get ya. Not as long as you listen to ol Mr. Krabs. Now get to the kitchen. Time is money." Mr. Krabs smiled and tried to relax SpongeBob.

"Aye, aye, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob smiled slightly and made a military salute.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward entered the restaurant as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

Above the ocean surface...

S-S-S-S-S

Several boats were propelling across the ocean and stopped near a small island with three coconut trees. Human fishermen in the boats took out their fishing rods and threw the lines into the ocean. The hooks reached the seafloor.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing near his rock and was doing nothing when he saw large silhouettes in the shapes of boats high in the sky. He looked at the silhouettes with wonder and thought that they were large planes. He saw small lines coming from those shapes and the lines landed somewhere far away. He thought that the planes were dropping people off to some place. The sea star became curious and walked towards the small lines that were on the edge of the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to a group of fishing hooks. He was very close to the city limits of Bikini Bottom. The starfish noticed that there were bits of food on the tips of the hooks. "Maybe a little snack won't hurt." He grabbed a piece of coral from a hook, sat on the curve of the hook, and ate the coral.

The hook suddenly began to rise to the ocean surface.

"Huh?" Patrick looked down and saw a shrinking ground. "This must be a ride!" He smiled and jumped from the hook, he assumed that it was a ride found in amusement parks. "WWEEEE!" He yelled in delight as he fell to the ground.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the ground and stood up. "Wow, this carnival's fun. I better tell SpongeBob about this." He thought that the hooks near Bikini Bottom were a carnival. He was completely unaware of the fact that he risked his life when he sat and jumped from the fishing hook. The sea star walked towards the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, have you finished swabbing the deck?" Squidward asked SpongeBob a question to make sure that the sponge had cleaned the entire floor of the dining room, he was putting money into the cash register as he did this.

SpongeBob was trying to remove a barnacle that was under a table with a mop that was wet by a bucket full of water. "Almost. There's a nasty barnacle under table nine." The sponge had cleaned the floor with the mop and there were only a few dirty spots left in the room.

"Hurry up. You gotta get back to the grill." Squidward was somewhat impatient.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was strolling around Bikini Bottom as he took a short break from working at the Krusty Krab. He was a bit tired from counting the money in his safe. The crab looked up to the sky and saw the large silhouettes of the boats. He gasped and ran towards the Krusty Krab. He had an urgent message for his employees and customers since he thought that their lives could be in danger.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the double door of the Krusty Krab open. "They're back! They're back I tell ya! I saw it with me own eyes!" He yelled at the people in the dining room.

He grabbed the attention of SpongeBob, Squidward, and the customers. Some of the customers gave Mr. Krabs funny looks as if he was insane.

"THE HOOKS! THE HOOKS!" Mr. Krabs announced what he had seen.

"Can you make that to go?" The customer in front of the cash register made a request.

"So there I was minding my own business-" Mr. Krabs began to tell a tale about how he found out about the fishing hooks being near Bikini Bottom until Squidward interrupted him.

"I'd love to hear one of your riveting sea tales, but I have to do an 'inspection'." Squidward took out a pair of ear plugs and put them on his ears. The octopus didn't want to hear Mr. Krabs' boring and distracting tale. A magazine was on his lap and he couldn't read it because he kept getting interrupted.

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window with a pale face. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face and he stared at the nearly empty horizon. The sponge had heard Mr. Krabs' announcement.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn ya." Mr. Krabs took a deep breath. He recollected his thoughts so he could tell his tale again.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Good morning, Krusty crew." Patrick entered the Krusty Krab and walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Can I have a private talk with SpongeBob?" He had to ask his SpongeBob's boss for permission before he can talk to his friend. The sea star's intelligence had increased somewhat as he entered the restaurant.

"Don't take too long." Mr. Krabs spoke a few words quickly so he can brush Patrick off.

Patrick walked towards the kitchen door.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ceased to look through the ordering window and smiled as he made eye contact with his best friend. "Hey, Patrick."

"Guess what? The carnivals in town. C'mon, lets go." Patrick signaled with his hand for SpongeBob to follow him and walked to the back door of the restaurant.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Patrick opened the door and pointed at the outside world.

"I can't leave now. I'm working." SpongeBob took his job too seriously for him to afford any time to have fun with Patrick.

"It won't last long. It's just like taking a break." Patrick tried to be persuasive.

"You promise?" SpongeBob held out his pinky.

"I promise, SpongeBob. Don't worry." Patrick held out his pinky as well.

The two friends pinky swore.

A pause.

"What're we waiting for?" Patrick turned around and exited the Krusty Krab through the open back doorway.

SpongeBob exited as well and...

**SLAM**

...closed the back door.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"We're going to the carnival. We're going to the carniva-" Patrick was singing a chant that he created in his mind as he walked with SpongeBob towards the 'carnival'. He stopped chanting when...

**THUD**

...he tripped on a rock.

An awkward pause.

Patrick quickly stood up and sang his chant again. "We're going to the carnival. We're going to the carnival." The sea star stopped chanting as he and SpongeBob stood before a large group of fishing hooks. That was the carnival that Patrick was talking about. "There it is, SpongeBob. The carnival is back in town." Patrick pointed at the hooks.

"Where is everybody?" SpongeBob raised his brow as he looked at his surroundings. Not a single other person except for Patrick could be seen nearby or near the horizon. For him, it made the 'carnival' look suspicious.

"I don't know. I didn't see anybody either when I first came here." Patrick walked towards the group of hooks.

"Doesn't look like any carnival I ever-" SpongeBob was walking around the 'carnival' when he bumped into a hook. "Excuse me." The sponge thought that the hook was a person and stepped back. When he saw the hook, he realized that it wasn't a person. SpongeBob noticed that the tip of the hook had a piece of food on it. It reminded the yellow square about something that Mr. Krabs said.

"_They dangle down and draw you close with their pleasing shapes and their beguiling colors. And just when you think you found the land of milk and honey they grab you by the britches..._"

Mr. Krabs' words echoed in SpongeBob's mind.

SpongeBob gasped and stepped away from the hook by several more steps. The sponge gasped as he suddenly realized that the hooks in front of him were the dreaded monsters that Mr. Krabs was talking about. "Stop Patrick! Don't touch it! This isn't the carnival, Patrick. Those are hooks. Mr. Krabs said they were really dangerous." The sponge tried to warn his best friend about how dangerous this 'carnival' really was.

Patrick sat on the tip of a hook that had a block of cheese on it. "Hmmm. I sense no danger here. How can they be dangerous? Some of them are covered with free cheese!" The starfish couldn't see why the hooks were life-threatening.

"All I know is that Mr. Krabs said- Patrick, don't do that!" SpongeBob was speaking but interrupted himself and held out his hand as a signal for Patrick to stop. His eyes widened at the sight of Patrick putting the tip of the hook in his mouth.

Patrick ate the cheese on the tip as the tip was in his mouth. "Mmmm. Cheesy." The sea star liked the taste of the cheese. "No danger here. Go on, try it." He was unintentionally tempting the sponge.

"But, Mr. Krabs said-" SpongeBob knew better than to fall for the temptation and followed Mr. Krabs' advice completely. However, his speaking was interrupted by the sea star.

"SpongeBob, let me ask you something." Patrick put eight more hooks into his mouth and grabbed another hook with one of his hands. "Does this look dangerous?" He managed to speak with the the hooks in his mouth. His act was very foolish.

SpongeBob screamed. "Patrick, don't!" He rapidly shook his head to make Patrick take the hooks off his mouth.

Patrick ate all of the cheese blocks that were on the hooks and took each one off his mouth. "Lighten up, will ya?" He was still holding on to one hook. "Or do I have to eat all this cheese by mysel-" Patrick was pulled up by the hook and was rising to the ocean surface.

SpongeBob gasped. "Patrick! Help! Oh, Patrick, help! Oh, Patrick, come back. Oh, my best friend." He called for his friend and for help at the same time. He soon realized that yelling was futile.

**THUD**

Patrick fell from the sky and landed on the ground. He then stood up as if nothing had happened.

"Patrick, you're alive!" SpongeBob grinned and became overjoyed at the sight of his unscathed best friend.

"Am I ever. You should try it." Patrick smiled and pointed at a hook.

A long pause. SpongeBob entered a deep state of thought.

SpongeBob then looked at the group of hooks and narrowed his eyes at them. "No. I won't do it." He spoke solemnly and shook his head. "Whenever I'm having fun with a friend of mine, we always take things too far eventually and those activities that we do for fun become serious and threaten me or someone in some way. When me and you went on that rocket, we thought the people in Bikini Bottom were aliens and we captured almost all of them. When me and Sandy became serious about karate, I almost lost my job. Some of you also tempt me to do certain things and I eventually take those things too far as well. Before I got my first Employee of the Momth award, Mr. Krabs said a half-truth so as to make me and Squidward work harder to get the award. I tried too hard to become Employee of the Month and since I became a jerk to Squidward while I was trying, Squidward went too far as well. We both didn't sleep for an entire night and didn't eat anything as we raced to the Krusty Krab. You're doing the same thing that Mr. Krabs did right now, tempting me." SpongeBob released some thoughts that developed in his head over the last few weeks through spoken words.

Patrick slowly nodded. "Oh well. Suit yourself. You can't have a lot of fun without taking a little risk." The sea star walked towards a hook.

SpongeBob entered another deep state of thought after hearing Patrick's words. 'Even if I make sure that I won't get in trouble or get injured, the stuff I like to do such as jellyfishing wouldn't be fun anymore. Patrick's right. Mr. Krabs only had good intentions when he said that half-lie and Patrick and Sandy just wanted to have more fun when we went on that rocket and had many karate fights.' The sponge thought to himself and changed his mind. He walked up to Patrick and tapped the starfish's shoulder.

"Hm? You changed your mind?" Patrick turned around.

"Yeah. Can I join?" SpongeBob made a slight smile.

"Be my guest." Patrick stepped out of SpongeBob's way.

SpongeBob sat on the curve of a hook. "Ready?" He wanted to make sure that Patrick was sitting on a hook as well.

Patrick sat on the curve of another hook. "Ready!" He made a thumbs up.

The two hooks pulled SpongeBob and Patrick towards the ocean surface.

"GERONIMO!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled in delight at the same time and jumped off the hooks.

**T-THUD**

The yellow sponge and the sea star landed on the seafloor. They stood up and brushed the sand off their bodies.

"This is more fun than double overtime at the Krusty Krab." SpongeBob was jumping up and down in excitement. He wanted to jump off another hook.

S-S-S-S-S

"My burger tastes like a fried boot!" A young man ate a Krabby Patty and spat it to a trash can due to the patty's disgusting taste. He stood up and marched towards the ordering window. Other angry customers were near the window and were complaining to the fry cook about the poor quality of the food.

"WHY DO YOU WANNA EAT THIS STUFF ANYWAY?!" Squidward yelled at the customers since they were annoying him as he was cooking Krabby Patties to the best of his ability, he was the fry cook due to SpongeBob's absence.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office after hearing Squidward's yelling. "Mr. Squidward, what the halibut is going on in here?" The boss walked to the ordering window and moved customers out of his way.

"It's a feeding frenzy, sir. And SpongeBob's not back from his break." Squidward was sweating as he cooked a large amount of Krabby Patties on the grill. The top of the grill was almost completely covered by Krabby Patties.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. He didn't take Squidward's words seriously.

"What?" Squidward raised his brow.

"I thought you said SpongeBob was taking a break. No one's taking a long break at the Krusty Krab since the Chum Famine of fifty-nine." Mr. Krabs made another pirate laugh. "Now, what were you saying?" The crab rarely allowed a break of more than ten minutes.

"He took a break. He's been gone for more than twenty minutes." Squidward spoke in a solemn manner. He had overheard SpongeBob and Patrick's conversation inside the kitchen.

Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out. He then narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Alright, SpongeBob LazyPants, I'll find ya. This nose can smell laziness up to ten-thousand leagues." The crab smelled with his nose around the dining room and eventually picked up SpongeBob's scent.

"Aha! I'll give you a break you'll not soon forget." Mr. Krabs walked towards the double door.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab.

"But Mr. Krabs, I still need help!" Squidward futilely called for his boss.

**SLAM**

The angry customers barged the door to the kitchen open and entered the kitchen. They were going to give Squidward a piece of their mind.

Squidward braced himself.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs continued to track down SpongeBob by smelling his scent, he was far away from the Krusty Krab by that point. "He should be right here." He stopped walking and saw a large group of fishing hooks. The crab's eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped. "Neptune have mercy on that fool's soul." The boss immediately concluded that his employee had been pulled to the ocean surface by one of the hooks since he could no longer smell SpongeBob's scent and that the sponge couldn't be seen.

SpongeBob and Patrick laughed as they fell to the seafloor for the tenth time.

**T-THUD**

The two friends landed on the ground and jumped to their feet.

"Again?" Patrick was grinning.

"Again!" SpongeBob ran towards a hook. Instead of worrying about the consequences of his actions, he enjoyed the present.

"THE HOOKS! NO! NO!" Mr. Krabs quickly shook his head and yelled at the sponge and the sea star. His thoughts were the opposite of the ones in the two friends' minds. He sweated profusely and his heartbeat quickened.

SpongeBob and Patrick grabbed the same hook. "One... two... three..." They spoke a countdown in unison. They couldn't hear or pay attention to Mr. Krabs since many thoughts were racing through their heads as they prepared to jump off the hook.

"WAIT! WAIT!" Mr. Krabs sprinted towards the two daredevils and eventually dove towards them so he can clutch the two friends from the hook.

"BLASTOFF!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled at the same time and sat on the hook. The fishing hook began to pull them up towards the surface of the Pacific Ocean and in several seconds the two were numerous feet above Mr. Krabs.!

Mr. Krabs fell to his knees. "I-I wasn't quick enough." The crustacean put his hands over his face. He though that SpongeBob and Patrick were definitely going to get killed and eaten by the fisherman from the surface world. "They're gone!" The crab struck the ground with both of his fists in frustration. "If I can only hold them in me arms again, I'd... I'd..." He struggled to make the right words come out of his mouth. What had just happened made him almost speechless.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs unexpectedly began to hear laughter. The laughter became louder and louder as two shadows that were in front of him became larger and darker.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the ground with not a single injury.

"...I'D THROTTLE 'EM!" Mr. Krabs finished his sentence and became pissed off. He stood up and stomped towards SpongeBob and Patrick. "What did I tell you about those hooks, boy?!" He glared at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped as he saw Mr. Krabs. "I... I... I..." Only three letters came out of his mouth and his body shook in anxiety.

"I'll tell you about the hooks. You ride em up, and up, and up, then you fall all the way back down." Patrick wasn't fearful of Mr. Krabs at all and even tried to explain to him how playing with the fishing hooks were safe.

"And do you know what happens when you get stuck and can't fall back down?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow. He was aware that Patrick was an idiot and probably does many dangerous things for fun.

"Gift shop?" SpongeBob cringed at the thought that came after the words he spoke.

"Worse! You end up vacuum-packed in a can with nothing to look forward to but the smell of mayonnaise." Mr. Krabs took out a jar of mayonnaise and held it out towards the two friends so they can see the jar.

"We're sorry, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob and Patrick apologized at the same time. They couldn't imagine their corpses being covered in mayonnaise and inside cans.

"I want you boys to promise me you'll never go on those hooks again." Mr. Krabs became less angry and had a solemn face.

"We promise, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob and Patrick held out their pinkies towards Mr. Krabs and nodded, they spoke at the same time. Their promise was sincere.

"I need a sailor's promise. Repeat after me: Yo-ho, yo-ho, near the hooks I''ll never go." Mr. Krabs wanted to make sure that SpongeBob and Patrick didn't play with the hooks ever again. He was too concerned for their safety to not let them out of his sight easily.

"Yo-ho, yo-ho, near the hooks we'll never go." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke the sailor's promise in unison. They were not lying since they didn't smile in the slightest and didn't giggle or chuckle.

A hook came down from the ocean surface and the tip of it poked Mr. Krabs' rear. A fisherman had tossed another line into the sea.

"Yow! Mother of pearl. Fire on the poop deck." Mr. Krabs hopped in pain. He touched the place where the hook's tip hit wih one of his claws.

"Ahh! Mother of pearl. Fire on the poop deck." SpongeBob and Patrick repeated what Mr. Krabs said at the same time. They hopped around and touched their butts just like how the crab did it.

"Woah. Whew." Mr. Krabs wiped a few drops of sweat from his brow. If SpongeBob and Patrick could do a silly act as that while thinking that that was part of the promise, then the crustacean the thought that the two friends weren't lying."Alright then. Let's get out of this death trap." He turned around and walked towards the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed the boss.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered his pineapple. He took off his employee hat and put it away. He had to serve many customers on that day since he took a long 'break' and Squidward had to cook in his place during that time.

Gary was on the couch and was watching TV. The TV show being shown was Bikini Bottom News.

SpongeBob sat next to Gary and watched the TV with the snail. He needed his daily fill of the news.

"_A large group of fishing hooks had appeared around Bikini Bottom at 11:27 AM. It's fishing season again but officials have said there is no need for much concern unless you're traveling out of the city. So far, only a few people had been pulled up to the surface by the hooks. If you're traveling or planning to travel out of Bikini Bottom, as always, please exercise caution by walking or driving through the path with the least hooks so as to minimize the chances of your vehicle or anybody getting pulled up by the hooks. However, officials have also said that citizens should stay in the city until most of the hooks have cleared up if they don't have to leave Bikini Bottom._" Johnny Erain spoke the latest news report.

SpongeBob sweatdropped at the thought of a few people being pulled up to dry air. He felt bad for them since they have to go through the torture that Mr. Krabs described.

Another reporter saying another news report appeared on the TV screen.

SpongeBob felt hungry and stood up from the couch. He entered the kitchen and opened the wooden cabinet so he could find a snack. He saw a jar of jellyfish jelly inside the cabinet and a light bulb lit up in his head. 'Maybe I should go to Jellyfish Fields. I didn't went there in a while.' He thought to himself and closed the cabinet. He exited the kitchen and walked up the stairs. The sponge entered his bedroom, found the key for the treasure chest, and opened he treasure chest with that key. He took out the case for Ol' Reliable and opened it. He took the jellyfishing net, closed the case, put the case back into the chest, closed the chest, locked the chest with the key; and put the key back in its hiding spot. He took out his glasses and put them on. The yellow square then exited the bedroom, ran downstairs, and eventually re-entered the living room.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick's rock.

**KNOCK KNOCK **

The sponge knocked on the rock.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Patrick sticked to the ceiling as the rock opened. He saw the jellyfish net that SpongeBob was holding and the glasses that SpongeBob was wearing. "You're going to Jellyfish Fields?" He was eating a bag of nachos.

"Yep. I was going to ask you if you would like to come along." SpongeBob smiled widely.

"Count me in." Patrick smiled as well and fell to the floor.

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the floor and stood up. He searched thought the living room for his jellyfishing net and eventually found it. The sea star then climbed the wall and exited his rock.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked through the gate and entered Jellyfish Fields. There were very few jellyfish flying across the plain.

"What happened here? Where did all of the jellyfish go?" SpongeBob scratched his head. He thought that there were going to be a lot of jellyfish to catch.

"Isn't that a hook?" Patrick pointed at a hook that was near a rock.

SpongeBob looked at the hook and saw a jellyfish flying away from the nearby rock and to another location. The sponge noticed that there were other groups of hooks in the plain and that the jellyfish were avoiding the hooks. "I think we should stay away from this place for now. We promised to Mr. Krabs that we wouldn't play with the hooks. Plus, there isn't many jellyfish to catch so jellyfishing would probably become boring anyway." He changed his mind and decided that he won't go jellyfishing for that day. The sponge turned around and walked towards the gate

"True." Patrick nodded and turned around as well. He followed his best friend.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

Spongebob opened his eyes and yawned. He wiped his eyes until he his vision was clear, took the blanket off himself, and stood up from his bed. He had slept well during the night. The sponge put on his shoes.

"Meow." Gary woke up as well.

"Okay, Gary. Today is a new day. I'm ready to prove myself loyal to Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob felt refreshed due to having decent sleep. "I'M READY!" He announced that he was ready to work at the Krusty Krab. The sponge exited his bedroom and ran down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. "I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY, READY, READY! I'M READY!" He ran towards the Krusty Krab and yelled his 'I'm ready' chant.

Patrick was standing in front of his rock and was waiting for SpongeBob. When his friend passed by, he walked in the direction that was opposite of SpongeBob's. "Hey, SpongeBob, you're going the wrong way."

SpongeBob stopped running and turned around to look at Patrick. "I always go to work this way." The sponge pointed at the direction that was behind him. He didn't understand what Patrick said.

"You're not going to work today. We're going to go play 'hooky'!" Patrick turned around as well. The sea star waited for SpongeBob outside his home because he wanted to play with the fishing hooks with his best friend. When he woke up in the morning and had nothing to do, he decided that playing with the hooks was the only enjoyable activity that he can do because it was something he hadn't done before yesterday. Playing with the hooks was refreshing compared to old hobbies like watching the TV or jellyfishing.

"What's 'hooky'?" SpongeBob somewhat knew what 'hooky' meant but wanted to make sure that the definition that he was thinking was correct.

"We're gonna play with the hooks and you're gonna ditch work. Get it?" Patrick smirked at his own wordplay, his intelligence had spiked. He tried to make a joke.

"But, Patrick, we promised." SpongeBob didn't want Patrick to break the promise and be disloyal to Mr. Krabs. The crab had made the two friends make the sailor's promise for their safety.

"I was just doing it so he could go away." Patrick spoke with total honesty.

"But Mr. Krabs is wiser than you, he was a captain that lead a pirate crew through ma-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted by Patrick rudely.

"Well that Mr. Krabs is just a big ol' dummy. We played on those hooks for half an hour straight and nothing happened to us." Patrick's belief that the fishing hooks were safe was anecdotal.

"But Mr. Krabs said-" SpongeBob spoke a few words but got interrupted by Patrick again.

"Look, SpongeBob, are you gonna listen to a big dummy, or are you gonna listen to me?" Patrick made a serious facial expression; he was irritated at SpongeBob's hesitation to play 'hooky' with him.

"Umm..." SpongeBob sweatdropped. He couldn't decide if he should work at the Krusty Krab and stay loyal to his boss or play 'hooky' with Patrick and have a delightful day.

"See ya later, SpongeBob. I'm going to go have some fun." Patrick turned around and walked in the direction that he was previously going.

A large group of hooks fell from the surface of the ocean and landed on the seafloor, they were near SpongeBob and Patrick's neighborhood. The fishermen had to fish at a different location since they weren't able to get many fish by fishing at the outskirts of Bikini Bottom.

"Woah." Patrick's eyes widened. "I know the hooks come every year since I sometimes watch the news but they always say that they're at the city limits. Things must be changing now." Patrick smiled and walked towards the hooks. "It's better for me, I guess." He sat on a hook and got pulled up by it. The sea star then jumped from the hook when he felt that the time was right.

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the ground and stood up. "You know you want to." He looked at SpongeBob as he spoke his words. The sea star could read SpongeBob's mind by noticing where the sponge's eyes were looking at. The starfish was aware of the fact that he was tempting SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned around and resumed his walking towards the Krusty Krab. He didn't pay attention to what was ahead of him. "Ooh, I know I want to, but I promised Mr. Krabs that I wouldn't go near another..." He gasped as he abruptly saw a hook that was in front of him, the tip nearly touched his chest. "...hook!" The sponge finished his sentence. He used all of his willpower to not touch the fishing hook. "Oh no! Mr. Krabs told me all about you. You are a liar. A deceiver. I'll never fall for your tricks again. Never!" SpongeBob quickly turned around again and sat on a rock. He wanted to remove the thoughts of fishing hooks from his mind to make the temptation less severe.

A long pause.

By attempting to clear his mind, SpongeBob had made the temptation to play with the fishing hooks more intense. The sponge had to satisfy that desire. The yellow square stood up, walked to one of the hooks, and sat on the curve of it. The hook pulled SpongeBob up. The sponge then leaped from the hook and landed on the ground. The tip of the hook had ripped a hole through SpongeBob's squarepants and underpants but SpongeBob didn't notice this. "Whew. Glad I got that out of my system." His desire to play with the hooks had lessened and the sponge began to have a desire to go to work. The yellow sponge walked towards the Krusty Krab while not noticing the fishing hook that was hooked to his pants.

Another long pause. SpongeBob became smaller and smaller as he walked to the horizon.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and noticed that he was hooked by one of the fishing hooks. "O-oh no..." His face drained of color and he bit his lip. This could be a potential death sentence for his best friend. The sea star ran towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was only a few steps away from entering the Krusty Krab when Patrick catched up with him and tapped him on the shoulder.

SpongeBob turned around and saw Patrick. "Pat?"

"Look what's behind you." Patrick gulped in anxiety and pointed at the hook that was attached to SpongeBob's pants.

SpongeBob turned his head around as much as he could and saw the fishing hook that was hooked to his pants. He became silent and his face drained of color as well. Drops of sweat began to run down his face; the sponge became wracked with anxiety. If that hook pulled him up to the ocean surface, it will surely lead to his death.

S-S-S-S-S

"Here you go, Pearl. Free water for all your little friends." Mr. Krabs gave Pearl several bottles of water. Giving them away for free wouldn't hurt him financially anyway.

"Thanks, dad." Pearl was grateful that Mr. Krabs was giving things away for little to no cost.

"Just don't forget to leave a tip for ol' Mr. Krabs." Mr. Krabs winked. He wasn't going to give those bottles away without having a tiny profit.

Pearl walked to a table where her friends were sitting at and sat with them. They decided to hang out at the Krusty Krab before going to school.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab. He saw Mr. Krabs and walked up to him. "Psst, Mr. Krabs." He tapped the crab's shoulder.

"SpongeBob! You're two minutes late. What kept you, lad?" Mr. Krabs turned around and found SpongeBob being late to be unusual. The sponge had a near-perfect attendance.

"Um, you know those hooks we were talking about yesterday?" SpongeBob smiled nervously as a way of hiding his anxiety.

"Didn't I tell you not to go near those hooks?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow. Since his employee was sweating, he thought that the sponge might have broke the sailor's promise.

"Umm... no." SpongeBob lied to his boss. He didn't want Mr. Krabs to find out that he got hooked.

The fishing hook began to pull SpongeBob up; the yellow sponge was moved closer to the double door by the hook.

"I mean yes, yes, you told me not to go near them." SpongeBob changed his mind and told the truth. His death was just around the corner.

"Well, you weren't playing on those hooks, were you lad?" Mr. Krabs was still concerned for SpongeBob's safety.

"Of course not." SpongeBob shook his head and lied again.

The hook pulled the sponge even closer to the double door.

"I mean, not exactly." SpongeBob began to sweat profusely.

The hook pulled the yellow square for the third time and nearly lifted his feet from the floor.

"**I MEAN YES! YES I DID IT! I ADMIT IT!**" SpongeBob confessed and bursted into tears. "Oh, Mr. Krabs! I'm so ashamed! I mean, look at me! I'm hooked!" He might have been experiencing his last moments under the sea.

Mr. Krabs walked around SpongeBob and inspected the fishing hook that pierced through SpongeBob's squarepants. "Hmmm, it's in there pretty deep."

"What am I going to do?" SpongeBob asked Mr. Krabs for guidance.

"There's only one thing to do, boy. You're gonna have to take you pants off." Mr. Krabs spoke solemnly.

Pearl and her friends overheard what Mr. Krabs said and saw a hooked SpongeBob. They giggled at the sponge and that made SpongeBob's predicament worse.

"Oh no, Mr. Krabs. I can't take off my pants. Not in front of all these girls." SpongeBob slightly blushed.

The hook pulled SpongeBob until he was only a few steps from the double door.

"Okay. I'm taking 'em off. I'm taking 'em off." SpongeBob quickly took his squarepants off but the hook was still attached him through his underpants.

"Uhh... lad?" Mr. Krabs didn't need to tell SpongeBob what to do by that point.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no, Mr. Krabs. I can't do it! Anything but that!" SpongeBob blushed even more. He will probably die of embarrassment instead of dying due to a lack of water if he was nude where the public can see him.

"I understand. You were a good little fry cook, SpongeBob. But, we'll find another. Hopefully one that will listen to ol' Mr. Krabs." Mr. Krabs took out a 'HELP WANTED' sign and put it on the glass that was next to the double door.

The hook began to pull SpongeBob without stopping. The fisherman in the surface world thought that he was catching a stubborn fish. The sponge was pulled through the double door but he held on to the handles of the door with all of his might. "Oh, Mr. Krabs! I'll listen! I promise. Please save me, Mr. Krabs!" Numerous tears ran down SpongeBob's cheeks. "I promise I'll be good!"

SpongeBob's underpants was stretched to the limit by the fishing hook and tore into two pieces. The hook kept one piece while the other piece fell from the sponge's body.

SpongeBob was naked.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped a lot of sweat from his brow and the many tears from his eyes. Even though he was nude, he was grateful to be still alive.

Pearl, her friends, and other customers inside the Krusty Krab laughed at SpongeBob.

"Ooh, look! It's SpongeBob NudeyPants." Pearl pointed at SpongeBob and was laughing the most.

SpongeBob blushed so much that his cheeks became as red as apples. He covered his groin, turned around, and ran away from the Krusty Krab. Not a single word came out of his mouth,

he couldn't express his embarrassment through words.

Patrick saw SpongeBob running from the Krusty Krab in the nude and a light bulb lit up in his head. "SpongeBob, wait right there! I'm gonna get you some clothes!" The sea star ran to the back of the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

"I wish I could've done that to SpongeBob." Squidward laughed by honking his nose. The octopus thought of what would happen if he hooked SpongeBob with a fishing rod of his own.

"It doesn't matter. I think he learned his lesson." Mr. Krabs was satisfied with the events that occured.

"I think he'll remember this for a long time. I know I will." Squidward smirked.

They both laughed.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick picked up a trash can that was behind the Krusty Krab and emptied its contents to the ground. The starfish then ran back to SpongeBob while carrying the trash can and put the container in front of the sponge. "Go in it." The sea star pointed at the trash can.

SpongeBob hopped into the trash can to hide his nudity.

"If you don't mind me, I'll be playing with the hooks." Patrick walked backwards so he can make sure that SpongeBob doesn't get into another embarassing accident.

A fishing hook came from sky and landed on the ground that was behind Patrick.

"PAT, WATCH OUT!" SpongeBob's eyes widened and he pointed at something that was behind the starfish.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The tip of the hook pierced through Patrick's pants.

"Uh-oh." Patrick became nervous and gulped. Rivulets of sweat ran down his face as he turned around and saw the hook that was attached to his pants. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" He screamed in terror and ran in circles.

The people in the Krusty Krab went into hysterics.

SpongeBob leaped from the trash can and grabbed both of Patrick's arms. He pulled his best friend from the hook and the hook only made a small tear on Patrick's green pants.

Patrick wiped some sweat from his brow. "Thanks, SpongeBob. You're a lifesaver. You're almost like a superhero or something."

SpongeBob slowly made a smile.


	24. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy I

**Chapter 24: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy I**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was watching the TV by himself while he was sitting on the couch. He looked at his watch and realized that one of his favorite TV shows, The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, was going to start in a few minutes. There was going to be a new episode on that day. 'I better tell Pat about this.' The yellow sponge decided to call Patrick so he can come over to his house, stood up from his couch, and walked to the shell-phone. He picked the shell-phone up and dialed Patrick's phone number. The sponge then put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

"_Hello?_" Patrick picked up his phone on the other end.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is about to start, Pat. Get over to my house ASAP." SpongeBob was jumping up and down in excitement as he spoke into the phone. A few commercials on the TV had hyped up the episode for the previous few days.

"_Alright._" Patrick put the phone down on the other end.

SpongeBob put his shell-phone down and exited the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick had been speaking into his shell-phone while he was brushing his teeth. After putting the phone away, he finished brushing his teeth and then rinsed his mouth out with mouthwash. The sea star exited the bathroom and leaped to the ceiling.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Patrick's body stuck to the ceiling and he jumped to the ground.

**SLAM**

His rock closed.

Patrick walked towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in his garage and was searching through the stuff inside the room. He found a Mermaid Man costume and a Barnacle Boy costume. The sponge wanted him and Patrick to cosplay as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as they watched the TV show. SpongeBob put on the Mermaid Man costume including putting on the purple star on his nose.

Knock Knock Knock

SpongeBob heard a few knocks from the front door. 'Pat came here pretty quick.' He smiled and exited the garage. The sponge eventually entered the living room.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and saw Patrick.

"Nice costume, buddy. Where did you get that?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob's costume with wonder.

"You'll never know what you can find at Barg'N Mart. Anyways, I've got one for you as well." SpongeBob smiled from ear to ear and stepped out of the way so Patrick could enter his home.

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the pineapple and closed the front door.

SpongeBob exited the living room again while Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the garage. The sponge pointed at a Barnacle Boy costume. "You'll be putting that on." The yellow square then left the garage once again so he could give his best friend some privacy.

A pause.

"'kay." Patrick put on the Barnacle Boy costume including putting a sailor hat on his head. "I'm ready." The sea star turned around, looked at SpongeBob, and made a thumbs up. He was ready to watch the TV show with his best friend. The sea star then exited the garage.

The two friends then returned to the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick sat on the couch just as the introduction to The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy began.

"_Mermaid Man: Fleet and Forceful. With the ability to assemble and charge the creatures of the deep._"

A blonde young human man wearing an orange shirt, a two-shell 'bikini', black underwear on top of a pair of green spandex pants (the pants covered his feet as well), green gloves, a yellow belt with the letter M in the center; and a purple star on his nose called Mermaid Man appeared on the TV screen. "_By the power of Neptune!_" The superhero spoke.

"_Mermaid Man, with his young associate Barnacle Boy, fights for all creatures who live in the sea, against the forces of evil._"

Another young human man with short black hair called Barnacle Boy appeared on the TV screen. He was wearing a sailor hat, a pair of goggles that looked like glasses, blue underwear, a pair of blue flippers as shoes, a red shirt, a blue sailor scarf, blue gloves, and a belt that had a shell in the center with the letter B inscribed on it.

The TV screen then changed to a scene where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were standing on a tall building and were watching over the city to make sure that it was safe from any crime or supervillain.

Barnacle Boy noticed that a sewer door opened and a suspicious person climbed out of the circular doorway on the street. The person was wearing a brown top hat and a large brown coat. The person then took the top hat and the coat off to reveal that he was wearing purple spandex and a fake pink clam on his head.

"_Mermaid Man, look!_" Barnacle Boy pointed at the suspicious person.

Mermaid Man watched the person as well.

The person held both of his hands out towards the exterior wall of a bank. He melted a hole through the wall and entered the bank.

"_He won't get away with the money._" Mermaid Man flew towards the bank.

Barnacle Boy followed Mermaid Man.

The TV screen then changed to a scene where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy flew through the hole made by the supervillain and entered the bank. The two superheroes saw the villain trying to melt the door to a vault full of money. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy then formed a large whirlpool with their hands and threw it at the supervillain.

The villain turned around and saw the incoming whirlpool. "_Oh, no! The Raging Whirlpool._" He sweatdropped and gulped in anxiety. The whirlpool twirled him in the air and threw him through the hole in the wall. The villain flew across the city at a rapid speed and vanished from the horizon.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy made a victory pose.

"_Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy! Champions of the Deep._"

"Yay! Champions of the deep! Woo!" SpongeBob and Patrick stood up from the couch and yelled at the same time. They were delighted with the episode that they had seen.

SpongeBob looked at his costume and Patrick's costume and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Wanna play pretend?"'

"Yeah. That's a good idea, SpongeBob." Patrick found pretending to be someone else to be a decent activity to spend time on.

"Come, Barnacle Boy. There's evil afoot." SpongeBob immediately acted like Mermaid Man and had the mindset of a superhero.

"Leaping' lampreys, Mermaid Man. I'm right behind you." Patrick acted like Barnacle Boy and had the mindset of a sidekick.

'Mermaid Man' and 'Barnacle Boy' were searching for a villain to beat down and put into prison.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends saw Squidward sitting on a lawn chair and reading a novel.

"Mermaidman and Barnacleboy spot one of their arch enemies, Reflecto, up no no good." SpongeBob switched his role to the narrator. He narrowed his eyes at Squidward. The sponge pretended that the octopus was a supervillain.

"SpongeBob, I don't want to play any of your games." Squideard overheard what SpongeBob said, glared at the sponge for several seconds, and then resumed his reading of his novel.

"You know what this means." SpongeBob smiled and switched his role back to Mermaid Man. He took out a box of donuts and opened it. He took one of the donuts and put it on his index finger. He imagined the doughnut to be a ring.

"Donuts." Patrick became out of character as he became hungry and took one of the donuts. He took a bite from the doughnut and put it on his hand since he didn't have any fingers. He switched back to his role as the sidekick.

"By the power of Neptune." SpongeBob spoke in a deep voice to imitate how Mermaid Man spoke in the TV show.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, unite!" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke the same words at the same time as they held up their hands and made their 'rings' touch.

"Creatures of the deep, assemble!" SpongeBob closed his eyes and concentrated on making any nearby sea creatures gather to his location.

Patrick closed his eyes and did this as well.

"Think... harder..." A few drops of sweat ran down SpongeBob's brow and he begun to have a headache. The yellow square was concentrating too hard and it was taking a toll on his head.

Patrick's mind was almost completely empty of thoughts and he was meditating more than concentrating on gathering any other sea creatures.

A jellyfish flew passed the two friends and towards Squidward.

"Here they come." Patrick opened his eyes and pumped his fist. He thought that he and SpongeBob were successful at gathering the sea creatures just like how their favorite superheroes did it even though the jellyfish flew to their neighborhood due to pure coincidence.

Squidward heard the buzzing of the incoming jellyfish and blew at it.

The jellyfish flew in a different direction.

"Blast, Reflecto has become too powerful." SpongeBob stomped with one of his feet and grit his teeth. He became frustrated since 'Reflecto' had the ability to blow away the jellyfish that the two 'superheroes' have 'summoned'. The sponge then noticed that Squidward's tiki was leaving a large shadow on the ground. Another light bulb then lit up in his head. "Barnacle Boy, follow me back to the mermalair." SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and whispered into the sea star's ear.

"Roger." Patrick nodded and ran towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob quickly followed him.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The two 'superheroes' entered the pineapple.

Squidward looked at the pineapple for several seconds in anticipation of SpongeBob and Patrick coming back to annoy him. He then focused his attention on his novel.

A very long pause.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick barged the front door open and ran towards Squidward. They were carrying parts of a tent and built a tent at a lightning-fast speed over the octopus.

"What the?" Squidward noticed that it suddenly became too dark for him to read his book. His face turned red and steam came out of his ears; he lost his temper since he had enough of SpongeBob and Patrick's antics.

"If Reflecto is cut off from sunlight, he becomes weak." SpongeBob made a facial expression of satisfaction. He and Patrick had been successful with their plan to weaken 'Reflecto'.

Squidward began to viciously tear the tent down.

"Jumping jellyfish, Mermaid Man. He's destroying the shield." Patrick's eyes bugged out and he sweatdropped at the thought of what 'Reflecto' could do to them next after he finishes destroying the tent.

"Quick, Barnacle Boy, back to the sea cave." SpongeBob ran back to his pineapple once again. In his thoughts, 'Reflecto' might beat up him and Patrick for disturbing him.

"Right, Mermaid Man." Patrick made a military salute and followed SpongeBob.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick re-entered the 'mermalair'.

Squidward ripped the tent into several pieces and stomped up to SpongeBob's pineapple, he knew that the two neighbors retreated to their base out of fear.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Squidward knocked on the front door. "SpongeBob! SpongeBob, open up!" He wanted to give SpongeBob and Patrick a piece of his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

"Reflecto has found our secret lab." SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip. There was no other place to run to since Squidward was standing in front of the entrance to the pineapple; the two best friends couldn't exit the building.

"What would the real Mermaid Man do?" Patrick became out of character again since he didn't the best of course of action. The two were trapped inside the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Why don't you go ask him yourself?" Squidward overheard their conversation and replied. He knew that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy still live in Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob opened the front door until it was ajar. "Elaborate, you vile fiend." The sponge had a solemn face.

"He and Barnacle Boy live in the retirement home on the other side of town." Squidward pointed at the direction of the retirement home. He knew that the two superheroes lived there since he used to live not too far from that place when he was growing up.

"Hmm, they must be working undercover." SpongeBob was not aware of the fact that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were elderly and were actually retired.

"Yeah… now please leave me alone." Squidward walked back to his lawn chair and resumed his reading of the book.

Patrick took another bite from his doughnut.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, reunite!" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time, held out their hands, and made their 'rings' touch. The two then walked up to Squidward.

"This way, right?" SpongeBob pointed in a certain direction and asked Squidward just to be sure that he and Patrick were walking in the right direction.

"Yep. Go away now." Squidward signaled with his hand for the two neighbors to leave.

Patrick walked towards the retirement home.

"Pat, wait a sec! We gotta change our clothes." SpongeBob held out one of his hands as a signal for Patrick to stop walking.

"True." Patrick turned around and walked to the pineapple.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge and the sea star walked to the garage and entered the room one at a time to change their clothes. Once both of them were wearing their normal attire, they exited the pineapple once again.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards the retirement home.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow sponge and pink starfish stood in front of a large building that had several windows and a few chimneys. A sign that said 'SHADY SHOALS REST HOME' was above the entrance.

"Pat, are you excited?" Spongebob was smiling widely and made eye contact with Patrick.

"You bet!" Patrick was jumping up and down; he couldn't control his excitement.

"This is gonna be the first time ever that we see our two favorite heroes in person!" SpongeBob couldn't contain his excitement either; his body was shaking.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and the two entered the retirement home.

**SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

The two best friends were inside a lobby. Many seniors were walking or wheeling to different places or rooms and some of them were assisted by employees. There was a front desk where a manager was filling out paperwork. There was a lot of chatting from the elderly that lived in the building.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the front desk.

"Excuse me," SpongeBob tried to be as polite as possible. "I know that Mermaid Man is working undercover on an important case, but you think we can see him?" The sponge didn't know how ridiculous were the words that he spoke.

"Undercover?" The manager stopped filling the paperwork and raised his brow. "Yeah… well, I'll see if they can take time from their busy schedule to see you." He was about to chuckle after hearing the yellow square's words but controlled himself. He pointed at the door to the room where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were at.

"Thanks." SpongeBob was grateful for the manager's help.

"Try not to surprise them." The manager warned the two about misbehaving before resuming his paperwork.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the door and opened it. They were so enthusiastic to see their two favorite heroes that they giggled when they opened the door and entered the room. The room that they entered was some sort of living room.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were sitting on a sofa and were watching TV. The television had gray dust moving across the screen; it was broken. Mermaid Man had white hair and was overweight, all the muscles that he had when he was young were gone. Barnacle Boy didn't have the muscles he had in his youth either and was skinny.

"Patrick! Can you believe it?" SpongeBob whispered loudly to his best friend.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the flesh!" Patrick's eyes widened as he saw the two former superheroes.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards the two retired superheroes and stood in front of the TV.

"Hey, who are those guys?" Barnacle Boy raised his brow and scratched his head.

"Uhh, are they here to fix the TV?" Mermaid Man thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were wearing uniforms; he had poor vision.

"What do you want?" Barnacle Boy moved his head to certain sides in an attempt to look at the TV screen.

"Are you Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy?" SpongeBob asked a question.

"Well, we used to be. But now we're retired." Barnacle Boy stated the obvious.

"But you can't retire! There's evil afoot." SpongeBob tried to make Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy consider the option to end their retirement.

"What?" Mermaid Man abruptly stood up from the sofa. "Evil! **EEEEEEVVIIIIIIILL**!" The retired superhero panicked since he thought that there was a supervillain in the building. He ran to a flower pot and stood on top of it. "Barnacle Boy! Don't forget there's eeeviiiiiil!"

"All I said was that there was evil afoot." SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders, he didn't understand why Mermaid Man was overreacting.

"EEEEEEEEVIIIIL! EEEEEEEEVIIIIL! E-" Mermaid Man screamed the word evil again but got interrupted by his sidekick.

"Would you please stop saying that?" Barnacle Boy became irritated at Mermaid Man's screaming.

Mermaid Man jumped to a drinking fountain and stood on it. "EVIL! EVIL, EVIL, EVIL, EVIL, EVIL!" The superhero looked around the room in search of the imaginary supervillain.

**SLAM**

The manager barged the door open and entered the room. Mermaid Man's screaming was too annoying for him to ignore and continue doing his paperwork. "WHAT'S GOING ON IN HERE?!" He demanded an answer to his question from one of the four people in the room.

"They started it!" Barnarcle Boy pointed at SpongeBob and Patrick. He didn't want the two visitors to cause any more disturbances.

SpongeBob and Patrick gulped nervously and showed not a single sign of resistance; they fully accepted whatever punishment they are about to receive.

The manager stomped to the two friends and picked them up by their squarepants and green pants. He then exited the room and walked to the front door of the retirement home.

**CRRREEEAK**

The manager opened the front door. "Good riddance." He kicked the two friends' butts.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge and sea star flew out of the building and across the the ground.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

The manager closed the front door. He walked back to the front desk and resumed his paperwork for the second time.

S-S-S-S-S

Barnacle Boy stood up from the couch and walked up to the terrified Mermaid Man. "There's no evil here. It's all in your head." He tried to calm down the former superhero.

"What? No evil?" Mermaid Man scratched his head.

"There's not a single evil person here. Most of the villains we fought are in jail." Barnacle Boy was being rational.

"Oh." Mermaid Man hopped to the floor, walked back to the couch, and sat on it. He returned to his normal senses.

"Now we just gotta wait for the repairmen." Barnacle Boy sat with him.

S-S-S-S-S

"Wow, I still can't believe I've just seen Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in real life." SpongeBob sat up and his eyes sparkled, what had just occured was one of the most remarkable events of his life.

"It's too bad they're old." Patrick sat up as well and shrugged his shoulders. He was disappointed that his favorite superheroes were retired.

"What do you mean, Patrick? Old people are the greatest. They're full of wisdom and experience. The world needs people like Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. But we ended up scaring and annoying them instead of encouraging them." SpongeBob smiled but it slowly turned to a frown and his optimism faded with it.

"It wasn't like the time when I spurred you to go to the Krusty Krab to become a fry cook. On that day, you got your first real job. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy had been superheroes for a really long time so I don't think they want to work in their former jobs again. They probably no longer had the passion that they had when they were young." Patrick's intelligence increased and he explained why he said those previous words.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Then maybe we should help them remember how it was like to be a superhero." The sponge smiled widely and his optimism returned. There might be a chance to make Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy get out of retirement.

"But the guy might not let us in again." Patrick pointed at the front door of the building.

"Let's just sneak into it then." SpongeBob stood up and walked to a nearby window. He slowly opened the window and signaled with his hand for Patrick to walk up to him.

Patrick walked up to the yellow sponge.

SpongeBob hopped through the open window and entered a room. He dove to a table and crouched under it. He didn't want any of the staff of the retirement home to see him.

Patrick leaped through the window and hid under the table with his best friend.

A janitor walked by while mopping the floor. When the mop went under the table, SpongeBob and Patrick sticked to the underside of the table.

The janitor soon left the room to clean other parts of the floor in other rooms.

P-Plop!

SpongeBob and Patrick dropped themselves to the floor.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. He was nervous about getting caught by the staff.

"Keep moving." Patrick gently pushed SpongeBob ahead. If he and the sponge moved quickly, the staff probably won't detect them.

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the room and quickly tip-toed down a hallway. They found a set of stairs and walked down those stairs to the main floor since they have a higher likelihood of finding the superhero duo there.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends were in another hallway and tip-toed as well to other parts of the floor. There were several rooms where the elderly were doing recreational activities including light exercise such as walking on a treadmill while it was on a slow speed. The sponge and the sea star avoided the main lobby at all costs since that was where the manager was filling out his paperwork. SpongeBob and Patrick walked through several hallways before they saw Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy opening a double door and entering the cafeteria.

SpongeBob and Patrick made eye contact with each other and silently nodded to each other. There were a lot of people in that room so it would be difficult for them to be seen since they can blend in with the crowd. Meeting Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy was worth the risk.

**C-CREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the cafeteria.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy took a plate respectively from a stack of them.

"To the meatloaf!" Mermaid Man announced where he and Barnacle Boy will go to and then walked to the meatloaf section of the kitchen where someone can obtain a serving of meatloaf. He grabbed the scoop that was in the meatloaf, scooped up a serving of meatloaf, and put it on his plate.

Barnacle Boy scooped up some meatloaf and put it on his plate.

"To the broccoli!" Mermaid Man walked to the broccoli section of the kitchen, scooped up some broccoli, and put them on his plate. "Make sure you give extra broccoli to my young ward. The boy needs his vitamins." The former superhero thought that his sidekick was still in his youth since Barnacle Boy was younger than him and this was also apparent in the name that was given to the sidekick.

Barnacle Boy groaned. He found it to be extremely annoying when people thought that he was a 'boy' since 'boy' was in his superhero name even though he was sixty-eight years old.

One of the chefs in the kitchen smirked and scooped up an excessive amount of broccoli. "Here you go, son." He chuckled for a few seconds as he put the broccoli on Barnacle Boy's plate.

"To the table, away!" Mermaid Man ran to an empty table.

"Careful! Don't run!" Barnacle Boy knew that Mermaid Man sometimes trips on something and falls to the floor when he runs. The sidekick walked to the table that Mermaid Man was running towards.

Mermaid Man stopped running and sat in the table. Barnacle Boy soon sat with him.

"Uh, here comes the TV repairman." Mermaid Man noticed that SpongeBob and Patrick were walking towards their table.

"Hey, Mermaid Man." SpongeBob walked up to the two retired superheroes and greeted them. Patrick was with him.

"What do you want from us?" Barnacle Boy raised his brow again. He wasn't going to tolerate SpongeBob and Patrick's already foolish behavior any longer.

"Hold on. Just let me look at ya." SpongeBob closely looked at Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as he thought of a way to make the superhero duo remember the accomplishments that they had made when they were young.

"Stay alert, Barnacle Boy. He's... up to something." Mermaid Man narrowed his eyes at the yellow sponge.

"Will you stop calling me 'boy'?" Barnacle Boy said something that was on his mind.

"Do you remember the time the food supply in Atlantis was running low? So you invented a ray gun that makes things grow six times their size to shoot at the kelp gardens. But then the evil Man Ray swoops down and swipes the gun away and shoots all the algae." SpongeBob hopped to the superhero duo's table and stood on it. "And he globs onto the undersea dome." The sponge laid down on the table and put his mouth on it. "And he starts sucking on the glass."

"What's your point, kid?" Barnacle Boy couldn't figure out why SpongeBob was telling that tale.

"You guys are the greatest heroes of all time, and I think you should come out of retirement." SpongeBob jumped back to the floor. He was trying to persuade Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to become superheroes again.

"Listen up, you villains. I wanna eat my meatloaf. If you don't get out of here, then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife." Mermaid Man wanted SpongeBob and Patrick to leave. The sponge and sea star were becoming a distraction.

"What?" SpongeBob scratched his head in utter confusion. He didn't know who was the 'wife'.

**C-CRRREEEEAK **

**SLAM**

The manager entered the cafeteria. He was finished with his paperwork and was hungry. He saw SpongeBob and Patrick and glared at them. The manager then stomped up to the two best friends.

"You may kiss the bride!" Mermaid Man pointed at SpongeBob and Patrick.

The manager picked SpongeBob and Patrick up. He then quickly exited the cafeteria and barged the front door open.

S-S-S-S-S

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick were thrown out of the retirement home by the manager.

"Don't come back!" The manager yelled at the two visitors and shook his fist.

**SLAM**

The manager closed the front door.

"What're we gonna do now?" Patrick stood up and considered the option of going back to his rock.

"If we can't persuade them, then we'll have to do something that'll make them be heroes again. Such a situation would be someone doing some sort of crime while the two are nearby and can see the criminal." SpongeBob didn't give up and had a few more ideas in his mind.

"That's a good idea, SpongeBob. You're really smart. But what crime are we gonna do?" Patrick was impressed by SpongeBob's plan but a question appeared in his head.

"Since we don't want it to be too crazy, let's just do a simple robbery. You're gonna be the robber." SpongeBob pointed at Patrick. "And I'm gonna be the victim." The sponge pointed at himself. "We're gonna have to get costumes though. We don't want Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to recognize us. Once we buy those costumes, I'll go more in-depth."

"Alright." Patrick nodded. He found the plan to be simple enough so far.

"Let's get to it right away." SpongeBob walked towards the downtown area of Bikini Bottom. He wanted to go to a costume store.

Patrick followed the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the retirement home.

The sponge was wearing lipstick, the purple clothes of a woman, and a purple hat with a flower on his head. He was holding a purple purse and wore purple high heels on his feet.

The sea star was wearing the clothing of a stereotypical robber.

Barnacle Boy and a few other elder people were sitting on chairs and were enjoying the fresh air.

Mermaid Man was napping on his chair.

"There they are!" Spongebob whispered loudly to Patrick's ear. "You know what to do." The sponge had explained the plan to his best friend after they bought the costumes and were walking back to the retirement home.

"Gotcha." Patrick smiled and winked. He then made a solemn face to hide his genuine emotions.

"Oh, my. This purse is so big and heavy." SpongeBob spoke in the most feminine manner that he can speak and pretended that his purse was heavy by lightening his grip on the purse and making it droop until it was close to the ground.

"Hold it right there, ma'am. I'll be taking that." Patrick walked up to SpongeBob and tried to snatch the purse in an attempt to steal it but the sponge tightened his grip on the purse.

"HELP! HELP! HELP!" SpongeBob yelled for help at no one in particular to attract Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's attention.

'It's working.' Patrick thought to himself. Since the plan was going smoothly, he assumed that it was going to be successful.

Barnacle Boy stood up and walked up to SpongeBob. He found SpongeBob's yelling for help to be annoying.

"Why, are you here to rescue little ol' me?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Barnacle Boy and smiled widely.

"Pipe down! You could wake Mermaidman and he's awry when his nap is disturbed." Barnacle Boy wanted SpongeBob to be quiet since Mermaid Man acts strange when interrupted from his nap.

SpongeBob dropped the purse to the ground, wiped the lipstick from his mouth, removed the feminine clothes to reveal his normal attire; and took off the high heels to reveal his normal shoes. He narrowed his eyes at the napping Mermaid Man and walked up to him. "Ever alert, Mermaid Man has trained himself to sleep with his eyes open." The sponge noticed that Mermaid Man's eyes weren't completely closed and became curious.

"Confound it, get away from him!" Barnacle Boy grabbed SpongeBob's shoulders and tried to pull him away from the napping retired superhero.

Mermaid Man woke up from his nap. "Stop shoutin'. I'm napping!" He became grumpy and lost his temper.

"It's not me, you ol' coot!" Barnacle Boy became ill-tempered as well.

"Yes."

"That's me."

"I'm over here."

A few elderly people stated that they were nearby due to them thinking that Barnacle Boy was addressing them. Barnacle Boy's words were too vague.

"Excuse me, Mermaid Man." SpongeBob tried to be polite. He wanted to tell Mermaid Man something.

"What do you want?" Mermaid Man wanted to resume his nap.

"This better be good." Barnacle Boy wasn't going to deal with any of the yellow square's antics.

"Do you want me to paint your invisible boatmobile? I think that'll cheer you up." SpongeBob proposed the third plan that was in his head to the retired superheroes.

"THAT'S IT!" Barnacle Boy gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He thought that SpongeBob ad Patrick had malicious intentions. "We gotta end our life of leisure. Time to come out of retirement. There's evil afoot."

"EVIL! Where is it?" Mermaid Man's eyes bugged out and he stood up. He looked at his surroundings in search of the villain.

"There it is!" Barnacle Boy pointed at SpongeBob and Patrick. "You know what this means?" He took out a small black box and opened it to reveal two gold rings.

Mermaid Man's stomach grumbled. "Donuts!" He became hungry.

"Oh, brother." Barnacle Boy shook his head and put a ring on his ring finger and Mermaid Man's ring finger.

"Oh yeah." Mermaid Man looked at the ring and smiled. He suddenly remembered what to do. "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, UNITE!" He spoke in a serious and deep voice.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy made their rings touch.

"Throw a waterball at 'em!" Mermaid Man made a waterball in his hands and aimed it at the two friends.

Patrick took off his costume to reveal his normal clothes.

"Waterballs! Waterballs!" SpongeBob and Patrick jumped up and down in excitement. They were enthusiastic to see how Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's superpowers looked like in real life.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy threw two waterballs at SpongeBob and Patrick.

The waterballs hit SpongeBob and Patrick's skin but left the two friends unscathed.

Patrick giggled since the hit from the waterball tickled his skin.

"Mumbling mories. It's not working, Mermaid Man." Barnacle Boy sweatdropped. He thought that the waterballs were surely going to knock out SpongeBob and Pateick.

"Th-th-they're absorbing them like some kind of EVIL SPONGES!" Mermaid Man didn't know that SpongeBob was a sponge and that his and Barnacle Boy's waterballs were too weak anyway.

"Dogpaddle away!" Barnacle Boy levitated and flew in a circular path at a rapid speed.

Mermaid Man soon flew with him.

The two superheroes made a whirlpool from their super-fast flying. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy then stopped flying and allowed the whirlpool to head towards SpongeBob and Patrick.

Patrick gasped. "It's the waging whirlpool!" The sea star pointed at the incoming whirlpool.

The whirlpool hit them and made them twirl in the air.

P-plop!

SpongeBob and Patick landed on the ground without any injuries. The two then stood up. "Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!" The two best friends spoke the same words at the same time. They were utterly amazed by what they were seeing and what was hitting them. They didn't know that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were trying to harm them.

"Now what, Mermaid Man?" Barnacle Boy looked at Mermaid Man and scratched his head. He didn't know of anything else that could harm SpongeBob and Patrick without going to the mermalair.

"We need help! Get the nearby sea creatures!" Mermaid Man closed his eyes and concentrated on gathering any sea creatures that were near him and Barnacle Boy to help them in harming SpongeBob and Patrick.

Barnacle Boy did this as well.

'Sea creatures, unite!' Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy spoke in their minds.

All of the elderly people sitting on the chairs outside of the retirement home stood up. Several more elderly people opened the entrance to the retirement home and exited the building. All of the gathered elderly walked up to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and surrounded them.

"Hmm, the creatures of the deep seem to have lost some of their luster." Barnacle Boy noticed that the surrounding sea creatures were around the same age as him.

"Sea creatures, attack!" Mermaid Man glared at SpongeBob and Patrick and pointed at them.

The elderly people that were gathered became angry and lifted SpongeBob and Patrick from the ground. They then threw SpongeBob and Patrick across a long distance.

"I did it. I feel five years younger. Oh, it's good to be back!" Mermaid Man fist pumped and smiled widely. He was proud of his achievement.

"WE DID IT, you ol' coot." Barnacle Boy became irritated when Mermaid Man didn't give him any credit for what they did to SpongeBob and Patrick.

"I know we're supposed to check out some sort of place if we're not retired but... I forgot where and what it was." Mermaid Man couldn't remember what they were supposed to do now.

"You mean the mermalair?" Barnacle Boy knew that they had not visited the mermalair in twenty years.

Mermaid Man snapped his fingers. "Yeah!"

"Let's tell that manager first." Barnacle Boy walked towards the retirement home.

Mermaid Man followed his sidekick.

The other elderly people walked back to the building as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy walked up to a large rock that had a small keyhole that can't be seen without looking closely, the two had found the location of the mermalair. They had told the manager that they were leaving the retirement home for a while.

Mermaid Man took out a key and put it into the keyhole. He twisted the key and made a concealed door automatically open. The opening revealed a large set of stairs and a switch to turn on the lights that was close to the entrance.

Barnacle Boy flicked the light switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

The two superheroes walked down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy entered their lair. They were standing in the lobby which had a large computer showing the map of Bikini Bottom. Advanced technology and weaponry were inside glass cases and large shelves. The rooms of the lair were constructed by cutting into the large rock and that made the rooms look like parts of a cave. Except for a few small changes, the mermalair was completely intact.

"Heh. I thought this place would be a mess by now." Barnacle Boy smiled and felt nostalgia.

"Time flies, Barnacle Boy." Mermaid Man smiled as well.

A light bulb lit up in Barnacle Boy's head. "Remember that show about us?"

"Yep." Mermaid Man nodded. The familiar sight of the mermalair assisted him in remembering things.

"Maybe they should make a new one. It would be recorded through camera just like how they did it long ago." Barnacle Boy pondered about making a new TV show that didn't have animated episodes. The TV show about the superhero duo that is still aired on TV was animated since him and Mermaid Man were retired. The makers of the show had to be informed about him and Mermaid Man's return to their former career.


	25. Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost

**Chapter 25: Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost**

* * *

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the late afternoon.

SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting on the couch inside the living room of the pineapple. They were watching the TV and were waiting for a commercial to end so they could watch the upcoming TV show.

A new Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy TV show was about to be aired for the first time. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy had made an episode within an hour since it was short, the episode consisted of an event in their daily lives that was recorded by a camera crew. The two superheroes were too physically weak due to their age to fight in battles with supervillains like in the days of old so short episodes like the one they made would be the best substitutes.

A long pause.

"_The new Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!_" The TV show began. The title of the show in a swirling background appeared on the screen.

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped and sat in the edge of their seat.

"_We join our heroes in a battle of wits._" The TV screen showed Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sitting at a table and playing checkers.

Barnacle Boy jumped one of his pieces over Mermaid Man's. The color of his pieces were red and he was dominating the game.

Mermaid Man bit his lip and sweatdropped. He didn't want to lose in a game of checkers by his sidekick while being recorded by cameras.

**RING RING RING RING**

A nearby shell-phone rang.

"_It's the aqua phone!_" Mermaid Man stood up, walked to the shell-phone, and picked it up. He had brought the shell-phone from the mermalair. The superhero put the phone near his ear. He heard a faint electronic voice "_What is it, Chief? Uhh, hello? Hello? Hello?_" He thought that the person on the other end was speaking quietly.

A pause.

The old man then realized something and put the phone down. "_The phone is still broken. Remind me to get that fixed._" Mermaid Man walked back to the table and sat back down in his seat.

"_Remind you of what?_" Barnacle Boy wasn't paying attention to what Mermaid Man said and was focusing on what he should do in his next turn.

"_Remind me of what?_" Mermaid Man forgot about what he was going to say and why he had to get the phone fixed.

"_Will our heroes ever get their phone fixed? Tune in next week and find out._" The episode then ended and a commercial appeared on the TV screen.

"Wow. That was just as good as the old show." SpongeBob said his opinion.

"It's all thanks to you." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder.

"I bet Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy getting out of their retirement and making that new TV show will get the headlines for sure." SpongeBob smiled widely and stood up from the couch. He was considering about what fun activity that he should do next with Patrick.

"What game were they playing on TV?" Patrick was fascinated with the game that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy played in that episode.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "It's called checkers. Do you want to play a variant of it?"

"I'll try." Patrick nodded. He wanted to try the variant of checkers to see if it was fun. He liked to try new things once in a while.

"Alright. Wait right here for a bit." SpongeBob exited the living room and eventually entered the garage.

A long pause. Patrick stood there and did absolutely nothing.

SpongeBob came back with a folded chessboard in one hand and a plastic bag full of chess pieces in another hand, he got them from the garage. "We gotta go outside to play." That variant of checkers was something that the sponge made up in his head.

"Oooh. Is it a sport?" Patrick became heavily curious.

"I guess you could say that." SpongeBob nodded. "The game has alota rules but you'll get used to it." The sponge walked towards the front door.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited the pineapple.

Patrick followed him and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob unfolded the chessboard and put it on the ground. He then opened the bag and put the chess pieces on the chessboard. The yellow square then began to explain to Patrick the rules of the game.

Patrick paid attention to SpongeBob's words so he can't get confused with any of the rules.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was nearly finished with the making of a wax statue of himself, he was inside the music room. Ever since SpongeBob and Patrick went to the retirement home, the neighborhood had been peaceful. The time when the two neighbors were gone was perfect to make an artistic creation. The octopus had been in solitude with his thoughts as he made the statue. Even when SpongeBob and Patrick came back to the neighborhood, they stayed at the sponge's pineapple for a long time so there weren't many noises coming from outside. However, as SpongeBob and Patrick went outside to play a variant of checkers, tranquil times were about to end.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are? Your tentacles, your nose, your eyes... a little lopsided." Squidward was putting some finishing touches on the statue. His words made his obsession with himself extremely obvious. The octopus took the right eye out of the statue and put it back in a slightly adjusted postion. "There. And now that I've been immortalized in wax, I have conquered all artistic media. Come on, my precious reflection, smile!" The octopus moved the mouth of the statue until he made it smile.

**CRRAASSH**

**THUD**

Loud noises came from outside.

Squidward sighed. "Here we go again." He shook his head and looked at SpongeBob and Patrick from one of the windows.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick had dropped a rock and broke it into several pieces which made the crashing sound. He then jumped over the remaining pieces of the rock which made the THUD sound.

"Hike, Patrick, hike!" SpongeBob ran across the neighborhood in one direction. He grabbed a nearby rock along the way.

Patrick ran in the opposite direction.

SpongeBob dropped the rock to the ground and karate chopped it in half. "You just lost three points!" He pointed at Patrick.

Patrick ran to the chessboard and blew one of his pieces by three tiles. The sea star then ran to his rock and climbed to the top of it. "One. Two. Five!" He then jumped to the ground.

SpongeBob took out a bottle of bubble soap and a bubble wand. He opened the small bottle and dipped the wand into the bottle. The sponge blew into the wand and a small bubble came out of the wand. "G-7!"

"G-7? King me! King me!" Patrick ran towards SpongeBob's pineapple but tripped on a small rock.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the ground. "Tartar sauce!" He struck the ground with his fist in frustration.

Squidward opened the window that he was looking through. "Hey! What are you invertebrates doing?" The octopus found SpongeBob and Patrick's actions to be foolish.

"We're playing a type of checkers that I made up." SpongeBob looked up at Squidward, smiled, and waved at the octopus.

"Hey Patrick, do you know what time it is?" Squidward smirked. He was about to make a joke.

Patrick stood up and looked at his wrist. He noticed that he didn't have a watch with him. "I don't know." The sea star shrugged.

"Time to find some other game to play!" Squidward laughed by honking his nose and closed the window.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward went downstairs and eventually entered the bathroom. He turned on the bathtub until it was full of warm water. He took off his shirt and entered the bathtub. The octopus then turned on a record player that was inside the bathroom and hummed to the music. He decided to take a bath because he thought that it would be a nice way to spend some time while not hearing or seeing his two neighbors' antics.

S-S-S-S-S

"Now what?" SpongeBob didn't know about what to do next. He didn't want to resume with playing the game since he might annoy Squidward again.

Patrick noticed a shell that was on the ground. "We could toss this shell back and forth." The sea star picked up the shell.

"Okay, ready!" SpongeBob crouched so he could catch the shell.

Patrick threw the shell towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob caught the shell and nimbly threw it towards Patrick.

The shell hit and bounced off of Patrick's belly. It then flew towards Squidward's tiki.

"GO!" Patrick snapped his fingers and pointed at the shell.

"I got it! I got it!" SpongeBob ran towards the shell.

**CRRAAASSSH**

The shell broke through one of the windows of the tiki.

SpongeBob stopped running and his race drained of color. "Uh-oh." He sweatdropped and braced himself for Squidward's eventual yelling.

"Go get it really quick." Patrick bit his lip, walked to the front door of the tiki, and opened it. He didn't want to get in trouble and hear Squidward's yelling either.

SpongeBob into the tiki.

Patrick entered the tiki as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The music in the bathroom was loud enough for Squidward to not hear anything coming from outside the room. Squidward continued to take a bath as if nothing had happened.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard music and humming that was coming from the bathroom. "Pat, you're hearing that, right?" He turned around and looked at Patrick.

Patrick silently nodded.

"I think Squidward's taking a bath. Don't do anything that'll make a loud sound, got it?" SpongeBob tip-toed across the living room.

"Gotcha." Patrick nodded again.

The two friends walked up the stairs to the music room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick saw a fallen wax statue of Squidward laying on the floor, the shell pierced its forehead.

"There it is!" Patrick whispered loudly and pointed at the shell.

SpongeBob walked up to the statue and pulled the shell out of the statue's forehead. He then raised his brow after closely inspecting the sculpture. "Uhh, Patrick? I think something's wrong with Squidward. He looks unconscious." The sponge was concerned for 'Squidward'.

Patrick walked up to the statue and smiled. "Don't worry. I know how to do this." The sea star crouched near the statue and tried to give the 'octopus' CPR. His face turned blue since the air that he was trying to give wasn't going into 'Squidward's' mouth.

"It's not working, Pat." SpongeBob pulled Patrick's shoulder.

Patrick stopped performing CPR and tried to stand up. He slipped on one of the sculpture's hands and landed on top of the statue.

"Get off him, Pat!" SpongeBob's eyes widened and he pulled Patrick's hand. He didn't want him or his best friend to accidentally injure 'Squidward'.

"What are you worried about?" Patrick stood up. His butt was imprinted on the 'octopus's' face since the statue was made of wax. "He looks better already." The starfish looked down at 'Squidward' and thought his condition had became better since 'his' face looked different.

SpongeBob put his hand over his 'neighbor's' forehead. "But he still feels cold." The sponge didn't feel any warmth coming from the 'body'.

"Well, let's go put him in the warm." Patrick picked the wax sculpture up and put it near one of the windows in a standing position.

The sunlight touched the face of the wax statue and it began to slowly melt into green liquid.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" SpongeBob looked at 'Squidward' and put a hand over his mouth. The melting of the statue was too subtle and slow for the yellow square to notice. He then made a facial expression of concern.

"You know, you worry too much." Patrick considered the situation to be too minor for him to take it seriously. The sea star was hungry and other thoughts filled his mind. "The Patrick is here and SpongeBob I know a lot about head injuries, believe..." He suddenly drooled as thoughts of delicious food consumed his mind.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers to grab Patrick's attention.

Patrick shook back to his senses. "...me." He finished his sentence.

The wax sculpture melted to such an extent that the head of the 'octopus' fell from the body and landed on the floor. A few drops of the green liquid landed on one of SpongeBob's shoes.

"Hey, what's that on your shoe?" Patrick noticed the drops of green liquid that was on his best friend's shoe and pointed at them.

SpongeBob looked down at his shoes, saw the green liquid, and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

A pause.

The sponge then noticed a puddle of green liquid that was in front of him and...

... the separate head of 'Squidward'.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!**" SpongeBob nearly had a heart attack at the sight of the head and screamed in fright.

"**AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**" Patrick saw the head of the 'octopus' and screamed as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the screaming and became grumpy. His moment of relaxation was ruined. The octopus took the plug out and allowed the bathtub to be drained. He ended his bath prematurely so he can deal with SpongeBob and Patrick. "Why those two fools have to bother me now?" He stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a white towel around his body. He then opened a small nearby bottle and powdered his face until it was white. He put the powder on the skin of his face so it can be moistened.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick tried to reassemble the wax statue in desperation. They were oblivious to the fact that what they thought was Squidward was actually a wax sculpture.

"No, no, that part goes here." SpongeBob put one of the eyes back into one of the sockets of the head and pointed at the eye that Patrick was holding since the sea star put it in the back of the head.

"Yeah-yeah, that's it, uh-huh." Patrick nodded and put the eye that he was holding into the other socket. He then put the head on the neck of the body.

"We're almost there. We can do this." SpongeBob put some of the green liquid back into the legs and tried to reshape them. The sponge became hopeful about 'Squidward' becoming 'revived'.

"It's working, it's working..." Patrick tried to reshape the melting arms.

"This is working." SpongeBob grinned as he put the green liquid back into the 'octopus's' feet and reshaped them.

The wax sculpture broke into several pieces and melted completely into green liquid.

"It didn't work." SpongeBob stopped smiling and spoke quietly. "I don't know how to say it, but our old pal Squidward, he's... he's... He's pushing up daisies!" His eyes moistened; he was on the brink of bursting into tears.

"Oh, I thought he was dead." Patrick wiped some sweat from his brow in relief. He didn't know that what SpongeBob said meant Squidward was dead.

Squidward walked up the stairs and entered the music room. He saw SpongeBob and Patrick and the broken window and tightened his fists. "What are you doing here?! Well? Are you two trying to say something, or do I have to-?" The octopus wanted his neighbors to leave his premises. He got interrupted.

"No, stay back!" SpongeBob thought that something paranormal was occuring. He walked back by a few steps.

Patrick's eyes bugged out at the sight of Squidward.

"WHAT is the matter with you two?" Squidward found the sponge and the starfish's behavior to be strange.

"D-don't hurt us!" Patrick fell to his knees, put his hands together, and begged for Squidward's forgiveness.

"It was an accident!" SpongeBob put his hands over his face and a few tears ran across his cheeks. He was terribly afraid of getting injured by the 'ghost'.

"What are you two talking about?" Squidward raised his brow. He had absolutely no clue about what the two were talking about.

SpongeBob and Patrick moved out of the way so they can show Squidward the mess that they have made.

Squidward saw the green liquid and became extremely shocked. He then gritted his teeth and his face turned red. Steam came out of his ears and he tightened his fists even more. "Look what you've done to me! When I get my hands on you, I'll-" The octopus wanted to murder SpongeBob and Patrick or do an action just as bad for ruining something that he worked nearly the whole day on. He got interrupted by SpongeBob.

"Please, Mr. Squidward's ghost!" SpongeBob spoke. He and Patrick bowed to the floor before the 'ghost' as if he was a god. "Spare us your ghostly anger!"

Patrick crawled up to Squidward's feet and kissed them. "Oh yes, Mr. Squidward's ghost! Please don't haunt us!"

"We'll do anything you want! Just have mercy on us!" SpongeBob bowed multiple times.

Squidward slowly made an evil smile. His day just took a turn for the better if he can make his two neighbors do whatever thing he asks or requests of them. If he could pretend that he was a ghost, SpongeBob and Patrick would completely fall for it. "Enough! Listen up, Squidward's ghost is feeling unusually generous today. He hath decided to spare ye a a horrible fate. All ye must do is tend to my every whim and tickle my fancy on demand." The octopus spoke in an archaic manner for a more convincing effect.

"Does that include-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted by Squidward.

"Quiet! Now, do as you're told! Lest ye incur the wrath of Squidward!" Squidward folded his arms and glared at SpongeBob.

"I think they make a cream for that now." Patrick whispered to SpongeBob's ear.

"For my first request, I would like you two to take my to my bed." Squidward raised his arms until they were from side to side so he can be carried by SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up and walked towards Squidward. Patrick picked up Squidward's legs while SpongeBob grabbed Squidward 's upper torso. The two then carried Squidward downstairs and out of the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The two walked down the hallway as they carried Squidward.

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door to the bedroom. The two 'servants' then carried Squidward into the room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick carried Squidward to the bed and laid him down on the mattress.

"Here?" SpongeBob wanted to make sure that the 'ghost' was comfortable.

"Too hot." Squidward shook his head.

SpongeBob and Patrick moved Squidward to another location on thebed.

"Here?" SpongeBob slightly smiled.

"No, too wet. Keep going." Squidward shook his head.

SpongeBob and Patrick moved Squidward to another location on the bed again.

"Here?" SpongeBob asked.

"Perfect. Hmmm, I feel needy." Squidward sat up and clapped his hands together. "Slaves, fetch me some nourishment." The 'ghost' was hungry.

"Only the freshest, o spooky one." SpongeBob nodded and he and Patrick exited the bedroom to find some food for Squidward.

The octopus laid down on the bed and smiled in satisfaction. That day had got to be one of the best days in his life.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick opened the refrigerator in the kitchen.

SpongeBob took some grapes and a banana.

Patrick took a watermelon.

The two 'servants' closed the refrigerator and walked up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the bedroom.

"Some grapes fresh from the vine, your ghostliness." SpongeBob fed Squidward all of the grapes that he was holding. "A banana peeled to your likeness, your incordialness." He squeezed the banana out of the peel as he fed it to the 'ghost'.

"One watermelon fresh from the manure field, your spookiness." Patrick dropped the watermelon that he was holding on top of Squidward.

**THUD**

Squidward fell to the floor.

"Art thou not pleased?" SpongeBob mimicked Squidward's archaic manner of speech so he can be as polite as possible.

Squidward picked up the watermelon and tossed it to the side. "Enough of that! I want something else to eat now. Something that's very difficult to find." The octopus stood up.

"What do you hunger for, master?" Patrick tried to be polite as well.

"Whatever you want, we'll find it." SpongeBob would fulfill any request from the 'ghost' so he can please him.

"Cherry pie." Squidward spoke his words clearly.

"Right away, sir." SpongeBob nodded and exited the bedroom.

"As you wish, your ghostliness." Patrick nodded and exited the bedroom as well.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the tiki.

"SpongeBob, where do you think we can get a cherry pie or the ingredients to make one? Isn't that air creature food?" Patrick's intelligence had increased.

"Pat, I think you know who we're going to by now." SpongeBob smiled and walked towards the treedome.

Patrick followed his best friend.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Cherry pie?" Sandy was in front of SpongeBob and Patrick. She was not wearing her astronaut suit.

SpongeBob and Patrick were wearing fish bowls full of water. The two were inside Sandy's treedome.

"The ghost of Squidward wants one and you're the only land creature that's nearby." SpongeBob said the reason why he and Patrick asked Sandy for a cherry pie.

"Squidward died by turning into some sort of liquid and we have to pay our respects to him or else he'll haunt us for the rest of our lives." Patrick went more in-depth with the explanation.

"A ghost? That smells fishy. Guys, I don't believe in ghosts. The evidence for them isn't valid even after much scrutiny from the scientific community. However, since I like helping friends like you, I'll make the pie. If I have the time later on, I'll go to your neighborhood to see this 'ghost'." Sandy walked to the oak tree so she can bake the cherry pie. She was skeptical of the claim by SpongeBob and Patrick that Squidward died by turning into goo and that his ghost asked the two for a cherry pie.

"Thanks, Sandy." SpongeBob smiled. 'I'm sure the ghost will be pleased when I tell him that someone offered her time to make the pie.' He thought to himself.

Patrick walked to a wooden table and sat in it.

SpongeBob sat in the table as well.

"How can Squidward turn into goo?" SpongeBob pondered about Squidward's apparent death.

"I dunno. I don't understand how can he eat food and be hungry while being a ghost either." Patrick shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe some ghosts are different from others." SpongeBob speculated about why the ghost could do things that only mortals can do.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy entered the kitchen, took out the ingredients for a cherry pie from the cabinets, and began to make the pie.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob held a freshly baked cherry pie. "See ya later." He waved at Sandy and entered the small glass hallway. He took off his fish bowl and put it on the floor.

Patrick entered the hallway and took off the fish bowl as well.

"Bye." Sandy waved at SpongeBob and Patrick.

**SLAM**

She closed the door.

Water flooded the hallway until the hallway was completely filled with the water.

**CREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick re-entered Squidward's bedroom.

"As you asked, your spookiness." SpongeBob gave the cherry pie to Squidward. He took out a spoon from his pocket and gave it to him as well. "We had asked someone to bake it for you."

"Very well." The 'ghost' began to eat the cherry pie with the spoon.

A long pause.

Squidward finished eating the cherry pie and covered his mouth as he burped. A few ideas about orders to tell SpongeBob and Patrick were in his head and he picked one. "Spin around." The octopus twirled one of his hands as a signal for the two 'servants' to obey his command.

SpongeBob and Patrick span around in place a few times. They didn't question Squidward at all.

"Stop." Squidward held out his hand.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped spinning and faced the 'ghost'.

"Now jog in place." Squidward continued to say orders. He wanted to test the limits of his authority.

SpongeBob and Patrick jogged in place until they began to sweat.

Squidward held out his hand again; he didn't need to say a word.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped jogging in place.

"Now say flank steak." Squidward laid down on his bed so he can relax. He knew by that point that SpongeBob and Patrick were completely obedient to him.

"Flank steak." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke the same words at the same time. They had deadpan faces and followed Squidward's orders as if they were robots.

'I think I'm beginning to like this.' Squidward had a genuine smile on his face. The illusion of his power over others gave him immense pleasure. The octopus looked through the corner of his eye and saw a tissue box. A light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. He wanted to see if SpongeBob and Patrick would still obey him if he gave them a challenge. Squidward beamed as he took two pieces of tissue from the tissue box. "Play me an elaborate song with this." He sat up and gave a piece of tissue to each 'servant'.

"But this is just a piece of tissue paper." SpongeBob managed to get some words out of his mouth as he became dumbfounded about the possibility of someone playing music with the piece of tissue.

Patrick became intimidated by Squidward's order and his intelligence reverted back to its low levels as a result. He could no longer recognize what he was holding. "What is this?" The sea star scratched his head as he looked at the piece of tissue.

Squidward facepalmed. "Just play some nice music with it." He repeated his command with simpler words.

"How am I gonna play anything with this?" SpongeBob shook his head and gave the piece of tissue back to Squidward. "It's impossible." The sponge was aware of the limits of his abilities.

"Well, I hope you don't have any plans tonight, because you're not allowed to leave that spot until I hear a song." Squidward stood up from his bed, walked to the exit of the bedroom, and stood in front of it. He was stern in his belief that his two neighbors can fulfill his order.

Patrick inhaled deeply and blew at the tissue that he was holding with all of the air that he can muster. Not a single note was produced.

Squidward looked at his watch and noticed that it was a bit after 7:00 PM. In less than two hours, he was going to go to sleep. The octopus didn't want to waste any more time with the last order that he spoke of and wanted SpongeBob and Patrick to do the other things that he thought of. "Since you can't make any music with those tissues, Squidward's ghost now commander has you to clean out his closet instead." He stepped out of the way so the 'servants' can walk through the doorway.

Patrick dropped the tissue and walked through the doorway.

SpongeBob exited the bedroom as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends walked through the hallway and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards the door to the closet.

**CRRREEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the closet.

**SLAM**

Patrick walked into the closet and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick noticed that the many things in the closet were disorganized.

"How are we going to clean up all this mess?" Patrick scratched his head. He thought that organizing the things in the closet was going to be a difficult task.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "We're gonna have to do it anyway." He walked towards a pile of books and began to make three stacks of them depending on the size of each book. Although the task was tedious; the sponge knew he had to get it done in order to fulfill the 'ghost's' wishes.

Patrick folded some clothes that were on the floor and put them into stacks as well.

SpongeBob found a comic book beneath the remaining pile of books. "Hey Pat, I found a comic book, and look at this. It's about the origin of the Flying Dutchman." The sponge flipped through the pages as he scanned through the book. "It says when he died his crew threw him off the ship. Now he haunts the seven seas because he was never put to rest." A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head as he said those words. "Well, don't you get it, Patrick?" The sponge wanted to see if Patrick was thinking what he was thinking.

Patrick quietly shook his head.

"We're gonna put poor old Squidward to rest." SpongeBob spoke in a solemn manner.

"How're we gonna do that?" Patrick raised his brow.

SpongeBob began to explain what he and his best friend had to do.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked downstairs and laid down on the couch. He was going to take a short nap.

Patrick opened the fridge in the kitchen and took out a gallon of water. He took the cap off the gallon and walked up to Squidward. The sea star then poured some of the water in the gallon on Squidward's body.

"What the heck was that?!" Squidward became irritated and sat up. "What do you think you're doing?" He glared at Patrick.

SpongeBob walked up to Squidward. "Initiation. That was part one of your ceremony." The sponge stated the reason why Patrick did that to the octopus.

"Ceremony for what?" Squidward raised his brow.

"We're going to put you to rest." SpongeBob made a slight smile.

"I don't want to be put to rest! All I want are those chores done. Now, did you clean the closet yet?" The 'ghost' stood up and folded his arms. He didn't want the ceremony to continue.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded.

"Well, I'm going to go check." Squidward walked up to the door to the closet.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

Squidward opened the door and looked inside the closet. He saw a coffin that was made out of cardboard and was taped together. He then yelled for a few seconds in fright. Squidward suddenly realized that SpongeBob and Patrick were unintentionally going to bury him alive.

SpongeBob walked into the closet. "Okay, get in." He pointed at the coffin.

"Are you crazy? I'm not getting in that thing." Squidward shook his head and stepped away from the coffin.

"But you said we could put you to rest." SpongeBob thought that Squidward gave him and Patrick permission to bury him not too long ago. He was confusing his memories.

"I didn't say anything like that! Now, get out of my house!" Squidward pushed SpongeBob and Patrick towards the front door. The two neighbors were becoming a threat instead of being 'servants' and he needed to get them out of his home as soon as possible.

**CREEAAAK**

The 'ghost' opened the front door and pushed the two neighbors through the doorway.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Don't we need a tombstone for the burial?" Patrick looked at a nearby rock and realized something.

"You're right, Pat. I'm gonna make one right now." SpongeBob took out a pen from one of his pockets and walked towards a large nearby rock. He crouched before the rock and carved the words 'R. I. P. SQUIDWARD TENTACLES 1983 - 2008' with the pen. "We're also gonna need some space for the coffin." He ran towards the pineapple and entered it.

A pause. Patrick whistled as he waited for his best friend.

SpongeBob exited the pineapple while holding two shovels. He gave Patrick one of the shovels. The sponge then began to dig a space in the shape of a large rectangle in front of the tombstone.

"Alright." Patrick nodded and began to dig as well as a way of assisting his friend.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked through one of the windows in the music room and saw what his two neighbors were doing. He was just about to play with his clarinet. "Are they serious?" The octopus raised his brow and put his clarinet on the sheet holder, he was sick of the two friends' foolish acts and wanted the madness to end. He walked downstairs. He was going to reveal a fact that the two weren't aware of so they can leave him alone.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki and walked towards SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob saw Squidward through the corner of his eye. "Oh, hi Squidward. Does this look deep enough?" He pointed at the pit in front of the tombstone.

"Just get into that coffin we made and we'll bring you into his hole to bury you." Patrick smiled and pointed at Squidward's tiki so the octopus can know where the coffin is.

"SpongeBob, Patrick, I have a confession to make." Squidward put his hand over his heart and had a solemn face.

"You're bald?" SpongeBob scratched his head and shrugged.

"It's not that. I'm actually alive and not a ghost. Get rid of that tombstone and leave me alone for the rest of the day. My perfect Sunday was already ruined when you two melted my sculpture." Squidward confessed. His secret had finally been revealed.

"So that body that was up there was fake?" SpongeBob asked the octopus a question.

"Yep." Squidward nodded and turned around. He began to walk back to his tiki.

"But master-" SpongeBob said something but got interrupted by the octopus.

"I'm not you master, I'm your neighbor. Now do me a favor and please stop doing me favors." Squidward looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and then resumed his walk towards his home.

"As you wish, master." SpongeBob nodded and then bowed to show respect.

Squidward groaned after hearing the sponge's words.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and entered his tiki.

"Boy, he really had us fooled." Patrick was in total disbelief at the fact that Squidward tricked him and SpongeBob into thinking that the octopus was a ghost.

"Then why was he speaking in such a weird way? Why was his skin white when we first saw him? Patrick, he's the fool. He's a ghost in denial. He needs us now more than ever." SpongeBob still believed that Squidward was a ghost even when the truth was revealed to him. How the octopus spoke and his appearance when the sponge first saw him as a 'ghost' convinced the yellow square that the octopus was a spirit. His concern for Squidward's well-being was also partially responsible for his blindness to the truth.

"You're right. He really needs to get up to the great beyond." Patrick looked up at the sky. The sun was close to setting. He thought that it was possible to send someone directly to the afterlife by bringing the person up to and above the ocean surface.

"Patrick, say that again." SpongeBob didn't pay attention. Several thoughts were racing through his mind.

"That again?" Patrick scratched his head. He tried his best to remember what he said.

"No, the other thing." SpongeBob tried to be more specific with his request.

"I said that he really needs to get up to the great beyond." Patrick repeated what he previously said.

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge then snapped his fingers and made a wide smile. "I've got an idea just for that." He took out a bottle of bubble soap and a bubble wand.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki, he was in his normal clothing. The octopus sat on his lawn chair and took out his novel. He resumed his reading of it since he assumed that the two neighbors will stop annoying him for the rest of the day.

SpongeBob and Patrick were hiding behind the pineapple and were waiting for Squidward to come out of his tiki. Once they saw him, the two friends tip-toed towards their prey since they knew that the octopus won't notice them due to focusing on his book.

The yellow sponge and pink starfish stood next to Squidward.

SpongeBob opened the bottle of soap and dipped the wand into the bottle. He took a deep inhale and blew into the wand.

A large bubble came halfway out of the wand, it was a few inches away from Squidward.

"I can't reach him." SpongeBob whispered to Patrick.

"Blow harder, he probably won't notice until he's in it." Patrick whispered to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob blew into the wand with all of the air that he could gather. The bubble enlarged and came out of the wand. It enveloped Squidward.

"Huh?" Squidward stopped reading his novel and noticed that he was floating. The octopus looked down and saw SpongeBob holding a bubble wand. His face turned crimson in anger; he lost his temper. "**SPONGEBOB!**" He repeatedly struck his fists on the interior of the bubble.

"There he goes!" Patrick waved at the octopus.

"Isn't he beautiful?" SpongeBob thought that Squidward was becoming transparent and fading into oblivion since the octopus was shrinking in his vision. The sponge's eyes became moist as grief began to enter his mind.

"How high's he going to go?" Patrick squinted so he can get a better view of the ever-decreasing-in-size Squidward.

"All the way, Patrick, up to the great beyond." SpongeBob pointed at the sky that was fading from orange to a dark-blue.

The sun began to set over the horizon.

"Goodbye, friend." SpongeBob wiped his eyes as a way of fighting back the tears and waved at Squidward as well.

"Happy trails!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled their final farewell at the 'soul' of their neighbor.

Squidward yelled curses at his two neighbors.

"You're welcome!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled the same words simultaneously. They thought that Squidward said "Thank you." since they couldn't exactly hear the octopus' words.

"He's on the other side now." SpongeBob slowly made a grin.

"Yeah." Patrick nodded in acceptance of what has just occurred.

Sandy walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick. She had left her treedome and entered SpongeBob's neighborhood in search of the 'ghost'. The squirrel poked both of their shoulders.

SpongeBob and Patrick jumped in fright and turned around. They saw Sandy.

"Oh... hi, Sandy." Spongebob sweatdropped.

"Where's the ghost you were talking about?" Sandy looked at her surroundings but couldn't even catch a glimpse of a single phantom.

"He's in the afterlife now. We helped him get there by sending him there." SpongeBob pointed at the now tiny bubble that was in the sky. Although he would soon mourn for his former 'friend', he felt a sense of satisfaction for helping someone in their final moments.

"Can I see the place where he died?" Sandy looked at Squidward's tiki.

Chills ran down SpongeBob and Patrick's spines. Recent unpleasant memories filled their thoughts.

"S-sure." Spongebob bit his lip and hesitantly nodded. He couldn't bear to see the site of Squidward's 'death' again.

Sandy walked up to Squidward's tiki and opened the front door.

The three entered the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

"It happened upstairs in a large room with instruments and paintings." SpongeBob pointed at a set of stairs. His face was almost deadpan.

"Squid had finished taking a shower but left the music on in the bathroom when he was up there." Patrick described what happened before Squidward's death with more detail.

"I see." Sandy nodded. She walked up the set of stairs.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed her.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy entered the music room and walked up to a large puddle of green liquid. "It happened right here, right?" She pointed at the puddle.

"Y-yeah." Patrick nodded.

SpongeBob sat on the top of the stairs; he didn't enter the music room.

"This is ridiculous. It's scientifically impossible for him to melt like that." Sandy crouched down and touched the liquid. "Y'know how a candle melts after a while? I think this is what exactly happened here. Something made of wax must've melted after being under the sun for a while."

SpongeBob overheard Sandy's words and decided to enter the room while looking only at Sandy and not the large puddle. "Then how can you explain his entrance into this room after he melted? There was a bit of a white mist surrounding him when the ghost came here." The sponge had a few questions in his mind and told some of them to Sandy.

Sandy walked to the stairs. "Since he was in the bathroom before he came to this room, I'll just have to go there then." She walked down the stairs.

"The bathroom's down there." SpongeBob pointed at a hallway.

Sandy walked down the hallway from the staircase and opened the door to the bathroom. She then entered that room.

SpongeBob and Patrick peeked through the open doorway.

Sandy noticed that there was an open bottle near the bathtub and picked it up. She looked inside of it and saw white powder. "Can someone try this on?" She looked at the sponge and the starfish.

"I'll do it." SpongeBob walked up to Sandy.

"Gimme your hand." Sandy pointed at one of SpongeBob's hands.

SpongeBob put his hand on one of Sandy's hands.

Sandy put some of the powder on the yellow square's hand.

The hand became white due to the powder covering it. A few tiny clouds of powder flew in the air near the hand.

"Just as I suspected. What Squidward put on was talcum powder." Sandy put the bottle of powder on the floor.

SpongeBob turned on the sink and washed his hands.

"Then what about the white clothes he was wearing?" Patrick had a question.

Sandy picked up a few white towels that were near the bathtub and showed them to Patrick.

"Oh." Patrick saw the non-verbal explanation.

SpongeBob finished washing his hands and turned off the sink. He turned around and saw the white towels that Sandy was holding. "Uh oh." His eyes bugged out. He made a sudden realization.

"Squidward's alive?!" Patrick put a hand over his mouth.

"Yep. He's alive alright." Sandy spoke her words clearly.

"WE GOTTA SAVE SQUID!" SpongeBob quickly exited the bathroom and ran downstairs. He was panicking.

"Wait for me!" Patrick ran after SpongeBob.

Sandy followed the two and tried to catch up with them.

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy looked up at the sky. The bubble was a tiny speck in the dark blue.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward had a sense of déjà vu as he looked down at the seafloor. It had been more than a month since a situation similar to that one happened. The octopus felt helpless as the bubble flew with the cold winds. The somewhat cold temperatures of March weren't felt into one was not too far from the ocean surface. He shivered every time the bubble moved due to a strong gust.

There was a dark speck with red and blue lights in the sky.

Since there weren't any other things of interest, Squidward looked at the dark speck.

The dark speck with lights became larger and larger as time passed on.

The octopus quietly raised his brow.

After two more minutes, Squidward realized that the dark speck was an airplane that was flying in a path that was directly towards him. "**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**" The octopus screamed in terror and striked the bubble with his fist again. Unfortunately, he was one of the most unfortunate creatures in the sea.

S-S-S-S-S

The pilot in the plane full of people didn't notice Squidward and the bubble at all. The sky was too dark to see small or transparent objects without stopping.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sweated profusely as his body shook in anxiety.

**POP**

The octopus resumed his screaming as he fell to the seafloor.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick heard Squidward's screaming and saw him falling from the sky. They raised their hands so they can catch the octopus.

Squidward was going to land several feet away from his tiki.

Sandy realized that fact, leaped, and dove to the ground while still holding her hands out.

A pause.

The squirrel caught Squidward. "So this must be the 'ghost' that my friends were talking about." Sandy smirked as she dropped the octopus to the floor.

Squidward stood up and began to walk back to his tiki when Sandy grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"Oh no you don't." Sandy shook her head. "You're not going anywhere until you answer a few questions." She turned Squidward around.

The interrogation commenced.

"Did you fool SpongeBob and Patrick to thinking that you were a ghost?" Sandy asked.

"They were fooling around outside and I told them to stop. They then played around with a shell and eventually broke one of my windows with it by accident. The two morons then entered my home to find their shell when they saw the wax sculpture of myself that I made-" Squidward was answering Sandy's question when SpongeBob interrupted him.

"Me and Pat thought that that wax thingie was Squidward so we tried to 'revive' him. We ended up melting the wax thing instead." SpongeBob made an explanation from his perspective.

"As I was saying, they saw the wax sculpture and as SpongeBob said, they thought it was me and ended up melting it. They then screamed and I heard them while I was taking a bath. I then ended my bath early and put some powder on my face and wore a towel. I entered the music room and saw what the two fools did. They got scared because they thought I was a ghost since I looked like one during that time. So as to get my revenge, I used that as an advantage for me." Squidward told Sandy what happened with honesty.

Sandy paid attention to what Squidward said and nodded her head. "What did you make them do?"

"I told them that they have to obey every order I tell them so I won't haunt them." Squidward spoke with no hesitation.

"How did SpongeBob and Patrick get you into that bubble?" Sandy asked her final question.

"We thought that Squidward was a ghost in denial so I blew a large bubble that swallowed him so that he can be sent to the great beyond." SpongeBob answered the question instead of Squidward.

"Don't mess with my friends ever again!" Sandy glared at Squidward and shook her fist. She was angry at Squidward for manipulating her friends to doing orders against their will. She kept her temper during the interrogation.

"You don't understand my situation. I have to live with these idiots every single day including during work since SpongeBob's the fry cook of the Krusty Krab. They annoy me, ruin the pieces of art I create, and disrupt nearly all of the relaxing activities that I do. I don't care what intentions they have, those two are ruining my life. When I get my chances for sweet and justified revenge, it always backfires and people hate me for what I did." Squidward pointed at Sandy. "You and other people don't know how it's like to be me. The art that I create always goes unappreciated and I'm stuck to a miserable job with little pay so don't tell me to stop 'messing' with your friends." Squidward's face turned red and steam came out of his ears. "THEY HAVE TO STOP MESSING WITH ME!" He pointed at SpongeBob

The squirrel then turned around and walked towards her treedome. "See ya tomorrow, SpongeBob." She looked at the sponge for a few seconds before looking towards the horizon.

Squidward resumed his walking towards his tiki and grumbled to himself due to Sandy having the last word.

SpongeBob and Patrick heard Squidward's grumbling.

"I think Sandy's anger is contagious." Patrick made an assumption.

SpongeBob laughed after hearing those words from the pink star.


	26. Pickles

**Chapter 26: Pickles**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was just another ordinary day at the Krusty Krab.

"Welcome to the Krusty Krab. My name is Squidward. May I take your order?" Squidward droned. He was tired of saying the same words whenever a customer walked up to him to order something.

"Hmmm... uhh..." A young woman looked up at the Galley Grub. She was having a hard time deciding what to order. "Oh, I'll have a..." She was about to decide on what food to eat but began to change her mind.

Squidward took out a pencil and a notepad.

"...no. Maybe... no. Hmmm... I'll have... no. Or maybe-" The young woman kept changing her mind on what to eat.

"Are you planning on ordering today, ma'am?" Squidward was becoming impatient. He wanted the customer to decide on an order without her taking a large amount of time.

"I'll have a Krabby Patty." The young woman shrugged her shoulders. This was her first time entering and ordering at the Krusty Krab so she thought that the first thing that she should order would be the restaurant's specialty.

Squidward jotted down the order. "How original." The octopus added sarcasm to his words. He had heard too many of the same orders from the previous customers.

"And with extra onions." The young woman wanted her order to be specific.

"Daring today, aren't we?" Squidward took the sticky note he wrote on from the notepad and sticked it to the metal wheel of the ordering window. "One Krabby Patty, extra onions." The octopus droned the order.

S-S-S-S-S

"One cryin' Johnny comin' up!" SpongeBob took out a patty and put it on the grill. He flipped it a few times until it was cooked to the right degree. He then ran to the table with the other ingredients for the Krabby Patty. "First bun, then patty, followed by ketchup, mustard, pickles, extra onions, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and bun, in that order." The sponge quickly made a Krabby Patty and put it on a plate. "One cryin' Johnny! Up!" SpongeBob walked up to the ordering window and rang the bell. He then gave the burger to Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

"Whatever." Squidward turned around and gave the order to the young woman.

The young woman gave the correct amount of money to the octopus and walked to a table.

Squiward put the money into the cash register.

A young man walked towards Squidward and stood in front of the boat, he was another customer. "I want twelve Krabby Patties on wheat buns."

Squidward jotted down the order. "Twelve Krabby Patties on wheat buns!" The octopus stuck the sticky note to the wheel on the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob crouched under a table and pulled out a bag of wheat buns. He then ran to the grill and put twelve patties on the grill. He flipped them as he cooked them to the right degree.

A very long pause.

The patties were ready to be put into Krabby Patties.

SpongeBob stacked all of the patties to his spatula and ran back to the table with the ingredients. "Bun, patty, ketchup, tomato, bun, bun, patty, ketchup, tomato, bun, bun, patty, ketchup, tomato, bun, bun, patty, ketchup, tomato, bun, bun, patty, ketchup, tomato, bun." He quickly made twelve Krabby Patties with wheat buns. He then walked towards the ordering window. "One dozen cryin' cows on the farm! Up!" The yellow square gave the order to Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

"Thank you, Farmer Brown." Squidward was sarcastic once again. He knew that SpongeBob was speaking farmer slang as he prepared to make the Krabby Patties and gave them to the octopus. "It's been a thrill serving you." The octopus continued to be sarcastic as he gave the plate and the burgers to the customer.

"Can I get some extra salt?" The young man wanted something else as well.

"We're all out." Squidward shook his head.

"Could you check?"

"No." Squidward wanted to get that over with quickly and move on to the next customer.

An awkward pause.

The young man walked to a table.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A familiar obese man entered the Krusty Krab. He was the green fish that was watching a movie in the theater with SpongeBob and Plankton when the two were friends. He walked up to the boat.

"Let me guess, a small salad?" Squidward tried to make a joke.

"I'll take a Double Triple Balty Deluxe on a raft, four by four, animal-style, extra shingles with a shimmy and a squeeze, light axle grease, make it cry, burn it, and let it swim." The obese man said the most specific order that any customer in the restaurant had spoken.

Squidward's eyes widened somewhat as he jotted all of that down on the notepad. The green man's order was ridiculous. "We serve food here, sir." What the obese man said was more of a command than an order from Squidward's perspective. The octopus then quietly put the sticky note on the wheel of the window.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob read the sticky note and fulfilled the order at a lightning-fast speed. He had enough experience for him to do any order without much difficulty or trouble. He put the large Krabby Patty on a plate. "I got it, Squidward." The sponge gave it to Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gasped as he looked through the ordering window. "Aren't you the guy at the movies who ate the popcorn?" The sponge recognized the customer.

"FYI, my name is Bubble Bass. I heard that you make a mean Krabby Patty." Bubble Bass narrowed his eyes and smirked as an attempt to intimidate the yellow sponge.

"I can tell you're kinda picky." Squidward crossed his arms and made a comment about the customer.

"Yep." Bubble Bass nodded.

"Well then... here ya go!" SpongeBob gave the plate and the Krabby Patty to Bubble Bass while smiling.

Bubble Bass walked to a table and sat in it. He inspected the burger before taking a bite.

SpongeBob exited the kitchen and walked up to Bubble Bass. "Well, Bubble Bass, whaddya think?" He was confident with his cooking abilities.

Bubble Bass took another bite. "This is pretty good except for one thing." He opened the Krabby Patty and showed it to SpongeBob. "You forgot the pickles!"

The Krabby Patty had no pickles inside of it.

The customers eating in the dining room overheard what Bubble Base said and gasped. They then surrounded Bubble Bass and SpoongeBob.

"N-no..." SpongeBob's eyes bugged out in shock and he was nearly mute.

"The best there is? I don't think so. You lose!" Bubble Bass laughed, he did it in a strange way.

"But, the pickles should be right where they always are. I know I put them on!" SpongeBob took out a few parts of the Krabby Patty in search of the pickles. "Where are those pickles? Pickles? Pickles? Pickles?" He tore the burger into pieces and could not find the illusory pickles.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office after hearing a commotion coming from the dining room.

Bubble Bass walked up to Mr. Krabs. "I believe you owe me two bucks."

"Two bucks?!" Mr. Krabs raised his brow.

"Your guarantee." Bubble Bass pointed at something that was in tiny font in the Galley Grub. The text said 'Money-Back Guarantee'. Mr. Krabs put that on the menu so his business can be legal and not shut down.

"Oh. That. Well, can't we talk about this?" Mr. Krabs wanted to keep his profits.

Squidward opened the cash register and gave Bubble Bass two dollars.

"No." Bubble Bass shook his head and turned around.

"How about a discount on restroom tokens?" Mr. Krabs grabbed the money and tried to pull them.

"Afraid not." Bubble Bass pulled the money out of Mr. Krabs' claws and put them in his pocket.

"How's about a free glass of water? A dozen free glasses of water! I'll even put ice in it!" Mr. Krabs was becoming desperate to get his money back.

Bubble Bass ignored Mr. Krabs.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Bubble Bass left the Krusty Krab.

"No! Come back! Two dollars! Two dollars, no! No!" Mr. Krabs struck his fists on the double door and then stomped up to SpongeBob. It was SpongeBob's fault after all. The crab glared down at the sponge.

SpongeBob was sitting on the floor and was looking at the ruined Krabby Patty. "Mr. Krabs, I know I put pickles on that Krabby Patty." The yellow sponge denied of him making any mistake while making the Krabby Patty.

"That two bucks is comin' out of your paycheck!" Mr. Krabs became angry and could not tolerate SpongeBob's apparent ineptitude since he was now losing money because of that. He grabbed the sponge's legs and dragged him towards the kitchen.

SpongeBob tried to hold on to the floor. "Wait! Wait! Wait!" He still wanted to inspect the Krabby Patty a few more times.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs managed to drag SpongeBob across the floor of the large room and opened the door to the kitchen.

PLOP!

He threw his employee into the kitchen. "Get back to work, we got orders waitin'!" Mr. Krabs yelled at the yellow square. He could see the formation of a large line of waiting customers in front of the cash register from the corner of his eye.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs close the door with a lot of force.

S-S-S-S-S

"I need a Krabby Patty." Squidward turned around and spoke through the ordering window.

"Okay, I am not gonna blow it this time." SpongeBob became determined and walked to the grill. He was not smiling and became serious. The sponge took a patty and put it on the grill. He flipped and cooked it to the right degree and then brought to the table by putting it on his spatula. "Let's see. Bun down. Then ketchup, then mustard, then pickles? No! That's not right!" He was putting the ingredients in the wrong order and tossed them to the trash except for the patty. His anxiety about missing an ingredient in the burger made him forget how to make a Krabby Patty correctly, his subconscious had shut down since SpongeBob was too conscious of his actions. "Bun down. Mustard, then ketchup, lettuce, then the pickles? No!" The sponge threw nearly all of the used ingredients away. His second attempt had failed. "Mustard down, bun stuff down d'oh, where did the patty go?" The sponge had put the patty near a stack of fresh-from-the-fridge patties and forgot where the Patty was. He took out a napkin and wiped the mustard from the table. He threw the bun to the trash. The yellow sponge eventually found the patty and tried again for the fourth time. "Pickles, ketchup, wait! Think! Think! I'm losin' it!" SpongeBob became frustrated since he was unable to remember the order of ingredients for a Krabby Patty. He threw the ingredients that he used to the trash can. "Bun down, shoe, mustard, pan, bun... NO!" The sponge threw the ingredients that he had said and used to the trash can including the patty. He banged his fist on the table and gave up.

"SpongeBob, what in the world are you doing?" Squidward looked through the ordering window and raised his brow. He saw a trash can full of wasted Krabby Patty ingredients and a frustrated SpongeBob. "THERE'S PEOPLE WAITING HERE!" The octopus yelled at the sponge.

People waiting to tell their orders became impatient and thought about leaving the restaurant.

Tension was high in the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs overheard what was going on in the kitchen and Squidward's screaming. He was in his office.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

He entered the kitchen through the door to his left.

S-S-S-S-S

"What's going on?" Mr. Krabs walked up to Spongebob. He was curious about the urgent situation that was occurring in his restaurant.

"Mr. Krabs, I am so confused. I can't remember how to do anything." SpongeBob told his situation to his boss while having a grave expression on his face.

Mr. Krabs entered a deep state of thought for a moment. He considered the possible consequences of the decision he was about to make. He placed the survival of the business on a higher priority than the happiness of SpongeBob working in the Krusty Krab. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" He got the words out of his mouth with difficulty. He would have low profits for the day but there would be at least one employee working in the restaurant. It was better than nothing.

"Oh no, Mr. Krabs. Who will make the Krabby Patties?" SpongeBob looked at the grill and Squidward through the ordering window and sweatdropped. He forgot the fact that Squidward can cook Krabby Patties as well although not as good as him.

"Oh, don't worry about that. We've got Squidward." Mr. Krabs simpered.

"Alright." SpongeBob nodded his head and took off his employee hat. Although he found leaving work early to be horrifying since he loved his job, he had to be honest with himself since he could not make Krabby Patties at all.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Krabs is right. I need to get my head straight." SpongeBob was walking without looking where he was going, his mind was occupied by only one thought. "Now is it bun, patty, ketchup..." He stopped waking after noticing a wall and looked up.

He only saw the large window and not the double door.

"The door! The door! Mr. Krabs, the front door is missing!" SpongeBob was panicking. He assumed that he was trapped inside the restaurant.

Squidward facepalmed.

Mr. Krabs exited the kitchen and opened the double door which was near SpongeBob.

"Oh." SpongeBob smiled and laughed nervously. "Sorry about that, Mr. Krabs. This pickle thing has got my head all messed up. I better go on home and rest my brain." The sponge walked through the open doorway but forgot where he lived. "Uhh, which way do I live?"

Mr. Krabs pointed in a certain direction.

"Of course." SpongeBob sweatdropped and giggled nervously. He then walked in that direction.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered his neighborhood.

"Hi, SpongeBob." Patrick waved at his best friend. "You're back from work early. What happened?" The sea star found the sponge coming home early from work to be strange and he somewhat knew that something was wrong.

"You can come to my place." SpongeBob signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him. He walked to the pineapple.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and allowed Patrick to walked through the doorway.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick sat on the couch.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Patrick was curious.

"Okay. It was a normal day at the Krusty Krab and I was cooking and serving Krabby Patties without any problems. Before I tell you what happens next, do you remember some fat guy at the theater when me, you, and Plankton were watching a movie?" SpongeBob began to tell the situation to Patrick but had a question to ask him.

"Yeah. He sat on Plankton until you took some of my popcorn so he can eat them and get out of the seat." Patrick remembered that memory very well for some reason.

"Anyways, then the fat guy entered the Krusty Krab and told a super-long order to Squidward. I got that done quickly and gave the burger to that guy. His name's Bubble Bass and he took a few bites from the Krabby Patty before telling me that there was no pickles in it. I freaked out and ended up ruining the burger while I was looking for the pickles. I thought I put pickles in that Krabby Patty. I then became so worried about messing up that I forgot how to do anything and ended up coming back home early because I couldn't make Krabby Patties at all." SpongeBob resumed the telling of his situation and finished.

Patrick had nodded his head as SpongeBob spoke. "Someone has to clear his mind." He stood up and opened the front door. He signaled with his hand for SpongeBob to follow him.

"Where are we going?" SpongeBob stood up and followed Patrick.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Just follow me. You'll see why once we get there." Patrick smiled and walked in a certain direction.

SpongeBob continued to follow the sea star.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered a part of Goo Lagoon where people rarely occupied it.

The waves gently crashed into the shore and receded.

Patrick sat on the ground while his back was facing the sea and his legs were crossed. He was at a safe distance from the waves. "Sit down with your legs crossed." He said an instruction as if he was a teacher.

SpongeBob sat down in front of Patrick and crossed his legs. "You're gonna teach me something?"

"Yep." Patrick took a deep breath. "You're going to learn how to clear your mind since something is making you worried and forget everything." The sea star closed his eyes and took a few more deep breaths. His intelligence increased dramatically. "Before we untangle the web of thoughts in your mind, we have to relax your body first. You've already done the first step by sitting down cross-legged so we'll move on to the next step. Close your eyes."

SpongeBob closed his eyes.

"Take seven deep breaths. Wait three seconds between each breath." Patrick spoke in a slow and clear manner.

A pause.

SpongeBob took seven deep breaths and waited three seconds between each breath.

"Take in your surroundings with every sense other than sight." Patrick said another instruction.

SpongeBob concentrated but sweatdropped. He was unable to do what Patrick told him. "I can't. I have to see what is around me to know for sure."

"SpongeBob, stop concentrating all of your energy on one small point. Don't you see how carefree I sometimes be? Instead of focusing at one point, expand your energy to your surroundings. Pretend that you're made of air instead of meat. Stop doubting and just feel and accept what is around you." Patrick was calm.

SpongeBob used his sense of hearing and touch to 'feel' his surroundings. He then smiled at his success.

"Open your eyes and slowly stand up." Patrick did what he had said.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and slowly stood up. His muscles were no longer tense from anxiety.

"The untangling begins." Patrick turned around and looked at the ocean. "Walk until your next to me and look at the sea."

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and stood next to him. He looked at the sea with the sea star.

"When you worry too much and try too hard to make a Krabby Patty correctly, it's like building a dam in the middle of the ocean. The two separated bodies of water can't meet each other and end up creating waves within themselves. Your ability to remember how to do things has been separated from your talents and skills. You still have the potential to do the skills but don't remember how to do them. You still have the memories of how to do those things but don't have the skills to remember them. I'm teaching you this new skill. Do you understand?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye.

"Yes. Yes I do." SpongeBob understood Patrick's analogy.

"In this case, a balance is not best. A balance between making sure a Krabby Patty has been correctly made and actually making the burger will only create the same mistakes. Balance is like raising the sea level. The two separated bodies of water will have their levels raised and flood the lands. Their sea levels will eventually be higher than the dam and they become one sea for a while but the dam is still beneath them. Once the weather or climate becomes warm enough temporarily, the sea levels will shrink back to their normal levels and the bodies of water will become separate once again. In order to find a solution to this problem, we will have to destroy this dam and combine the bodies of water without raising the sea level. There has to be one absolute by itself or dominating the other. For your situation, you have to stop worrying about making a Krabby Patty correctly and let your subconscious take over. You probably have made so many Krabby Patties that the steps to make them are very deep in your subconscious and is second nature for you." Patrick gave his best friend a path towards a solution.

SpongeBob's eyes widened. "Pat... you're a genius." He was shocked after hearing the words of his best friend. The apparently dumb sea star had a lot of wisdom contained in his mind.

"However, my words have not created a solution. Actions speak louder and have a more direct effect than words. I only tell you which way to go, it's up to you to follow it." Patrick smiled widely.

"Thanks a lot, Pat." SpongeBob smiled as well.

"Oh no. We're far from finished. We're going to visit another instructor." Patrick turned around and walked towards the home of a certain squirrel.

"Who's going to be my teacher?" SpongeBob scratched his head as he followed Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were inside the treedome and were wearing fish bowls. The two and Sandy were sitting at a picnic table. The sponge and the sea star were explaining SpongeBob's situation to Sandy and also told her about what the two did at Goo Lagoon and Patrick's teachings.

Patrick wanted SpongeBob to truly understand what he was talking about by bringing him to Sandy and making her teach the sponge how to 'break the dam' that was clogging his memory by ways of physical strength.

"If you wanna get your fry cooking skills back, you're gonna need some hands-on training." Sandy stood up from the table. She agreed to help SpongeBob remember how to make a Krabby Patty.

"SpongeBob, you've got to remember that what you're about to do isn't going to directly help you with making a Krabby Patty. We're only trying to get rid of the root of your problem. Understand?" Patrick wanted SpongeBob to be aware of his intent for bringing him to Sandy.

SpongeBob nodded. "I'll do whatever it takes." The sponge was willing to sacrifice time and energy to 'open' the 'sealed' memories.

Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "Now that's what I'm taking about. You have to drive through the path in order to reach your goal." The sea star encouraged his best friend to succeed.

Sandy raised her brow. The squirrel was aware of Patrick's sudden increase in intelligence but it wasn't apparent until that point. "What happened, Pat? Why've you became so smart?"

Patrick shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. My I. Q. is random."

"True. That explains a lot. Anyways, let's get right to it." Sandy walked towards her treedome so she can put on her astronaut suit.

"So how will the physical training help me exactly?" SpongeBob still had some questions to ask.

"By the time you complete the training, you will understand what I taught you better." Patrick replied.

"I see." SpongeBob made a solemn expression. He took Patrick's words very seriously.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy walked up to a large rock.

"Break that rock into pieces without karate chopping it." Sandy spoke clearly and in an authoritative voice.

SpongeBob gulped nervously and bit his lip. Doubt and anxiety began to build up in his mind since the size of the rock was intimidating.

"Don't focus on one small point, focus on your inner and outer surroundings as well." Patrick tried to make SpongeBob remember what he taught him.

"SpongeBob, you're good at karate, you can do this. You should be focusing at gathering strength into your muscles instead of the likelihood of breaking the rock." Sandy tried to encourage her friend.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale and exhale. He closed his eyes and wiped all of his fears from his mind. He focused entirely on completing the task at hand instead of the probability of failing it. He made a karate pose and pulled back a fist.

**BAM**

SpongeBob gathered all of his strength into one arm and punched the rock so hard that his fist was like a bullet. His willpower to remember how to make a Krabby Patty again had assisted him in his punch as well.

Numerous cracks appeared on the surface of the rock.

**CRRRRRAAAASSSSH**

The rock shattered into several pieces.

"You think that was good enough?" Sandy looked at Patrick.

Patrick clapped his hands at SpongeBob's success. "You got it, SpongeBob."

SpongeBob had realized that he had punched the center of the rock before breaking it. He also had noticed that the cracks nearly covered the whole rock. In order to 'break the dam', he had to destroy its foundation first. For SpongeBob's situation, the foundation of the dam was his fear and doubts.

"Wanna come and have some tea at my place to celebrate?" Sandy looked at SpongeBob.

"Sure. Why not." SpongeBob smiled and accepted Sandy's offer. He was in a good mood.

The three walked back to the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick were sitting at the picnic table. Three cups of tea were on the table.

"Sandy, I've been wondering, do you have a family back at your home?" SpongeBob asked Sandy.

"Yep. Most of 'em are farmers and traditional Texans. Some of them even know karate and an uncle of mine taught that martial art to me when I was young." Sandy answered SpongeBob's question.

"I have a pretty normal family. Some of my relatives work in New Kelp City with jobs that have a good pay while others can't even get a job and are going through hard times." Patrick added something to the conversation.

"My family is mixed with all sorts of people. Some are normal while others aren't. If you've met Uncle Sherm, then you'll definitely see the crazy side of my family. However, people like my parents are considered normal. My brother, Brian, is somewhere in between but leaning towards normal." SpongeBob tried to describe his family. He then sipped from the cup of lemon tea.

"What is normal?" Patrick scratched his head. He found the term 'normal' to be too vague.

"I dunno. Depends on the person." Sandy shrugged. "What would be normal for me as an air-breather would probably be weird for you sea creatures."

"Anyways, has a situation similar to mine happened to you?" SpongeBob asked Sandy another question.

"I had quite a few doubts myself when I was learning karate. When I was a kid, I originally wanted to be a cowgirl instead of a scientist. But me becoming a scientist was almost another story entirely." Sandy answered the question.

"I thought I couldn't pass elementary school." Patrick then looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and smiled slightly. "Until SpongeBob helped me out."

"You were lucky, Pat. I had to deal with my problems with karate by myself. I didn't have too many friends growing up." Sandy added to what Patrick said.

"Well, we don't have to worry about getting lost in our problems anymore. We're all friends and will help each other when someone needs it." SpongeBob said one of his thoughts out loud.

"True. Plus, you two are one of my first friends under the sea. It's been nine months since I've came to Bikini Bottom. I learned quite a bit about the normal lives of sea creatures from you guys." Sandy confessed.

"Why would someone not be friends with you? It doesn't matter if we're sea creatures or air creatures, we're all animals." SpongeBob replied almost immediately.

Patrick was quiet. He was in agreement with what SpongeBob said.

"SpongeBob, you're one of the kinder friends that I've had. This was the first time I've heard any sea creature say that to me." Sandy was sincere with her words. The squirrel was touched.

SpongeBob resisted the urge to blush and smiled widely instead. He didn't had much experience with the opposite sex. He was one of those strange and awkward people when he was in middle school and high school.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob, raised his brow, and smirked. "What're you hiding, Sponge?"

"N-nothing." SpongeBon sweatdropped.

Patrick silently nodded and then focused his attention from SpongeBob to Sandy.

"Does SpongeBob always act like that?" Sandy noticed a slight change in the sponge's facial expression that indicated a change in emotions.

"Nope. He acts in certain ways when he's feeling strong emotions. Right, SpongeBob?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob again and smiled even more. He was trying to make his best friend get out of his little shell and express his emotions through words. The three were friends and trusted each other anyway.

"Ignore, Pat. He like to play around a lot but not in a manipulative way." SpongeBob tried his best to look calm but his legs were shaking under the table.

"I could tell." Sandy nodded. "Pat, have you been class clown when you were in school?"

"Nah. It was one of SpongeBob's cousins that-" Patrick was saying something but got interrupted.

"Don't remind me." SpongeBob frowned and sweatdropped again. Unpleasant memories entered his thoughts.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward groaned as he cooked the Krabby Patties in the kitchen. "It's been less than a week and I'm already back at the grill." He truly hated cooking and making the burgers due to his poor ability to make them and cook them on the grill. The octopus's cooking was rather excellent if it was done at home and was not fast-food cuisine.

S-S-S-S-S

Customers that received their orders reacted with disgust at the food that they were given.

"Hey, he burnt my Krabby Patty." One male anchovy complained about his burger.

"He burnt my fries." A young woman expressed dissatisfaction with her pack of french fries.

A young man put a straw into his cup of 'soda' and drank from it until he realized that the drink tasted weird. "This isn't soda, this is orange juice!" He became irritated at Squidward's ineptitude. The octopus accidentally replaced the soda parts of the drink machine with fruit juices. The machine ran out of the soda not too long ago and had to be refilled.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was about to yell at the complaining customers when a patty on the grill ignited and quickly spread the fire to the other patties being cooked. The octopus had overcooked the patties. The octopus jumped in fright and ran to a fire extinguisher that was leaning on a wall. He picked up the fire extinguisher, aimed it at the fire on the grill, and pulled the trigger.

The fire extinguisher released a moderate amount of a white agent and stopped the fire. A large amount of smoke was left over and spread throughout the kitchen.

Squidward coughed and struggled to breathe due to the smoke. "Patties are done." He managed to speak.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen through the side door in his office and coughed as he unintentionally inhaled the smoke. "Arrgh." He was frustrated due to the amount of customers leaving the Krusty Krab because of the poorly cooked food. 'I gotta get SpongeBob back.' He made a drastic decision. The crab entered his office and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs quickly exited his office and ran towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEAK**

**S-SLAM**

The boss exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs ran at a rapid pace towards SpongeBob's pineapple. He cannot risk the loss of any more of his profits.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a can of snail nip with a can opener and poured the food into a green bowl that had black text saying 'GARY'.

Gary began to eat the food that was on the bowl. The snail was hungry and had meowed a few times at his owner as a way of asking for something to eat while the sponge was watching TV.

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK **

**KNOCK**

Someone was nearly banging their fists on the front door.

**"**SpongeBob? SpongeBob!" A familiar voice was heard.

SpongeBob raised his brow and became cautious. "Mr. Krabs?" He exited the kitchen and walked up to the door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and entered the pineapple. "SpongeBob, there you are!"

"Why'd you came here? Are you trying to bring me back to work?" SpongeBob guessed what was the reason for Mr. Krabs visitng his home.

"You read my mind, lad." Mr. Krabs smiled. "You'll be back makin' Krabby Patties like your old self in no time!" The crustacean tried to be optimistic.

"I don't think I'm ready to go back to work, Mr. Krabs. I might mess up again." SpongeBob began to become anxious and sweat ran down his brow. He was about to face his fear. However, he remembered what Patrick taught him so his anxiety was not as severe as before.

"C'mon, me boy! You should take that chance. You said 'might mess up' instead of 'will mess up'. There is still a tiny doubloon of potential left inside of you." Mr. Krabs carefully listened to what SpongeBob said and made a comment about his word choice.

_For your situation, you have to stop worrying about making a Krabby Patty correctly and let your subconscious take over. You probably have made so many Krabby Patties that the steps to make them are very deep in your subconscious and is second nature for you._

Patrick's words of wisdom echoed in SpongeBob's mind.

The sponge was silent for several seconds as he 'heard' the words of the sea star.

"SpongeBob, it isn't as hard as you think. All we need to do is get your confidence back. You making a Krabby Patty is like riding a bike, you'll never forget! Plus, I'll get more money when you come back to the Krusty Krab." Mr. Krabs pushed SpongeBob out of the living room and made them both enter the kitchen.

"I-I mean patties." Mr. Krabs chuckled. He expressed his thoughts through spoken words a little bit too much.

A pause.

"So where do you put those spare Krabby Patties that you bring home?" Mr. Krabs looked around the kitchen and raised his brow.

"In the fridge." SpongeBob walked to the fridge and opened it. He took out a Krabby Patty that was on a plate. He then gave the Krabby Patty to Mr. Krabs.

"If you learn to make a Krabby Patty again, your life will be back in order." Mr. Krabs set the plate on the table and disassembled the burger until each part was spread out on the table.

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs sat in the table.

"Mr. Krabs, I don't know if I-" SpongeBob said something but interrupted himself.

_When you worry too much and try too hard to make a Krabby Patty correctly, it's like building a dam in the middle of the ocean. The two seperated bodies of water can't meet each other and end up creating waves within themselves. Your ability to remember how to do things has been seperated from your talents and skills. _

More of Patrick's previous words were heard in SpongeBob's mind.

SpongeBob took a very deep breath and closed his eyes. He raised both of his hands and moved them towards the parts of the Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

In SpongeBob's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob leapt from the coast of Goo Lagoon and swam across the large distance of ocean. He eventually saw a colossal dam in the horizon. The yellow square reached the dam after several minutes and leaned on it. He took a few deep breaths to regain his breath after doing all of that swimming.

A large whirlpool began to form in front of him.

SpongeBob gasped and turned around. The whirlpool began to suck him into the ocean and the sponge swam against the current in response. The sponge stared at the dam and became determined to destroy it. He lowered his head and raised both of his fists.

**B-BAM**

**SLAM**

**CRRRRAAAAASSSSSH**

Large pieces of stone fell into the ocean.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened his eyes.

He had successfully re-assembled the Krabby Patty with the ingredients in the right order.

"It's time." Mr. Krabs made a solemn face. The crab decided that his employee was ready to return to his restaurant.

The two stood up from the table and exited the kitchen. They walked across the living room and SpongeBob opened the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Squidward's been cooking the Krabby Patties since you were gone and left a big mess. He had overcooked the patties and made some customers leave me restaurant, that's why I wanted to bring you along." Mr. Krabs stated his reason for bringing SpongeBob along.

"There's nothing that I can't handle when it comes to being a fry cook." SpongeBob was confident with his fry cooking abilities and smiled.

"Good to know. That's what I should be hearing." Mr. Krabs couldn't help himself and smiled as well. SpongeBob's positivity was contagious.

SpongeBob put on his employee hat.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crab and the yellow sponge entered the Krusty Krab.

"Hey, SpongeBob's back!" One of the customers immediately recognized the yellow square.

The customers in the dining room chanted SpongeBob's first name. They wanted to get decent-quality food that SpongeBob can definitely make.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubble Bass was walking towards a grocery store to get some groceries and a few snacks when he went past the Krusty Krab. He heard the chanting somewhat and narrowed his eyes at the restaurant. The obese man was always willing to do a rematch with the yellow fry cook.

He walked towards the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gently pushed Squidward out of the kitchen and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob turned off the grill and threw the burned patties to the trash can quickly so the skin of his hands wouldn't get injured by the heat of the patties. He then walked up to the sink and picked up a bucket along the way. He turned on the sink and filled the bucket with water. Once the water rose to a certain point in the bucket, the yellow square turned off the sink. The sponge brought the bucket to the grill and poured all of the water in it to the grill.

The water made the smoke on the grill cease to exist.

SpongeBob put the bucket away.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Bubble Bass barged the double door open and entered the Krusty Krab. "I hear SquarePants is back!" He stomped towards the kitchen and stood in front of the cash register.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the door to the kitchen and glared at Bubble Bass. "I'm right here, Bubble Bass." He then smirked and folded his arms. The sponge was not afraid of what Bubble Bass was about to do at all.

"I thought I ran you out of town." Bubble Bass unintentionally confessed his underestimation of SpongeBob.

"This is where I belong!" SpongeBob stomped with his foot and pointed at the floor of the dining room. He informed Bubble Bass that he was determined to stay as an employee in the restaurant.

Bubble Bass roared at SpongeBob like a lion.

"Rawr." SpongeBob didn't falter in the slightest.

The crowed gasped and rapidly surrounded Bubble Bass and SpongeBob.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped and began to bite his claws in anxiety.

Tension was high in the Krusty Krab once again.

"Give me the regular. And this time, don't forget the pickles." Bubble Bass underestimated SpongeBob again. He ordered a regular Krabby Patty so he can show the crowd how SpongeBob makes 'mistakes' with the simplest of things.

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and made a Krabby Patty within twenty seconds. The sponge then exited the kitchen with a Krabby Patty on a plate in his hands.

Bubble Bass took the Krabby Patty from the plate and ate the whole burger.

A pause.

"...still no pickles!" Bubble Bass shook his head.

SpongeBob raised his brow.

The crowd gasped again.

"See?" Bubble Bass stuck out his tongue and showed the somewhat chewed burger for all to see. He then swallowed the Krabby Patty. "You failed again, SpongeBob 'Loser'Pants." The obese man then laughed in a weird way.

SpongeBob had noticed something as Bubble Bass had stuck out his tongue. "Wait a minute!" The sponge walked up to Bubble Bass, opened the man's mouth, grabbed his tongue; and pulled it out. "Look!" He pointed at four pieces of pickles that were under the tongue. "He's been hiding the pickles under his tongue the whole time!"

Mr. Krabs walked up to Bubble Bass and inspected the tongue as well. "And there's the pickles from last time too!" He then glared at the customer.

Bubble Bass backed away by a few steps and closed his tongue. He sweatdropped and bit his lip. "And... there's the exit" He ran towards the double door and exited the Krusty Krab as fast as he could.

"Three cheers for the return of our master fry cook, SpongeBob! Hip hip..." Mr. Krabs faced the surrounding crowd.

"**HOORAY!**" The crowd except for Squidward replied.

"Hip hip..." Mr. Krabs continued the cheering.

"**HOORAY!**"

"Hip hip..."

"**HOORAY!**"

"And three cheers for the fry cook who took my place when I was gone... Squidward!" SpongeBob walked up to Squidward and patted him on the shoulder. He was grateful for Squidward doing his work while he was regaining his fry cooking skills.

Squidward made a sincere smile. This was one of the few times that he was recognized for his work.

"Hip hip..." SpongeBob began the cheering.

"**BOO!**" The crowd made thumbs-downs.

Squidward frowned and became ill-tempered.

"Hip hip..." SpongeBob continued to cheer for the octopus nevertheless.

"**BOO!**"

"Hip hip..."

"**BOO! YOU STINK!**" One of the customers yelled at Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubble Bass walked to the double door of the Chum Bucket.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

The obese man knocked on the door.

CREAK

Plankton opened the door. "You fooled SpongeBob?"

"Nope. That sponge found out my secret." Bubble Bass frowned.

Plankton tightened his fists. "Don't underestimate SpongeBob. He is smarter than you think. He and Mr. Krabs had already foiled some of my plans." The plankton was behind the scheme all along. "Before you're dismissed, I want my money back."

Bubble Bass digged into his pocket and gave several bucks of money back to Plankton. The plankton had paid Bubble Bass into trying to fool SpongeBob into thinking that he had poor fry cooking skills. This was one of Plankton's many plans to run the Krusty Krab out of business and steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. The obese man had tried to fufill the plan by putting the pickles under his tongue.

To Plankton's dismay, this scheme had failed.


	27. Squeaky Boots

**Chapter 27: Squeaky Boots**

* * *

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the evening.

SpongeBob was sitting on a table. He had finished cleaning the tables in the dining room a little bit early and was waiting for Squidward to finish his share of the chores. The sponge was reflecting on what happened today and yesterday. A lot of things happened within those two days. Meeting his favorite pair of superheroes, to thinking that Squidward had died and became a ghost, to regaining his confidence in his abilities as a fry cook after 'missing' the pickles in a Krabby Patty; were a lot of memories to take in and comprehend. The sponge wanted the drama to leave him alone for a few days since he was exhausted because of the drama. He wanted his life to be a little bit less stressful.

The sponge then looked through the ordering window from the corner of his eye and could see Squidward washing the dishes. A thought suddenly entered his mind. The thought was about Bubble Bass trying to make SpongeBob look like an inept fry cook by putting the pickles under his tongue. "Why would Bubble Bass hide those pickles? What good would it have done for him?" The sponge quietly spoke his thoughts, he was talking to himself.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the double door and walked into the restaurant. He had walked around the perimeter of the Krusty Krab to make sure that the exterior of the Krusty Krab was in 'good' condition according to his 'standards'. He saw the yellow square and noticed that the sponge was pondering. "You're thinking about something, me boy?"

"Yeah. It's a question that's stuck in my mind." SpongeBob looked at Mr. Krabs while continuing his deep thinking.

"Why don't you tell me? You've been through a lot today." Mr. Krabs was aware of the anxiety that SpongeBob had when he could no longer make a Krabby Patty. The crab also assumed that the sponge went through great lengths to relearn his skills.

SpongeBob smiled after hearing those words from his boss. He knew that Mr. Krabs was greedy to a self-destructive degree but continued to work for him anyway. He was Mr. Krabs' money-maker after all and this title made his job even more fulfilling. "The question was: why would Bubble Bass hide those pickles if scaring me out of my job wasn't going to really benefit him?" The sponge said the gist of his question.

"He could've made the Krusty Krab go out of business. I rely on you to get a lot of customers into the restaurant." Mr. Krabs opened a path towards an answer.

SpongeBob looked at the Chum Bucket through the glass window and narrowed his eyes at the building. "Plankton." Only the name was all he needed to say.

Mr. Krabs' eyes slowly widened. "That's definitely possible. Plankton could have got a major benefit from closing me business."

SpongeBob looked at Mr. Krabs. "Then how could he make Bubble Bass do what he did? There had to be a fair exchange."

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. "Just like how I give a paycheck to you and a bit of the profits to King Neptune, Plankton could've bribed Bubble Bass into trying to make you unable to work in me restaurant." The crab made a realization.

"How can Plankton get any money? The Chum Bucket rarely gets customers." SpongeBob pointed something out.

"I've seen his wife, Karen, sell some things outside a few times. That's how they get their income until they manage to steal the formula." Mr. Krabs answered the question.

SpongeBob looked at the Chum Bucket again. "I think it's time for an investigation." The sponge could not control his curiosity and had to figure out Bubble Bass' motives for hiding the pickles.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the door and exited the kitchen, he was finished with cleaning the dishes.

"Let's save that for tommorow. We gotta leave now and I don't want to pay a lot for the electric bill." Mr. Krabs walked towards the double door. He turned off the lights and flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

SpongeBob and Squidward followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs locked the double door. "Good night, boys."

"Shouldn't you explain what we were talking about to Squidward?" SpongeBob wanted to inform Squidward about Bubble Bass' possible motives for scaring him out of the restaurant.

"Nah. The lad probably wouldn't care anyway." Mr. Krabs walked towards his anchor and disappeared from the horizon.

"He's right." Squidward walked towards his tiki and looked at the sponge as he spoke. Mr. Krabs' comment about the octopus was accurate.

SpongeBob looked at the Chum Bucket for a few more seconds before he walked towards his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was typing on his computer; he jumped from key to key. The plankton was typing plans for his next few schemes for the month.

Until...

**CLANK**

A somewhat faint sound was heard.

Plankton stopped typing. "What was that?!" He nearly had a heart attack.

"_I'm not sure. It came from somewhere upstairs._" Karen's electronic voice was heard.

Plankton leaped from the computer and landed on the floor. He walked up a tiny set of stairs that were just for his size. The plankton walked up the stairs until he entered some sort of attic.

S-S-S-S-S

It was very dark and he could not see anything clearly.

"That's right..." Plankton snapped his fingers. "The lightbulb in here needs to be replaced." The building did not have any spare light bulbs at that moment so Plankton went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Well?_" Karen wanted to know what Plankton found.

"I need to get a flashlignt. It's too dark up there for me to see." Plankton walked to a small table and picked up a flashlight that was a tiny size so he can hold it. He then walked up the set of stairs again. 'Note to self: buy a few lightbulbs tomorrow.'

**CLANK**

**SLAM**

More faint sounds were heard.

Plankton ran up the stairs so he can see what was making those sounds. There was definitely something going on in the attic.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton entered the attic and turned on the flashlight. The flashlight shone certain parts of the large room as Plankton walked across the metal floor.

A pink creature flew a certain part of the room from the corner of his eye.

"Huh?" Plankton whispered to himself and aimed the flashlight at the place that the pink creature flew to.

The light from the flashlight revealed a jellyfish flying around the attic. It had bumped into a box full of nuts and bolts used for robots and accidentally flipped it to the floor. A few of the nuts had fell to the floor and were the ones that caused the **CLANK**ing sounds.

Plankton groaned. "How did a jellyfish get in here? I thought I always lock the door before I sleep." The plankton must have left the double door open during the night and the jellyfish must have got into the Chum Bucket in search of a shelter. The plankton then walked downstairs once again to tell Karen what he saw.

S-S-S-S-S

"_What did you see?_" Karen asked.

"A jellyfish. I hate when those pesky things find a way to get in here." Plankton was irritated. This was not the first time that something like this happened. "Activate one of those robo-guards."

A robot arm controlled by Karen came out of one of the tiles in the ceiling and picked up a remote that was laying on the table. The arm pressed a button that was on the remote.

A small robot that was holding a taser-like rod, had one eye made out of green glass, and a blocky head was turned on; it's eye became a bright green. It was with a group of robots that were identical to it. The robot began to move out of the group.

Plankton clapped his hands to get the robot's attention.

The robot walked up the stairs and stood in front of Plankton.

"Follow me." Plankton gave the robot a command and entered the attic again.

The robot did what it was told by following the plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot could see in the dark due to how it's eye was built so it saw the jellyfish.

"Get that jellyfish out of my home." Plankton said another command.

The robot ran towards the jellyfish and raised its rod. The rod became charged with high amounts of electricity.

**ZZZAAAP**

The robot stung the head of the jellyfish with its rod.

"BUZZ!" The jellyfish became frightened. It did not notice the robot at all. The creature flew through the exit of the attic.

S-S-S-S-S

The jellyfish flew across the laboratory.

**S-SLAM**

It flew through the double door and exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

The jellyfish quickly exited the Chum Bucket and flew to the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton and the robot walked down the stairs and jumped to the floor of the laboratory.

The robot walked back to its group and stood with them.

The robot arm pressed one of the buttons on the remote.

The eye of the robot dimmed back to darkness. It was shut down.

The robot arm retracted to the ceiling.

"It's hard to believe that something as trivial as a jellyfish scared me." Plankton looked up to the ceiling. He reflected on what just happened and became embarrassed. He was fortunate that Karen was the only person that witnessed the event.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in his head. "If sounds like that could scare me..." Plankton thought critically. "...then there's a high likelihood that it will scare Krabs as well. We're both peers after all." Another idea entered his head and he smirked. If the two thoughts were combined, it would form another scheme to get the Krabby Patty secret formula. He giggled in an evil manner as he jumped to the keyboard and typed a new plan to the list of schemes for the month. "If I could find something in Krabs' house that makes loud or strange noises, it will surely freak him out. Once that happens, Krabs will leave the formula wide open for me to snatch it as he searches for the source of the sounds." The plankton said his plan out loud as he put his ideas into the scheme.

He finished typing the plan.

"Karen, open up a blank program." Plankton said a command.

"_What programming language do you want?_" Karen asked.

"Java." Plankton almost always used Java for programming robots or microchips.

Karen opened up a blank program in Java.

Plankton began to type a program that would run a microchip.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sleeping peacefully in his bed. He had fallen asleep an hour ago and was wearing his pajamas.

S-S-S-S-S

**ZZZAAAAAP**

A green laser traced a circle through a window and left a hole.

Plankton dove through the hole and landed on the floor, he was wearing a metal backpack where the laser gun was popping out from. He traced a circle through the window that was in front of the backyard of the anchor so he could avoid Mr. Bubbles who was in front of the building. The plankton looked at his surroundings and noticed that he was in the living room. "Hmmm..." Plankton looked at several objects in the room. 'Which one would make the loudest sound?' He spoke in his mind and walked across the room.

**CTHUNG**

The laser gun retracted to the backpack.

**SQUEAK**

Plankton accidentally bumped into a pair of old boots and landed on his butt. A light bulb lit up in his head as he stood up and closely looked at the boots. "Perfect." He whispered to himself and climbed one of the boots. He found the footwear to be suitable enough for his scheme. The plankton crawled into each boot and planted a microchip into each one. The second microchip was originally going to be a spare if something went wrong but Plankton used it for this opportunity.

Plop!

Plankton jumped to the floor and took out a remote. He then pressed a red button that was on the remote.

**C-CTHUNG**

Small metal threads came out of the microchips and covered the insides of the boots like nets. Plankton could now control the boots with the remote.

"Heheheheh." Plankton quietly made an evil laugh. He hid behind the couch so no one could spot him. The plankton then touched the joystick and moved it around a bit.

**SQUEAK **

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

The boots walked by themselves as if they were controlled by a ghost.

Plankton moved the joystick to the right.

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

The boots walked towards the stairs.

Plankton silently followed the boots so he can know where the footwear were going.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs woke up after hearing the **SQUEAK**ing sounds. "Huh?" He stood up from his bed and walked around the bedroom in a search for the source of the sounds. The crab continued to hear the **SQUEAK**s as he searched. "Where's that coming from?"

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and walked down the hallway. He had heard the sounds carefully and had noticed that the sounds were coming from downstairs. The crustacean eventually reached the stairs, stood in front of the stairs, and looked down. He saw a pair of old boots walking up the set of stairs by themselves. "Dear Neptune! The boots are cursed!" The crab ran down the stairs to grab the boots. He had been hexed by a few witches during his pirate travels so he knew when something was cursed when he saw one.

Plankton gasped and hopped down the stairs. He ran towards the window with the hole and dove through the hole. It was better for his plan to be ruined and him not getting caught instead of getting caught since the crustacean could figure out his scheme.

Mr. Krabs grabbed the now still pair of boots and ran down the stairs.

**CREAK**

He barged open the front door. "Begone!" Mr. Krabs threw the boots to the outside world.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

P-plop!

The 'cursed' boots landed near Mr. Bubbles.

Mr. Bubbles changed his position and resumed his sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked around the perimeter of the anchor and saw Mr. Bubbles near the boots. "Just my luck." He bit his lip and tip-toed towards the pair of boots. The plankton was going to put the boots near a certain location.

Mr. Bubbles did not notice Plankton.

Plankton grabbed one of the boots and tried to lift it up but could not, the boots were too heavy. "Crap." He whispered to himself in frustration. One option would be to use the remote to make the boots walk out of Mr. Bubbles' proximity but that would create squeaking sounds and the worm might wake up because of that. Another option would be to use the metal limbs in his backpack but that would create loud sounds as well when they come out of the backpack and retract to it. The plankton decided to do a variant of the second option. Plankton ran to the backyard of the anchor.

**C-CTHUNG**

Four metal limbs popped out of the backpack. Plankton was far away enough from Mr. Bubbles for the worm to not hear the **CTHUNG** sounds. The plankton then tip-toed back to the boots and picked up the footwear with all four of the limbs. He then tip-toed towards the Krusty Krab and eventually ran towards the restaurant once he was a certain distance away from Mr. Bubbles.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton left the pair of boots near the front door of the Krusty Krab. "This will creep out Krabs for sure." He smirked as he turned around and walked back to the Chum Bucket.

CREAK

SLAM

Plankton opened the double door and entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was unlocking the double door to the Krusty Krab when he saw the pair of boots from the corner of his eye. 'Oh no. Those boots aren't just cursed, they're haunted! Oh, what am I gonna do? I'm stuck with them! They'll never leave me alone!' The crustacean sweatdropped. He thought that the boots were going to follow him for an eternity. He had found the pair of boots in a treasure chest when he was a pirate and did not think they were haunted or cursed until now.

SpongeBob hummed as he walked towards the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs looked behind him and saw SpongeBob. A light bulb lit up in his head. What he was about to do was despicable but he had to do it for his survival. The sponge was too innocent to notice the 'sinisterness' of the boots at first.

"Hi, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob greeted his boss.

"Lad, I need to tell you something." Mr. Krabs had a solemn face.

"Is it about what we talked about yesterday?" SpongeBob became interested.

"No. It's about something else." Mr. Krabs shook his head and unlocked the double door. He picked up the pair of boots.

**C-CRRREAK **

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the double door and entered the restaurant.

SpongeBob walked into the Krusty Krab as well.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office and held it out for SpongeBob. "Come in."

SpongeBob entered the office.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the door as he entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Have a seat anywhere, but not on these beautiful priceless boots." Mr. Krabs wanted to bring attention to the boots.

SpongeBob sat on the seat in front of the desk.

Mr. Krabs sat in his desk. He put the boots on the table and they were in front of him.

"Uhh, sir, I can't see you. The boots... are in... the way..." SpongeBob leaned from one side of the boots to the other so he can make eye contact with his boss.

Mr. Krabs kept leaning to the opposite side as SpongeBob leaned and spoke. The crab wanted the sponge to look at the footwear. He then pushed the boots to one side of the desk. "In the way? These boots never leave my sight! These are the most expensive and prized possessions I own." The crustacean lied.

"Wow, really? Why is that, they just look like any old ordinary boots." SpongeBob became curious, questions began to appear in his mind.

"Ordinary boots? These are the only official fry cook boots! Only the finest fry cooks in the world are permitted to wear them! Part of a tradition. And these boots were given to me by the most famous fry cook in the sea." Mr. Krabs said another lie, it was very apparent by that point.

"Who's that?" SpongeBob became more and more interested as the conversation continued.

"Oh, uhh, oh, well, his name's not important, but he was famous alright, don't you worry." Mr. Krabs sweatdropped. The worst case scenario would be his employee finding out that he was lying.

"I'm ready! I'm ready! I want those boots!" SpongeBob did his 'I'm ready' chant for a few seconds before informing Mr. Krabs of his desire for the boots. He was convinced by Mr. Krabs that the pair of boots were highly valuable.

"Sorry son, these boots are far too valuable." Mr. Krabs shook his head and put the boots under the desk. Initially rejecting SpongeBob's request for the boots was going to assure the sponge's desire for them.

"I know! What if I give you my Krusty Krab paycheck?" SpongeBob took out his wallet.

Mr. Krabs eyes bugged out; he did not expect SpongeBob to do that. "You got a deal!" He held out his hand. The crab accepted the generous amount of money from the sponge.

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs shook hands.

Spongebob then took out an amount of money that would be the equivalent of a paycheck and gave it to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs took out the boots from the desk and gave it to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob put on the pair of boots and stood up.

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

The yellow square tried to get used to walking while wearing the boots.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward had came to work while SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs were talking in the office.

"Hey, Squidward. Do you like my new boots? Pretty cool, huh? Now, I'm an official fry cook!" SpongeBob walked up to Squidward and showed his boots to the octopus by lifting his legs up one at a time.

Squidward found SpongeBob's word to be foolish. The sponge was an official fry cook ever since he was hired more than a month ago. The octopus guessed that SpongeBob had been fooled by the deceitful words of Mr. Krabs. The yellow square was an ideal target for a swindler.

The boots made **SQUEAK**ing sounds as SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen.

Squidward frowned and became irritated as he heard the annoying sounds. "That squeaking is gonna drive us all crazy!"

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. "Nonsense, Squidward. That squeaking is money to my ears. I mean, music." The crab smiled nervously. He exited his office so he can talk with his employees about the possible conspiracy between Bubble Base and Plankton.

"Mr. Krabs, why did you do that?" Squidward glared at his boss.

"Do what?" Mr. Krabs shrugged. The octopus was being too vague with his words.

"Why did you give SpongeBob those boots? I can tell they're going to annoy me to death with those sounds." Squidward said a complaint.

"That young lad offered me his weekly paycheck. That was free money right there and I accepted it right away. Those boots are worthless and..." Mr. Krabs was saying something but abruptly stopped talking. He didn't want SpongeBob to overhear what he was about to say.

Squidward raised his brow and snapped his fingers. "What were you going to say?"

A pause.

Mr. Krabs was staring into space as he waited for SpongeBob to open the freezer so he can get a new bag of patties. Once the sponge did that inside the kitchen, the crab resumed his speaking. "Cursed..." He whispered into Squidward's ear.

"I honestly wouldn't care as long as I don't get any bad luck." Squidward maintained his neutral expression.

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window after overhearing what Squidward said. "What're you two talking about?" He couldn't control his curiousity.

"N-nothing." Mr. Krabs sweatdropped, smiled nervously again, and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh. Okay." SpongeBob resumed his duties in the kitchen.

"Phew." Mr. Krabs wiped some sweat from his brow.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made an evil laugh as he looked through the large and surrounding window of the Krusty Krab. He was watching the staff of the restaurant to see how they will react to the pair of boots. He took out the remote. "I'm gonna have some fun later on." The plankton smiled as he moved the joystick on the remote to the right to test the boots out. He thought that the scheme that he planned became even better than before due to the unexpected changes that occurred, these types of changes ruin his plans a majority of the time but not in this case.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jerked to the right. It looked like as if his boots were movng by themselves. "Must've slipped on something." The sponge shrugged and resumed his preparation of the kitchen for the working day.

S-S-S-S-S

CREAK

SLAM

Plankton walked back to the Chum Bucket and entered the building. He was satisfied with the current situation.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, can you come out here?" Mr. Krabs looked through the ordering window and signaled with his hand for SpongeBob to get out of the kitchen.

"'kay." SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

"I know this may be sudden for you two lads..." Mr. Krabs tried to transform the thoughts and images in his mind into words.

"Spit it out." Squidward wanted Mr. Krabs to remove the rubbish.

"I want you two to investigate why Bubble Bass was hiding the pickles under his tongue." Mr. Krabs did not mince his words.

"Do I have to cooperate with him?" Squidward pointed at the yellow square with his thumb.

"Yep." Mr. Krabs nodded.

Squidward groaned loudly; he was trying to hold his temper.

"Cheer up, Squidward, we're going to be detectives!" SpongeBob's eyes sparkled and he grinned. He was thrilled to go an adventure may have mysteries to solve. The sponge then walked towards the double door so he can commence the investigation right away. He then noticed that the sign on the door was still showing the 'CLOSED' side from the outside. He raised his hand so he can flip the sign.

"Don't do it. I won't have any employees to work here once you two are gone." Mr. Krabs shook his head and said an explanation.

"But don't you like getting money?" SpongeBob turned around and tiled his head to the side in confusion.

"Finding out Bubble Bass' motives is more important than gaining daily profits. He may be a potential threat for the business and I can't risk shutting this place down. I'm sacrificing a bit of money now so I can continue to get more in the future." Mr. Krabs found saying those words to be difficult but he managed to do it. The boss had temporarily overcame his short-term desires.

SpongeBob nodded his head in silence and made a serious face. He completely understood his boss.

Squidward walked towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two employees exited the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs crossed his fingers and looked at his watch. "I hope this doesn't take too long..." As every second passed, another penny was lost.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking towards his neighborhood.

"Where are you going?" Squidward raised his brow at his co-worker.

"I wanna put on a detective hat before I begin to solve the crime." SpongeBob spoke as he walked.

"Good for you." Squidward walked towards the Chum Bucket, he was taking this investigation seriously. The octopus was glad that he wouldn't be with SpongeBob for a chunk of the investigation. He overheard the conversation between his co-worker and his boss yesterday even though Mr. Krabs thought that he would not care; he was aware of what has been going on.

**S-SLAM**

The octopus barged the double door open and entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton turned around and gasped as he saw Squidward. He was defenseless due to not having any weaponry currently on himself.

Squidward looked down and glared at the tiny plankton. "I know what you're up to. You were trying to shut down the Krusty Krab by making SpongeBob too scared to be able to work. I heard speculation from Sponge and Krabs that you hired him to put the pickles under his tongue as he ate the Krabby Patties. I believe what they said was fairly accurate. You would definitely do something like that to steal the secret formula." He folded his arms.

"Bravo." Plankton narrowed his eye and wore a smile as he clapped his hands. "But I have something else up my sleeve." He took out the remote.

Squidward backed away by a step. He could tell by Plankton's facial expression that the small creature was up to something.

Plankton moved the joystick in random directions.

Squidward heard SpongeBob's yelling from outside and gasped. The octopus turned around, opened the double door, and saw SpongeBob on the ground.

"These boots must be really slippery." SpongeBob giggled to make himself feel better as he stood up.

Squidward thought that SpongeBob had severe injuries from the fall before he saw the sponge. SpongeBob was a member of the investigation team and the investigation might take longer to compete if Squidward was doing it by himself. The octopus then realized that what had just happened was a distraction. He assumed that Plankton moved the joystick around to fool him into thinking that it was related to SpongeBob's fall.

By the time that Squidward turned around, Plankton had quickly entered his laboratory and exited that room with the metal backpack.

**CTHUNG**

A laser gun popped out of the backpack.

Squidward widened his eyes at the sight of the laser gun.

"What's wrong?" SpongeBob saw the expression of shock that Squidward was making and walked up to him. He then saw Plankton and the laser gun sticking out from his metal backpack.

Plankton pressed a button on the backpack.

**ZZZAAAAAP**

A bright green laser beam was shot from the gun.

SpongeBob pushed Squidward out of the way so the octopus could not be injured. He decided to get hurt by the laser beam instead. The laser beam hit his left thigh and left a large burn mark.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground. His thigh felt like it was on fire. A tear ran down his face due to the pain.

Squidward became even more surprised after seeing SpongeBob doing that act of kindness for him. Deep in his mind, he knew he had to return the favor eventually. The octopus grabbed SpongeBob's arms and lifted his body from the ground. He then ran towards the Krusty Krab as fast as he could while carrying SpongeBob.

**ZZZAAAAP**

The laser gun shot another bright green beam.

**C-CRREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab just in time. The beam left a small hole on the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Krabs!" Squidward laid SpongeBob on the floor and ran towards his boss. "You were right! Plankton hired Bubble Bass to do what he did." The octopus informed Mr. Krabs about what he found out.

"I see." Mr. Krabs nodded and walked up to the double door. He flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN' and narrowed his eyes at Plankton who was standing in front of the Chum Bucket.

Plankton pointed at his eye and then pointed at Mr. Krabs as a warning to not interfere with his affairs.

Mr. Krabs folded his arms as Plankton entered the Chum Bucket.

A long pause. Mr. Krabs was expecting Plankton to do something.

The crab then walked up to SpongeBob to see how bad his injury was. He then bit his lip as he saw the burn.

Squidward walked up to SpongeBob as well. "Is there a first aid kit nearby?"

"You're gonna have to fetch one. There's quite a few of them at Barg'N Mart." Mr. Krabs made eye contact with Squidward and told him about where to go.

Squidward nodded and quickly exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the evening.

Mr. Krabs was laying on his bed but could not fall asleep, his eyes were wide open. Something was occupying his mind.

_**SQUEEEEAAAK**_

_**SQUEEEEAAAK**_

The crustacean heard squeaking sounds. "What the barnacle is that?!" Mr. Krabs immediately stood up from his bed. He was nearly frightened by the sounds that he suddenly heard.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs noticed that the window in the room was opening and closing due to a light breeze from outside. The squeaking sounds had also been partially exaggerated in his head due to him thinking about the 'cursed' boots. The crab wiped some sweat from his brow in relief and closed the window. He walked back to his bed and laid down on it again. 'Maybe countin me money will help me go to sleep.' He closed his eyes and some dollar bills hopped across a fence in his head. 'One, two, three, four, five...' He was counting the dollar bills when the pair of boots hopped over the fence and destroyed it. Mr. Krabs sat up and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Why did I give SpongeBob those boots?" Mr. Krabs looked at the floor and expressed remorse through his face. Several hours ago, Squidward had bought a first aid kit from Barg'N Mart so he can wrap SpongeBob's burn with gauze. After that happened, the crustacean began to be aware of the damage that he had done to the sponge but he didn't became fully aware of the damage until he saw SpongeBob having some slight trouble with walking. Ever since then, the boots were stuck in his mind and kept him awake until now. However, Mr. Krabs did not know that SpongeBob got shot by Plankton's laser gun out of free will than a curse. The sponge falling to the ground, another misfortune, was the one that was 'caused' by the boots or the 'curse' in this case.

_These are the only official fry cook boots! Only the finest fry cooks in the world are permitted to wear them! Part of a tradition. And these boots were given to me by the most famous fry cook in the sea._

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped after hearing some of his previous words in his head. "How am I gonna tell him?" The crab was thinking of a way to get the boots back from SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

Mr. Krabs had sat on his bed in thought for the remainder of the night.

S-S-S-S-S

"Arrgh, that was the worst night I ever weathered. At least I'll have some peace and quiet at work." Mr. Krabs was drowsy due to having only an hour of sleep. He took out the key and unlocked the entrance to the Krusty Krab.

An extremely grumpy Squidward stomped up to Mr. Krabs. "Mr. Krabs, I can't take this anymore." Something had been annoying him for the entire night. Just like Mr. Krabs, he had a very small amount of sleep.

Mr. Krabs turned around. "What's wrong, Squidward?"

"I can't take the 'world's greatest' fry cook anymore! Either you do something to stop him or I'll see you in a week." Squidward knew that Mr. Krabs was responsible for what happened that made him unable to sleep.

"What could be the problem?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow. Squidward's words were too vague.

"Hey, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob waved as he jogged towards the Krusty Krab. The boots made **SQUEAK**ing sounds repeatedly as his feet touched the ground.

"SpongeBob-Bob-Bob-Bob-Bob-Bob-ob." The squeaking of the boots was so loud and irritating that Mr. Krabs stuttered every time the boots **SQUEAK**ed.

SpongeBob stopped jogging and stood in front of the crab. He was waiting for his boss to unlock the double door.

"I...uhh, I see you're still wearing them boots." Mr. Krabs smiled nervously, he discovered what Squidward's problem was. He then unlocked the door and entered the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward walked into the restaurant. The octopus entered the restaurant to see if Mr. Krabs was going to do something about the annoying squeaking sounds.

S-S-S-S-S

"Are you kidding? I love them! Could the world's greatest fry cook do this?" SpongeBob ran into the kitchen and came out with a stack of plates on each hand.

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

He ran in place while holding the plates.

"Well, I don't... uhh... I don't... uhh..." Mr. Krabs was trying to find the right words to tell SpongeBob so he can get the boots from SpongeBob without making the yellow square upset.

"Or could he do this?" SpongeBob jumped to the cash register and stood on top of it.

**SQUUUUUEEEEEEAAAK** "MAY I TAKE your ORDER?"

SpongeBob spoke in a squeaky voice as he slid the boots on the cash register. The boots made a very loud and long squeak sound.

Mr. Krabs cringed.

Squidward gritted his teeth and covered his ears. The boots' squeaking was driving him towards insanity.

"Could the greatest fry cook do that, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob stopped sliding the boots.

"I, uhh..." Mr. Krabs sweatdropped.

"And watch this Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob jumped to the floor and began to dance, the boots made squeaking sounds with each step he made.

'And this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this.' SpongeBob did numerous tricks with the boots and ended up injuring himself with each attempt in Mr. Krabs' mind. The sponge said "And this." before doing each trick. The crab imagined many gruesome injuries that SpongeBob can receive due to the 'curse' of the boots. The crustacean could no longer maintain his sanity as he saw the horrifying images in his head. The anxiety that kept him awake for nearly the entire night had to be unleashed. "**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!**" Mr. Krabs screamed as loud as he could. "I gotta go to my office!" The boss ran towards his office.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door open and entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

"I can still hear it..." Mr. Krabs sat in his desk and put on a par of ear plugs. He could no longer tolerate the squeaks of the boots. However, he could still hear the faint squeaks of the footwear. "It's still coming through?! THAT INFERNAL SQUEAK!" The crab banged his hand on the desk in frustration. He wanted the madness to end.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the office. "Have you made a decision yet?" The octopus sat on a chair in front of the desk. After seeing his boss' reaction, Squidward could tell that Mr. Krabs now understood his situation.

"Yep. Those boots have got to go." Mr. Krabs sat up, made a serious facial expression, and nodded.

Squidward made a genuine smile. For once, things were going in his favor.

"I need some aspirin." Mr. Krabs opened one of the drawers of the desk in search of the drug that he said.

Squidward stood up and turned around.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the office.

Mr. Krabs changed the plan to get rid of the boots in his mind to accommodate for the new situation.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton had watched the scene unfold as he stood in front of the double door of the Chum Bucket. He smiled widely, took out his remote, and looked at it. The plankton would not give up his plan to frighten the soul out of Mr. Krabs that easily.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sun had set and the sky was dark.

FLICK

SpongeBob turned off the lights in his bedroom. The sponge was still wearing the boots.

Gary had put on a pair of earplugs. Even the snail could not handle the squeaking of the boots for a long period of time. "Good night, Gary." He laid down on the bed, put the blanket over most of his body while the boots stuck out of it, and closed his eyes. He eventually fell asleep.

Gary closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs tip-toed towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

**CRRRREEEEAAAAAK**

Mr. Krabs slowly opened the front door and stepped into the pineapple.

Slam

The crab gently closed the door. He then walked across the living room and the kitchen until he found a set of stairs. Mr. Krabs tip-toed up the stairs and then stood in front of a door.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door at a slow speed so it could not make a loud sound. He stepped into the bedroom and saw SpongeBob sleeping while wearing the boots and Gary sleeping on a pile of newspapers. The crustacean grabbed the boots and quickly took the footwear out of the SpongeBob's feet. The sponge's socks were exposed.

Mr. Krabs sprinted out of the bedroom.

Slam

He lightly closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs quickly tip-toed down the stairs and ran across the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

He entered the living room.

**CREAK**

Slam

Mr. Krabs opened the door and exited the pineapple without making any noticeable sounds.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs ran as fast as he could from the pineapple and towards the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the double door of the Krusty Krab and took out his key. He unlocked the double door with the key.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crab entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs grabbed one of the floorboards and pulled it out of the floor. He then squeezed the boots into the open space left by the floorboard. The crab then took out a small box of nails and a hammer. He used those tools to nail the floorboard back into place, the floorboard covered the pair of boots. The crustacean put the tools away and exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs locked the double door and walked towards his anchor. He was relieved that the boots were our of his sight and that nobody could be affected by the 'curse'. Not hearing the **SQUEAK**ing sounds of the boots was also a welcome consequence of his actions.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

Mr. Krabs had one of the most sound sleeps of his life.

Squidward slept peacefully as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his desk inside his office and was counting yesterday's profits. "Ah, quiet money. Silence and money." He quietly sang as he counted the money. The crab was in such a good mood that he decided to come to the Krusty Krab early and unlocked the double door for his employees to walk through.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the entrance open and entered the restaurant. Many tears were running down his cheeks and the sponge was trying his best not to bawl.

**CRRREEEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office and saw SpongeBob. He noticed that his employee was crying. "What is it, my boy?" He immediately knew the reason for SpongeBob's weeping as he looked at the floorboards.

"Oh, Mr. Krabs, I'm sorry! Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry." SpongeBob covered his face with his hands. He could not control his bawling.

"It's okay, son." Mr. Krabs made a warm smile, walked up to SpongeBob, and patted him on the shoulder.

"No, it's not OKAY! I lost the boots! Your valuable boots, it's my fault, I let you down!" SpongeBob shook his head, walked to a table, sat in the table; and put his face on the table. His tears began to form a small puddle but got quickly absorbed by the sponge's skin. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Ohh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." The yellow square begged for the crab's 'forgiveness'.

"Hold it, boy! It's not the end of the world." Mr. Krabs held out his hand and tried to cheer SpongeBob up.

"Yes it is." SpongeBob was being theatrical with his words.

"Look, don't cry. I got some, uhh..." Mr. Krabs quickly entered the kitchen and came back out with a pair of oven mitts. "...some magic oven mitts!" He smiled nervously and gave the mitts to SpongeBob, he hoped that the sponge would wear the mitts and like them.

SpongeBob put on the oven mitts and even more tears ran across his cheeks. "They're not the same!" He threw the mitts to the floor and bawled louder than before. Mr. Krabs had unintentionally made SpongeBob even more sad. "You were right, I wasn't ready for those blessed boots."

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab, walked across the dining room, entered the bathroom, swiped his ID card on the machine, exited the bathroom; and sat in the boat with the cash register. He was delighted to no longer hear the **SQUEAK**ing of the boots but now had to deal with the annoying sound of his neighbor's bawling.

A young man entered the restaurant several seconds after Squidward did. He walked up to the cash register.

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Slam

Plankton exited the Chum Bucket while holding the remote. He commenced his next attempt at completing the scheme that he planned for. He walked up to the Krusty Krab and jumped to the surrounding window of the building so he can see what he was doing. The plankton moved the joystick of the remote in the up direction.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took out a pen and a notepad.

"I'll take a-" The young man began to tell his order when something interrupted him.

**SQUEAK**

**SQUEAK**

The squeaking sounds has returned.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Mr. Krabs eyes bugged out and he rapidly looked at his surroundings in search of the source of the squeaking sounds.

"You heard that?" The customer heard the **SQUEAK**ing sounds as well.

"Yeah." Squidward nodded. "Let's cut to the chase."

"Alright. I said I'll take a-" **SQUEAK SQUEAK **The customer said his order as the boots under the floor squeaked some more.

"Can you repeat that?" Squidward could not hear the young man's order due to the **SQUEAK**ing.

Mr. Krabs began to panic, his vision blurred. He thought that the 'curse' of the boots had been passed on to the restaurant and something horrific was about to happen.

SpongeBob wiped the tears from his cheeks and eyes and sat up. "I heard his order, Squidward. He says he wants-" **SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK **The boots made squeaking sounds in the middle of what SpongeBob was saying.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made an evil laugh as he moved the joystick of the remote to the left and right directions.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs fell to the floor and all he heard was squeaks and all he saw were boots. Most of what he was hearing was coming from his mind and all he was seeing was definitely from his mind as well. The crab was experiencing vivid hallucinations.

"You okay, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob looked down at his boss and felt concerned for the crab's well-being.

Mr. Krabs stood up after hearing the sponge's words but was unable to shake back to his senses, the numerous boots that he saw had disappeared. He looked at the Galley Grub and saw 'SQUEAK' as the only name of the items on the menu. The **SQUEAK**ing became even louder than before and nearly made his ears explode. The guilt of giving SpongeBob the boots, the fear of losing his fry cook due to the boots, and the permanent closing of the Krusty Krab as a further consequence of that previous consequence; could no longer be repressed any longer. His thoughts and emotions manifested through his sight and hearing. The boss knew that giving SpongeBob the boots was self-centered and out of convenience. He knew that the 'curse' would affect the yellow square by giving the sponge a fatal injury in an accident. Giving the boots to SpongeBob or putting them under the floor could not change the fate of the Krusty Krab. The restaurant was doomed to shut down either way.

"**STOP IT! STOP IT!**" Mr. Krabs screamed in an anxiety attack.

"Sweet Poseidon..." The young man widened his eyes and covered his mouth in shock.

Squidward was in total disbelief at what he was seeing and hearing. He had never seen his boss act in such a way.

"Oh, oh can't you hear it?! Yes I did it! I did it! I took the boots! They're here, under the floorboard!" Mr. Krabs confessed so he can express his manifested emotions and get them out of his mind. He walked to the floorboard he recently nailed in and grabbed it.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton smirked. He knew the perfect thing to do once Mr. Krabs opens the floorboard and reveals the boots. The plankton then maneuvered the boots in certain directions.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs ripped open the floorboard and took out the pair of boots. "You see?! I hid them here!" He pointed at the opening on the floor.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped. He became speechless after hearing the revelation. He had cried over something that he didn't do.

The boots slid out of Mr. Krabs' grip by themselves and kicked the crab across the chest.

Mr. Krabs flew several feet across the floor and...

**THUD**

...landed on the floor.

The boots ran towards Mr. Krabs so they can continue to injure him.

Mr. Krabs stood up, gritted his teeth, and grabbed the incoming boots with both of his claws in about one second. He then sprinted into the kitchen, took a small box of matches, and came back out with the box.

The boots were unable to escape Mr. Krabs' grasp. The crab was holding them too tightly.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton gritted his teeth and moved the joystick was as much force and speed as he could. He then punched the remote a few times in frustration when he realized that his attempts weren't working.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs took out a match and lit it up by sliding it across the abrasive side of the box. He was going to get rid of the boots permanently. They were too dangerous to stay in existence.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crab rapidly exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

"Back to Hades ye accursed boots!" Mr. Krabs dropped the boots and the the match towards the boots.

The boots were burned to a crisp by the match and...

**BOOM**

...exploded. The microchips inside the footwear were burned as well and exploded because of that.

A burned microchip flew from the ashes of the boots due to the force of the explosion and landed in front of Mr. Krabs' feet.

Mr. Krabs noticed the microchip and picked it up. He raised his brow as he inspected it. The crustacean wondered how the microchip got inside the pair of boots.

A pause.

From the corner of his eye, Mr. Krabs saw a familiar plankton running towards the Chum Bucket while holding a remote. He glared at the Plankton and gritted his teeth. The 'curse' of the boots was only an illusion. Plankton had been fooling him this entire time by playing with the crab's emotions. Mr. Krabs took out another match and lit it up with the box. He felt like that type of revenge was justifiable since he had to go through hallucinations and a sleepless night due to the 'cursed' boots.

Plankton's plan to terrify Mr. Krabs to the point of insanity and steal the formula while the crab was too ocuppied with his fears had failed. He screamed in terror as Mr. Krabs chased him while holding the lit match towards the plankton.


	28. Suds

**Chapter 28: Suds**

* * *

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Plankton quickly entered the Chum Bucket.

Mr. Krabs smiled and made a pirate laugh. He was satisfied with what he had just did since he scared Plankton with the lit match after the plankton scared him with the boots. He threw the lit match to the ground and the match almost immediately cooled down until it no longer was on fire. The crab turned around and walked back to the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

He entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had an important question to ask Mr. Krabs and had been waiting for him to come back to the restaurant. Once he saw his boss, the sponge walked up to him. "Mr. Krabs, I've got a question for you that's been on my mind..." The question appeared in his thoughts after Mr. Krabs made that revelation about him putting the boots under the floor.

"Yes?" Mr. Krabs was ready to pay attention to SpongeBob's words.

"Why did you steal my boots?" SpongeBob asked.

"SpongeBob, I lied to you. Those boots weren't worn by the greatest fry cook, I just found them in a treasure chest when I was a pirate. They were probably worn by a pirate before my generation. Plankton somehow found a way to control them and when I saw them moving by themselves in my house, I thought they were cursed so I threw them out. The day after that, I found them near the Krusty Krab and you were nearby so I decided to give the boots to you. I knew you were gullible enough to believe what I said and I also knew that what I did was selfish. When you got shot by Plankton's laser gun during the investigation, I thought it was caused by the curse of the boots-" Mr. Krabs was saying something but got interrupted by SpongeBob.

"I allowed myself to get shot by the laser gun. I didn't want Squidward to be in severe pain so I took the shot instead of him. I'm a sponge so the impact and damage of the laser wouldn't be as bad compared to the injury Squidward might have got. If I got hurt really, really bad; I would cry. But I didn't when I got shot by the laser since the burn didn't hurt that much." SpongeBob explained a past action he did.

Mr. Krabs nodded. "I felt guilty for what I've done and I couldn't sleep for almost a whole night. The squeaking of those boots had also helped in making me lose my mind. I thought something far more worse than you getting shot by a laser gun was going to happen to you so I stole the boots from you one night and put it under the floor of the Krusty Krab." The crustacean pointed at the opening on the floor. "However, I couldn't keep my sanity for much longer. I soon thought that the Krusty Krab now had the curse and something was gonna happen that will make the business shut down. I was also sick of hearing those squeaks. I had to get express my emotions and get it over with.I knew I went a little bit overboard but I think you can get my point." Mr. Krabs finished his explanation.

SpongeBob understood what Mr. Krabs said. However, he felt betrayed since Mr. Krabs willingly lied to him so he can give him something that the crab thought was wicked. He looked at the floor, frowned, and his eyes became moist. The sponge had made the unpleasant realization that Mr. Krabs wasn't the perfect person that he thought the crab was. The yellow square turned around and slowly walked towards the kitchen to begin his day of work.

The young man overheard SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs' conversation and glared at Mr. Krabs. "I ain't eating here." He turned around and walked towards the double door. "Not If the boss wasn't such a jerk." He felt empathy for SpongeBob and was angry at what Mr. Krabs did.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The customer exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs sighed and walked to his office in the same manner that SpongeBob.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs suddenly remembered something. 'The paycheck...' The crustacean took out the paycheck that SpongeBob had given to him. 'I gotta give this back to SpongeBob. I destroyed his boots and wasted his money.' The crab was going to do something that he rarely does. His morality overcame his greedy desires. Although greed usually consumed the crab, his life wasn't completely centered around money. He walked towards the door to the kitchen and opened it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob made eye contact with Mr. Krabs. "What do you want?" The sponge was in a bad mood. It was going to take a while before he got rid of his childish perceptions and accept Mr. Krabs for who he truly is.

"I wanna give this back to you." Mr. Krabs gave the paycheck back to SpongeBob. "I don't want you to waste your money. You're a hard worker so you've earned the money you get." The crab closed the door and walked back to his office. SpongeBob was one of the best employees he ever had so the boss had to treat him fairly.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled as he looked at the money. His mind had focused on Mr. Krabs' negative traits while ignoring the positive traits that the crustacean also had. The yellow fry cook slowly made a smile.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was typing on the computer about the failure of his recent scheme. Playing with Mr. Krabs' emotions as part of the scheme reminded him of the former friendship he had with SpongeBob. Although he had not been friends with anyone else for a long time before that, he had to focus on the plan he had back then and the friendship had to end before completing that plan. The plankton felt little to no remorse for betraying SpongeBob. What he felt was almost the complete opposite of what Mr. Krabs felt when the crab gave the boots to the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the evening.

SpongeBob was sitting on the couch and was watching TV with Gary. The sponge had came back from work not too long ago.

"_There will be a major decrease in temperature for the next few days. Although spring is near, winter has came back for a short visit. It is highly recommended that you wear extra layers of clothing such as a coat or sweater._" The weather man was telling the forecast and pointed at a map of Bikini Bottom and surrounding cities and towns.

'I better be careful when I go outside. I don't wanna catch a cold.' SpongeBob thought. He then stood up and exited the living room.

Gary followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was bedtime.

SpongeBob and Gary entered the bedroom.

Gary slithered to the pile of newspapers.

SpongeBob was about to lay down on the bed when he heard the faint sound of someone calling his name from outside. The sponge turned around and opened the window. He looked at the ground below him and saw Patrick.

"You wanna go to Glove World tomorrow?!" Patrick had to speak louder than he usually does so SpongeBob can hear him.

"Sure thing, Pat." SpongeBob smiled widely and nodded. He and Patrick had went to an amusement park called Glove World a few times.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked back to his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

SpongeBob turned off the lights. He laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. He forgot to close the window but the cold weather that the weather man talked about had not came to Bikini Bottom yet. Not a single breeze entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

In SpongeBob's dream...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was standing on top of a giant Krabby Patty that was triple the size of the Krusty Krab. The giant burger was floating above the ocean. The sponge could breathe in the air for some strange reason.

"Woowww..." The yellow square looked down and marveled at what was below him. He could see the small island with three palm trees that looked like a mountain that was near Bikini Bottom below the ocean surface.

A strong gust of wind blew against the Krabby Patty.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and his face drained of color. He didn't want to slip off the Krabby Patty and fall to the seafloor. He grabbed on to the surface of the bun.

A pause.

Dark clouds soon covered the sky. The wind stopped but...

**B-BBBBOOOOOMMMMM**

**RUUUUMMMMBBBLLEE**

**..**lightning bolts came from the sky and thunder followed.

SpongeBob stopped holding on to the burger and stood up. He was only slightly frightened by the thunder since the lightning bolts hit the ocean surface miles away from his location.

**BBOOOOMMMM**

**RRRRUUUUMMMMBBBLEEE**

Another lighting bolt came from the clouds and thunder was heard again.

The clouds began to rain normal-sized Krabby Patties.

SpongeBob's eyes widened in shock.

A Krabby Patty landed on one of his hands.

"It's raining Krabby Patties!" SpongeBob grinned. "Yeah!" He ate the Krabby Patty, opened his mouth, and ran around the surface of the giant Krabby Patty so more of the raining burgers could enter his mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

In the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was biting his pillow as he dreamed of eating Krabby Patties. He opened his eyes and realized that what just happened was a dream. He took the pillow out of his mouth and put it back on the mattress.

His stomach grumbled. He had that dream because he was hungry.

"A quick midnight snack and then it's back to bed." SpongeBob whispered to himself and stood up from his bed. The sponge walked across the room and saw his sleeping snail from the corner of his eye.

Gary was meowing as he slept, he was doing the equivalent of snoring for snails.

"Aww, sleep tight, my little angel." SpongeBob realized that he forgot to say 'good night' to Gary before he fell asleep and said those words as a way to make up for what he didn't say. He also found the snail's 'snoring' to be cute. He tip-toed across the room so he can not accidentally wake up Gary by his footsteps.

Creak

Slam

SpongeBob opened the door slightly and squeezed through the small opening.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slid down the banister of the stairs so as to not make any loud sounds. He was still considerate for his pet.

Plop!

SpongeBob hopped to the floor.

Creak

Slam

SpongeBob opened the door until it was ajar and squeezed through the opening. He entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the refrigerator and opened the bottom door. "Ah, here it is." He took out a jar of peanut butter. The sponge then walked to the cabinets. He opened one of the cabinets and took out a bag of bread and a jar of jellyfish jelly. "Nothing like a sea-nut butter and jellyfish jelly sandwich to get you to sleep." SpongeBob closed the cabinet and walked to the table. He put what he took out on the table and made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with those ingredients. The yellow sponge ate the sandwich and put the ingredients he used back to the places they were originally at. The sponge closed the cabinet and exited the kitchen.

SpongeBob forgot to close the bottom door of the fridge.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob tip-toed up the stairs, opened the door, and entered his bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. Since his hunger was satisfied, he became sleepy. The sponge closed his eyes and drifted into the darkness of sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

The cold air of the fridge and the chilly gusts of wind from outside froze the insides of the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOOOONNNNKK**

The alarm of the foghorn broke the ice that covered it.

A few of the pieces landed on SpongeBob's face.

SpongeBob woke up and brushed the ice off his face. He sat up and realized that every nook and cranny of the bedroom was covered with ice. The rooms of the pineapple looked like he was living in Antarctica.

A pause.

SpongeBob shivered and noticed that his forehead was unpleasantly warm and he was slightly dizzy. He looked down and also noticed an icicle under his nose. The sponge took the icicle off his nose and stood up from the bed. He suddenly struggled to maintain his posture and footing since the floor was slippery. The floor was covered with ice as well.

"Meow." Gary woke up. He was wearing a winter hat and ear muffs. The snail had woken up a bit after midnight due to how cold the pineapple was. He had went to the closet to get clothes that would make him warm.

"Good morning, Gary." SpongeBob smiled nervously as he slid across the room and opened the door. He managed to exit the bedroom by taking a few slow steps.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slid down the steps of the stairs and landed face-first on the floor. He stood up and opened the door to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

SpongeBob went through several rooms in the house while sliding across the slippery floor.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror to see what was making him feel so strange.

Gary slithered up to him. The snail had less difficulty in moving across the floor since he slithers instead of walks. He would have to slither very fast in order to begin to slip on the floor.

"Oh, Gary, I don't feel like myself." SpongeBob touched his forehead to see how severe his fever was. His forehead was getting warmer the more he stood in the cold without wearing heavy clothes.

"Meow meow meow meow." Gary looked turned around and tilted his head towards the end of the hallway.

SpongeBob gasped. "Gary, you're right!" The sponge hopped to the floor and belly slid across the floor like a penguin. He exited the bathroom and went across the hallway at a rapid speed. He stood up once he entered the living room and stopped his still-sliding feet. The sponge carefully walked across the icy floor and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw the open refrigerator and widened his eyes. He slid across the floor as if his shoes were ice skates and closed the fridge.

"Meow meow meow." Gary knew that something else was open that allowed cold air to get into the pineapple.

"The window in the bedroom too?!" SpongeBob sweatdropped and 'ice skated' his way towards the door to the stairs. He opened the door and exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

'How am I gonna get upstairs?' SpongeBob looked at the frozen stairs and thought for a long pause. He was thinking of a way to walk up the stairs without slipping and falling all the way back down.

Another long pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. SpongeBob smiled and aimed one of his hands at the lowest step of the stairs. He then karate chopped the ice on the step.

**SSSHHHAAAATTTTEEEERRR**

All of the ice that was covering the stairs was broken into numerous pieces by the force of SpongeBob's karate chop.

SpongeBob walked up the stairs. 'I should clean this up later.' The sponge knew that the broken pieces of ice were nearly the equivalent of glass shards. It would be very difficult for his pet to slither up the stairs without getting a cut.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He slowly walked up the open window and closed it.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty seconds of sliding across the floor later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob re-entered the bathroom.

"Meow meow meow meow meow meow." Gary was concerned for his owner's health.

"No, Gary." SpongeBob simpered and shook his head. "If I had the suds, I'd have bubbles coming out of me." The suds were the underwater equivalent to the common cold in the surface world. However, the disease did have a few extra symptoms that were similar to the sniffles.

A pause.

SpongeBob's nose tickled. "Achoo!" The yellow sponge sneezed and pink bubbles came out of his holes.

"Meow." Gary meowed as a way of saying 'I told you so.'

"I can't get the suds..." SpongeBob opened the cabinet and took out a small toothpaste container and a toothbrush. He took the cap off the container and squeezed some toothpaste to the toothbrush. He brushed his teeth and took out a bottle of mouthwash from the cabinet. He rinsed his mouth with the mouthwash once he was finished with brushing his teeth. The sponge then put the container, the brush, and the bottle back into the cabinet and closed the cabinet. "...because then I'd have to miss out on going to glove world. I told Patrick last night that I would go with him." The sponge lifted his underpants until it covered his nose and mouth. He did that so his sneezes wouldn't be as noticeable. He did not want Patrick to know that he was sick.

"Meow." Gary raised a non-existent brow.

"No, Gary. I like wearing my underwear like this." SpongeBob said a lie and exited the bathroom. He did not want his snail to worry about him. "ACHOO!" He sneezed and pink bubbles came out of his back.

"Meow." Gary followed the sponge.

"I'm not sick. I'm going to Glove World." SpongeBob denied the obvious truth as he walked down the hallway. He entered the living room and walked towards the front door.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was knocking on the front door of the pineapple. "SpongeBob, are you ready?"

S-S-S-S-S

'Good timing.' SpongeBob made a smile beneath the underwear mask.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and saw his best friend.

"Let's go, buddy!" Patrick grinned, turned around, and walked towards a bus stop. He only glimpsed at SpongeBob and didn't notice the oddness of how the sponge looked with the underpants covering his mouth due to that.

SpongeBob felt an incoming sneeze when his nose began to tickle and he sweatdropped. He wanted to go to Glove World and have a fun time there instead of being cooped up in his home while waiting for his illness to be cured or go away by itself. The sponge pinched his nose so he could become unable to sneeze. He followed the sea star as he tried to prevent the sneeze.

A chilly gust of wind blew against the sides of SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Man, it sure is cold today." Patrick covered his arms around his torso to make himself warmer.

SpongeBob cold no longer tolerate the uncomfortable temperature of the outside world. "**AAACCHHHOOOOO!**" He made a loud sneeze and nearly a hundred pink bubbles came out of his holes. The underpants fell back into his squarepants.

Patrick heard the sneeze and turned around. He noticed that a large amount of mucus was coming out of SpongeBob's nose. "You okay?" The starfish tilted his head to the side.

"Y-yes." SpongeBob simpered and wiped his nose.

Patrick touched SpongeBob's forehead with one of his hands. The sponge's forehead was warmer than normal and he knew that his friend had a fever. "You're not okay." The sea star frowned and shook his head. "You're sick."

"But I want to go with you to Glove World!" SpongeBob became upset. "I don't want to go back on my word." He remembered telling Patrick last night that he would go to the amusement park with him.

"Don't worry, Sponge. We'll just save Glove World for later. We gotta get you to a doctor first. I don't want you to pass out before we even step into Glove World." Patrick was concerned for his best friend's health. The sea star was highly aware of what was going on around him that day.

An awkward pause.

"Do you know where the hospital is?" Patrick didn't see a doctor in three years, he did not even visit the hospital for annual checkups. In this case, he had forgotten where the hospital was due to a sudden decrease in intelligence.

SpongeBob quietly shrugged. The sponge did not visit the hospital where his doctor worked in two years. The hospital that SpongeBob and Patrick had previously visited to see Mrs. Puff was a different hospital and not the one that SpongeBob goes to for seeing his doctor. The sponge's confidence in his ability to take care of his own health made annual checkups a very low priority for him.

"Maybe we should ask Squidward." Patrick looked at the tiki. He thought that the octopus might know something useful since he had to go to the hospital often due to the two neighbors' antics.

SpongeBob nodded and smiled again. "Good idea." The sponge walked towards Squidward's tiki.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of the tiki.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the door and raised his brow when he saw the sponge. "What do you want?"

"Can you point to where the hospital is? I have the suds." SpongeBob asked and told Squidward his situation.

Squidward's eyes widened when he suddenly remembered something that happened a few days ago. He remembered when SpongeBob pushed him out of the way so he can get shot by Plankton instead of him. He still felt indebted to the sponge for that act of kindness even though he wrapped some gauze on the sponge's burn after that incident. The octopus wanted to help the sponge one more time so he can fully express his gratitude.

Squidward pointed in the direction of the hospital.

SpongeBob smiled wider than before. "Thanks."

Squidward took a glimpse at SpongeBob's thigh and noticed that the burn was almost completely healed. Sponges could heal at a faster pace than octopuses.

SpongeBob turned around and walked in the direction that Squidward pointed at. Patrick soon followed him.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick opened the double door and entered the hospital. The two sat in two seats as they waited in the lobby for their turn to walk up to the desk.

"Yep. This is definitely the hospital I went to a few years ago." SpongeBob recognized the lobby and smiled.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the desk when it was finally their turn.

"My friend has the suds." Patrick pointed at SpongeBob who was next to him.

The employee who was a young woman typed something on the computer and looked through the records. "Alright. You'll be seeing Dr. Purple right away."

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards a set of stairs and went upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends entered the floor where the doctors were at. SpongeBob looked at the people sitting in the seats while waiting and realized that a few of them had the suds as well. He felt glad that he was not the only sea creature in Bikini Bottom who has the suds.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to a room that had a sign saying 'Dr. Purple' and entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

"You can sit down right here." The doctor pointed at a chair.

SpongeBob sat on the chair.

The doctor touched the sponge's forehead with one of his hands. "You definitely have a fever."

"**ACHOO!**" SpongeBob sneezed and several pink bubbles flew out of his holes.

The doctor quickly moved away from the patient right before the sponge sneezed. He did not want to catch the suds. "Well, Mr. SquarePants, it seems you have the suds. Are you ready for your treatment?"

"How are you going to treat me?" SpongeBob became curious.

"You will get the sponge treatment so we can rinse away the germs that are inside your body." The doctor explained the treatment.

"'kay." SpongeBob nodded.

The doctor clapped his hands four times.

A tile in the ceiling opend up and a robot arm picked up SpongeBob. The robot arm brought the sponge to the floor above by squeezing him through the open tile in the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was dropped into a large bathtub. The robot arm grabbed a small container of soap that was on the floor, opened the cap, and squeezed some of the soap onto the sponge. The robot arm then grabbed the yellow square again and cleaned the bathtub by using SpongeBob as an actual utensil.

"This tickles!" SpongeBob giggled as his body rubbed against the bathtub.

The robot arm then brought SpongeBob to the floor and washed the floor by 'using' the 'sponge'.

"Whoo! Yeah! Yeah-eah! Whoo!" SpongeBob felt great and no longer felt sick. The germs that caused the disease had been washed away as he was used to clean the bathtub and the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was squeezed through the open tile and was dropped to the floor by the robot arm. "I feel as good as new!" The sponge smiled widely.

Dr. Purple clapped his hands four times again.

The robot arm retracted to the floor above and the tile in the ceiling became closed.

"Here's your lollipop." The doctor gave SpongeBob a lollipop for being a good patient.

"Let's go home now." Patrick exited the room.

SpongeBob followed his friend and exited the room as well.

The two went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the hospital and walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Achoo!" Patrick sneezed and a few pink bubbles came out of his mouth.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob bit his lip and sweatdropped. "I think I gave you the suds by accident."

"The hospital that we went to is not the one my doctor is at. I forgot where my hospital is but I know for sure that the one you went to is not mine." Patrick pointed at the hospital behind him.

"Then how are we gonna find out where yours is at?" SpongeBob scratched his head.

"Achoo!" Patrick covered his mouth with his arm before he sneezed. "Maybe Sandy could help us. She probably knows her way around Bikini Bottom by now."

"True." SpongeBob nodded.

The two best friends walked towards the treedome.


	29. Rock Bottom

**Chapter 29: Rock Bottom**

* * *

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited a hospital. Sandy had helped the two find a nearby hospital that she knew of. Luckily, the hospital that she showed was the one that Patrick's doctor goes to for work.

The sea star was holding a bottle of medicine and a teaspoon. "It's too bad that they can't cure my suds right away. How they treated you probably wouldn't work for me."

"Cheer up. You still have the suds but that medicine will cure the symptoms. Once you drink it, you'll look and act like you never became ill in the first place." SpongeBob was in a good mood. He was excited to go to Glove World.

"Very true." Patrick could not help himself and smiled. "I better take a sip real quick before Sandy gets here." The pink star opened the bottle and poured the liquid medicine into the teaspoon until the teaspoon was filled to the brim with the liquid. He then drank the medicine in one gulp. The liquid tasted like bubble gum and Patrick liked the taste.

The two best friends stopped walking not too far from the hospital and waited for the squirrel to walk up to them. The two had told her about them planning to go to Glove World as they explained their situation. Sandy became interested and had decided to go with them to the amusement park once the two best friends were ready.

A long pause.

Patrick was beginning to feel better within a minute after drinking the medicine. He was not as lethargic as before and energy began to return to his body. The sea star jumped up and down in excitement when he thought of all of the fun things that he can do with his friends while being at Glove World.

Sandy walked up to the starfish and the sponge. "Y'all ready?" The squirrel was also anticipating the fun activities that can be done at the amusement park.

"Yeah." SpongeBob grinned.

"You bet." Patrick stood up straight so as to not look tired.

"So how're we gonna get there?" Sandy wondered about the location of Glove World.

"We gotta take the bus. Glove World is a bit far away from Bikini Bottom." SpongeBob walked in a certain direction. "If you wanna know where the bus stop is, follow me."

Sandy nodded and followed the sponge. This was going to be her first time visiting Glove World.

Patrick walked as well and caught up with SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick sat on a bench that was right next to a sign that said 'BUS STOP'. The three were waiting for the bus.

**SCRREEEEECCH**

A bus came to a halt near the sign.

The three stood up.

**CREAK**

The entrance to the bus opened.

The sponge, squirrel, and the sea star walked through the doorway and entered the bus.

**SLAM**

The door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

The three sat in a seat as the bus drove down the road.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCRRREEEEEEECCCCH**

The bus stopped in front of an amusement park.

Patrick was napping and saliva was coming out of his mouth.

SpongeBob poked Patrick's shoulder. "Pat, wake up. We're here."

"H-huh?" Patrick woke up and sat up in his seat.

"The bus stopped. We're at Glove World." SpongeBob stood up from his seat.

Patrick shook back to his senses and grinned. He stood up from his seat and became enthusiastic.

Sandy stood up and walked towards the exit of the bus.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed her.

S-S-S-S-S

The three stepped off the bus. A few other people exited the bus as well.

**VRROOOOOMMMM**

The bus disappeared from the horizon.

"Wow." Sandy gazed at the entrance to Glove World. There was a large gate with a sign that said 'Glove World' above it. Several rides such as roller coasters, Ferris wheels, and merry-go-rounds could be seen from the somewhat high fence that surrounded the amusement park. All of the rides were glove-themed in one way or another. The people inside Glove World were wearing glove hats that they bought from some tiny shops that were scattered throughout the place.

SpongeBob grabbed Sandy and Patrick's arms. "Let's go!" He ran towards the amusement park and dragged his two friends with him. They ran through the gate and entered Glove World.

Two security guards were standing near the gate and didn't find the three friends to be suspicious. Even though the three were running, the guards allowed them to pass through without saying a word. The security guards rarely inspected people that entered the amusement park since numerous people entered the place everyday.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge let go of his friends' arms. "You want a hat, Sandy?" SpongeBob saw a shop that consisted of a small building and looked at Sandy.

"Sure. Why not." Sandy smiled. 'This is my first time here so I should go with the flow.' She thought.

"I want one too." Patrick spoke. He did not want to feel left out.

"Don't worry, Pat." SpongeBob pat Patrick on the shoulder. "I'll get you one." The sponge did not ignore his best friend.

**CREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The three entered the shop.

S-S-S-S-S

Merchandise that looked like gloves or were glove-themed were on the racks and shelves of the building.

A cashier was standing behind a desk and next to a cash register.

SpongeBob walked up to the cashier. "I would like three glove hats." The sponge held out three fingers.

The cashier walked to a rack and took three glove hats from the rack. "That would be three dollars."

SpongeBob took out his wallet from his pocket and opened it. He took out $3 from the wallet and put it on the desk. "Here you go."

The cashier took the money and put the dollars into the cash register. He gave the three glove hats to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gave a glove hat to Patrick and Sandy respectively and kept one for himself. He put his glove hat on and smirked.

Patrick and Sandy put on their glove hats.

Sandy couldn't help herself and giggled as she saw SpongeBob and Patrick wearing the glove hats. The two looked silly with those hats on and she was aware of the fact that she looked sillier than them since her glove hat was being worn on her glass bubble.

A light bulb abruptly lit up in Patrick's head after hearing the sounds of roller coasters from outside. "What rides should we go on?"

"Let's try the Ferris wheel first. It goes at a slow speed and it's relaxing." SpongeBob shared his idea for the first ride.

"Good thinking, Sponge. It would probably be more exciting if we go on faster and faster rides until we go on a roller coaster." Patrick nodded. His intelligence increased by a moderate amount.

"Should we go now?" Sandy looked at the exit of the shop.

"Yep. Let's go." SpongeBob became merry and jogged somewhat to the exit. "Last one there is a rotten clam!" The sponge wanted to play a little game with his friends to make his time in Glove World more enjoyable.

Patrick and Sandy quickly caught up with him. Sandy out-jogged Patrick.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

The three exited the building.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sprinted to a nearby Ferris wheel.

Sandy was just behind him, the squirrel was a very fast runner due to being an athlete.

Patrick was trying his best to not stay behind. He was running as fast as he could but was still several steps away from Sandy.

SpongeBob saw Sandy from the corner of his eye and dove to the end of the line of people waiting to go on the Ferris wheel. He won the race.

"You won't be so lucky next time." Sandy smirked and tried to intimidate the sponge.

Patrick finally caught up with the two and wiped a few drops of sweat from his brow. "You two are pretty fast runners." He was impressed by how fast SpongeBob and Sandy were running.

"I hope you have a lot of patience, Pat. This line's pretty long." Sandy stood on tiptoe and the length of the waiting line.

Patrick became dumber by a notch. "What're we talking about?" He scratched his head.

"We're waiting for our turn to get on the Ferris wheel." SpongeBob did not become annoyed at all. He had been friends with Patrick for a long enough time that he reminded the sea star when he forgot something without showing any negative emotions. When the starfish still could not remember something after being reminded, the sponge was patient enough to keep trying again.

"Oh yeah." Patrick remembered what he and the other two were previously doing.

SpongeBob and Sandy became silent as they waited for their turn.

Patrick became quiet as well.

The three walked a few steps forward as people entered the Ferris wheel and the line shortened as a result.

A few people behind the three entered the line.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was finally SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy's turn to go on the Ferris wheel.

Although Patrick had became impatient as he waited on the line and got in a bad mood because of that, his facial expression quickly changed to a smile.

The three friends sat in one car. Several others sat in other cars as the Ferris wheel began to move.

SpongeBob admired the excellent view as the Ferris wheel turned and their car went to the top.

"SpongeBob, there's been something on my mind..." Sandy wanted to ask.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob turned around and made eye contact with the squirrel.

"Are you afraid of heights?" Sandy asked.

SpongeBob chuckled. "Nope... unless I'm from falling from a high place but most people are normally afraid of that."

"I see." Sandy nodded.

"Sandy, are you afraid of clowns?" Patrick wasn't paying attention to the conversation and asked a silly question. He was looking at the ground that was below him.

Sandy laughed. "No. Have you been listening?" She thought that the sea star was not listening to her and SpongeBob's conversation.

"No." Patrick was being honest and shook his head.

'That explains why he asked that question.' SpongeBob thought and smiled widely. He tried his best not to giggle.

"Exactly." Sandy almost had the same thoughts as SpongeBob. She then looked down and noticed that their car was coming back to the ground. "Time flies quickly."

"True." SpongeBob was still looking down as Sandy said that.

The Ferris wheel slowed down.

SpongeBob opened the door and the three exited the car as it reached the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty minutes later...

The three friends went on a few other rides.

S-S-S-S-S

"Man, that bungee jumping ride was awesome!" Patrick commented about how much he enjoyed the previous ride.

"The scary part was when it fell down but we were wearing safety belts so it wasn't that bad." SpongeBob found the ride to be a bit nerve-wracking but enjoyed the ride as well nonetheless.

"Wanna go on the roller coaster, guys?" Sandy saw a nearby roller coaster.

"You bet!" Patrick jumped up and down in excitement.

SpongeBob bit his lip and his face drained of color. He dreaded going on that ride deep in his mind.

"Sponge, are you scared?" Patrick gave the yellow square a funny look.

"Y-yes." SpongeBob confessed. He and Patrick never went on a roller coaster due to his fear of them. He was afraid of something bad happening during the ride.

"Don't worry, buddy." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "There's a seatbelt for every seat so you don't fall off during the ride and if you still don't feel safe, you can just sit between us."

"We got your back, SpongeBob. There's no need to be scared. You'll enjoy the ride once you sit inside it." Sandy walked towards the roller coaster.

Patrick followed Sandy.

SpongeBob followed the squirrel as well but did it hesitantly.

The three entered another line of people waiting to get on the ride. The line was larger than the one near the Ferris wheel.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-one minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy, SpongeBob, and Patrick sat in one of the cars respectively. Their wait was over.

SpongeBob was sweating in anxiety.

A very long pause.

The cars of the roller coasters began to move. A few people in the cars yelled in excitement.

SpongeBob sat to the edge of his seat. His anxiety was almost unbearable.

The cars went up a steep slope.

"C'mon, SpongeBob. Smile." Sandy tried to cheer SpongeBob up but failed.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He covered his face with his hands and waited for the inevitable.

The cars reached the top of the slope.

SpongeBob felt weightless for a few seconds but soon felt gravity pulling him down. If he opened his eyes and looked down, the bottom of the slope would look like the gates of hell or the bottom of a mountain.

The cars went down the slope and people screamed in pleasure or terror.

SpongeBob opened his eye and looked down. "**AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!**" He screamed in terror as the cars went through several corkscrews and loops.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

During the middle of the ride, SpongeBob realized that the roller coaster was not as dangerous as he thought it was and even began to enjoy it.

The cars stopped moving. The ride was over before the three friends knew it.

"I had so much fun!" SpongeBob was grinning as he exited the roller coaster with his friends. The sponge could not be more merry.

"You see, SpongeBob? I told you so." Sandy liked the roller coaster the most over the other rides and it instantly became her favorite ride. Rides such as roller coasters fit best with thrill-seekers like her.

"I think we should call it a day. We went on all the good rides." SpongeBob wanted to leave Glove World. He thought their stay at the amusement park would become boring since they went to all of the best places.

Sandy thought for several seconds. "Yeah. We could do some other fun stuff once we come back home."

"What other fun stuff can we do?" Patrick tilted his head to the side. "All of the fun is in this place."

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "We can introduce Sandy to jellyfishing!"

Patrick's eyes widened and he smiled. "That's a great idea! We could definitely have more fun while jellyfishing by bringing a newbie with us."

An awkward pause.

"No offense." Patrick looked at Sandy and smiled nervously. He did not meant the term 'newbie' in an offensive way.

"It's alright, I'm not offended." Sandy was still smiling.

The three walked towards the gate and exited Glove World.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick took out a lollipop that he had bought after going on the Ferris wheel. He then licked it.

"Man, that was another funtastic day at Glove World." SpongeBob reflected on what he and his friends did at the amusement park.

"You read my mind, SpongeBob." Sandy was also looking back at what she did at Glove World.

The sponge, the sea star, and the squirrel walked to a 'BUS STOP' sign and stood near it. They waited for a bus to park near the sign.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCREEEECCHHH**

A bus stopped driving and parked in front of the three friends.

The door of the bus opened.

The three entered the bus.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took out two quarters and dropped them into a coin deposit that was near the driver.

He and his friends walked across the bus and sat in an open seat.

The door of the bus close and the vehicle began to move.

Patrick suddenly realized something. His intelligence increased by a tiny amount. "Sponge, why did you have to pay to go on this bus when you didn't pay for the bus that took us to Glove World?" A question was on his mind.

"It depends on the bus. Since some people are too poor to pay the small fee, some buses on certain days of the week will be free while on other days you have to pay the fee. We just got lucky when a free bus found us." SpongeBob answered Patrick's question.

"Oh." Patrick was satisfied with what his friend said.

A pause.

"You guys wanna look over the stuff we bought from Glove World?" Sandy opened a plastic bag that she was holding. She had bought a bunch of souvenirs from the amusement park.

"Yeah." SpongeBob was holding a plastic bag as well and opened it.

Patrick has a smaller bag compared to the others and opened the bag. Most of the stuff that he bought were sweets or other treats.

"Okay, here's my glovelight." SpongeBob took out a flashlight from the bag, it had a glove on the end of the tool that projected light. He flicked the switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

The flashlignt projected light towards the ceiling and the glove made the light have a weird shape.

"Wow..." Patrick marveled at the light projecting from the flashlignt.

SpongeBob put the flashlight into one of his holes. The light came out of his holes as if he was a disco ball. "I see you!" The yellow square looked at Patrick. His eyes shone somewhat due to the light of the 'glovelight'.

The three laughed.

"I got gloves for my glove action-figure." Patrick took out a small glove and a smaller glove from his bag. He put the smaller glove on one of the fingers of the small glove.

"Cool!" SpongeBob looked at the small gloves with interest.

Sandy was about to take out a necklace made of gloves from her bag when she looked through a window and saw a sign that said 'Welcome to Bikini Bottom' pass by. "Um, guys, where are we going?" She turned around and looked at her friends. She was facially expressing concern.

"Huh?" SpongeBob raised his brow and looked through the window as well. He did not recognize the surroundings that the bus was driving through. 'Maybe I should ask the bus driver where he's taking us...' The yellow sponge thought. He then stood up from his seat and walked up to the driver. "Excuse me, sir. Where are we going?"

"Rock Bottom." The driver spoke.

SpongeBob gulped nervously, walked back to his seat, and sat in it.

"So... where are we going?" Sandy asked the question again.

"Rock Bottom. The bus is taking us to a different town." SpongeBob answered the squirrel 's question.

"We should've asked the driver the place he's going to drive us to before we paid the fee and sat in here." Sandy looked through the window to see how Rock Bottom looked like.

SpongeBob felt slightly regretful. "True."

Unlike his friends, Patrick was relaxed and was in a good mood. "Don't worry, guys. We can just take a different bus that will take us back home once we get to Rock Bottom."

SpongeBob became optimistic after hearing Patrick's words. "Yeah. We just gotta wait this out." He smiled slightly.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head. "Maybe we could ask the bus driver to take us back to Bikini Bottom once he stops the bus at Rock Bottom." Sandy had another solution to the situation.

"We could try that." SpongeBob smiled even more. He was glad that his friends were giving him good ideas that could solve the situation.

Sandy took a glance at the window and saw a sign that said 'Now Entering Rock Bottom' pass by. "Guys, we're entering Rock Bottom." She turned around and informed her friends about where the bus was going.

SpongeBob and Patrick became quiet as they waited for the bus to enter Rock Bottom. SpongeBob played around with his flashlight while Patrick played with his glove 'action-figure'.

Sandy took another peek through the window from the corner of her eye. She noticed that the bus was heading directly towards a large abyss. She gasped and opened her mouth to say something but...

The bus went directly down the abyss by taking a ninety-degree angle turn. It had special wheels that allowed it to drive through very steep roads.

...widened her eyes as the bus drove through the abyss. She felt gravity pulling her down from her torso instead of her bottom. She had done extreme sports before so what the bus was doing was nothing to her. She had done stunts that were more dangerous than that.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**" SpongeBob and Patrick screamed as the bus drove across the ninety-degree angle road. They grabbed their seats and held on to them as if their lives were at stake. However, they were unable to hold on to their seats for more than several seconds and flew from their seats.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick hit the back of the bus.

SpongeBob grabbed a seat that was in front of him and then grabbed the next seat. He was reverse-climbing back to his seat.

Patrick did what SpongeBob did as well.

SpongeBob accidentally released his hand from a seat and one of his legs hit Patrick in the face as a result. "Sorry." The sponge sweatdropped.

The bus reached the bottom of the abyss and drove across a road that had a normal-angle. The vehicle soon reached a bus stop.

**SCRRREEEEECCCH**

The bus parked near the sign.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick flew to and hit the windshield of the bus.

Some of the people in the bus stood up and exited the vehicle.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up and shook back to their senses.

Sandy walked up to the sponge and the sea star. "Are you two okay?"

"Y-yeah." SpongeBob smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"I'm alright." Patrick shrugged.

"Sir, we need to get back to Bikini Bottom." SpongeBob walked to the driver and told him his situation.

"You're out of luck. The next place I'm going to is much more far away from Bikini Bottom than this place." The driver wanted the three passengers to exit the bus so he can continue his assigned route.

SpongeBob sighed.

The three friends exited the bus.

S-S-S-S-S

Darkness shrouded their surroundings. The place looked like as if night had came early. There was a sign that said 'Welcome to Rock Bottom' and there were numerous buildings that had green lights and were constructed in weird shapes. The citizens of Rock Bottom were species that SpongeBob and Patrick had rarely seen and some of them were species that the two had never seen before. Rock Bottom was located so deep into the abyss that only a long line of light in the sky indicted that it was inside an abyss. If someone ignored the line of light, that person would think that Rock Bottom was located in another planet.

SpongeBob walked to the 'Welcome to Rock Bottom' sign and read it. "Yep. This place is definitely Rock Bottom." He then roamed around the area. "It sure is weird around here. Kinda different, even the soil looks different." The sponge picked up some soil and saw a small creature inside of it that was giving off a green light.

"Do you..." *raspberrys* "mind..." *raspberrys* "putting me down?" The green creature spoke in a strange accent. This accent was local to Rock Bottom and was more different than other underwater accents since the speaker raspberries between certain words.

SpongeBob became frightened and shook the creature and the soil off his hand.

Patrick had chills running down his spine, he found this alien place to be creepy. "Sponge, I don't like it here. It's dark and scary. I don't wanna be here. I wanna go home." The sea star then looked at the road that went up the abyss. Climbing one of the walls of the abyss was going to be a daunting task. The sea star looked in another direction and saw a public restroom. The symbols indicating the male and female bathrooms were '?' and '¿'. "I can't even tell the bathrooms apart."

"That's easy, Patrick. We just wait for somebody to come out and then you'll know." SpongeBob decided to watch who was entering and exiting the bathrooms.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

A strange sea creature exited the '?' bathroom.

Patrick's eyes bugged out. He began to become afraid of entering one of the bathrooms.

"Maybe we should wait for one more." SpongeBob sweatdropped.

A pink sea creature that looked like a snake exited the '?' bathroom while three other strange creatures entered the '¿' bathroom.

"I still can't read the signs. I wanna go home." Patrick heavily desired to return to Bikini Bottom. He could not imagine staying in Rock Bottom for longer than a few more minutes.

"Maybe we should explore this place and get a bus schedule." Sandy was looking at her surroundings and walked up to her two friends. "The locals might help us."

"Looks like you're not a scientist for nothing, Sandy. I probably can't think of anything like your solutions." Patrick was impressed by Sandy's problem-solving skills. He had became dumber by a few more notches.

SpongeBob walked towards a nearby bus station.

There were several buses parked in a parking lot near the station.

Patrick and Sandy followed the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy opened a double door and entered the bus station. They saw a long line that nearly filled the entire lobby.

Patrick groaned. "Why is there always a waiting line for everything?!" He became impatient again. Rock Bottom was too creepy for him to maintain his sanity for much longer.

"We're just gonna have to deal with it, Pat. I'm not a big fan of waiting either." Sandy spoke.

SpongeBob walked to the end of the line of waiting people and stood there. Sandy and Patrick stood next to both of his sides.

The three waited for their turn.

"Next." *raspberrys* An announcer spoke through a microphone.

The line of people moved by a few steps.

The three friends took a few steps forward.

"Well, at least the line is moving." SpongeBob was still in a good mood.

S-S-S-S-S

A few long and boring minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Next." *raspberrys* The announcer spoke.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy took a few more steps.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was struggling to stay awake as waiting in the line dragged on and on. SpongeBob had to constantly snap his fingers to keep the sea star awake.

"Next." *raspberrys* A strange-looking man that was sitting behind a window with a circular opening at the bottom called for the next person in line. He was the announcer and spoke into a microphone as he said "next".

SpongeBob shook back to his senses and noticed that he was in front of the line. "Finally! Yes, we're next!" The sponge became delighted and walked up to the window. "When is the next bus to Bikini Bottom?" He asked the question that he nearly waited two hours to ask.

"What?" *raspberrys* The man tilted his head to the side. He thought that SpongeBob was speaking in a strange accent

"The bus schedule. The next bus." SpongeBob elaborated.

"I can't-" *raspberrys* "understand-" *raspberrys* "your accent." *raspberrys* The man informed the sponge of his lack of understanding of the sponge's words.

"Remember to raspberry between speaking your words. It's the local accent for this place." Sandy whispered into the sponge's ear.

"Got it." SpongeBob whispered back to Sandy and winked. "The next bus-" *raspberrys* "to Bikini-" *raspberrys* "Bottom." *raspberrys* The yellow sponge spoke in a Rock Bottomite accent to the man behind the window.

"Ohh." *raspberrys* "Why didn't you say so?" *raspberrys* "The next bus will come in-" *raspberrys* "two hours." *raspberrys* The man informed SpongeBob about the time when the next bus heading for Bikini Bottom will come to Rock Bottom.

Sandy and Patrick also heard what the man said.

All three of them groaned loudly and at the same time. They had to wait two more brutal hours before they even have a chance of returning to their home. The three then turned around and walked towards the exit of the building.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy exited the bus station.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me." Patrick was in total disbelief at what the man said. His long wait had resulted in a longer wait.

"At least we can explore Rock Bottom." Sandy walked in a direction that was different from the direction that the other two were going.

"Where are you going, Sandy?" SpongeBob turned around and raised his brow. He and Patrick were walking towards a bus stop.

"I'm gonna explore this town. Didn't I tell you that earlier?" Sandy turned around and replied by asking another question.

"Oh yeah!" SpongeBob remembered what Sandy said. "You did."

Patrick walked up to Sandy. "Waiting at a bus stop would be too boring. I'm going with Sandy to have some fun." The last thing that Patrick wanted to do was wait for another long period of time.

'Oh well. Better than not doing anything at all, I guess.' SpongeBob shrugged and walked up to Sandy as well.

The three walked across the side of the street as they explored Rock Bottom. They looked at several of the buildings as they walked. Some of the buildings were stores or shops while others were homes.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three friends saw some boatmobiles driving across an intersection. They had to get to the other side of the street and the boatmobiles were getting in their way.

SpongeBob looked up at a traffic light. He noticed that the traffic light was currently on blue. He raised his brow and scratched his head. Rock Bottom used different colors for its traffic lights than what is used for Bikini Bottom's traffic lights.

The traffic light soon shifted to pink.

The boatmobiles driving across the street slowed down.

The traffic light shifted to orange.

The boatmobiles stopped.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy walked across the street.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three were walking next to a fence that stretched for a long distance.

'Hmmm...' Patrick became curious at what was behind the fence so he stood on his tiptoes and peeked above the top of the fence. He saw some hills of sand, plenty of large and tall pieces of coral, some benches which people were sitting on, and some children playing. "Hey guys, there's a park here."

"It's always nice to chill out for a few minutes." SpongeBob smiled widely.

"Yeah." Sandy nodded. "We should take a look at the place. We won't be in Rock Bottom for long." The squirrel was adventurous.

Patrick stopped standing on his tiptoes and walked ahead of the other two.

In several seconds, the three found an open gate and walked through it.

S-S-S-S-S

The three friends walked along a path that started from the gate and looked at their surroundings.

Sandy crouched so she could look at some of the strange plants that lived in the abyss. She soon stood up to catch up with her friends.

The three friends eventually found an empty bench and sat in it.

"Sandy, I've been wondering... what place in the surface world are you from?" SpongeBob looked at Sandy.

"Texas." Sandy grinned and answered SpongeBob's question. She was proud of where she was from.

"I only learned in school about the seven continents of the surface world. I know very little about the countries." SpongeBob smiled as well and scratched the back of his head.

"You're asking which continent and country that Texas is in?" Sandy made an assumption.

"Mm-hm." SpongeBob nodded.

"Texas is in a country called the United States of America. The U.S. Is part of the continent of North America." Sandy answered SpongeBob's question.

"Why is the continent that your country is in is named after your country?" Patrick thought of a question to ask Sandy and said that question.

"North America was named after an Italian explorer that found it. There's also a continent south of North America called South America that was also named after that explorer." Sandy answered Patrick's question.

"What's Italian? I've only heard of Italian food." Patrick had another question.

"Italian means it's related to Italy. Italy is a country in Europe." SpongeBob replied to what Patrick said.

"This is off-topic but I bet that if I went to Texas, it would feel just as weird as visiting this place called Rock Bottom." Patrick said something that was not a question.

"You're not the only one that feels that way, Pat. I had that same feeling when I visited Bikini Bottom for the first time. I studied marine biology when I was in school but I didn't expect a lot of the stuff that you guys showed me and knew about. I guess we live in a small world, don't we?" Sandy sympathized with the sea star.

A few of the children that were playing in the park saw the sponge, the starfish, and the squirrel sitting on the bench and became curious since they had never seen those types of creatures before. They walked up to the three friends.

SpongeBob saw the children. "Hi there." *raspberrys* He waved at them.

"Are you-" *raspberrys* "from these parts?" *raspberrys* A child asked.

"Nope." *raspberrys* SpongeBob shook his head. "A bus-" *raspberrys* "dropped us-" *raspberrys* "off here." *raspberrys*

"Oh." *raspberrys* "You look-" *raspberrys* "kind of weird-" *raspberrys* "anyway." *raspberrys* The child made a comment about SpongeBob's appearance.

SpongeBob giggled.

One of the other children threw a small ball at the three friends.

Patrick caught it and tossed it back.

The child that threw the ball tossed it to Patrick.

Patrick caught the ball again and stood up. He walked until he was a certain distance from the bench and quickly threw the ball towards the children.

Another child caught the ball and threw it towards Patrick.

The ball flew more quickly than when Patrick threw it.

Patrick hopped and caught the ball with both of his hands.

"Tag, you're it!" One of the children touched SpongeBob.

All of the children except for the ones that were playing with the ball with Patrick ran away from the sponge. Some of them were laughing.

SpongeBob beamed and stood up. He then chased the children so he can 'tag' one of them back.

Sandy watched her two friends and the children fool around.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy exited the park.

The sponge and the sea star were sweating. The two had played with the children for a long time.

Patrick's stomach grumbled.

"I'm hungry." Patrick wanted a snack.

"Me too." SpongeBob's stomach was empty.

The two then saw a vending machine that was nearby.

'That machine might have one of my favorite snacks.' SpongeBob thought and walked up to the vending machine.

Patrick followed him.

SpongeBob looked through the glass of the vending machine and saw a familiar candy bar. "Yes!" The sponge smiled from ear to ear and pumped his fist.

The candy bar had a label that said 'KELP NOUGAT CRUNCH'.

SpongeBob inserted a dollar into the vending machine and pressed a button for the food that he wanted.

The candy bar was released from the rack inside the vending machine and was dropped to the opening of the machine.

SpongeBob took the candy bar from the opening. He opened the wrapping of the bar and began to eat the candy bar.

Patrick took out a dollar from his pocket and inserted it into the vending machine. He pressed a button on the machine for a bottle of soda.

A bottle of soda was dropped to the opening.

Patrick took the bottle and opened it. It was a bottle of Coca-Cola. The sea star began to drink the soda. The starfish then walked mindlessly along the sidewalk. He wanted to explore the town some more. He was becoming familiar with Rock Bottom and the town was no longer as creepy to him as before. The children that played with him had dispelled some of his fears.

SpongeBob and Sandy followed Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three were in the downtown area of Rock Bottom. Many of the strange sea creatures were walking along the streets and numerous boatmobiles were driving across the streets. The buildings in that area reached to a higher height than the ones that the three saw when they entered Rock Bottom.

Patrick walked towards a building that was under construction. The construction site had many workers with advanced equipment and vehicles working on it. His intelligence had decreased significantly and he slowly sipped his soda to enjoy the flavor more. His curiosity was partially responsible for why he walked towards the construction site. Him focusing on drinking the soda was also a reason.

"Where does Patrick think he is going?" Sandy raised her brow. She thought that the construction site was dangerous.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and jogged towards his best friend. He knew that something bad was going to happen if he allowed Patrick to explore the unfinished building. "PAT!"

The sea star entered the construction site.

S-S-S-S-S

"Don't worry, Sponge. I'll be alright." Patrick was not aware of the dangers of what he was doing.

**GRROOOAAANNN**

Patrick walked up a set of unfinished stairs. "Cool." He smiled as he heard the shaking of the wood. He found the sound to be interesting.

The sea star's weight put immense pressure on the wooden set of stairs. Some of the pieces of wood that the stairs consisted of began to break.

Patrick reached the top of the stairs. Below him was a machine that had a saw and was being controlled by a construction worker, the saw of the machine was slicing large and thIck pieces of wood into planks. The saw made deafening sounds as it cut the pieces of wood.

"PATRICK, COME BACK!" SpongeBob ran towards Patrick and screamed at what he saw. If the starfish jumped off the stairs and landed on the saw, it would lead to his death.

Sandy quickly followed SpongeBob. "Don't do it, Pat!" She yelled at the sea star as well.

"Huh?" *raspberrys* The construction worker that was controlling the machine heard SpongeBob and Sandy's yelling and raised his brow. "Who's that?!" *raspberrys* He turned off the machine and stood up. He thought that a few people had trespassed into the building.

Patrick leaped to an iron beam that was part of the skeleton of the building, he was not being serious at all and wanted to do something else. He wanted to have some fun so he decided to test his balance by walking on the iron beam.

SpongeBob and Sandy ran up the set of stairs and jumped to the iron beam as well.

SpongeBob tip-toed across the iron beam and poked Patrick's shoulder.

Patrick turned around.

"C'mon, Pat, we gotta get out of here. You could get in trouble or get hurt." SpongeBob smiled in anxiety as he tried to persuade Patrick to stop what he was doing.

"Tag!" Patrick touched SpongeBob and Sandy and stepped away from the yellow square. "If you want me to stop, you have to tag me back." The sea star smiled and jumped to another iron beam. He wanted to play a little game before leaving the construction site.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. He took that game of 'tag' very seriously. Patrick's likelihood of getting injured increased as the starfish stayed and fooled around at the unfinished building. 'I'm only doing this for Patrick's good.' He thought before...

**CLANK**

...jumping to the iron beam that Patrick was standing on.

**CLINK **

'Pat won't last for long.' Sandy thought as she hopped to a vertical iron beam...

**CLANK**

...and leaped to the iron beam that Patrick and SpongeBob were on.

SpongeBob and Sandy were standing on both of the sides of Patrick. The sponge and the squirrel made karate stances as they prepared to touch the sea star.

Time slowed.

Patrick lowered his body towards the edge of the iron beam so he could dodge SpongeBob and Sandy's incoming hands. He fell off the iron beam and his body made one flip in the air before he grabbed the iron beam with both of his hands. The starfish raised his body and made a handstand before lowering his body while still holding on to the iron beam. The sea star's body nearly made a complete twirl around the iron beam as he flew under it while still grabbing it.

Patrick released his hands from the beam at the right time and flew across the surprisingly large room. The room would eventually become the main lobby for the building once the contruction was finished.

**CLANK**

Patrick landed on a beam that was numerous beams away from SpongeBob and Sandy.

Time resumed.

**CLANK**

**CLINK**

**CLANK**

**CLINK**

**CLANK**

**CLINK**

**CLANK**

**CLINK**

SpongeBob hopped across the horizontal iron beams while Sandy hopped to the vertical beams as the two tried to catch up with Patrick.

Patrick jumped to an iron beam and swung across the horizontal iron beams like a monkey.

**C-CLANK**

SpongeBob and Sandy landed on a horizontal iron beam at the same time.

"How're we gonna catch up with him? At this rate, we'll never be able to 'tag' him" SpongeBob was frustrated. His best friend was too nimble with moving across the iron beams in spite of his weight.

"How 'bout I toss you towards him? I bet that'll knock him down since I'm stronger than you." Sandy flexed the muscles in her arms.

Clank

"Why're you guys not moving?" Patrick landed on an iron beam that was far away from SpongeBob and Sandy. He tilted his head to the side.

"Alright." SpongeBob nodded.

Sandy quickly picked up SpongeBob and threw him towards Patrick.

SpongeBob flew at a high-speed towards the sea star.

Patrick was about to jump to another iron beam when he suddenly realized that he reached the wall of the building. In front of and below him were stacks of iron beams and the busy streets of the downtown area.

There was a crane that picked up an iron beam and lifted it from the ground. The crane was also in front of Patrick.

Patrick jumped to the iron beam that was being carried by the crane.

**CLANK**

Patrick landed on the iron beam and maintained his balance as the beam wobbled due to his weight. He rose to a higher floor of the building as the crane lifted the iron beam to that floor.

"TARTAR SAUCE!" SpongeBob cursed as he flew towards a street full of boatmobiles.

**SLAM**

The crane was in his way and he hit the crane face-first instead of landing on the street.

The iron beam being held by the crane wobbled too much and Patrick decided to jump off the iron beam because of that.

**CLANK**

Patrick landed on an beam that was inside of the building.

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

Sandy leaped to higher and higher vertical iron beams as if she was climbing a tree. She was going to catch up with the starfish very soon.

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

Patrick tried to leap to higher and higher vertical beams as well but did it at a slower pace.

SpongeBob took his face off the crane and began to climb the crane. He gained speed as he got used to the rough surface of the crane.

Patrick leaped to the vertical iron beams at a faster pace after he looked down and noticed that Sandy was only a few beams away from him. He became anxious and sweatdropped at the thought of getting 'tagged' back. He was enjoying the game and did not want it to end.

"You can't escape from me, Pat!" Sandy smirked as she caught up with the sea star. The squirrel said those words as an attempt to intimidate Patrick.

Patrick jumped to a horizontal iron beam and swung up to higher and higher horizontal iron beams like a monkey.

"Darn it!" Sandy banged her fist on an iron beam in frustration and cursed.

Patrick laughed as he swung to higher iron beams. "The joke's on you, Sandy!"

SpongeBob reached the top of the crane without climbing across the window of the crane since a worker was controlling the crane; the sponge did not want to be noticed by the worker. The yellow square walked across the runway of the crane and leaped off of it.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the roof of the unfinished building. The roof was made out of thick wooden planks.

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the roof as well. He had to swing from a vertical iron beam to reach the roof.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes at Patrick while having a solemn face.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob while smiling.

SpongeBob sprinted towards Patrick.

Patrick made a backflip and fell off the edge of the roof. He grabbed a vertical iron beam and that stopped his fall.

Someone touched Patrick.

Patrick tilted his head to the side to see who touched him. The arm that was grabbing the beam was blocking his view.

It was Sandy. The squirrel was smirking.

The smile was wiped off Patrick's face.

Sandy grabbed Patrick with both off her arms and threw him towards the roof.

"W-w-woah!" Patrick flew to the roof.

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the roof.

SpongeBob immediately touched his best friend.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh." Patrick became grumpy and stood up. "Sandy touched me right before you did. The game's over."

SpongeBob walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. "How're we gonna get out of this building?" He scratched his head.

**THUD**

Sandy landed on the roof. She reached it by climbing one of the vertical iron beams.

"There you are." SpongeBob walked up to Sandy. "How do we get out of here? I'm afraid that the only way to exit this place is by falling."

"We're just gonna have to climb down the iron beams. We have to do it slowly so we don't fall." Sandy hopped to a horizontal iron beam that was below the roof wih a **CLANK**.

**C-CLANK**

SpongeBob and Patrck jumped to and landed on the same iron beam.

The three were standing on one iron beam. They began their descent to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy exited the construction site unscathed.

"Maybe we should go to the bus stop. We're fooling around too much." SpongeBob was concerned for his friends' well-being.

"Waiting for a long time might be boring but it would be safe for us as well." Sandy commented on SpongeBob's idea.

Patrick shrugged. Waiting or not waiting did not matter to him. He was somewhat tired from all of that jumping and swinging on the iron beams.

The three walked away from the downtown area of Rock Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three friends sat in a bench that was next to a bus stop. They were waiting for the bus to Bikini Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

More than an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCRREEECCH**

A bus parked in front of the bus stop.

Patrick woke up from his nap and stood up.

SpongeBob and Sandy stood up as well.

The three entered the bus.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick sat in the same seat.

"Sandy, wouldn't it be a good idea if we visited Texas?" SpongeBob asked Sandy a question. He enjoyed his unintentional visit to Rock Bottom in general and thought of visiting Texas.

Sandy giggled. "We better build a plane then, Texas is far away from here." She tried to make SpongeBob's idea more realistic.

The door of the bus closed and the vehicle drove up the ninety-degree road to the surface.


	30. I was a Teenage Gary

**Chapter 30: I was a Teenage Gary**

* * *

It was the evening...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on a sofa and was reading a magazine about jellyfishing. He read through an article that was a top ten list of the most embarassing jellyfishing accidents. He giggled as he looked at some of the picks for the list. The sponge soon reached the end of the article and saw an advertisement that said:

'The Bi-annual Jellyfish Convention is coming soon!

Join us at the convention on Monday, March 27, 2008 from 6:00 PM to 12:00 PM at 21 Shell Street, Ukulele Bottom. If you want to test your jellyfishing skills or want to learn more about the sport of jellyfishing, then come on over! All jellyfish enthusiasts are welcome.'

SpongeBob became excited but then thought critically. He had to leave work a bit early so he could get to the competition on time. This news about the convention came very late and he had to adjust his schedule so he could go to that event.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to the sponge.

SpongeBob then thought of how Gary would be taken care of while he was gone. He had not bought food for the snail in a while and the remaining amount of snail food was running out. He would be unable to buy more food for Gary since he would need to spend the entire morning before work to prepare for the convention. If he was going to an event like that, he would have to brush up on his jellyfishing skills so he can completely enjoy the event. He wanted to go the convention for the competition and did not want to embarrass himself with lackluster jellyfishing skills. He needed to find a balance between being well-prepared for the event and making sure that Gary is fed and healthy.

"Meow." Gary tilted his head towards the kitchen. He was hungry. The snail had watched SpongeBob stare into space as the sponge thought.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Gary and a light bulb lit up in his head. He thought of deepening the bond between him and the snail. He beamed and stood up from the couch. The sponge dropped the magazine to the couch and walked through the doorway to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the cabinet and took out a can of snail nip and Gary's bowl. He also took out a can opener and opened the can with the can opener. He poured the snail nip to the bowl and put the bowl on the floor.

Gary slithered up to his bowl and ate the snail nip. He then burped once he was finished.

SpongeBob realized after hearing that burp that he had not taken Gary on a walk in a while. "Just wait here for a few secs." The sponge exited the kitchen, entered the living room, and entered the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob searched through all of the junk in the garage. He eventually found an exercise wheel and a green and squishy ball. "Perfect." The sponge said his thought out loud. He then exited the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the kitchen. "C'mon, Gary. We're gonna get you back in shape!" He held up the exercise wheel and the ball that he was holding.

Gary slithered up to SpongeBob. He became interested with what the yellow square was holding.

SpongeBob and Gary exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the exercise wheel on the floor. "Go, Gary!" He pointed at the wheel.

Gary slithered to the wheel.

SpongeBob moved the wheel.

The wheel moved in place in the left direction.

Gary slithered to the right direction.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at his watch. "Exercise time is over, Gary." He picked up Gary and put him on the floor. "We don't want you getting too thin." The sponge took out the green ball from his pocket. "Here, boy. Fetch!" SpongeBob threw the ball to the farthest side of the living room from Gary's location.

Gary slithered up to the ball and grabbed it with his mouth. He slithered back to SpongeBob and spit the ball to his owner's feet. "Meow."

"Good job, Gary!" SpongeBob picked up Gary and hugged him. "I love you, Gary." He began to scratch the snail in the right spots. "Gary Gary Gary Gary Gary." He showered the snail with affection.

Gary purred and slithered up SpongeBob's back. The snail ticked the sponge as he slithered.

"Ha Ha! Down boy! Ha ha!" SpongeBob tried to grab Gary but could not due to the tickling.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Unexpectedly, Patrick entered the pineapple. "SpongeBob! Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?" He was jumping up and down in excitement.

"For what?" SpongeBob looked at Patrick. He was nearly frightened by Patrick's sudden entrance.

"The bi-annual jellyfish convention in Ukelele Bottom tommorow!" Patrick took out his jellyfishing net and held it up. He swung the net in different directions to show off his skills but tripped on the green ball and...

**THUD**

...fell to the floor. The sea star quickly stood up. "So, you ready or what?"

"I need someone to take care of Gary while I'm gone." SpongeBob looked at Gary. He wanted to make sure that his snail was well-fed for the twelve hours that he will be gone from the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The window in SpongeBob's bedroom was open. The temperature got warmer as the day went on and SpongeBob opened that window so fresh air can get into the pineapple. The weather forecast was partially inaccurate.

One of his underpants flew from the window and landed in front of Squidward's tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was playing a compostion with his clarinet. He noticed a pair of underpants flying near the windows and stopped playing. The octopus walked to one of the windows and looked through it. He saw a pair of underpants landing on his lawn. Squidward closely looked at the shape of the underpants and immediately knew who it belonged to. "SpongeBob..." The octopus muttered.

He went downstairs from the music room.

S-S-S-S-S

Several seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and exited the tiki. He picked up the pair of underpants and walked up to SpongeBob's pineapple. He was irritated and he showed it through his face.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Squidward knocked on the front door of the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'll open it." Patrick grabbed the handle of the front door and twisted it.

**CRRRREEEAAK**

Patrick opened the door.

Squidward entered the pineapple and walked up to SpongeBob. "Would you please stop leaving your undergarments on my front lawn?" He gave the pair of underpants to the yellow sponge.

Another light bulb lit up in the sponge's head. Since Squidward had helped him find a way to a hospital, SpongeBob thought that the octopus could do another favor. "Squidward, could you watch Gary for tommorow?" The sponge pointed at Gary who was on his head by that point.

"Yuck. Why would I care for that thing?" Squidward cringed at the thought of taking care of a snail. He thought that the goo left behind by snails when they slither was disgusting. He also thought that he helped SpongeBob enough times and that the sponge was trying to take advantage of his temporary kindness.

"But I love Gary. I don't think he's that nasty..." SpongeBob simpered and made an innocent face.

"Well, I don't. Get somebody else." Squidward turned around and walked towards the open doorway.

"I guess I can't go to the convention tommorow, Patrick. You're gonna have to go without me." SpongeBob frowned and looked at the floor.

Squidward widened his eyes after hearing the word "go" from SpongeBob's mouth. He turned around and looked at the yellow sponge. "Did you mean 'go' as in 'go away'?"

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. "I wanted you to take care of Gary so I can go to a convention tomorrow. I'll be gone for six hours after work." He said his reason for asking Squidward.

"As in, not here from six to twelve?" Squidward made a slight smile.

"Yeah, but you've already said you can't do it, I understand." SpongeBob was sincere with his words.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Don't feel bad, Squidward. The three of us can still have our own jellyfish convention at your house!" He grinned.

"I changed my mind. You guys deserve a short break from staying at your homes." Squidward spoke a half-truth. His smile became obvious. The octopus only wanted to take care of Gary so he could have a tranquil Monday evening.

"You'll do it? Great! Let me show you a little bit about snail care." SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Squidward followed the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

"Let me show you how to feed him." SpongeBob opened a cabinet and pointed at a few cans of snail nip. "The cans are all marked, a meal in the morning and a meal at night." The sponge tried to make the instructions as simple as possible.

"It's that simple?" Squidward raised his brow. He thought that SpongeBob forgot something.

"Yep." SpongeBob smiled a bit more. "Now I'll show you how to take Gary for a walk..."

...

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes flew by...

Squidward thought of what he could do once SpongeBob and Patrick had left the neighborhood for the convention. He did not pay his complete attention to SpongeBob's instructions. Since feeding the snail was simple, he thought that everything else was easy as well and he could figure out what to do for the snail if he forgot something.

S-S-S-S-S

"I recommend that you go to the Barg'N Mart to get some food for Gary. I haven't bought any in a while and the cans that we have might run out soon." SpongeBob said his last instruction and put Gary on the floor.

"Alright." Squidward exited the pineapple and walked towards the Barg'N Mart. Since SpongeBob was still in his home, he did that so he could make the sponge assume that he will do every instruction that the sponge said.

"See you tommorow, Sponge." Patrick exited the pineapple as well. "Bye, Squid." He waved at Squidward.

"Bye, guys!" SpongeBob waved at his two neighbors.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

The sun rose from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOONNNNNK**

The foghorn announced the beginning of the day.

SpongeBob woke up...

CLICK

...and turned off the foghorn. He rubbed his eyes and smiled. A bright day was ahead of him. He took the key from under the treasure chest and unlocked the chest.

**CRRREEEAAAAAKK**

SpongeBob opened the treasure chest and took out a case. He opened the case and took out Ol' Reliable. He also took a pair of glasses from the inside and...

SLAM

...closed the treasure chest. He slid the key back to its spot under the wooden chest.

"Meow." Gary woke up and yawned.

"Morning, Gary." SpongeBob greeted the snail.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and waited for Patrick. He was wearing the pair of glasses and Ol' Reliable was in his hand. He had eaten a bowl of Kelpo cereal for breakfast and brushed his teeth shortly after that.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The rock opened and Patrick exited the rock, the sea star was holding a jellyfishing net. He walked up to SpongeBob. "You ready for practice?" He was smiling and was jumping up and down in anticipation for the competition.

"You bet!" SpongeBob walked towards Jellyfish Fields.

Patrick was walking at a somewhat faster pace than SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked through the gate of Jellyfish Fields. They immediately spotted a group of three jellyfish and locked on to the pink creatures. The two ran to a bush, hid there, and waited for the group of jellyfish to fly close enough to their location.

A long pause.

The group of jellyfish flew in a path that was near the bush and were above SpongeBob and Patrick's heads.

'Now's our chance!' SpongeBob narrowed his eyes and smirked.

He and Patrick leaped from the ground and caught the jellyfish with their nets before the creatures were even aware of what was happening.

SpongeBob looked inside his net and saw two jellyfish in it.

Patrick looked in his net and saw only one. He looked up at his best friend. "I still might beat you at the convention. I just got a little bit unlucky this time." He tried to intimidate the sponge.

"We'll see about that." SpongeBob smiled widely and released the jellyfish from his net.

Patrick released his jellyfish.

The two friends became temporary rivals.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

While wearing his employee hat, Squidward waited for Mr. Krabs in front of the front door of the Krusty Krab. He came slightly early and having a peaceful morning was partially responsible for this. He did not keep track of the time as he did activities that he could not easily do while his neighbors were around such as writing a new piece of music or making a new painting.

SpongeBob was skipping towards the Krusty Krab. He was in a good mood after practicing for the convention with his best friend, he was very confident with his jellyfishing abilities.

Squidward heard familiar footsteps, turned around, and saw SpongeBob. 'I just need to wait a few more hours before I can have some more peace and quiet.' The octopus thought of what he could do once the day of work was over and his neighbors were gone. For once, working at the Krusty Krab became rewarding.

"Hi, Squid." SpongeBob stopped skipping and greeted his co-worker.

"Hi, Sponge." Squidward said something that he would rarely say to the sponge. He got into a good mood as well and decided to talk to the yellow square a bit more than usual since he knew that he won't see the square for the rest of the day after work.

SpongeBob became pleasantly surprised. "That's strange..." The sponge giggled as he looked at the octopus's facial expression. "You look almost as happy as me."

Squidward turned around and looked at his reflection on the window. He noticed that he was making a smile that was clearly visible. The octopus turned around again. "I must've woke up on the right side of the bed." He shrugged so as to hide his true reason for smiling.

SpongeBob laughed. "Wow Squid, for some reason, you became funny as well."

Mr. Krabs walked up to the two lads. "Mornin', lads." He greeted his employees and took out his key. The crab unlocked the double door to the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The three entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the door that was at the side of the kitchen.

**CREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the door and entered Mr. Krabs' office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Krabs, I need to tell you something..." SpongeBob had a solemn face since he did not know how Mr. Krabs will react to the words he was about to say. He sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"What's wrong, me lad?" Mr. Krabs stopped counting his daily profits and raised his brow. He thought that the sponge looked weird without smiling.

"I want to go to a convention with a buddy of mine and I need to leave work a little bit early so I can get there on time." SpongeBob informed his boss of his situation.

"Hmmm..." Mr. Krabs looked at his watch. "Since you've been here for almost the entire work day, I'll just take out a dollar from your paycheck."

"Thank you, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob immediately stood up from his seat and grinned after hearing what his boss said. He felt grateful to the crustacean for giving him a minor penalty. He then turned around and walked quickly towards the door to the dining room.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jogged towards the double door of the Krusty Krab. He could see Patrick waiting for him near the restaurant as he looked through the glass of the door.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the Krusty Krab.

Squidward smiled even more and laid back in the boat. He won't see SpongeBob until the next morning and he could already sense the tranquility that returned to the atmosphere. 'I can't wait to go home.' The octopus thought.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick gave SpongeBob the pair of glasses and the jellyfishing net. He kept his best friend's jellyfishing equipment after they practice for the convention at Jellyfish Fields.

SpongeBob put on the glasses and twirled his jellyfishing net. "Let's go!" He smiled widely and ran towards a bus stop that he was familiar with. He had went to the convention a few times before so he knew where the buses stopped to pick up people.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing near a bus stop.

SCCRREECH

A bus parked in front of them and the door of the bus opened.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the bus.

**SLAM**

The door of the bus closed and the vehicle drove across the road towards the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked towards his tiki. "This is going to be my best weekday ever." He was smiling as he said those words. The part of the day he was waiting for had finally came.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus entered the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward did not notice the two bags of snail food that he bought from Barg'N Mart yesterday, his mind was focused on other things. "I'm going to do all of the other things I can't normally do because of SpongeBob." The octopus had done some of these impossible activities in the morning and will spend the rest of the day doing some other impossible activities.

The octopus walked up the set of stairs and entered the music room.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the window of the bus and saw a sign that said 'Ukelele Bottom' pass by. "Pat, we're getting close!" The sponge informed his friend that the bus was near the location of the convention.

Patrick's body was shaking in excitement as he sat in his seat. The sea star could not contain his excitement as he thought of himself beating other opponents in the jellyfishing competition.

S-S-S-S-S

6:15 PM.

Squidward was finishing his painting that he began to make in the morning.

S-S-S-S-S

6:15 PM.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered a large building where the convention was being hosted at. The building looked like a stadium due to it being very wide.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends saw numerous jellyfishing and jellyfish enthusiasts gathered inside the building at a large lobby. Some were wearing jellyfish costumes while others were holding jellyfish nets. The doors in the room led to several exhibits about the history of jellyfishing and the evolution of jellyfish.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to a line full of waiting people for the Jellyfishing Skills Competition.

Patrick groaned. "I hate waiting in a line." He became ill-tempered.

SpongeBob smiled nervously. "Don't worry, Patrick. We won't be waiting for long."

S-S-S-S-S

7:00 PM.

Squidward was wearing headphones and was listening to music that he made by recording a session of him playing music with his clarinet. He was doing some exercises inside his home as he listened to the music.

S-S-S-S-S

7:00 PM.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and a few other opponents were standing in a large and fenced field. They were all holding jellyfishing nets.

The two best friends' wait was finally over.

There was a large cage in the center of the field that had at least fifty jellyfish inside of it. Someone wearing heavy clothing that protected himself from getting hurt by jellyfish stings was standing in front of the cage.

The announcer was behind the contestants and was holding a megaphone. "**THREE!**" He began the countdown.

People that were behind the fence were watching the competition.

"**TWO!**" The crowed spoke in unison with the announcer.

"**ONE!**"

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes.

The person in front of the cage turned around and grabbed the handle that could open the cage.

"**GO!**"

The competition began.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAAAK**

The man in front of the gate opened the cage.

All of the jellyfish that were in the cage flew across the fenced field.

SpongeBob sprinted towards the jellyfish and was ahead of all of the other opponents including Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

8:00 PM.

Squidward tended his garden in the backyard.

S-S-S-S-S

8:00 PM.

By that time, the competition was over. SpongeBob caught the most jellyfish so he won that game of the competition.

"**And 1st place goes to SpongeBob SquarePants!**" The announcer spoke through the megaphone as he gave a golden medal to the sponge.

SpongeBob jumped in joy and put on the gold medal.

Patrick was 2nd place. He was wearing a silver medal. 'Damn, I was so close to beating SpongeBob.' He thought to himself and was frustrated yet expressed no frustration.

All of the contestants re-entered the building.

S-S-S-S-S

"Two out of three!" Patrick walked up to SpongeBob. He wanted to prove that he could beat his friend in a jellyfishing competition by trying another game of the competition two more times to see who won the most.

"Alright." SpongeBob put his golden medal into his pocket and nodded. "I had fun in that competition anyway."

The two walked back to the line of waiting people.

S-S-S-S-S

9:00 PM.

Squidward was in his pajamas and laid down on his bed.

FLICK

The octopus turned off the lights in his bedroom. He put the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. He was satisfied with the activities that he had done on that day. He peacefully fell asleep.

The bedroom became quiet.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting in a boat and was paddling it along a river. The ground that was on either side of the river was covered with tall grass and towering mountains were near the horizon. The sky was a clear blue and scallops chirped as they flew across the atmosphere. The closest thing to music that the octopus was hearing was the sounds of the river's movement and the chirping.

Squidward wished that this tranquil journey would go on for an eternity but knew that he would eventually reach the ocean.

...

The octopus saw a large body of water at the very edge of the horizon. The mountains on both sides of the river became more and more seperate from each other as Squidward paddled further and further along the river.

_Meow_

"Huh?" Squidward looked at his surroundings and then raised his brow. He thought that he had just heard something.

_Meow_

"Where's that coming from?" Squidward still could not find the source of the strange sound.

_Meow _

_Meow_

_Meow_

_Meow_

Squidward sweatdropped. 'Is there a snail nearby?' He thought that there was a snail slithering beneath the tall grass.

**MEOOOWWW**

Chills ran down Squidward's spine. He had a feeling that he was being chased by some sort of snail. He turned around but did not see a single snail behind him.

The scallops stopped chirping.

The river did not make as much sounds.

An uneasy silence.

_Meow_

_**Meow**_

MEOW

**MEOW**

MEEEOOOOW

**MMEEEEEOOOOWW**

A large shell and two eyes suddenly came out of the river. The pupils of the eyes were crimson and they were glaring at the octopus.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAA-**" Squidward's face turned pale and screamed in fright.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

"-AAAAAAHHHH!" Squidward sat up in his bed and continued the screaming that began in his dream.

A pause.

He then took a few deep breaths as he sweatdropped; he was trying to calm himself down. "Maybe a glass of water will soothe my nerves." Squidward said what he was thinking out loud and stood up from his bed.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked down the hallway and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the kitchen and opened the bottom door of the refrigerator. He took out a gallon of water and quickly closed the bottom door. He closed the door like that because the bright light of the fridge had made it difficult for him to look inside of the fridge. He opened a wooden cabinet and took out a glass cup. He opened the gallon of water and poured some water into the cup. He then drank the cup of water and put the gallon back into the fridge.

The octopus noticed a few bags that were near the front door. He walked up to the bags and opened them to see what was inside. Squidward saw cans of snail nip inside of the bags and abruptly realized something.

He did not feed Gary at all for the entire day.

Squidward ran into the living room and looked at the clock on the wall.

It was 11:50 PM. SpongeBob and Patrick were going to come back to their homes very soon.

Squidward gasped and ran back to the grocery bags. He grabbed the bags and...

**SLAM**

...barged the front door open. The octopus then rapidly exited his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sprinted towards the pineapple.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

He opened the front door and entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward saw a starving Gary laying on the couch of the living room.

The snail was moaning as he waited for someone to bring some food for him. The emptiness in his stomach was unbearable.

"I've got to do something!" Squidward began to sweat and quickly tossed the bags to the floor. He emptied the bags of all of the cans of snail nip.

Gary glared at Squidward and made a quiet hiss.

Squidward ran into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"Where's the can opener?!" Squidward had to find a quick way to open the snail nip cans. It would take forever to open the cans through other means. He assumed that SpongeBob had a can opener in his house. He opened several cabinets in search of the item that he said. He eventually found a bowl that had Gary's name on it and a can opener in a cabinet and took them from that cabinet.

He ran back to the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

"Okay, okay ,okay. Here we go. Here we go. Right here." Squidward dropped the bowl to the floor.

Squidward quickly opened all of the cans of snail nip in less than two minutes.

...

Squidward poured all of the snail nip in the cans to the bowl once he was finished with opening the cans. "Come on, eat! Eat! EAT!" He pushed the bowl full of snail nip towards Gary. "Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. You've gotta finish this food!" He tried to encourage the snail to eat all of the snail nip.

Gary licked his lips and slithered up to the bowl. He gobbled the food in the bowl.

Squidward looked at the clock in the living room. He was sweating profusely by that point. 'C'mon... c'mon... c'mon... c'mon...' The octopus crossed his fingers. He hoped that Gary would finish his meal before SpongeBob comes back to the pineapple. If the sponge found out that Squidward neglected Gary, there would never be any peace in the neighborhood except for the square and star doing things like visiting Sandy or jellyfishing. Squidward wanted many more opportunities for tranquility in his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**BUUUUURRRRRRRRRP**

Gary made one of the loudest burps that he ever made. He had eaten all of the food in the bowl and became obese because of that. The snail slithered back to the couch. He was not as angry with Squidward as before since he was fed.

"Phew." Squidward wiped all of the sweat from his brow in relief. He turned around and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...opened the front door.

**SCCRRREEEECCH**

He saw a bus parking in front of the neighborhood.

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the bus.

"Hi, Squidward!" SpongeBob grinned and waved at the octopus. He was wearing two gold medals and one silver medal; he had the most wins in the series of jellyfishing competition games.

Patrick yawned. "I need some shut eye." He was wearing two silver medals and one gold medal. He walked towards his rock.

"See you tomorrow, Pat." SpongeBob said a form of a 'goodbye' to his best friend and walked up to his pineapple.

The bus drove towards the horizon and disappeared from it.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered his rock.

Squidward stepped out of the way.

SpongeBob entered the pineapple. "Gary, I'm home!"

The octopus stepped out of the pineapple.

SpongeBob saw an empty bowl and emptied cans of snail nip. The sponge turned around and looked at Squidward. "Um, Squid, what were you doing here?" He wanted to know why the empty cans and the empty bowl were in the living room.

Squidward turned around and looked at SpongeBob. "O-oh, just checking up on Gary for you." He sweatdropped again, he was caught off-guard by what the sponge said. The mess that he left behind could look suspicious.

"What a great friend you are, Squidward." SpongeBob smiled and picked up the cans.

"So, uhh, well, see you. Good-bye." Squidward stepped into the pineapple for a few seconds and spoke. He then exited the house again.

"Thanks for your help, Squid. I can always count on you." SpongeBob appreciated the octopus's caring for his snail. He walked into the kitchen and opened the trash can. He dropped the cans into the trash can.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked towards his tiki. He thought that even though he fed Gary at the last second, the series of events after that would go smoothly. The octopus felt victorious after hearing the sponge's words since he can now have more times of peace in the neighborhood. His two neighbors might leave their homes more often since SpongeBob trusts him.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob walked into the living room and closed the front door.

Gary suddenly felt indigestion and could not slither from the couch due to his sudden weight gain. He moaned due to the stomachache.

SpongeBob looked at Gary and widened his eyes. He did not remember Gary being that obese before. "Gary, what's happened to you?" The sponge walked to the snail and sat next to him. His face was expressing grave concern.

"Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow." Gary looked at the trash can as he spoke. He was trying to point at the snail nip cans in the trash can with his eyes.

"Squidward, something's wrong with Gary!" SpongeBob stood up and ran towards the front door.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the door open.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the yellow square's words from outside as he touched the handle of the tiki's front door. He felt a very sharp pang of guilt. Neglecting the snail was like neglecting his garden, both would have unpleasant consequences. The octopus began to realize the magnitude of forgetting to feed Gary, he could not imagine not eating any food for the entire day. He felt bad for the snail and this made him feel even more guilty. The octopus was not just a bottle full of hatred.

He took a deep breath and turned around. Squidward then walked towards SpongeBob, he still wanted to look trustworthy.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

The two entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat next to Gary in the couch. He watched the event of SpongeBob's panicking unfold,

SpongeBob walked to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed a number.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The blaring of a siren.

**SCRRREEEEECCH**

An ambulance came to a halt in front of SpongeBob's pineapple.

The siren stopped blaring.

A veterinarian exited the ambulance while holding a first-aid kit. He walked up to the front door of the pineapple.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

The veterinarian knocked on the door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

"Thank goodness you're here!" SpongeBob opened the front door and smiled from ear to ear when he saw the veterinarian.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The veterinarian finished his inspection of Gary. "Yes, yes, it's just as I thought." He stood up and opened his first-aid kit.

"What?" SpongeBob's face drained of color. He assumed that the veterinarian was going to diagnose his pet with a disease.

"This is definitely a snail." The veterinarian took out a hypodermic needle that looked like a narrow shell and then looked at Gary again.

"Oh." SpongeBob smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Heheh." He was worrying too much about the worst-case scenario.

"Therefore, a shot of snail plasma must be carefully administered. Here you go." The veterinarian gave SpongeBob the hypodermic needle.

SpongeBob looked at the hypodermic needle and raised his brow. "Aren't you going to do it?" He thought that the veterinarians administer the shots.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm too squeamish. An assistant of mine usually administers the shot but not in this case." He closed the first-aid kit. "That needle has enough plasma for only one shot. Throw it away once your done."

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The veterinarian exited the pineapple with the first-aid kit.

"Squid, I can't give Gary his plasma. I'm squeamish too." SpongeBob bit his lip and gave the hypodermic needle to Squidward. He thought that Gary would meow loudly in pain if he gave the shot.

Squidward groaned. "SpongeBob, I don't want to do-" He imagined the tediousness of giving Gary the shot and got interrupted.

Gary coughed and then moaned louder than before.

"Gary..." SpongeBob looked at the snail and frowned.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it." Squidward wanted to do the task very quickly so he can forget about it. He walked up to Gary and held the needle near the snail's skin.

SpongeBob sweated in anxiety, he was afraid that Squidward would accidentally injure Gary. "Now, don't hurt him, Squidward." The sponge walked by a few steps and stood next to the octopus.

Squidward inched the needle towards Gary.

"Okay, okay, steady..." SpongeBob said some words to make sure that Squidward was being careful with where he was putting the needle in.

The hypodermic needle was about to touch the snail's skin.

SpongeBob could not escape his thinking of the worst-case scenario, his concern for his pet overwhelmed his optimism. "Wait!" The yellow sponge grabbed the octopus's shoulders and pulled him away from the snail. "That was too hard."

Squidward looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and glared at him. He was becoming grumpy due to a lack of sleep and will soon lose his temper if his neighbor continued to interfere with what he was doing.

SpongeBob took a deep breath so he could calm himself down. He was aware of the fact that he annoyed the octopus, he found that fact out by looking at Squidward's facial expression. He did not want to annoy Squidward anymore but also wanted to make sure that Gary would not get hurt at the same time. "Okay, okay, okay, try it again."

Squidward once again inched the needle towards Gary.

SpongeBob grabbed Squidward's shoulders again and was about to pull him back, he could not control his anxiety.

"Will you hold him still instead?" Squidward pointed at Gary. It would be ideal from his perspective that his neighbor would help him with the task instead of being an obstacle.

"You're going too fa-" SpongeBob pulled Squidward away from Gary again and was saying something before...

**PRICK**

...Squidward accidentally pricked the sponge's nose with the needle. The needle nearly flew out of the octopus's hand as SpongeBob pulled him.

A tiny bit of the snail plasma entered SpongeBob's body.

"Squidward... you injected me with the snail plasma." SpongeBob pulled the needle out of his nose and gave it back to Squidward.

"It was by accident." Squidward shrugged his shoulders. He was glad that in his views, SpongeBob learned his lesson about annoying him.

"What's going to happen to me?" SpongeBob was sweating even more as he found a new source of anxiety. He did not know how his body was going to react to the snail plasma.

"Oh, nothing. It's just a little snail plasma." Squidward quickly injected the snail plasma into Gary.

Gary's eyes bugged out for a few seconds but he then returned to a normal expression once he realized that he was not feeling any pain. "Meow." He meowed instead of moaned. He already began to feel better.

"Oh, Gary, you're better!" SpongeBob smiled from ear to ear and hugged the obese snail.

"Oh, how touching." Squidward injected bitter sarcasm into the scene, it was the perfect opportunity to do that and he took that chance immediately. "I'm going to go home and get some more beauty sleep. Good night." The octopus turned around and walked towards the front door.

"Squidward, wait!" SpongeBob stood up and held out his hand to signal for Squidward to stop. "I'm feeling kind of funny." The sponge was still anxious.

"SpongeBob, trust me when I say this." Squidward turned his head to the side to look at SpongeBob. "Nothing's going to happen to you. Whatever strange feelings you have is all in your head." He was being rational with his statement.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the pineapple.

"Meow." Gary managed to slither out of the couch.

"Don't worry, Gary. Squidward says I'll be fine. He's wise. Anyways, you thirsty?" SpongeBob thought that Gary did not drink water in a while.

"Meow." Gary slithered down a hallway and entered the bathroom.

"Oh." SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth. "I hope he'll be okay." The sponge assumed that Gary was constipated or had diarrhea after eating all of that food.

SpongeBob's stomach gurgled.

'I didn't eat in a long time, that convention distracted me and Pat from eating.' SpongeBob became aware of his hunger and immediately knew the reason why. He walked towards the kitchen and entered that room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a cabinet in search of a box of cereal. He wanted to eat some cereal before he went to sleep. He found a few snail nip cans in the cabinet that he opened.

For a strange reason, the yellow sponge's mouth watered at the sight of the cans.

The transformation began.

"A small taste won't hurt." SpongeBob wanted to try the snail nip since he suddenly had an appetite for it. He opened another cabinet and took a can opener. He took a snail nip can and opened it with the can opener. He put the opener back into the cabinet it was from and tasted the snail nip inside the can.

Instead of spitting the snail nip out due to its disgusting flavor for everybody other than snails, he ate some more of the snail nip; he liked the flavor.

...

Spongebob ate three entire cans of snail nip without even knowing that fact. Three more snail nip cans were in the garbage can. The sponge looked inside the cabinet to get another can but realized that the cabinet was empty. He then realized that he ate three cans of snail nip. "Did I just eat three cans of that stuff? Why did I do that? Am I going crazy?" Questions filled his mind to the brim.

The flushing of a toilet was heard .

Gary exited the bathroom and slithered up to SpongeBob. He was back to his normal weight by defecating all of that extra food. "Meow?"

"I just ate three cans of your food." SpongeBob burped. "Meow. I'm sorry, Gary. I couldn't control myself. Meow." The sponge began to meow without intending to.

"Meow meow meow." Gary informed his owner of his strange behavior.

"Am I cracking up?" SpongeBob covered his mouth. Even more questions entered his mind and a few possible explanations got in there as well. "Meow." The sponge then gasped after becoming aware of his meowing.

"Meow." Gary spoke.

"No, no, Squidward's right. I'm fine. I-I worry too much. It's all in my head." SpongeBob rationalized what was happening to him. He thought that he was becoming insane like Mr. Krabs trying to get rid of the squeaky boots. He walked towards the bathroom to brush his teeth.

His feet walked at a slower and slower pace until they were walking at a snail's speed.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to SpongeBob and was just as fast as his owner. "Meow meow."

"Gary, you're getting a lot faster!" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out as he watched Gary slither just as fast as him.

"Meow meow meow meow." Gary shook his head.

"I'm getting slower?" SpongeBob looked down at his feet. He noticed how slow his feet were moving. "Huh?" He scratched his head in bewilderment. He then entered the bathroom and closed the door.

"Meow meow." Gary continued to speak.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grabbed his toothbrush. "Look at me. Never better." The sponge looked at his reflection in the mirror.

He suddenly heard his heartbeat.

He abruptly had a sharp headache.

His holes became bigger and smaller for several seconds before returning to their normal size.

"I'm okay! Squidward said I'm fine!" SpongeBob denied what was happening so he could stay sane.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out by a more than normal amount and the eyes then returned to their normal places. The sponge did not control that at all.

SpongeBob saw what happened by looking at the mirror and raised his brow after seeing his eyes return to their sockets.

His eyes quickly bugged out even more than before. The eyes bugged out so much from the sockets that the optic nerves could be seen, the nerves were a few inches out of the sockets. Yellow skin formed around the optic nerves and the eyes now looked like the stalks of a snail. The stalks then became upright.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**" SpongeBob screamed in terror. That was one of the biggest frights in his life.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary gasped as he heard his owner's screaming and pushed the door open with his shell.

S-S-S-S-S

"**MMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWW!**" Gary became frightened at the sight of the snail-like sponge and screamed as well.

"Gary... I'm... not... fine..." SpongeBob lost his footing.

**THUD**

The yellow square fell to the floor. "Nnnnnggggghhhh." He was in extreme pain as he transformed into a snail.

His arms retracted into his body.

His legs retracted to his body.

The lower part of his back became higher than the rest of his body. That would like SpongeBob standing on all fours if he still had his limbs. The lower part of his back was the 'shell' of the snail.

Gary retreated to his shell during the transformation since he found it to be too horrifying.

'I turned into a snail?' SpongeBob thought and tried to speak. "Hello?" The sponge meowed. He understood snail language as if it was his first language. Sea creatures could understand snail language up to a certain degree. In this case, the sponge immediately mastered the language. 'I guess I'm a snail now. It must've been caused by the snail plasma.' He came to another conclusion in his head.

"Huh?" Gary came out of his shell.

SpongeBob gasped as he heard Gary's meow. "Wow. I can fully understand you now, Gary." He smiled even though he had just transformed into a snail.

"Oh crap, me too." Gary completely understood what SpongeBob said as well. Snails also could only understand the language of intelligent sea creatures to a certain degree.

Since the two were snails, they had a language that they can communicate with.

"Anyways, maybe we should tell Squidward about what happened. He might come up with a solution to our problem." SpongeBob spoke to Gary. It felt strange but he would eventually get used to it.

"That's a good idea. Plus, he still has that shell-thingy." Gary replied.

SpongeBob's eyes widened. "He might become a snail too!" He slithered out of the bathroom. "We gotta get to him really quick!" He slithered down the hallway. The sponge did not want

Gary followed his owner.

S-S-S-S-S

"I hope I don't need to take care of that snail ever again." Squidward laid down on his bed. He said those words due to his grumpiness from a lack of sleep. Neglecting Gary was what made him wake up in the middle of the night after all. "Good night, Clary." The octopus looked at his clarinet which was on his drawer and said something to it. He had a pet of his own and even gave it a name. He put the blanket over himself.

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of the tiki with his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the knocking and opened his eyes. He groaned. "I wonder who that could be as if I didn't already know." The octopus assumed that a worried SpongeBob was knocking on the front door. He stood up from his bed.

**CRRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward left the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked down the hallway and walked down the stairs again.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and walked towards the front door.

**CRRRREEEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the door. "SpongeBob, I already told you. You're gonna be just fi-**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!**" The octopus looked down and saw the two snail's as he spoke. He stopped speaking and screamed as he saw the sponge-snail hybrid standing next to Gary.

"Squid, whatever you do, don't touch the needle. If you do, you're gonna end up being a snail like me." SpongeBob told Squidward some important information.

The sponge was meowing from Squidward's perspective.

"My owner needs some help as well. He thinks that you might help him." Gary explained SpongeBob's situation.

Gary was meowing as well.

Squidward's face drained of color and he backed away from the snails. He was too terrified of the freakish abomination of a snail to think clearly, he was reacting with a fight-or-flight response and he chose 'flight'.

SpongeBob and Gary slithered towards Squidward.

"I know I look freaky but I won't bite you. I don't hurt my friends on purpose." SpongeBob tried to calm Squidward down.

The hypodermic needle was on a small wooden table in the center of the living room.

As Squidward backed away from the snails, he was unintentionally walking directly towards the table.

"Watch out!" Gary pointed his eyes towards the table.

"Huh?" Squidward slowed his walking. He wanted to know why Gary was meowing loudly but...

**CRASH**

**THUD**

...he tripped on the table and fell to the floor. The table flipped and fell to the floor as well.

**PRICK**

The hyperdermic needle flew in the air and pricked Squidward's leg. A tiny drop of snail plasma entered the body of the octopus,

"Uh oh." Squidward gulped and sweatdropped.

SpongeBob and Gary's eyes widened.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Gary slithered out of the tiki. Squidward became a snail as well and could communicate with the other two through the snail language.

SpongeBob was holding the needle of snail plasma through his mouth.

"I think this would be a good time for that squirrel to help us." Squidward remembered that Sandy was a scientist and could help him and the sponge.

"But Sandy's house is too far away. We should ask Patrick to take us there, it'll be much faster." SpongeBob added an improvement to Squidward's idea.

"Fine, as long as he doesn't attack us." Squidward jinxed himself and the other snails.

The three snails slithered towards Patrick's rock.

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK **

They knocked on the rock with their heads.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick heard the knocking and woke up. He stood up from his bed and jumped to the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

The rock opened, Patrick was sticking to the ceiling. "**AAAAAAAHHHH!**" He screamed in fright as he saw the three snails. "Gary, what're you doing here?! You need to get out of the way!"

**THUD**

He jumped to the floor and picked up the bed made out of hardened sand. "There's aliens attacking us!" Patrick lifted the bed and aimed it towards SpongeBob and Squidward. The hybrids looked so grotesque that the starfish thought that they were extraterrestrials.

SpongeBob and Squidward's faces drained of color and their eyes bugged out.

Patrick stepped back and was about to throw the bed towards the 'aliens'.


	31. Opposite Day

**Chapter 31: Opposite Day**

* * *

"PAT, STOP! It's me, SpongeBob!" SpongeBob yelled at Patrick in desperation.

Patrick heard the sponge-snail hybrid make very loud meows and noticed that the voice was not of a normal snail. The voice of that hybrid sounded like his best friend's. "SpongeBob, is that you?" He dropped the bed and tilted his head to the side. His intelligence had increased by a degree.

SpongeBob nodded.

Patrick walked towards the snails and climbed the wall. He exited the rock, crouched, and inspected the snails.

A pause.

Patrick looked at Squidward. "Can you meow for me?" He wanted to hear that snail's voice so he determine if that snail was Squidward or not.

"This is my voice." Squidward spoke.

"You're Squidward alright." Patrick smiled and giggled. "Anyways, what happened to you guys? Why're you acting like snails?" The sea star was still too stupid to realize that his neighbors were transformed into snails and not pretending to be them.

"I got a little bit sick so SpongeBob made the doctor come to our house. The doctor told my owner that he had to make me get a shot so I can feel better. Sponge was too squeamish to do it so he gave the needle to Squidward. Squidward tried to give me a shot but my owner was too worried about me so he ended up making Squidward stop giving the shot due to him doing something wrong from my owner's views. My owner did this again and got pricked in the nose by the needle by accident. Squid gave me the shot anyway but SpongeBob turned into a snail soon after that. We went to Squid's place for help and to warn him about the needle but he tripped on a table and got pricked by the needle. He became a snail too." Gary explained the entire situation to Patrick. As he talked about the needle, he pointed with his eyes at the needle that SpongeBob was holding.

Since Patrick was dumber than the average sea creature, he understood only several parts of what Gary said. "Something about needles, doctors, and tables?" He scratched his head in confusion. He could not process all of that information into his head due to the massive amount that Gary gave to the sea star.

Squidward grabbed a nearby rock with his mouth and wrote something on the ground:

'TAKE US TO SANDY'

The octopus summarized what happened and what the three snails wanted into one sentence.

"Ohhh, so that's what you guys wanted to say... alright. I'll take all of you there." Patrick picked up Squidward and smiled. He then picked up the other two snails and walked towards Sandy's treedome. He carried Squidward in one arm and carried SpongeBob and Gary in another arm.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick dropped the snails in front of the entrance to the treedome. "See you tomorrow." The starfish walked towards his home and waved at the snails.

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

**KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the door with his head.

S-S-S-S-S

The inside of the treedome was very quiet. Some of the slightest sounds could be heard in the inside of the glass dome.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy heard the knocking and woke up. "Who's knocking at this hour?" She stood up from her bed and exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked out of the oak tree and walked towards the door that led to the front door. She pressed a red button that was next to the door and picked up a microphone that was below the button. That was how she can communicate from the inside to the outside and people can communicate to her from the outside through that way as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Hello?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"Sandy, we need your help ASAP!" SpongeBob asked the squirrel for help.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy heard meowing from the microphone. She understood snail language by a decent amount even though she was an air creature. Knowing that language was useful for her underwater studied. 'Maybe there's some hungry snails outside that need my he,o.' The squirrel looked through the glass to see if there were snails near the front door and saw Gary, SpongeBob, and Squidward. Her face drained of color and she put a hand over her mouth when she noticed that the two neighbors were snails. She immediately pressed a blue button that was above the red button.

S-S-S-S-S

The front door was unlocked.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Gary managed to enter the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward put their heads into the fish bowls. They still had gills even though they were mostly snails.

The hallway became completely drained of water.

**SLAM**

Sandy barged the next door open. She walked up to the three snails. "What happened to y'all?!"

"Gary became ill for some reason so SpongeBob brought a doctor to his house. We had to give Gary a shot but we ended up pricking ourselves by accident and became snails." Squidward said a summary of what happened.

"Can I see that?" Sandy pointed at the hypodermic needle that SpongeBob was holding.

SpongeBob gave the needle to Sandy.

Sandy examined the hypodermic needle. "Was this filled with snail plasma?"

The three snails' eyes widened.

"Yeah." SpongeBob spoke.

"I'll take it to the lab to see what I can do." Sandy walked towards the oak tree.

The three snails followed her.

Squidward did not want to get help from that squirrel since there was still tension between him and her after that 'ghost' incident but took that opportunity for help anyway. He did not want to be a snail for the rest of his life.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The four were inside the laboratory.

Sandy took the needle out of a scanning machine. She walked to a desktop computer and looked at the results.

The three snails were sitting on a large chair. They waited anxiously for Sandy's verdict.

"It seems that the snail plasma will wear off in a few hours." Sandy looked at the snails and said the results. She was smiling.

SpongeBob, Gary, and Squidward became relieved.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sleeping on the pile of newspapers with Gary.

His eye stalks popped back into his eye sockets; his eyes returned to normal.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

In the morning...

Squidward heard some strange noises inside his bedroom. He woke up and heard giggling. "What in the world?" The octopus took off his blanket and revealed SpongeBob and Pareock.

SpongeBob and Patrick were laying on his bed. They were wearing birthday hats and the sponge was holding a calendar with a certain day circled in red marker.

There was a small table in front of the bed. A birthday cake with twenty six candles on it was on the table.

"Surprise! Happy birthday, Squidward!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled and stood on top of the bed. SpongeBob held out the calendar with Squidward's 'birthday' circled on it. They jumped out of the bed and pushed the table towards the bed. They then picked up Squidward and made him sit in front of the table. "Happy happy birthday! Happy birthday cake!"

Squidward noticed a plate, a knife, and a fork that was near the cake. He blew the candles and cut a piece of the cake with the knife. He put that cake piece on the plate and ate it with the fork. He wanted SpongeBob and Patrick to leave his home. He knew that the two would not leave until his 'birthday' had been celebrated.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward finished eating his piece of the birthday cake.

SpongeBob and Patrick had plates of their own and ate some pieces of the cake as well. Once the two were finished with eating their pieces, they put their plates on the table. The two grabbed both of Squidward's hands.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The three exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

They walked through the hallway and walked down the stairs.

"We have another surprise for you." SpongeBob was merry.

Squidward groaned. He wanted the torture to end.

S-S-S-S-S

The three entered the living room.

Patrick took out a blindfold and abruptly blindfolded Squidward.

SpongeBob handed a fake sea horse's tail with a pin to Squidward.

There was a poster of a sea horse with a missing tail.

"Happy happy birthday! Pin the tail on the seahorse!" SpongeBob and Patrick continued their chant.

Squidward unsteadily walked towards the poster.

"Ooh, Squidward, you're getting close!" SpongeBob became excited. He thought that Squidward had a chance of pinning the tail on the sea horse in one try.

SLAM

Squidward hit the wall and shook back to his senses. He put his hand on the wall and felt a large piece of paper. He moved his hand around the poster and found a hole. He put the pin through the hole and took off the blindfold.

He successfully pinned the tail on the sea horse.

SpongeBob and Patrick whistled and clapped as a way of cheering for their neighbor.

SpongeBob took out a camera. "Let's take a picture!" He wanted to take a picture to celebrate Squidward's success. He gently shoved Patrick towards Squidward. "Stand in front of the sea horse." The sponge gave them an order so he can take the picture.

Patrick and Squidward stood in front of the poster.

SpongeBob turned around and walked backwards until he was next to Squidward. He made the camera face the three neighbors and...

**SNAP**

...took the picture.

"Happy happy birthday! Happy birthday Squidward!" SpongeBob and Patrick looked at the octopus and resumed their chanting.

"Can you leave now?" Squidward had a deadpan face. He was not amused by his neighbors' behavior.

"So long Squidward, don't do anything I wouldn't do." SpongeBob gave Squidward some advice and walked towards the front door of the tiki.

Patrick laughed. "Another year older." He followed SpongeBob.

**CRREEEAAK**

The two best friends opened the door and walked out of the tiki.

Squidward stomped up to the doorway. He was ill-tempered and was hiding it ever since he found out that SpongeBob and Patrick were under the blanket. Squidward was also ill-tempered because the two friends were not aware of one fact. "IT'S NOT MY BIRTHDAY!" He yelled at the two neighbors.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the door with all of the strength in his arm. He then walked to the couch and sat in it.

He sighed.

"What's the point of living here?" Squidward spoke and he looked at the floor. "Whenever something goes in my favor around these parts, it always comes back to bite me. I thought I was going to have one of the best days of my life yesterday but that snail plasma ruined it for sure." The octopus felt depressed. "I bet SpongeBob and Patrick did this 'birthday' thing on purpose. They want to add salt to the wound." His emotions blinded him from the truth. "I can't stand how they try to be 'nice' to me one day but then return to their usual antics the next day." The octopus searched through his memories to see how his neighbors treated him ever since SpongeBob was a fry cook at the Krusty Krab.

_I wanted to take you to a place you would like to go. I'm planning to do it on Sunday which is tomorrow. I u-understand that the bubblestand incident was recklessness on my part. And I won't guarantee it won't happen again but I consider you a friend, Squidward, and as friends we should support each other._

Squidward remembered SpongeBob's apology but...

_Squidward flinched his head back._

_The soup touched with Squidward's face._

_Time resumed._

_"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Squidward's voice pierced the air. It even slightly vibrated the tiki._

_His head was crimson. Smoke rose up from the areas on his face where the soup made contact. Squidward covered his face with his hands. His body shook as the soup burned his skin._

...a painful memory came with it. Squidward looked at a table in the kitchen. That place was where that horrific event occured.

_Patrick picked up the jellyfishing net. "Firmly grasp it." Patrick put the handle on Squidward's hand once again._

_It slid and fell to the ground._

_Patrick hastily picked up the jellyfishing net, he lost his patience. "FIRMLY GRASP IT!" He jerked the handle of the net to Squidward's hand and squeezed the hand so it grasped the handle._

_"Alright! Alright! STOOOP!" Squidward shrieked in pain._

Another unpleasant memory entered his thoughts.

_Squidward walked to the bathtub and opened the curtain. The curtain revealed a tub full of water and a certain starfish sitting inside of it._

_"Hey, buddy. I warmed it up for ya." Patrick took out a brush and soap. He was spying on Squidward and overheard what he said, the sea star then managed to get inside the bathroom by opening a window which was behind him._

_Chills ran down Squidward's spine. SpongeBob and Patrick's behavior was becoming very disturbing and creepy. "Patrick! Get out! And put some clothes on!" Squidward pointed at the door._

That memory reminded Squidward of how much SpongeBob and Patrick were ruining his life. His neighbors fed on Squidward's attention like parasites.

_"Who cares about the customer?!" Squidward was jumping repeatedly as he tried to grab SpongeBob's feet, he wanted to pull the sponge down to the ground._

_"I do!" SpongeBob was determined to deliver the pizza._

_"Well I don't!" Squidward became frustrated as each of his attempts failed._

_The strong gust shifted to the opposite direction. _

_"Squidward, watch out!" SpongeBob was flying directly towards Squidward._

_"Let go of that pizza!" Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's feet, he was finally successful. The octopus then began to pull SpongeBob to the ground. Squidward thought that survival was more important than the pizza, he directly contradicted what he had said earlier._

_"No! It's for the customer!" SpongeBob held on to the pizza box with all of his might._

_Squidward looked ahead of SpongeBob and his eyes bugged out. He found out the reason why the gust of wind has shifted to the opposite direction. A large dust devil was heading directly towards them._

_The two were lifted up and were sucked into the dust devil._

_"SpongeBob! Hang on to the pizza!" Squidward held on to SpongeBob's feet. He tried to spit some sand from the dust devil out of his mouth as he spoke._

The recolections of the anguish he had to go through would not stop. SpongeBob had made his working life in the Krusty Krab much more worse than it already was. The revelation of all of that unjust suffering began to fill the octopus with a fury.

_Squidward peeked inside the room and saw Squiliam sleeping inside a king-sized bed. "It's him alright." He pumped his gun, aimed it at Squiliam, and pulled the trigger. A gray net came from the gun and enveloped Squiliam. The sleeping octopus didn't move or wake up._

_Patrick picked up Squilliam and carried him on his shoulder. "Let's get out of here."_

_The three neighbors quickly exited the hallway and ran down the stairs._

Squidward immediately smiled after remembering that 'alien hunt' with his neighbors. The two had helped him get some sweet revenge on his arch-rival.

_Plankton pressed a button on the backpack._

_**ZZZAAAAAP**_

_A bright green laser beam was shot from the gun._

_SpongeBob pushed Squidward out of the way so the octopus could not be injured. He decided to get hurt by the laser beam instead. The laser beam hit his left thigh and left a large burn mark._

_**THUD**_

_SpongeBob fell to the ground. His thigh felt like it was on fire. A tear ran down his face due to the pain._

Squidward's eyes widened after he remembered that incident. It reminded him about how good-natured SpongeBob was.

_Squidward managed to sleep for a few hours but woke up more drowsy than before he fell asleep. He still heard the dance music coming from SpongeBob's pineapple. He looked at the alarm clock to see how long the music was playing and gritted his teeth once again. "GRRRRR! __**ELEVEN HOURS!**__" Squidward screamed in anger because he was tired of hearing that music from the pineapple. The octopus stood up from his bed and walked towards the exit of the bedroom._

But SpongeBob's friendliness did not stop the sponge from being unintentionally annoying. Squidward laid on the couch and looked at the ceiling with a deadpan face. The series of good memories had ended.

_"I've already decided." Mr. Krabs smirked. "SpongeBob's the new employee of the month." He walked up to SpongeBob and patted him on the shoulder._

_SpongeBob's eyes sparkled and he grinned; he was overjoyed._

_Squidward narrowed his eyes at the yellow square and green, envious fire burned in the pupils of his eyes._

Squidward stood up. "I can't take this anymore." The bad memories outweighed the good memories and the octopus was about to choose a drastic decision. Once that decision was made, his life may improve significantly as a consequence from his perspective.

He walked to a magazine laying on a chair and picked it up. He remembered an advertisement in the magazine about selling homes. He opened the magazine and flipped to the page with the advertisement. Squidward then walked to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed the phone number that was on the advertisement and tossed the magazine to the couch. He put the shell-phone near his ear. 'I'm moving out of this neighborhood pronto.' Squidward thought as he waited for the other end of the line to pick up.

A pause.

S-S-S-S-S

A purple young woman was sitting on a desk and was doing paperwork for a home that was about to be sold. A golden name tag with black text on the desk said 'Patty Rechid'. A shell-phone was on the desk as well.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Patty picked up the phone and put it near her ear. "This is the Bikini Bottom Real Estate Market. I'm Patty. How can I help you?"

S-S-S-S-S

"I want to sell my home." Squidward spoke into the phone, he still had a deadpan face.

S-S-S-S-S

Patty took out a few blank record papers.

S-S-S-S-S

"_What's your name?_" Patty's electronic voice was heard.

"Squidward Tentacles." Squidward spoke.

"_Where do you live?_" Patty asked another question.

"122 Conch Street." Squidward said his address.

"_How would you describe your home? What does it look like?_" Patty still had questions to ask so she can jot the answers down into the record papers.

"It's a dark blue tiki. The rooms are organised and there are paintings and other pieces of art inside the home." Squidward tried his best to describe his home.

"_Okay._" Patty jotted down the information given to her into the records.

"Is it good enough to sell?" Squidward became a little bit worried. He thought that his home was going against fierce competition since Bikini Bottom was mildly populated.

S-S-S-S-S

Patty opened a drawer and took out a large stack of photos. She searched through the photos until she found a photo of a house very similar to Squidward's home. "Absolutely, Mr. Tentacles!" She smiled widely and spoke into the phone with more enthusiasm.

S-S-S-S-S

"_We almost never get houses like yours. I can sell your home in a heartbeat._" Patty was still speaking into the phone.

Squidward grinned as life came back into his facial expression. "Oh, that's great news because I want to move as soon as possible." He no longer droned.

"_No problem! As long as it's not infested with nematodes, or surrounded by troublesome neighbors or something like that."_ Patty had to make sure that the home met certain standards.

"Oh sure, there's none of that... did you say 'neighbors'?" Squidward did not completely hear what Patty said. He thought that his home fulfilled all of the standards.

"_Of course! I can't tell you how many times I've seen a sale fall through because of bad neighbors._" Patty explained why 'bad neighbors' was something that she avoided in a home.

Squidward's heart skipped a beat. His life was almost a living hell because of his neighbors. "Neighbors, uhh..." He tried to make a lie so he can sell his home and get away with it.

"_Anyway, I'll be by tomorrow to check out the house. See you then!_" Patty put the phone down on the other end.

Squidward put the shell-phone down as well. He walked towards the front door.

Creak

Squidward opened the door until it was ajar. He watched SpongeBob and Patrick as they played 'tag' in and around the neighborhood. "No one will ever but my house with those two living next door. Whatever a good neighbor would do, they do the opposite." The octopus whispered loudly. He was frustrated with the fact that his two neighbors might confine him to the tiki for the rest of his life.

A giant light bulb lit up in Squidward's head after he paid attention to what he said.

"Opposite... opposite..." Squidward repeated the key word to his idea. By acting like a bad neighbor, he thought that SpongeBob and Patrick would act like good neighbors as a response.

Slam

He closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's alarm clock rang.

Squidward quickly woke up and...

CLICK

...turned off the alarm. He had set the alarm clock to an earlier waking time so he can wake up earlier than SpongeBob and Patrick. That was part of his plan.

Squidward stood up and crouched. He pulled a large drum and a pair of drumsticks on top of it out of the bed. The octopus had unscrewed the drum and put something inside of it before re-screwing it and putting it under the bed. He put the red strap of the drum over his torso and picked up the drumsticks.

**CRRREEEEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He carried the drum as if he was a member of a marching band as he exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward quickly walked through the hallway and ran down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

He briskly walked across the living room.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stood in front of his tiki and played a composition. The drumsticks hitting the drum sounded like thunder. The octopus began to sweat as he played the drum, he was putting a lot of force into each hit with the drumsticks.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was beginning to get tired. The pace of his beating of the drum slowed.

**CREEAAK**

**SLAM**

An awakened SpongeBob exited his pineapple and walked up to Squidward. He had woken up due to hearing Squidward's playing of the drum.

This was the result that Squidward wanted.

Squidward saw SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and smirked. He stopped beating the drum with the drumsticks and looked at the yellow square.

"Umm, Squidward, why did you play that drum?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He was curious instead of being grumpy. He was not as affected by an interruption of sleep compared to Squidward.

"Drum? What drum?" Squidward took the drum's strap off his torso and...

**SLAM**

...dropped the drum to the ground. A very small dust cloud appeared beneath the drum. S

Squidward tossed the drumsticks to the side and crouched to the drum. He took out a screw and unscrewed the drum before SpongeBob's eyes.

SpongeBob scratched his head in utter bewilderment.

Squidward finished unscrewing the drum and took the cover off the drum. "This is just my wig case!" He picked up a wig of black hair that was inside the instrument. "See?" He was being illogical on purpose, it was also a part of his scheme. The octopus put on the wig and kicked the drum to the side. "Come on SpongeBob, tackle me!" He acted completely out of character, he was mimicking SpongeBob's behavior to see how the actual sponge would react. He skipped around his tiki in a merry manner.

"Squidward, you need bed rest!" SpongeBob assumed that Squidward was becoming insane. He pushed the octopus towards the tiki.

Squidward snatched a bottle of bubble soap and a bubble wand from the sponge's pocket. He stepped out of SpongeBob's way and opened the bottle. He dipped the wand into the bottle and blew some bubbles to the best of his ability.

"I need to keep you safe until you're well again." SpongeBob grabbed Squidward.

SpongeBob was not reacting in the way that Squidward expected but that did not stop the octopus from having another idea. "Oh, I get it. You don't know what day it is, do you?" Pie jumped out of the sponge's hands and stood in front of him.

"Uhh, Wednesday?" SpongeBob shrugged.

Squidward made a wider smirk. "Why, it's Opposite Day!"

SpongeBob could not comprehend what was happening but became interested in what Squidward said. "Opposite Day? What's that?"

"You mean you've never heard of it? Boy, have you been missing out! Opposite Day is the one day of the year when you get to act different! Normally I'm stuffy, boring, but today I'm silly and spontaneous!" Squidward frolicked around his lawn.

"Does everybody know about Opposite Day?" SpongeBob did not know about that holiday since it was not marked on the calendar.

"Oh sure! It's like a game! Get it?" Squidward was making very convincing lies.

"Oh, a game." SpongeBob understood what Opposite Day was. It was a holiday where you play a game of acting as an opposite of your personality.

"Yeah! Normally, you're really loud and annoying, so what are you going to be today?" Squidward stopped frolicking and walked up to SpongeBob. He tested SpongeBob with that question to see if the sponge understood his words or not.

"Quiet and out of the way!" SpongeBob made an irate facial expression. "Yay!" The sponge resumed his normal smile. He already enjoyed the game just from saying that out-of-character line.

"Yeah! Why don't you get a jump on it." Squidward wanted SpongeBob to stay out-of-character.

"I love..." SpongeBob was smiling but changed into a grumpy face. "I mean, I hate Opposite Day." He giggled and ran towards his pineapple. "I'm not ready!"

"So long, chum." Squidward took off his wig. He felt victorious for fooling SpongeBob into thinking that Opposite Day was a real holiday. The sponge and the starfish were bound to act like good neighbors if they were to act like their opposites.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple. "Gary! It's Opposite Day and I..." He noticed that he was running towards the snail. 'Walk, don't run.' He stopped running and walked. "And I'm gonna..." 'Opposite... opposite...' He thought about what his opposite would do. "I'm just gonna crawl into bed and do nothing all day." SpongeBob exited the living room.

"Opposite Day?" Gary followed SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he turned around to look at Gary. "Looks like that transformation last night made me learn the snail language quickly and permanently." He came to a conclusion.

"You're right, I guess." Gary expressed uncertainty.

SpongeBob silently turned around and continued to walk towards the bedroom. He was walking across the kitchen. He made a drowsy and grumpy face at the same time to look even more out-of-character.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. "Too bad it only comes once a year, huh Gary?" He turned his body to the side and closed his eyes.

"If it's a game, it sound kinda lame." Gary commented on what SpongeBob was doing. He followed his owner to the bedroom.

"Gary, where's your holiday spirit?" SpongeBob turned his body to the other side and raised his brow. He thought that Gary was ruining the fun he was having since Gary was not acting out-of-character.

Gary tried to bark like a worm.

SpongeBob smiled to show appreciation for Gary trying to be out-of-character and then returned to a drowsy face. He turned to the other side of the bed again and closed his eyes again.

Ding Dong

The doorbell was heard.

"Company!" SpongeBob beamed and stood up from his bed. "I hate company." He made a sulky face.

S-S-S-S-S

Another minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stomped towards the front door. "Who's there?"

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing in front of the entrance. "It's Patrick!"

S-S-S-S-S

"Patrick... go away! I never want to see you again!"

**CRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and shook his fist. He was acting just like Squudward. He then giggled at the thought of how Patrick was going to react.

Patrick began to weep. "SpongeBob doesn't like me anymore!" He looked at the ground and tears ran down his cheeks.

"That's right! You're my worst enemy!" SpongeBob smirked and folded his arms. He assumed that Patrick knew what Opposite Day was.

Patrick fell to the ground and bawled. A puddle of tears was forming beneath him.

"Patrick, you're not really not my friend. It's just Opposite Day!" SpongeBob smiled and informed Patrick about the intention of his actions.

Patrick stopped crying immediately and stood up. "Opposite Day?" Hey, I've heard of that!" The sea star thought he remembered what Opposite Day was. He was confusing it for another holiday.

"You have?" SpongeBob's eyes widened and he smiled even more.

Patrick realized that he confused Opposite Day with Valentine's Day. "No! What is it?" He told SpongeBob the truth.

"Well, whatever you normally do, today you do the opposite." SpongeBob tried to make a simple explanation.

"Ooh! Let me try! Let me try!" Patrick immediately had an idea after hearing SpongeBob's words. He closed his mouth and held his breath for as long as possible. His face turned purple.

"Patrick, Patrick, breathe!" SpongeBob shook his best friend.

Patrick took a few deep breaths.

"Not that opposite. Let me show you how to do it the wrong way!" SpongeBob stepped out of the way.

Patrick entered the pineapple.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

The two entered the kitchen.

"Instead of eating normal food..." SpongeBob opened a cabinet and took out a can of snail nip and a can opener. He opened the can with the can opener and took out Gary's bowl from the cabinet. He poured the snail nip into the bowl and put the bowl on the floor. He crouched to the bowl. "...eat snail food or other types of pet food." He ate the snail nip without using his hands. He ate the food exactly like how Gary eats his food.

"Ohhh. I see." Patrick nodded.

Gary slithered up to SpongeBob. "Meow." His meowing was still not completely intelligible to Patrick. The sea star had not turned into a snail.

"I'm just showing Patrick how to act like his opposite." SpongeBob made an excuse.

Gary exited the kitchen and slithered to the couch in the living room.

"Can I try?" Patrick had an idea he wanted to try out.

"Go ahead." SpongeBob nodded.

Patrick exited the kitchen and walked up the stairs.

SpongeBob followed his best friend.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the bedroom and laid down belly-first on the newspapers. "Meow." He acted like a snail.

"You're starting to get it." SpongeBob could tell that Patrick was making progress in understanding how to act like an opposite.

Patrick stood up. "Is there anything else that we can try?" The sea star was eager to learn.

"Since people say that you're dumb, act like a genius." SpongeBob gave his friend a challenge.

"Hmmm..." Patrick entered a deep state of thought.

A pause.

"Do you wanna talk about astrophysics or e=mc^2?" Patrick tried to sound intelligent..

SpongeBob's eyes widened. "Wow, you're learning fast."

"That depends on the size of your brain. For example-" Patrick was saying something to sound even more smart but got interrupted by SpongeBob.

"We don't need to go too in-depth with the genius thing. Since you like to have fun, act like you're boring and would prefer to do nothing all day." SpongeBob wanted Patrick to act like the opposite of another of the starfish's personality traits.

Patrick made a deadpan face and laid down on the bed. "Can you leave me alone? I need to get some sleep." He became grumpy and wanted SpongeBob to leave the bedroom, he was acting just like Squidward.

A pause.

"How did I do?" Patrick smiled and sat up.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. "I think you know what to do now. Just remember to act like a genius and a lazy person at the same time."

"Got it." Patrick stood up from the bed and nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the pineapple.

"Say, want to help me do some work around the house, worst enemy?" SpongeBob was giggling, he found Patrick acting out-of-character to be too funny.

"Nope." Patrick smiled slightly.

Both 'worst enemies' laughed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was looking at his neighbors from a window in the music room. He then looked at his watch.

The hands in the watch were indicating 7:20 AM.

"It's not too long after seven and those two fools did not annoy me at all." Squidward made a genuine smile. The octopus had brought several empty boxes into the music room. "I'm almost sorry I'm leaving!" Squidward could not wait to see how his neighbors were going to react to his leaving.

The sound of the opening of a garage door was heard.

He ignored that sound, took off several self-portraits from the walls, and put them neatly into the boxes. He took his clarinet from the sheet holder and put it into a box as well. "Opposite Day." The octopus chuckled at the ridiculousness of the holiday that he made up.

Out of nowhere, extremely loud construction noises came from outside.

Squidward fell to the floor in fright and then stood up. He stomped to one of the windows and looked through it. "What are those two idiots doing now?"

S-S-S-S-S

A piece of the pineapple's exterior wall fell to the ground.

SpongeBob and Patrick were destroying the pineapple with construction tools that they got from the garage.

Patrick was destroying the exterior wall of the pineapple by using a hammer.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was wrecking the interior wall of his home by 'nailing' a screw into the wall with a hammer and repeating the process.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the front door of his tiki open and ran towards the pineapple.

"Goodbye, Squidward." Patrick waved as he greeted the octopus.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Squidward opened the entrance and entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob halted his wrecking of the walls. "Hello, Squidward! Oops. I mean, goodbye, Squidward! Aww, isn't Opposite Day..." He giggled. "...terrible?" The sponge laughed. He found the weirdness of saying the opposite words to be funny.

"I'll tell you what's terrible! Living next to you! You're the worst neighbor in history!" Squidward was being honest with his words. The fears that entered his mind when he heard the construction noises were true. SpongeBob and Patrick were going out of control as a result of acting like their opposites, Opposite Day only heightened their personalities instead of reversing them.

"Wow! That's the nicest thing Squidward's ever said to me!" SpongeBob thought that Squidward meant the opposite of what he said.

Squidward facepalmed and shook his head. He turned around and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

'If the real estate agent sees that mess, she'll never let me sell my house!' Squidward thought as he began to panic. The octopus rightly believed that Patty was coming to his tiki very soon, today was the day that she was going to come to his house after all. Just like breaking SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship, Squidward's plan backfired. Even if that plan was more extreme than the previous one, SpongeBob and Patrick would eventually ruin that plan unintentionally.

The construction noises stopped.

SpongeBob exited the pineapple and stood in front of it.

Patrick walked up to his friend and stood next to him.

The two marveled at the destruction that they have caused.

Squidward turned around and his jaw dropped at the sight of the destroyed pineapple. Rebuilding the home would be a very difficult feat.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Patrick's eyes sparkled as he looked at the house with wonder.

"On Opposite Day it is." SpongeBob's eyes were sparkling as well.

More than half of the pineapple's exterior wall was still on the pineapple. The rest were in piles of pieces on the ground. Inside the pineapple, nearly the entire interior wall had been removed. Furniture was thrown to the side and some holes went through the walls of the pineapple.

Squidward ran around the pineapple and entered the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward picked up a bucket full of construction tools and exited the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick. "Can I have your tools?" He held out his hand.

The two friends gave their hammers and the screw to the octopus.

Squidward began to repair the pineapple. He wanted to make the home look as normal as possible so Patty would not get suspicious when she sees the neighborhood.

"I don't get it. I made my house a mess, which was making it clean, which made Squidward clean my yard..." SpongeBob sat on a rock as he entered a very deep state of thought. "...but that really means he's messing it up."

Patrick drooled as he listened to SpongeBob and tried to come to his own conclusion. His mind was shutting down from working too hard.

"But the opposite of clean is filth, which means filth is clean, that means Squidward is really making my yard a wreck, but I normally wreck my own yard which means..." SpongeBob wrapped his arms around himself as he tried to get the complicated factors out of the way. "Squidward is being the complete opposite of Squidward which means he's SpongeBob! A-ha!" He stood up and smirked. "I understand everything now! I must be the total opposite of myself by being..." The sponge stretched his nose until it looked like Squidward's. SpongeBob took off his belt and wrapped it around his head so his head looked like Squidward's. "...Squidward." The sponge imitated Squidward's voice.

"Hey! I wanna be more opposite too." Patrick frowned. He wanted to join the fun that SpongeBob was having.

SpongeBob thought for a few seconds and then snapped his fingers as he saw a piece of coral. He grabbed the coral from the ground and put it under Patrick's eyes so it looked like Squidward's nose.

"Yeah! Finally! Yoo-hoo!" Patrick jumped and pumped his fist. "I'm Squidward, I'm Squidward, Squidward, Squidward, Squidward." The sea star chanted and danced in joy.

"Wait!" SpongeBob held out his hand, he was speaking in his normal voice.

Patrick stopped chanting and dancing.

"It's not enough to look like Squidward to be opposite..." SpongeBob then imitated Squidward's voice again. "...you have to act like him, too. Boy, oh boy, do I like playing the clarinet. I practice and practice all day long but I never get any better." The sponge was making a deadpan face but smiled again. "Now you try." He spoke in his normal voice.

"Okay." Patrick nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm Squidward, Squidward, Squidward, Squidward." He resumed his dancing and chanting. He enjoyed doing that and could not help himself.

SpongeBob could not help himself as well, what the starfish was doing looked too fun. He joined in the chanting and dancing.

"I'm Squidward. I'm Squidward. I'm Squidward, Squidward, Squidward." The two best friends chanted and danced in unison.

The two soon stopped dancing and chanting so they can do other things while pretending to be Squidward.

SpongeBob walked up to the opened entrance of the tiki and stepped out of the way. "After you, Mr. Squidward." He was being polite.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Squidward." Patrick beamed and entered the tiki.

The two were not completely acting like Squidward yet.

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Squidward."

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door as he entered the tiki.

Squidward was half-way finished with repairing the pineapple. The home looked mediocre due to the exterior wall looking like a jigsaw puzzle. The octopus had only nailed the pieces of the wall together. If he had glued them together, it would have made it look like a solid and whole wall. "Oh, Opposite Day. Next time, it's going to be 'Go Jump Off A Cliff Day'!" The octopus muttered to himself. The physical labor of nailing the pieces back together was tedious and tiring. He began to regret about telling SpongeBob about that holiday that he created.

A boatmobile parked in front of Squidward's tiki. "Oh my! The house is even more beautiful in person!" Patty made a comment about the tiki as she exited the vehicle and walked up to the tiki. She had decided that the morning would be the best time to visit the owner and inspect the home before selling it.

Squidward did not anticipate that. He thought that Patty would be too busy with other duties to visit the house early in the day. The noises of the hammer blocked the sounds of the boatmobile and Patty's voice from Squidward's ears. That consequently made Squidward unaware of the fact that Patty was now visitng his home.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Patty knocked on the front door of the tiki.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door.

An awkward pause. Patty expected the owner to look far more different than the person she was seeing.

"Hello Mr..." Patty looked down and made eye contact with SpongeBob. "Uh... Mr. Tentacles?"

"Yes, please come in." SpongeBob spoke in the octopus's voice and stepped out of the way.

"It's funny, I pictured you being much taller." Patty smiled and sweatdropped as she entered the tiki. She informed SpongeBob about what she expected Squidward to look like.

"Yeah, everyone says that." SpongeBob said a realistic lie so he can not unintentionally expose himself as an impersonator.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Now, if you want the sale to go through, you've got to tell me ALL the positive things about your house. You were a bit vague when you described your house to me on the phone." Patty took out a clipboard with a paper and a pen.

'Positive things... Opposite Day...' Since it was Opposite Day, SpongeBob assumed that Patty meant the opposite meaning with her words. "I'd love to." He smirked and giggled. "The floor creaks, the roof leaks, there's a terrible draft..." The octopus voice that the sponge was speaking in had a bitter tone. He was lying about the negative things in the home.

"Uhh... well, you didn't mention that on the phone." Patty was somewhat shocked at what she heard. The tiki sounded ideal from the words of the real Squidward on the phone

"Please, let me finish. The winters are harsh, the summers are brutal. There's a wild man-eating clam in the backyard!" SpongeBob became ridiculous with his lies.

Patty gasped and put a hand over her mouth. Her face nearly drained of color after hearing the sponge's words.

"Now, would you care to see the rest of my home?" SpongeBob smiled again and pointed at some of the things inside the tiki.

"Well, umm, I'm not sure if I'm interested..." Patty was hesitant. She was afraid of the apparent man-eating clam in the backyard.

"Nonsense! I won't take no for an answer." SpongeBob laughed by honking his nose for a few seconds but then stopped. He wanted Patty to see all that there is to see in the home before making the decision to sell it or not. "Please follow me." He signaled with his hand for Patty to follow him and walked up the stairs.

Patty slowly followed SpongeBob. She carefully eyed her surroundings for the man-eating clam.

Patrick stood up from behind the couch and tip-toed as he followed Patty. He wanted to find a way to scare her.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patty entered the music room.

"Here's the worst room in the house. My gallery." SpongeBob intended the opposite meaning when he spoke. "This is also where I play my clarinet."

Patty walked towards a self-portrait of Squidward and gazed at it. "Oh my, this painting is very nice."

Patrick walked up to Patty at a normal pace and stood next to her. "Thank you!" He abruptly spoke.

Patty shrieked in fright and stepped back. She tripped over a box and...

**THUD**

...fell to the floor.

SpongeBob walked towards Patty and stood next to Parrick. "I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Squidward." He pointed at his best friend.

"You're BOTH Squidward?" Patty raised her brow. The two friends began to look suspicious from her perspective.

"I'm Squidward, he's Squidward." SpongeBob pointed at himself and then pointed at Patrick again. He wanted to clear Patty's mind of doubts.

"We're both Squidward." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke in unison.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward dropped the hammer to the ground and wiped a large amount of sweat from his brow. "Well, that's done. At least SpongeBob and Patrick were quiet." He was finished with his repair of the pineapple. He turned around to walk back to his tiki when he saw a boatmobile parked in front of the tiki that had a bumper sticker saying 'BIKINI BOTTOM REAL ESTATE MARKET'. "NO!" Squidward yelled as his heartbeat raced. He sprinted towards his home.

S-S-S-S-S

"Since you like our art, I'll show you our clarinet skills." SpongeBob searched through the music room for the clarinet.

"He's better than me at clarinet so he'll go first." Patrick whispered to Patty and winked.

SpongeBob opened a box and found the clarinet and the sheet holder. "There it is!" He took out the sheet holder and the clarinet from the box. He put the sheet holder back to its original place in the music room and flipped the sheets on the holder until he found a song that he thought that he could play. He put the put the mouthpiece of the clarinet into his mouth. He then blew into the instrument and put some of his fingers into the holes in a sequence in an attempt to play a composition.

Patty covered her ears and cringed.

SpongeBob saw what Patty did and stopped playing. "Did you hate it?" The sponge meant the opposite.

"I don't want to hear another one." Patty shook her head. She thought that SpongeBob was an appalling clarinet player.

"Okay." SpongeBob resumed his playing of the clarinet. He still thought that Patty meant the opposite of what she said.

"I really don't want to hear more, thank you." Patty covered her ears again.

SpongeBob stopped playing to say something. "I hear you loud and clear." He played the clarinet at a higher volume.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the awful playing of the clarinet from outside. "Who's playing my clarinet?!" He tightened his fists. He came to a conclusion which was that SpongeBob and Patrick were fooling around in his house.

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the front door open and stomped into his home.

S-S-S-S-S

His two neighbors were not inside the living room.

Squidward ran up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

"**STOP!**" Squidward entered the room and yelled at SpongeBob and Patrick. "Get away from her!"

SpongeBob stopped playing Squidward's clarinet and gulped nervously. He nearly had a heart attack from hearing the octopus's yelling. He put the clarinet on the sheet holder and stepped backwards to the side of the room.

Patrick stepped to the side of the room as well.

The two did that so they can get out of Squidward's way.

"O-oh, I am so sorry, Ma'am, I hope these two **BARNACLE HEADS** haven't harmed you in any way." Squidward walked towards Patty and glared at his neighbors from the corner of his eye.

"Who are you?" Patty tilted her head to the side.

"Why, I'm Squidward." Squidward spoke with honesty.

Patty became enraged. She thought that the three neighbors were pulling off a scam by making two of them impersonate as one of them. "WHAT KIND OF FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?! HE'S SQUIDWARD, HE'S SQUIDWARD, YOU'RE SQUIDWARD?! I'M SQUIDWARD! Are there any other Squidwards I should know about?" She lost her temper and screamed at the neighbors. She pointed at each of the neighbors and eventually pointed at herself as she said who was Squidward.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob bit his lip, sweatdropped, and looked at the floor.

Pateick whistled so he can look innocent.

Squidward made a deadpan face. One of his worst fears was becoming a fact.

"I'm outta here." Patty stomped down the stairs.

"Ma'am, please! What about my house?!" Squidward became extremely anxious and rapidly followed the realtor.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked through the windows in the room so they can watch the scene unfold.

S-S-S-S-S

"I wouldn't sell a house for you if you were the last Squidward on earth!" Patty walked towards the front door and exited the tiki.

"Wait!" Squidward slid through the narrowing opening of the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward dove towards Patty and grabbed one of her legs with both of his hands. "No, no, no, NO, NO!" He shook his head as he desperately begged Patty to do what he wished.

"Stop! Stop!" Patty tried to shake Squidward off her leg as she walked towards the boatmobile.

"Please, sell my house!" Squidward looked pathetic as he begged.

"NEVER!" Patty managed to shake Squidward off her leg and entered the boatmobile. He turned the keyhole and turned on the edge.

**VVVVRRRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

Patty drove off to the horizon. She wanted to escape that neighborhood as quickly as possible.

Squidward fell to his knees and put both of his hands over his face. He silently shed tears. "Don't... leave... me... here..." The octopus managed to get a few words out of his mouth. His only chance for salvation had been ruined.

Crrrreeeaaaak

Slam

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the tiki. The two were frowning since they felt bad for Squidward. They walked towards Squidward and stood in front of the octopus.

A pause.

Squidward continued to cry silently.

"Feel bad, Squid. You still have neighbors that hate you." SpongeBob tried to cheer his neighbor up. He meant the complete opposite when he said those words.

Squidward stopped crying and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He slowly stood up and slowly turned his sight towards SpongeBob and Patrick. He made a glare so vicious that it was just like the one of a serial killer.

SpongeBob and Patrick's faces became pallid. They became paralyzed in fear.

"I love you guys too." Squidward spoke coldly. The other two neighbors knew what he meant since it was still Opposite Day.

SpongeBob gulped nervously.

Squidward stomped towards SpongeBob's pineapple and picked up the hammer. He had to find a way to release his immediate anger. He walked backwards by a few steps and then threw the hammer towards the home like a tomahawk.

**CCRRRRRAAAAAAASSSSSSHH**

All of the nailed pieces of the pineapple's walls fell to the ground and floor of the building. It was restored to its state before the repair.

Squidward turned around and walked towards his tiki. His eyes were moist as he looked at the ground.


	32. The Paper

**Chapter 32: The Paper**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

In the morning...

Squidward was eating spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast. He was sitting in the table in the kitchen as he ate.

The octopus had a deadpan face, he did not get over the fact that he was now trapped with his two neighbors for almost his entire life unless the other two move out. For the last few days, Squidward showed a few signs of depression. He had been more unemotional at work than usual to the point that he seemed to be a robot. However, that acute depression did not stop Squidward from doing what he loves; such as playing the clarinet. If he could become talented and find a way to sell his music, he would eventually live in a mansion instead of a tiki with two annoying neighbors. There was also another emotion he had to deal with, that emotion was his desire for revenge. Squidward felt that destroying SpongeBob's pineapple was not enough to satisfy that desire, he needed to do another act of revenge of a more severe magnitude. It had to be something far more worse than breaking his two neighbors' friendship like he did last time.

There was a calendar hanging on the wall of the kitchen.

Squidward saw the calendar from the corner of his eye and then looked at it completely.

The calendar indicated that April 1st was less than two weeks away.

A giant light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. 'You're a genius, Squiddy!' He thought. April Fools Day would be the perfect day for doing his act of revenge on SpongeBob. He really wanted to get his revenge on SpongeBob instead of Patrick since SpongeBob started the series of events that would eventually prevent him from selling his home. Although he was unsure if the act of revenge would be acceptable in public, he did not care and decided that he will do it anyway.

Squidward smiled slightly.

He eventually finished his breakfast and stood up from the table. He then walked into the living room and picked up a lawn chair, he wanted to get some fresh air. The octopus also saw a wrapped piece of un-chewed bubble gum on the central table and took it. Squidward would prefer to not have anything wasted in the house.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the tiki while carrying the lawn chair and holding the wrapped piece of gum.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ah, time to relax." Squidward put the lawn chair on the ground, unfolded it, and laid down on it. He unwrapped the piece of bubble gum and put it in his mouth. He then tossed the wrapper towards SpongeBob's lawn.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked through the bedroom window, he had woken up a few minutes ago. He saw Squidward tossing the wrapper towards the pineapple's lawn. He gasped. "Squidward!" The sponge then quickly opened the door and ran down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He walked to the wrapper and picked it up.

Squidward heard the opening and closing of a door. He looked towards the pineapple and saw an incoming SpongeBob. "Well, time to go." He did not want either SpongeBob or Patrick to annoy him for the next few days. He stood up from the lawn chair and folded the chair. He turned around and walked towards the front door of the tiki.

"Squidward! Squidward, wait!" SpongeBob jogged towards Squidward. He wanted to inform the octopus of something that he thought was important.

"Now what?" Squidward looked at SpongeBob. He became irritated by the sponge's behavior.

"You dropped this little piece of paper." SpongeBob held out the gum wrapper.

"Yeah, so what?" Squidward raised his brow. He found wrappers or things like that to be minute.

"I just figured you probably want it back." SpongeBob was trying to be kind to his neighbor. He did not want to make Squidward cry like the time Patty drove away from him.

"What's the big deal? It'd only garbage." Squidward shrugged and turned to the door.

"Garbage?! But, Squidward, in the right hands, this paper is a gold mine of entertainment. A spectacular afternoon of underwater fun. A treasure trove of-" SpongeBob ironically had a larger imagination than the octopus. The sponge had one of the best traits for being an artist. He got interrupted by Squidward.

"Garbage." Squidward finished SpongeBob's sentence.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and stepped into the tiki.

"So you don't want it?" SpongeBob thought that Squidward accidentally dropped the wrapper and wanted it back.

"Right!" Squidward nodded and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

"Does that mean I can have it?" SpongeBob looked at the wrapper as he spoke.

Squidward was still in front of the door. "Yes, by all means, take it."

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was painting a self-portrait in the music room when...

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

...the shell-phone rang.

Squidward stopped painting and walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and picked up the shell-phone. "Hello?"

"_You sure?_" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard. The sponge wanted to make sure that Squidward was confident with his decision.

"Yes! For the final time, I don't want that paper. It's yours forever and ever!" Squidward spoke at a higher volume into the phone and put it down. Due to his mood for the last few days, he could become angry from his two neighbors' annoying behavior very quickly. He sighed.

Crrreeeaak

A window in the living room was opened. SpongeBob squeezed his head through the opening of the window. "Are you definitely, positively sure?" He had ran from his home.

"Get out!" Squidward pointed towards the pineapple that he could see through the rest of the window's opening.

"But are you-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted.

"**GEEEEEEEEEEET OOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUT!**" Squidward's face became red and he yelled at the yellow square.

SpongeBob got his head out of the window and stood in front of the window. "Last chance to change your mind, Squidward." The sponge doubted that Squidward was confident with his choice.

"Take it, SpongeBob. Take it, please. And promise me, no matter how much I may beg, and plead, and cry, don't give that paper back to me... ever!" Squidward was careful with his wording so that SpongeBob would no longer annoy him about the gum wrapper.

"So I take that as a possible no?"

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the window.

S-S-S-S-S

"Squidward? Squidward? Squidward?" SpongeBob looked through the window and saw Squidward walking upstairs. "Okay, Squidward, that's a promise I'll just have to keep." The sponge looked at the wrapper that he was holding. "Ah, Mr. Paper, I am so lucky to have a friend like Squidward."

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the music room and resumed his painting of the self-portrait.

Familiar laughter could be heard from outside.

A pause.

The laughter was too distracting. He stopped painting and walked towards one of the windows. He looked through it and saw SpongeBob giggling while holding the gum wrapper. Squidward opened the window. "What in the world are you giggling about?"

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm sorry, Squidward, it's just..." SpongeBob giggled. "...it's just that I'm thinking of all the fun I'm going to have with this piece of paper!" The sponge had numerous ideas about playing with the wrapper in his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward closed the window and walked back to his unfinished self-portrait. "How can anyone have fun with just a piece of paper?" The octopus talked to himself. He found the idea of playing with a wrapper to be impossible and ridiculous. Squidward made only a few strokes with the paintbrush on the canvas when he heard more laughter from SpongeBob. "Ohh... what can he possibly be doing with that paper?!" He stomped to the window and opened it again. He looked through the opening.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running and singing around the neighborhood while holding the wrapper above his head.

Gary was watching SpongeBob from the bedroom window of the pineapple, the window was open.

SpongeBob was aware of Gary watching him. "La, la, la, la, la. Gary, watch this!" The sponge put the paper halfway through the back of his pants, the paper looked like a small cape. "Guess what I am." SpongeBob stopped running and looked up at Gary.

S-S-S-S-S

"A sponge with paper stuck in his pants?" Gary guessed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's eyed widened when he understood what the snail said. 'I still understand that language? The undoing of the transformation did not make me forget my knowledge.' The octopus came to a conclusion in his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob giggled again. "Well, yes, Gary, I am a sponge with paper stuck in his pants, but I'm also..." The sponge took a deep breath. "Super Sponge, soaking up crime." He spoke in a deep voice. "See, here's my cape." He blew on the paper to make it look like a cape flapping against a strong wind.

S-S-S-S-S

"Super-moron's more like it." Squidward made a nasty comment.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grabbed the paper and stuffed it into the front part of his pants. "Now I'm..." He jumped out of his pants and landed on the ground. He crouched as if he was a wild animal. The paper covered his non-existent private parts as if it was a loincloth. "SpongeBob JunglePants." The sponge tried to make the sounds of an ape.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh boy." Squidward facepalmed and shook his head. He thought that SpongeBob was so stupid that 'super-moron' was not a proper word to describe the sponge's stupidity.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jumped from rock to rock until he landed in front of the entrance to the pineapple. The rocks he landed on varied in size from small to large. "Ugh. SpongeBob JunglePants summon animal friends." He tried to speak like a caveman. He then tried to roar like a lion, chirped like a bird, made noises that monkeys would make, made an elephant noise that elephants would do with their noses, tried to croak like a frog, hissed like a snake, cat, or snail; raspberried, made a foghorn noise, whistled like a dolphin, barked like a seal, and finally meowed like a cat or snail.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's jaw dropped in astonishment. He did not know that SpongeBob was an amazing voice actor until that moment.

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Gary opened the front door and slithered out of the pineapple. "You look silly when you do that." The snail commented.

"You're right, Gary. I'm not a jungle boy. I'm a box of army supplies." SpongeBob walked towards his clothes and put them back on. He took the wrapper out of his groin.

"Huh?" Gary tilted his eyes to the side in confusion.

SpongeBob climbed the pineapple until he reached the roof. The home had been repaired by construction workers yesterday. "Bringing relief to the hungry troops!" He held the paper above his head with both of his hands and jumped to the ground. The speed of SpongeBob's fall made the paper act like a parachute by making the sponge float.

Plop!

SpongeBob safely landed on the ground. "Landing just in time for the bullfight!" He walked up to his pet and waved the paper in front of the snail as if the sponge was a bullfighter. "Toro, toro, Gary! Toro, toro! Toro, Gary, toro-"

Gary slithered through the paper.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. "Now for some impressions. A guy with a moustache." The sponge put the wrapper under his nose to make it look like a moustache. "Look at me, I'm a guy with a moustache. A pirate with an eye patch." He put the gum wrapper over one of his eyes. "Arrgh, I'm a pirate. A regular guy with an eye patch." He put the paper over the other eye. "Arrgh, I am not a pirate."

SpongeBob had seemingly infinite ideas.

S-S-S-S-S

"Do a big yellow idiot with a stupid piece of paper." Squidward mocked the sponge. SpongeBob looked silly when he pretended to be all of those people and animals from the octopus's point of view. Squidward shared a similar opinion with Gary.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob flipped the paper to the air and made it get into one of his holes when it fell. He then repeatedly blew and sucked the paper out and in of his holes.

S-S-S-S-S

"How did he do that?" Squidward raised his brow. The sponge was doing amazing acts before his eyes.

S-S-S-S-S

"Look, Gary, origami." SpongeBob folded the paper until it looked like a bird.

"Wow." Gary's eyes widened.

SpongeBob folded the paper into a snowflake.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's eyes widened.

S-S-S-S-S

Spongebob lastly folded the paper into the shape of a doll.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward became envious. SpongeBob had far more talent than him. He thought of getting that paper so he can be on a par with SpongeBob in artistic talent.

A pause.

Squidward quickly changed his mind. "What am I thinking?! I am such an idiot." The octopus shook his head and turned around. He laughed by honking his nose. "SpongeBob, honestly, and his dumb paper. He calls that fun?" He walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and sat on the couch. He picked up a magazine from the central table. "Now reading 'Monthly Sciene Digest', that's fun." He was trying to not think about playing with the wrapper to be on the same level as SpongeBob. However, when he said the word "fun", new thoughts entered his mind. Instead of playing with the paper to show that SpongeBob is not the only talented person, he thought of playing with the paper just for fun. He had to try new things sometimes or else life would become too dreary. "Erosion... mitosis..." Squidward desperately tried to cleanse the forbidden thoughts from his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was inside the bathroom. He was taking a shower so he can get the thoughts of the paper out of his mind. 'See, I can have fun taking a shower.' He thought.

The octopus forgot to close the window.

The gum wrapper flew into the bathroom as a paper airplane. It flew around Squidward a few times before flying through the window and out of the room. SpongeBob was still playing with the paper while outside.

Squidward sweatdropped and turned off the shower. He did not want to be tempted by the paper. He stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped the towel over the lower part of his body.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Squiward walked upstairs and entered the hallway. He walked down the hallway and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened a drawer and took out a brown shirt. He then took off the towel and put on the brown shirt. He then exited bedroom and walked downstairs to the music room.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the music room. He walked up to the canvas and resumed his painting of the self-portrait. "This is more fun than anything." He talked to himself. By painting a self-portrait, he was satisfying his narcissistic desires.

SpongeBob's laughter could be heard as he played with the paper.

The laughter distracted Squidward once again. He could not continue to paint without thinking of the gum wrapper as he heard his neighbor's laughter.

A light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. SpongeBob might stop playing with the paper if Squidward could find and show something more fun.

Squidward put down the paintbrush and jogged downstairs. He was going to put the idea to the test immediately.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened the closet and searched through it for anything that could be entertaining. He eventually locked his eyes on a paddle with a ball attached to it by a string and snatched it. He also saw a wooden doll of himself that he made in art class during high school and grabbed it as well, he would be a ventriloquist as a backup plan if SpongeBob did not think that paddleballing was fun. The octopus closed the closet and went down the stairs. "I'll prove to him that playing with paper is not fun." He said his thoughts out loud.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and sprinted towards the front door.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the tiki at a rapid speed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward played pattleball and pretended to have fun. "I'm having fun, la-la-la..." He even sang somewhat for a more convincing effect. The octopus wanted to deceive the gullible sponge into thinking that he was having fun.

SpongeBob stopped playing with the wrapper and saw what Squidward was doing. He thought that what the octopus was doing was fun but decided to mimic what he was seeing. The octopus's intention had both succeeded and failed. He made the paper bounce on his nose like a paddleball. "Isn't this great? La-la-la-la-la..." The sponge sang as well and jumped up and down as he bounced the paper with his nose. "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la..."

Squidward stopped paddleballing but did not become frustrated. "Hey, SpongeBob, top this one." He took out the doll of himself and put the paddle ball away. He still had his backup plan. "Hey, Little Squidward, what's gray and ugly and has six arms?" He put his hand under the back of the shirt of the wooden doll so he can comfortably hold it. The octopus spoke to the doll in an attempt to make a joke.

"_I don't know, but have you looked in the mirror lately?_" Squidward threw his voice to the doll.

"What did you-" Squidward pretended that he became angry at what the doll 'said'. He mocked himself since he thought that SpongeBob might find that joke to be funny. In the middle of his sentence, he got interrupted by the yellow square.

SpongeBob laughed. "Oh, that's a good one, Squidward, now let me try." He folded the paper in half to make a 'puppet' of his own. "Have you heard any good jokes, Mr. Paper?" The yellow square spoke to the gum wrapper.

Creeak

Slam

A rock opened and closed. Patrick had woken up and began to investigate his surroundings due to hearing strange noises coming from outside.

"_What happened to the paper that fell in the ocean?_" SpongeBob threw his voice to the paper. He moved the 'mouth' of the 'puppet' as he spoke.

Patrick saw his two neighbors and became curious. He walked up to them without saying a word.

"I don't know, what happened to the paper that fell in the ocean?" SpongeBob 'replied' and shrugged his shoulders.

"_It was all washed up!_" The 'doll' 'made' a joke.

Patrick laughed.

SpongeBob giggled at his own joke.

Squidward glared at SpongeBob and gritted his teeth. He became even more envious of SpongeBob due to him making a funnier joke. His desire to get the paper grew stronger, he began to think that having the paper was the only way to be just as good as SpongeBob. If Squidward caught up with his neighbor in terms of entertainment skills or artistic talent, his ego would be protected; there was a reward for giving in to the temptation. However, copying SpongeBob's behavior might damage his ego as well. He would no longer be a prodigy in his mind if he had to learn from a master, that 'master' was SpongeBob.

"Squid, don't you play your clarinet around this time?" Patrick's intelligence increased to a certain degree. He retrieved a memory that was deep in his mind.

Another light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "Guys, I want to show you something." Squidward walked towards his tiki and signaled with his hand for SpongeBob and Patrick to follow him.

An unpleasant memory about what happened a few days ago entered SpongeBob's mind. "Pat, don't break anything inside the house." He sweatdropped. The destruction of his pineapple made the sponge realize how much he made Squidward upset.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs up.

The two followed Squidward.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The three neighbors entered the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward, SpongeBob, and Patrick entered the music room.

Squidward walked to the sheet holder and grabbed his clarinet, he was going to play a composition with his clarinet to prove a point. He then pointed at two chairs that were near one of the room's walls.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the chairs and took one each. They then carried the chairs as they walked towards Squidward and set the chairs down in front of Squidward. The two friends sat on the chairs.

"You're gonna play your clarinet for us?" SpongeBob looked at the the instrument in Squidward's hands and guessed about what the octopus was about to do.

"Mm-hm." Squidward nodded. He put the mouthpiece into his mouth and began to play.

The octopus was playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. As always, his notes were off-key and some of the off-key notes were cringe-worthy.

SpongeBob and Patrick endured the listening of the composition.

Squidward soon finished playing. "SpongeBob, you can do almost anything with that paper. However, one of the few things that you can't do with a piece of paper like that is playing music." The octopus smirked at what he said. He boosted his ego by giving himself a false sense of superiority. He thought that he was finally on an equal level with his yellow rival.

SpongeBob laughed. "Squid, you can do anything with this paper as long as you have a good imagination." He made a counter-argument. The sponge blew into the gum wrapper and a few pleasant notes came out of it. "Anyways, you did great. All those wrong notes you played made it sound more original." He made an opinion about Squidward's performance; he was not very experienced in criticizing music.

"The notes sounded weird." Patrick added his opinion.

"What? I didn't play any wrong notes." Squidward's narcissism blinded him from the truth. He played the composition again and a few off-key notes got out of the clarinet before he even got to the half-way point. He then got interrupted by SpongeBob.

"Yeah, see, you're playing it like this..." SpongeBob blew into the wrapper and made some off-key notes on purpose. "...when ordinarily it goes like this... " He then blew into the paper again and played the entire song with all of the notes being on-key.

What SpongeBob did infuriated Squidward. The octopus had ran out of options since he had been outmatched by the sponge in every single attempt. If Squidward was going to keep his self-concept intact, he had no other choice but to get the wrapper back from SpongeBob. He even imagined all of the amazing acts and feats he could do with the piece of paper.

Squidward grabbed the paper with one hand but SpongeBob held on to it. "Give me my paper back! Now let go of it."

SpongeBob quietly shook his head and continued to hold on to the wrapper.

"I said let go of it!" Squidward's face started to become red.

SpongeBob refused to let go by shaking his head again.

"Let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go!" Squidward jumped up and down in frustration. He was yelling at SpongeBob.

Patrick scratched his head in confusion. 'What're they doing?' He thought.

"I can't." SpongeBob refused.

"What do you mean you can't?!" Squidward became even more frustrated and raised his brow.

SpongeBob managed to pull the wrapper out of Squidward's hand. "I can't! You made me promise no matter how much you begged, and pleaded, and cried not to give the paper back to you ever." The sponge remembered the promise he made to the octopus. He wanted to be someone who does not go back on his words.

"Then forget about that! It was me who made you make that promise anyway." Squidward annulled the promise.

SpongeBob thought for several seconds and then spoke. "Sorry, Squidward, I am sworn to a promise." He walked towards the stairs. "Maybe I should get going."

"Wait, wait, maybe we can trade for something." Squidward searched throughout the room for something that he can trade with the paper. He found a pencil on the floor and grabbed it. "Wait up, SpongeBob! Wait!"

SpongeBob ran downstairs. He thought that Squidward was tempting him to break the promise.

"Hold on there, chum." Squidward wore a slight smile and ran downstairs as well.

"There fighting just because of a paper?" Patrick spoke to himself and scratched his head again. The more he thought about the situation that was occurring before him, the more questions popped up in his head. The sea star stood up from his seat and walked downstairs. He wanted to do something fun with his best friend so he can take a break from all of that thinking.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited the tiki. Squidward was closely following him and slid through the closing opening of the door.

Squidward made a fake chuckle as an attempt to look more friendly. "I'm going to make you an offer." The octopus held out the pencil.

SpongeBob became surprised. "Wow, a pencil!" He thought that trading a paper with a pencil was an excellent deal. "You drive a hard bargain, Squidward. Paper for pencil, hmmm..." He then considered trading with the octopus or not.

A pause.

Squidward sweatdropped and crossed his fingers. He was hoping for the best at that point since he was at the mercy of SpongeBob.

SpongeBob made a realization. "Oh, I get it. You're just testing me. Don't worry, Squidward, I won't let you down. A promise is a promise." He found a reason for why the octopus asked for the gum wrapper and even made an offer for a trade with a pencil.

Squidward was now willing to do almost anything to get that wrapper out of SpongeBob's hands. He wanted to get recognition for his 'talent' and thought that having the paper was the only way to reach that point. "Listen, you!" The octopus narrowed his eyes at the sponge and stepped a few steps closer to him. "You are not going anywhere until we strike a deal."

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward had his TV on a wheelbarrow and was wheeling it to SpongeBob's pineapple. 'Gotta get that paper.' He was completely engrossed in getting that gum wrapper from the sponge.

A large pile of nearly all of his possessions was next to the pineapple.

Even after being given all of that stuff, the sponge still refused to give away the paper. The sponge was determined to keep his promise. "Squidward?" SpongeBob was concerned for Squidward's well-being. He walked up to the octopus.

"Trade..." Squidward spoke in a low voice to himself. He did not notice the yellow square at all as he turned around and walked back to his tiki.

"Hey, listen..." SpongeBob was saying something but stopped his mouth from making any more words. He realized that the octopus was ignoring him.

**CRREEEAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and stepped into his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

The tiki had been completely emptied of all of its contents.

"Well, that's the last of it." The octopus turned around and exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door. "I've given you everything but the shirt off my back." He was sweating after doing physically demanding work which consisted of wheeling his belongings to SpongeBob's house.

"Oh, Squidward, is this still part of the test? Because it's... it's really getting harder and harder to keep my promise." SpongeBob looked at the wrapper and bit his lip. He could not resist Squidward's temptation for much longer and his determination was waning.

Squidward took off his shirt. "Okay, the shirt." The octopus gave the shirt to the yellow sponge. The shirt was the last possession that he can offer. He would rather be in the streets while being butt-naked and rise to fame with the paper instead of living in a tiki and get no recognition for his works and 'talent'.

"Squidward's shirt. I've always liked that shirt. Okay, okay, I'll trade!" SpongeBob could no longer resist. He put on the shirt and gave the gum wrapper to Squidward, the collar of the shirt squeezed his head. "I can break a promise for this. Squidward, do you want your other stuff, cause this is all I'll need?" He was considerate for his neighbor.

Squidward stared at the wrapper for almost ten seconds. His goal has finally been reached.

Patrick was sitting on a rock and was watching the whole scene unfold. He stood up and walked towards Squidward. "You moving to SpongeBob's house?" He had a question that was on his mind ever since the octopus began to give away his possessions.

Squidward looked at Patrick. "I'm not moving to Sponge's house. I only gave my stuff away for this paper." He pointed at the wrapper that he was holding and then looked at SpongeBob. "You can have all that junk, 'cause now I've got this! I've got the paper, and you've got my useless garbage." He smirked and backed away from the sponge. He then waved the paper at SpongeBob so he can rub the fact that he had the paper into the sponge's face. "I got it!" He laughed. "...and you can't have it." He then ran around SpongeBob. The joy he felt by having that paper was indescribable. "I got it, you're a sucker. You're a sucker, sucker!" He name-called SpongeBob to boost his ego even more. He then stopped running and laughed again.

"Have fun with the paper, Squid." SpongeBob smiled and walked towards the large pile of possessions. He searched through it for something that he could play with.

"At last, what should we try first, Mr. Paper?" Squidward 'spoke' to the paper. He wanted to play around with it so he can test the paper's limits.

A pause. Squidward thought of several ideas but chose one as the best.

"Impressions! A guy with a piece of paper on his nose." Squidward put the wrapper on his nose. He was not thinking creatively. "Look at me! I'm a guy with a piece of paper... on his... nose..." He did not realize that his idea was unoriginal until he actually put it into action.

A light bulb lit up in his head.

"Aha!" He folded the paper to make an origami creation. However, the folded paper did not resemble anything. "Okay, okay, uhh, helicopter!" The octopus still had other ideas. He held the wrapper above his head with both of his hands. "Gentlemen, start your engines." Squidward backed away by a few steps. He then ran across his lawn. "That's right, that's right, here we go now." The octopus repeatedly jumped as an attempt to fly with the paper. Each jump failed to make him fly.

The octopus sighed and threw the piece of paper to the ground. He sat on the ground and frowned. He was beginning to regret giving all of his possessions to SpongeBob. The sponge had the talent to do amazing things with the paper, it was not vice-versa. "I'm a guy who traded everything he owns for a-" He was saying some words but got interrupted.

"A worthless piece of paper." Patrick finished Squidward's sentence. He walked up to Squidward and picked up the gum wrapper. He had watched the octopus play with the paper. "Thanks, Squid. It's just what I needed." The sea star then took out a wrapped piece of bubble gum and unwrapped it. He threw the wrapper to the ground and chewed on the bubble gum. He was going to put the gum on the wrapper once the gum runs out of flavor. His intelligence decreased by a degree so he was not aware of the fact that he could just use the wrapper that came with the gum instead of Squidward's wrapper.

Squidward looked at SpongeBob and stood up. He walked up to the sponge and poked the sponge's shoulder.

"Hm?" SpongeBob turned around and saw Squidward.

"Can I have my stuff back?" Squidward smiled nervously. He knew that his decision to give away his belongings was foolish.

"Sure. I can't fit all of this stuff into my pineapple anyway." SpongeBob took off his shirt and gave it back to Squidward. "Plus, how're you going to stay alive if you don't have any food?" He pointed at the refridgerator. The sponge was still kind and generous even during his moment of victory.

Squidward put on his shirt and made a sincere smile.

Patrick walked up to the large pile. "Wow. This is allota stuff." He did not notice that pile until that point. He dug through the possessions and found a TV. The TV reminded him of his favorite TV show. "Isn't Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on during this hour?" He looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye.

"I don't think so." SpongeBob shook his head.

* * *

**Please review!**


	33. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II

**Chapter 33: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday evening...

SpongeBob and Squidward were walking towards their homes.

Squidward ignored SpongeBob as the sponge chattered about what he did at the Krusty Krab.

"Don't you find it funny when Krabby Patties stick to the plate? I remember one guy who ordered a deluxe and it took thirty minutes for him to eat the whole burger because the deluxe was completely stuck to the plate. The pieces left over on the plate took me a long time to clean when I washed the dishes." SpongeBob was talking about a moment that he thought was funny.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very interesting." Squidward droned so he can brush SpongeBob off of his shoulder. The sponge was annoying him. "I bet if you wrote all these stories you said into one book, you'll get a book thick enough to be a door-stopper."

"Imagine if the secret formula was really complex and the paper in the bottle was a book instead. Plankton wouldn't even try to steal the formula if he saw that." SpongeBob thought of a way to discourage Plankton from stealing the formula. The book that he imagined would be too heavy for the plankton to lift.

Squidward saw his tiki and smiled. He briskly walked away from SpongeBob and towards his tiki.

"See ya later, Squid!" SpongeBob waved and walked towards the pineapple.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hi, Gary." SpongeBob greeted his pet.

Gary was watching TV while laying on the couch.

"Can I see the remote for a sec?" SpongeBob took the remote and pressed the 'GUIDE' button.

The TV showed the TV show schedule for Channel 21. 'The New Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy' was going to start in less than five minutes.

SpongeBob gasped and pressed the 'GUIDE' button again.

The TV screen returned to normal.

SpongeBob ran to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed Patrick's number with ultra-fast fingers and put the phone near his ear. He wanted to watch the TV show with his best friend.

A pause.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Patrick walked to the shell-phone and picked it up.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Hello?_" Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

"Pat, come to my place really fast! Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy is gonna begin!" SpongeBob yelled into the phone.

"_Can you wait for a few more seconds? I bought some cereal for this occasion._"

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the shell-phone down and ran to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on the couch and anxiously waited for his friend.

A very long pause.

**S-SLAM**

Patrick barged the front door open and closed it. He was holding a box of 'Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Bran' cereal, a spoon, and a bowl. "Is there any milk?" He looked around the living room.

"Why would you eat cereal in the evening?" SpongeBob thought that cereal was supposed to be eaten during breakfast.

Patrick shrugged.

"The milk's in the kitchen." SpongeBob pointed at an open doorway.

Patrick ran through the doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick opened the refrigerator and took out a gallon of milk. He walked to the table and put the bowl on the table. He quickly opened the gallon and poured some milk into the bowl. He then opened the box of cereal and poured some cereal into the bowl. The starfish then ran back to the fridge, put the gallon back into the fridge, and closed the fridge. He grabbed the bowl and briskly walked to the living room instead of running. He knew that if he ran, the contents of the bowl would be spilled to the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick sat with SpongeBob.

The title of the TV show with the swirling background appeared on the TV screen.

"_Mermaid Man... fleet and forceful!_"

Mermaid Man flew to the screen before a black background and stood behind the screen. That episode of the show now had special effects.

"_By the power of Neptune aided by his young ward..."_

Barnacle Boy didn't came. Mermaid Man sweatdropped.

An awkward pause. Almost all of those episodes in that TV show were unedited and were recorded in one shot.

Patrick giggled as he ate his cereal.

"_Aided by his young ward..._"

**THUD**

Barnacle Boy fell to the floor. Even though the special effects made the rope invisible, it was obvious by that point that Barnacle Boy was tied to a rope. Barnacle Boy even took the 'invisible' rope off his body.

"_...protecting the sea with feats of strength and agility._"

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy tried to flex their muscles. They eventually broke their backs instead.

A pause.

"_To the chiropractor. Away!"_ Mermaid Man ran towards something that was outside the view of the camera.

Barnacle Boy followed Mermaid Man.

"_By beating a rogue gallery of villains. Like the Sinister Slug..._"

A menacing slug that was wearing a purple costume appeared on the screen.

"_...the Atomic Flounder..._"

A flounder wearing a blue suit with a nuclear symbol on it appeared on the screen. He was glaring at the screen.

"._..and the dreaded Jumbo Shrimp._"

A shrimp that was physically fit and was stretching his large muscles appeared on the screen.

"_Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy unite!_"

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy walked back to the screen and united their golden backs were no longer broken.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Wow..." SpongeBob and Patrick said the same word at the same time. The plot and ending of the episode had surprised them. The two could not take their eyes off the screen as they watched the episode.

The two friends looked at their surroundings with wide eyes. Time flew by so fast and the two had looked at the TV for so long that they looked at the living room as if they never seen it before.

"Meow." Gary tried to shake them back to their senses.

"Don't worry, Gary. We're okay." SpongeBob beamed and pet the snail.

Patrick rapidly blinked his eyes to moisten them. His eyes were somewhat red due to him looking at the TV screen for a long time without blinking.

"_Hey kids, there is an art contest going on right now._"

The TV show was not over.

"Huh?" The two best friends spoke at the same time and looked at the TV again.

"_In order to participate, you must mail in a sculpture or painting of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The first place winner gets to receive a special secret collector's item from The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. When you're finished with your creation, send it to this address:_"

An address appeared on the screen. It was: '527 Trout Street'.

SpongeBob gasped. "Isn't that the address for Shady Shoals?!" His eyes widened.

The two best friends became excited at the possibility of getting a collector's item.

"_We will be deciding our winner tomorrow morning. The first place winner will have their name be announced first._"

The TV show ended and switched to a commercial.

Patrick's stomach gurgled.

"Is there any Krabby Patties in your house, Sponge?" Patrick was still hungry after eating the cereal. "All of that excitement's making me hungry again." Patrick put the empty bowl and box of cereal on the floor.

A large light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Pat, you wanna make a Krabby Patty replica of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy? We could win the contest, you never know." SpongeBob said his idea out loud.

"Can I have a sandwich instead?" Patrick stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"Sure, Pat." SpongeBob jogged to the kitchen. He wanted his idea to become reality right away.

S-S-S-S-S

The two entered the kitchen.

"Do you want barnacle loaf or peanut butter and jelly?" SpongeBob opened a wooden cabinet and took out a plastic bag of bread. He put the bag on the table and opened it. He took out two slices of bread.

"I want both. It'll make me full for longer." Patrick patted his belly. He enjoyed eating excessive meals.

"Alright." SpongeBob opened the fridge and took out a jar of peanut butter and jelly and some barnacle load that was on a plate. He then walked to the table and put them on the table. He karate-chopped the barnacle loaf and made a few perfectly cut slices. The sponge stepped to another cabinet and opened it.

Patrick sat on a seat in front of the table.

SpongeBob took out a butter knife and walked back to the table. He opened the jar and dipped the knife into the peanut butter and jelly. He then spread the peanut butter and jelly over both slices of bread. He also put the slices of barnacle loaf on the slices of bread and put them together to form a sandwich. "Here you go." Spongebob gave the large sandwich to Patrick.

Patrick opened his mouth and ate the sandwich in one gulp.

A pause.

**BUUURRRRP**

Patrick burped.

SpongeBob walked back to the fridge and took out a plate full of spare Krabby Patties. He then closed the fridge and set the plate on the table.

Patrick moved one of his hands towards the plate of Krabby Patties. The sea star licked his lips, his appetite was endless as long as delicious food was in his eyesight.

"Uh-uh." SpongeBob shook his head and moved the plate away from Patrick. "You already ate the sandwich. I'm using these patties to make the sculptures."

Patrick made a long face and pouted. "Awww..." He sighed.

SpongeBob knew better than to let Patrick get what he wants. He learned his lesson after playing with the hooks with the sea star. The sponge grabbed some buns from the burgers and began to build the base of the pair of the sculptures.

S-S-S-S-S

Three hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished building the sculpture. He wiped some sweat off his brow and took a deep breath.

A pair of sculptures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stood on top of a pedestal made out of Krabby Patty buns. The sculptures themselves were made out of the other parts of the Krabby Patties. Each sculptures was five times the size of SpongeBob's hand.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers to grab Patrick's attention.

Patrick woke us and yawned. He sat up in his seat and wiped his eyes until his vision was clear. "W-what happened?"

"I'm done with the sculptures." SpongeBob smiled and pointed at the pair of sculptures.

The smell of the Krabby Patties made Patrick's mouth water. "Can I eat it?" Patrick asked.

"Don't do it!" SpongeBob hugged the pair of sculptures. "I worked really hard to make them." He said what he had done for the past three hours.

"Oh." Patrick made a deadpan face. "So what're we gonna do now? Why did you make those sculptures anyway?" He completely forgot about the art contest.

"It's for the contest. Remember that collector's item that the first place winner will get as a prize?They talked about that in the TV show we watched." SpongeBob tried to spur Patrick's memory.

Patrick remembered the announcement of the contest on TV. "Oh yeah!" He smiled at his own little victory.

A pause.

"You need my help with that?" Patrick looked at the sculptures of the superheroes closely.

"Yeah. I don't want these to fall to the floor." SpongeBob grabbed one side of the sculptures' pedestal.

Patrick stood up and grabbed the other side. "Where are we going?"

"To the post office. We're gonna deliver this to that address showed on the TV." SpongeBob explained what he and Patrick were about to do.

The two friends lifted up the statue with ease and slowly walked out of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"Gary, can you open the door for us?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Gary as the snail still watched the television.

"Meow." Gary slithered out of the couch and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

...opened the front door by slithering on the handle.

"Thanks." SpongeBob spoke. He walked towards the doorway while his back was facing it.

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the pineapple while carrying the pair of sculptures.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Gary closed the front door.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards the post office. They were careful to not step or trip on anything that could make the sculptures fall to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stood in front of the office.

A mailman that just exited the post office saw what the two friends were carrying. "You're gonna send that for the art contest?" He recognized what the pair of sculptures were supposed to resemble.

Patrick nodded. "Yep."

"A flood of kids came here a while ago bringing all of sorts of weird drawings." The mailman opened the double door for the sponge and the starfish.

**C-CRREEAAK**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the post office. According to the mailman's words, the competition might be fierce. "Thank you." They spoke at the same time.

"Good luck." The kind mailman walked down the street. He had his own route to deliver letters to.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the main desk while still carrying the Krabby Patty sculptures. Their hands were becoming tired.

"We wanna deliver this to 527 Trout Street a. k. a. Shady Shoals." SpongeBob spoke to the employee behind the desk.

"Just fill this paper out." The employee slid an application across the desk and towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob and Patrick gently put the pair of sculptures to the floor.

SpongeBob took out a pencil from his pocket and filled out the application. He wrote his name, his address, and the address he was sending to. Once he was finished, he passed the application back to the employee.

The employee exited the desk and taped the application to the pair of sculptures. "You guys are lucky. This place is about to close."

There were very few people inside the main lobby.

"You can put it in the truck." The employee pointed at a double door that led to a parking lot.

SpongeBob and Patrick picked up the pair of sculptures and walked towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

They opened the double door and entered the parking lot.

S-S-S-S-S

The parking lot was full of parked trucks. There was only one truck which had the backdoor of its small trailer open.

SpongeBob and Patrick carried the sculptures to that truck and put them inside the truck.

A mailman walked up to the truck and closed the backdoor of the trailer. He walked to the actual truck and opened one of the doors. He entered the truck and closed the door.

A pause.

The engine of the truck turned on.

SpongeBob and Patrick backed away from the truck by several steps.

The truck moved in reverse and got out of its spot in the parking lot. It then drove out of the parking lot through an open gate.

S-S-S-S-S

"Well that was quick." Patrick made an observation.

The two re-entered the post office.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends walked across the main lobby and towards the entrance of the post office.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the post office.

S-S-S-S-S

The two friends walked towards their homes.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"See you tomorrow, Pat." SpongeBob waved at Patrick and walked towards the pineapple.

"You too, Sponge." Patrick smiled and walked towards his rock.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered their homes at the same time.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

SpongeBob turned off the lights in his bedroom. He was still wearing his normal clothes. He walked towards the bed and laid down on it. He put the blanket over himself. "Good night, Gary."

Gary slithered to the pile of newspapers. "Good night, owner."

SpongeBob closed his eyes and became still.

Gary closed his eyes.

The two fell asleep within a few minutes.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**HHOOOOONNNNNNNNK**

The foghorn announced the beginning of the day.

SpongeBob immediate woke up after hearing the foghorn and turned it off. He yawned and stood up from his bed. He wiped his eyes until his vision was clear. "Morning, Gary."

Gary opened his eyes. "I wanna sleep a little bit more." He was drowsy.

"Go ahead. Don't sleep for too long though." SpongeBob walked towards the right door.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

After eating his breakfast and brushing his teeth, SpongeBob sat on the couch and turned on the television. He noticed that an empty bowl and a box of 'Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Bran' cereal was on the floor. 'Pat forgot his stuff.' He thought. The box of cereal was a reminder for why SpongeBob decided to watch TV in the morning. He was waiting for the winners of the contest to be announced.

SpongeBob changed the channel to Channel 21. He watched several commercials before a swirling background appeared on the TV screen.

"_We will now announce the winners for the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy art contest._"

SpongeBob gasped and crossed his fingers. He hoped that he became the first place winner.

"_As stated before, our first place winner will receive a special collector's item from The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy._"

SpongeBob's feet shook. The sponge could not contain his excitement.

"_And the winner is..._" A drumroll played on the TV.

SpongeBob's body shook. He was about to explode in anticipation.

"_SpringBoob SquarePin._"

SpongeBob became heavily disappointed. "Awww. I worked forever on those Krabby Patty sculptures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy." He thought that his effort had been wasted.

"_...for these Krabby Patty sculptures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy._" A picture of the sculptures appeared on the TV screen.

"Hey! SpringBoob SquirePin stole my idea!" SpongeBob became extremely irritated. The idea of someone doing the same thing as him and winning seemed unfair to him.

Someone whispered something to the TV announcer. "_What's that? Oh. It appears I've made a slight error in pronunciation. The real name of the winner is... SpongeBob SquarePants!_"

"WHAHOO!" SpongeBob jumped out of the couch and landed on the floor. He smiled from ear to ear. He then jumped up and down in excitement and joy. "Oh, I wonder when my prize will get here." He anticipated the arrival of the person delivering the prize. His effort in making the sculptures was not wasted after all.

"What's going on?" Gary slithered into the living room.

"I just won the art contest. I'm gonna get a prize!" SpongeBob explained to Gary about what just happened.

"Oh, okay." Gary slithered to the couch and changed the channel with the remote.

SpongeBob walked back and forth across the room as he waited for his prize.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Someone knocked on the front door.

SpongeBob ran to the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...opened it.

A mailman gave him a box.

"Thanks!" SpongeBob was still grinning.

The mailman walked away and entered a truck.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door. He then put the box on the floor. The sponge took off the tape that sealed the lids of the box and he slowly opened the box.

A small shell was inside the box.

"Can it be?" SpongeBob was in disbelief at what he was seeing. "It is." He took the shell and was careful to not drop it to the floor. "The Conch Signal." The sponge held up the Conch Signal and stared at it in awe. "From the Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy." The sponge glanced at the TV for a few seconds. "As seen on TV. I wonder if it still works." SpongeBob turned around and looked at the front door. "Only one way to find out."

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put his mouth into the opening of the shell and blew into it. It made its signature off-key sound.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were sitting on rocking chairs and were enjoying the fresh air of the morning.

They abruptly heard the sound of the Conch Signal.

"The Conch Signal!" Mermaid Man stood up from his seat. He recognized that sound from his days as a young superhero.

Barnacle Boy stood up as well.

"To the Invisible Boatmobile!" Mermaid Man walked to certain spot on the ground.

Barnacle Boy stood next to him.

Mermaid Man took out a small remote with only one button and pressed the button.

The spot on the ground opened like a trapdoor. The two fell through the opening.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy slid down a large pipe that led to the Mermalair. They had hired construction workers to build that shortcut to their base.

S-S-S-S-S

**T-THUD**

The two superheroes landed on the floor of the Mermalair. It was a miracle that they stood up without breaking any of their bones.

The two could not see the boatmobile, as implied by the name. The two thought that the pipe led them directly to the Invisible Boatmobile but they were not sitting in any invisible seats.

"Uhh, Mermaid Man?" Barnacle Boy looked around the Mermalair.

"Yes, Barnacle Boy?"

"We're not in the invisible boat mobile, are we?" Barnacle Boy knew that they were not sitting in any vehicle.

"Uhh, no." Mermaid Man shook his head and walked through the Mermalair in search of the boatmobile.

"I told you a long time ago that making the boatmobile invisible was a stupid idea." Barnacle Boy remembered his comment on the Invisible Boatmobile when he first saw it as a young sidekick.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Mermaid Man held out his hands against the open air. He was trying to find the boatmobile by touching it.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere..." Barnacle Boy walked towards a metal circle that was in front of a large garage door.

CLANK

His head hit something invisible. "Ow!" Barnacle Boy rubbed his forehead in pain.

Mermaid Man walked towards the metal circle as well. He was still holding out his hands and felt something metallic without seeing it. "Found it!" He entered the Invisible Boatmobile and sat in the driver's seat.

Barnacle Boy entered the vehicle. He sat next to Mermaid Man. "Ignition..." He pressed a button. "...on."

Fire came out of the back of the boatmobile.

"Throttle..." Mermaid Man pulled the shift stick backwards. "...on." He took out another remote that had more than one button and pressed the blue button.

The garage door opened to reveal a carved pathway.

Mermaid Man stepped on the pedal.

The Invisible Boatmobile drove at a lightning-fast speed through the pathway.

S-S-S-S-S

The Invisble Boatmovile reached the end of the pathway and drove through a large hole in the ground. The boatmobile was driving towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Maybe the Conch Signal doesn't work anymore." SpongeBob frowned in disappointment. He expected his favorite superheroes to come to his pineapple. He grabbed the handle of the door.

**SSSSCCCRRRRREEEEEECCCCCHH**

The Invisible Boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob's house.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy exited the vehicle and walked towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned around and gasped. The Conch Signal actually worked.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Gary opened the front door to see what was going on outside. He had heard the loud screech. "Meow meow."

"I can't believe it, Gary. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, coming to our home." SpongeBob whispered to Gary. He then put both of his hands over his mouth and jumped up and down in excitement.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stood in front of SpongeBob.

"Excuse me, I'm-" SpongeBob was introducing himself but got interrupted.

Mermaid Man's eyes bugged out and he pointed at the yellow sponge. "Oh, my Neptune, he's been horribly disfigured. Oh, blast us! We're too late." He thought that SpongeBob had a severe injury due to the shape of his body.

"Oh, please. He's not disfigured. H-he's just that sponge kid again." Barnacle Boy recognized SpongeBob.

"Oh, yeah. Good to see you, lad." Mermaid Man calmed down. "Say, Barnacle Boy, we gotta find out where that Conch Signal came from." The old man looked at his surroundings in search of the Conch Signal.

"Oh, that was me. I blew the Conch Signal, sir." SpongeBob made a serious facial expression and held out the Conch Signal.

"Alright. Where's the danger, son? Bring it on. Bring it on!" Mermaid Man palmed his fist.

"Don't worry. There's no danger." SpongeBob spoke the truth.

"No danger?" Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy spoke in unison. They raised their brows.

"Look, there has to be danger. You blew the Conch Signal. When you blow the..." Barnacle Boy was explaining the proper use of the Conch Signal when a question popped up in his mind. "Where'd you get that thing anyway?"

"I won it in a contest. I blew it because I wanted to test it out. It was really old so I thought it might've no longer worked." SpongeBob answered the question and also explained his reason for blowing into the Conch Signal.

"Oh yeah!" Barnacle Boy remembered him and Mermaid Man critiquing the submissions for the art contest. The two had decided that SpongeBob's creation deserved 1st place. "Anyways, look, Spongy, that ain't no toy."

"That's right. The Conch Signal is an awesome responsibility. We're duty-bound to help whenever it sounds." Mermaid Man explained the use of the Conch Signal.

"But you only blow it when there's trouble, or there'll be trouble. You got that?" Barnacle Boy went more in-depth with the explanation. Since him and Mermaid Man did not know who was blowing the Conch Signal when the shell makes that sound, it would become annoying if they constantly find out that SpongBob was blowing into the shell.

"Yes, sir." SpongeBob nodded.

"Good boy." Mermaid Man patted SpongeBob.

SpongeBob and Mermaid Man snapped their fingers and pointed at each other.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. They're serving their serving barnacle loaf today." Barnacle Boy looked at the Invisible Boatmobile. He was hungry.

"Oh, goody." Mermaid Man turned around and walked towards the vehicle.

The two superheroes entered the Invisible Boatmobile.

"Don't worry, Mermaid Man. You won't be hearing from me for just anything. Only for the big emergencies." SpongeBob made a military salute at the superhero duo.

**VRRROOOOOMMMMMM**

The Invisible Boatmobile drove towards the horizon.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Gary entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was watching TV with Gary.

SpongeBob's stomach gurgled. The bowl of cereal he had for breakfast was not enough to satisfy his hunger.

"I'll just eat a quick snack." SpongeBob stood up from the couch and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a cabinet and took out the plastic bag of bread. He took out two slices from the bag and opened the fridge. He took out a jar of mayonnaise and closed the fridge. The sponge decided to eat a different type of sandwich instead of the usual peanut butter and jelly one. He put the two pieces of bread on the table and tried to open the mayonnaise jar.

The lid of the jar would not budge.

SpongeBob used all of the strength in his arm.

The lid still would not move.

'I think this is an emergency.' SpongeBob thought as his stomach gurgled again. He did not want to start the day on a semi-empty stomach. He took out the Conch Signal and blew into it.

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Barnacle Boy was inside a bathroom. He knocked on the door of one of the stalls. "Will you hurry up in there? And save me some hot water!" The sidekick was waiting for Mermaid Man to finish his business.

The Conch Signal was heard.

"THE CONCH SIGNAL!" Mermaid Man immediately flushed the toilet and wiped himself with the toilet paper.

**SLAM**

Mermaid Man barged the stall door open, the door hit Barnacle Boy in the face. "Come young ward." He signaled for his sidekick to follow him and he quickly exited the bathroom.

"Coming!" Barnacle Boy shook back to his senses and followed Mermaid Man.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sweating profusely. He struggled to move the jar's lid by even one inch. He collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

S-S-S-S-S

**SCCCRRRREEEEECCCH**

The Invisible Boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob's pineapple.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy exited the vehicle and ran towards the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

The two superheroes barged the front door open and jumped into the living room. They saw SpongeBob laying on the floor inside the kitchen and ran into that room.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man widened his eyes in shock. "Ohh, youth. Cut down in his prime." The old man fell to his knees and lifted SpongeBob to his face.

SpongeBob moaned.

"Oh, speak to me son." Mermaid Man bit his lip. He was assuming that SpongeBob was dying due to him lying on the floor.

"Help... can't... open mayonnaise." SpongeBob slowly and shakily held out a jar of mayonnaise. He managed to get a few words out of his mouth.

"WHAT?!" Barnacle Boy raised his brow. "We came all the way here just to open a jar of mayonnaise." The sidekick folded his arms and glared at the sponge. He did not think that SpongeBob's situation was an emergency.

The superhero duo and the sponge had different definitions for emergency.

"But-" Spongebob was going to explain his situation but got interrupted by Barnacle Boy.

"But nothing. We can't go around socializing, we have to be prepared for emergencies." Barnacle Boy spoke in a stern voice.

Strangely, Mermaid Man understood why SpongeBob blew the Conch Signal. "Barnacle Boy, think about it. Emergencies don't come around as often as they used to." He was aware of the fact that most of the supervillains that the duo had fought in the past were retired.

Barnacle Boy took a deep breath and thought deeply. The last time he and Mermaid Man fought a supervillain was more than fifteen years ago.

A pause.

"Alright, okay. You can blew the Conch every one in a while. Just give us something to do when we show up." Barnacle Boy altered the deal between him, Mermaid Man; and SpongeBob. He was trying to be more sympathetic to the yellow square. He took the jar of mayonnaise from the sponge's hand and opened the lid.

"Yay!" Life returned to SpongeBob and he jumped from the floor. He grabbed the mayonnaise jar. He then opened a drawer and took out a butter knife. He spread the mayonnaise to the slices of bread.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Barnacle Boy closed the front door.

The two superheroes entered the Invisible Boatmobile.

**VVRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMM**

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was watching Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as they constantly entered and exited SpongeBob's pineapple. He was trying to figure out why the superhero duo were constantly entering the pineapple after hearing a weird sound.

Unknown to Patrick, SpongeBob was blowing the Conch Signal for every singe 'emergency' he had. This ranged from losing something and not knowing where it is to having problems with the plumbing of the pineapple. The sponge's conception of 'once in a while' was entirely different from the superhero duo's conception of that term.

The sound of the Conch Signal was heard.

'There it goes again.' Patrick thought.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were exhausted. The two had done numerous tasks for SpongeBob.

"Must... must answer the call..." Mermaid Man was sweating profusely. He struggled to speak and...

**THUD**

...collapsed to the ground.

"We're exhausted." Barnacle Boy stated the obvious.

SpongeBob was standing before the open doorway. "I'm sorry, Barnacle Boy. I didn't mean it. I just wanted to spend time with you. You're my heroes!" The sponge said the reason for constantly blowing the Conch Signal, his intentions were not malicious.. He knew that most of what he asked for were not emergencies. His eyes moistened and he began to weep. The sponge also knew that his favorite superheroes will not tolerate his behavior for much longer.

"It's too late for that, Mr. Contest Winner. I'm gonna destroy this thing with my..." Barnacle Boy snatched the Conch Signal from SpongeBob's hand. He wanted the endless labor to end. "...**sulfur vision**." He stared at the shell and super-hot red lasers came out of his eyes.

The lasers could not reach the shell and returned to the sidekick's eyes. Barnacle Boy was too tired to use his sulfur vision to its maximum potential. ""Well I'll destroy it when I get back to the, uh, Mermalair." He stomped towards the Invisible Boatmobile.

"Barnacle Boy, don't squash his enthusiasm. After all, he could be the hero of tomorrow, or the villain. Besides, I remember another young whipper-snapper, who wanted to be a super-hero." Mermaid Man shakily stood up and made a slight smile. He remembered the time when Barnacle Boy was a kid and dreamed of being a superhero.

"You don't even remember breakfast, you old coot." Barnacle Boy narrowed his eyes at Mermaid Man. He was not pleased with the fact that Mermaid Man was on SpongeBob's side and said those words.

SpongeBob began to bawl after hearing what Barnacle Boy said.

Mermaid Man walked up to SpongeBob and put a hand on the sponge's shoulder. "Maybe the Conch Signal is too much responsibility. But how would you like to spend the rest of the morning on patrol?" The superhero had an idea in his mind.

"What?" Barnacle Boy raised his brow.

SpongeBob stopped crying and wiped the tears from his face.

Patrick could not believe what he was seeing. "Wow." Only one word could come out of his mouth. 'I wanna be a superhero too. I bet it would be super cool.' He thought. The sea star walled up to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

"What do you want?" Barnacle Boy noticed the sea star and recognized him.

"Can I be a superhero too?" Patrick asked.

"You must be a friend of this sponge lad right here, right?" Mermaid Man recognized the sea star as well and pointed at SpongeBob.

"He's my best friend." SpongeBob beamed and nodded.

"I don't think another extra member to the crew would be bad. We'll see if you have what it takes." Mermaid Man nodded.

"Yes!" Patrick grinned, whispered loudly to himself, and pumped his fist.

"Anyways, to the Invisible Boatmobile!" Mermaid Man held out a finger and walked towards the boatmobile.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed him.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head.

"Don't we need costumes? All superheroes need them." Patrick pointed out a fact.

Barnacle Boy took out a spare pair of the goggles that he wore and a spare sailor hat of the one that was on his head. He gave the goggles to SpongeBob and the sailor hat to Patrick. He wanted to make sure that SpongeBob and Patrick did not desire to use the Conch Signal and wanted to the superheroes instead.

SpongeBob took off his pants and his underwear remained.

Patrick did what SpongeBob did as well. His underwear was also left over

SpongeBob put on the goggles.

Patrick put on the sailor hat.

The two best friends now somewhat resembled superheroes.

The four entered the Invisible Boatmobile.

Mermaid Man sat in the driver's seat and twisted the keyhole.

The engine of the vehicle became turned on.

"You better put on your seat belts, this thing goes really fast." Mermaid Man looked at SpongeBob and Patrick from the corner of his eye. He warned the two friends for their safety.

SpongeBob and Patrick touched their seats until they could find their seat belts. Once they found the seat belts, the two put them on.

Barnacle Boy pressed the ignition button.

Fire came out of the back end of the boatmobile.

Mermaid Man pulled the shift stick backwards.

**VVVRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

The boatmobile drove at a super-fast speed. It disappeared from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Invisble Boatmobile was driving at a lower speed. The four superheroes were patrolling Bikini Bottom.

"Jingle bells, Mermaid Man smells, Barnacle Boy laid an egg, The invisible boat mobile, lost a wheel and..." SpongeBob, Mermaid Man, and Patrock were singing in unison but SpongeBob said something and interrupted the song.

"Hey, can I drive?" SpongeBob looked at the steering wheel that Mermaid Man was grasping. He wanted to test the limits of his driving skills. The sponge thought that the worst-case scenario would be to cause a minor accident.

"Drive? What do you know about driving the Invisible Boatmobile?" Barnacle Boy was skeptical of the possibility of SpongeBob driving the Invisible Boatmobile. The controls of the vehicle were rather complex.

"Tons. Like the windshield wipers are right here." SpongeBob leaned forward and inched his index finger towards a button.

"Don't touch that button, that's the-" Barnacle Boy was saying something but it was too late.

The wheels of the boatmobile retracted and invisible wings came out of its sides. The Invisible Boatmobile became an Invisible Jet. The jet flew to the air.

"...jet button." Barnacle Boy finished his sentence.

Patrick looked at the ground below him with wonder. The other times he saw the ground from a high altitude was when he was on the rocket and when he was on the airplane.

Mermaid Man pulled the control wheel that used to be a steering shell towards himself.

The jet flew at a certain speed towards the ground.

Barmacle Boy pressed the jet button.

**CLANK**

The Invisible Boatmobile fell back to the road.

"That was fun! Can we do that again?" Patrick was shaking in excitement as he sat in his seat.

"No." Barnacle Boy shook his head.

"When you patrol in the city, you'll always have to be vigilante. On your toes. Constantly alert. Always expect the unexpected." Mermaid Man spoke to SpongeBob and Patrick as he drove the boat. He was trying to teach them how to be superheroes.

The four were in the downtown area by that point.

Mermaid Man made the Invisible Boatmobile stop in front of a red traffic light. He saw an old man crossing the street that looked familiar to him. The superhero pointed at the old man. "Oh, that fellow over there used to be the Atomic Flounder. I know that he doesn't look like much, but he could go back to crime..." He snapped his fingers. "...just like that." Mermaid Man then laughed.

SpongeBob gasped and took off his seat belt. He jumped out of the Invisible Boatmobile and ran towards the old man. He wanted to prevent a potential threat for Bikini Bottom to cause any mayhem. He grabbed both of the man's arms and put them behind the old man's back.

"Help! Help! Help somebody here." The Atomic Flounder tried to shake SpongeBob off of him.

"You're under arrest, Atomic Flounder." SpongeBob glared at the retired supervillain and spoke in a serious voice. He then looked at Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. "You guys got any handcuffs?" He smiled nervously and sweatdropped.

"Sponge, I think you're gonna make the old man mad." Patrick's face was somewhat drained of color. He did not have any real superpowers so the potential power of the Atomic Flounder made him afraid of the old man. His intelligence had increased by several degrees so the starfish could now think of the consequences of his actions.

"Stop, kid. Stop! Let him go." Mermaid Man held out a hand to signal for SpongeBob to stop.

"But you said he could snap..." SpongeBob snapped his fingers. "...just like that." The sponge took Mermaid Man's joke seriously. He was trying to be a superhero so he carefully listened to the superhero duo's advice.

"What? Get off of me. If I weren't retired, I'd, I'd..." The old man's face turned red as he lost his temper. He screamed and a small laser came out of his mouth.

The laser hit the street and...

**BOOM**

...created a small explosion. A tiny crater was left over.

"...do that!" The Atomic Flounder managed to shake SpongeBob off of his body. "Out of my way, punk." He stomped to the other side of the street.

SpongeBob tip-toed back to the Invisible Boatmobile and sat in his seat. He put his seat belt back on. "Heheh. I think I got carried away." The sponge scratched the back of his head and made a slight smile.

Barnacle Boy was not amused. "Oh no. You went way more far than getting carried away. You've put your life in danger just from trying to arrest the Atomic Flounder. Unless you have a superpower that you can use against him, you're no match for that guy." The sidekick brought reality back to SpongeBob's mind.

"But superheroes have to work for the common good. Even if I died due to arresting the Atomic Flounder, at least hundreds or thousands of lives could be saved." SpongeBob expressed his inner thoughts.

"But you're not a superhero... yet. You and that starfish are only patrolling with us for the morning. You're more like civilians or interns to us so we can't risk your safety." Barnacle Boy countered what SpongeBob said.

"Oh." SpongeBob became quiet and made a neutral facial expression.

Patrick noticed something about Barnacle Boy. "I know this is off-topic but doesn't Barnacle Boy look like Squidward?" The starfish was suppressing a smirk to the best of his ability.

SpongeBob gasped. "Dear Neptune, he does! They both have a big nose and are skinny." He was giggling.

"He and Squidward also kinda have the same voice. Although Barnacle Boy's voice is more deep." Patrick made another observation that he thought was humorous.

"Who's Squidward?" Barnacle Boy wanted to know who this look-alike was.

"Squidward's a neighbor and friend of ours." SpongeBob answered the question. "He lives in that tiki between my house and Patrick's house."

"I'm guessing he's a squid, right?" Barnacle Boy assumed that Squidward was a squid due to his name.

"Nope. He's an octopus." Patrick answered the question. "His name's just a name."

Mermaid Man was not paying attention to SpongeBob, Patrick, and Barnacle Boy's conversation. "I don't know what you whipper-snappers are talking about but, are you hungry Barnacle Boy?" The superheroes did not have time to eat the barnacle loaf. The two were busy inside the bathroom at Shady Shoals before the Conch Signal was blown for the second time.

"Yep. We didn't get time to eat the barnacle loaf." Barnacle Boy nodded. His stomach was empty.

Mermaid Man steered the boatmobile towards a diner.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Invisible Boatmobile parked in front of a diner.

The four superheroes exited the vehicle and walked towards the diner.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mermaid Man opened the double door and the four entered the diner.

S-S-S-S-S

"Just sit at the table while me and Mermaid Man order some food." Barnacle Boy pointed at an empty table.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to that table and sat in it.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy walked up to a line of waiting people.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sat a table while carrying a tray each. Each tray had a cup of coffee and a few slices of cooked barnacle loaf.

"I can't believe it: we rode the Invisible Boatmovile and I met a villain." SpongeBob was talking to Patrick.

"Uh, uh, say, kids, why don't you take this nickel and go up there and see if our theme song is on the jukebox?" Barnacle Boy pointed at a jukebox that was on one of the room's walls. He slid a nickel towards the two best friends.

"Okay." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time and stood up.

SpongeBob grabbed the nickel.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the jukebox.

"You know, for a pain in the neck, those two are pretty nice kids." Mermaid Man made a comment about SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Let's ditch him." Barnacle Boy stated the reason for making SpongeBob and Patrick do that favor.

"I'm right behind you." Mermaid Man nodded.

The two superheroes stood up while still holding their plates.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked through all of the discs that were on the jukebox. There was a large stack of discs on top of the jukebox and none had 'theme song' in their name.

"It doesn't seem to be here." SpongeBob stated the progress of his and Patrick's search.

"Oh, it's here alright." Barnacle Boy lied.

Barnacle Boy and Mermaid Man took a few steps towards the double door.

"Keep looking. Diligence. Diligence." Mermaid Man smirked and made a thumbs-up. He encouraged the two friends to continue their search.

"Aye, aye, sir." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke in unison and made military salutes without looking at their favorite heroes.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy tip-toed towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The superhero duo exited the diner.

S-S-S-S-S

"Dagnabbit." Barnacle Boy could not remember where the Invisible Boatmobile was. He held out his hands so he can find the vehicle by feeling.

"What's the matter?" Mermaid Man scratched his head.

"Where did we park the Invisible Boatmobile?" Barnacle Boy could not find the boatmobile. He accidentally bumped into a trash can that was invisible to others and made the lid fall to the ground. The trash can could only be seen by Mermaid Man and him.

"Boatmobile, where are you?" Mermaid Man held out his hands and tried to touch the boatmobile as well.

A pause.

"Barnacle Boy, I found it." Mermaid Man touched the Invisible Boatmobile. He hopped into the vehicle.

Barnacle Boy entered the vehicle as well.

Mermaid Man noticed an opened trash can that was near the diner. It seemed to be familiar and reminded him of the duo's last fight with a supervillain. "Barnacle Boy, did you remember what happened seventeen years ago?"

Barnacle Boy became slightly surprised at the fact that Mermaid Man remembered something deep in the past. "Yeah. We were fighting the Dirty Bubble."

Mermaid Man went deep into his mind to get a more accurate recollection of the event. "Weren't we fighting him near a diner?" The old man remembered another detail.

Barnacle Boy nodded. "We sealed him inside a trash can. We made that trash can invisible to anybody except for us with a special gadget." He said what he remembered out loud. He remembered that fight as if it happened last week. "We didn't want anyone to open it by chance."

"We should've used that gadget for the Invisible Boatmobile. Too bad the paint on the car is permanent." Mermaid Man was suddenly having a good memory. He did not have a poor memory all the time; he had signs of his former youth from time to time.

Barnacle Boy looked to the side and saw an open trash can. His eyes widened and his face drained of color. He made a horrific realization.

"**Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheh.**" A sinister yet familiar voice was heard.

Mermaid Man widened his eyes. "Who's that?!" He frantically looked at his surroundings for the source of the sound. His memory returned to normal.

A large brown bubble began to come out of the trash can.

**THUD**

Barnacle Boy jumped to the ground and narrowed his eyes at the trash can. "It's the Dirty Bubble!" He announced who was coming out of the trash can and made that voice.

Mermaid Man gasped and jumped out of the vehicle as well.

The two superheroes made fighting stances.

A giant brown bubble managed to escape the trash can. It had creepy-looking eyes and a mourn similar to that of a jack-o-lantern. "It's as if time didn't pass at all." He made another evil giggle. "It won't be like last time, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."

All of trash inside the trash can was levitated out of the container. The Dirty Bubble's special ability was to move garbage through telekinesis.

The Dirty Bubble closed his eyes and concentrated on gathering trash that was near his location.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy formed water balls in their hands and threw them towards the Dirty Bubble.

The Dirty Bubble gathered the trash and formed a shield that covered his face.

Clank

Clank

The water balls hit the shield and did not damage it at all.

Barnacle Boy narrowed his eyes at the shield. "**Sulfur vision!**" Red lasers came out of his eyes.

The lasers began to melt the shield.

Mermaid Man swam around the Dirty Bubble at near-supersonic speeds. He formed a whirlpool that surrounded the Dirty Bubble.

The Dirty Bubble soared to the air and the shield of trash followed him.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy swam after the supervillain.

The Dirty Bubble lowered the trash shield towards the superhero duo at a rapid speed.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were swimming directly into the shield. They gasped and didn't had time to react.

**S-SMACK**

The two superheroes got hit by the shield.

**T-THUD**

**CRAASSH**

They fell to the ground with the shield. A pile of trash was on top of them.

The Dirty Bubble gathered an enormous amount of garbage from several parts of Bikini Bottom. "I'm gonna be leaving my mark on this town..." He formed the garbage into the shape of a pencil. "...with your lives first." He made the pencil of trash fall towards Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

The superhero duo stood up from the pile of garbage and shook back to their senses. They noticed that a shadow was enveloping them and looked up. They saw a large pencil of trash flying towards them as if it was a spear. The two immediately went into action by forming a giant water ball with their combined powers. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy threw the giant water ball towards the incoming trash pencil.

**SPLLAAAASSSHH**

The water ball broke the 'pencil' into numerous pieces of trash.

The Dirty Bubble turned the pieces of trash into small arrows.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy swam out of the way as fast as they could as the arrows rained to the ground.

One of the arrows hit the glass of the double door and pierced half-way through it.

The Dirty Bubble gathered even more trash to his location. He formed the trash into fists and aimed them towards the superhero duo. He then shot the trash fists at the two superheroes.

**CRRAASSH**

**CRRAASSH**

**CRRRAASH**

**CRRAASH**

**CRRAASSH**

The fists fell to the ground and exploded back into pieces of trash.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy had swam away from the fists.

S-S-S-S-S

People inside the diner heard loud sounds coming from outside. Customers stood up from their seats or walked way from the cashiers and looked through the windows. They saw the fight between the superhero duo and the Dirty Bubble unfold.

"What the hell's going on?!"

"Dear Neptune!"

"Why're those two flying?"

"Where did all of that trash came from?"

"What is that?" A customer noticed a trash arrow that pierced through the double door.

Nearly all of the customers inside the diner began to panic.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped looking through the disks and walked away from the jukebox. They looked through one of the windows out of curiousity.

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are fighting somebody!" SpongeBob immediately realized something and stated the obvious.

"That looks really cool!" Patrick smiled, clapped his hands, and jumped up and down in excitement. To him, watching the fight was like watching a live episode of 'The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy'. "I wanna see it up close." He said his thought out loud and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the diner. The sea star became stupid again and did not care about the consequences of his actions as a result.

"PAT, WAIT! YOU'RE GONNA GET HURT!" SpongeBob was concerned for the safety of his best friend.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the double door open and followed Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

The Dirty Bubble looked down and saw SpongeBob and Patrick. "Perfect." He whispered to himself. He would use those two civilians to trap Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The bubble formed the small arrows near the two best friends into large hands.

SpongeBob gasped as he saw the small arrows to his left side become a large hand.

The trash hand grabbed SpongeBob and squeezed him.

The Dirty Bubble lifted the hand towards himself.

"**HELLLP MEEEE!**" SpongeBob screamed in terror as he tried to escape the hand's grasp. He was at the mercy of the supervillain.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy looked up and gasped at the same time as they saw SpongeBob in the Dirty Bubble's clutches.

Patrick got grabbed by the other hand and was lifted to the bubble as well.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Patrick punched the hand of garbage in an attempt to break it. He sweatdropped when he noticed that he did not leave even a dent on the trash hand. The sea star became terrified as he thought about what the hand was going to do next.

The hands stopped soaring to the air.

The two best friends were enveloped by a shadow.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked up and saw the Dirty Bubble.

SpongeBob's face drained of color and he became speechless in utter shock. He did not expect the superhero duo to be fighting their arch-enemy at all.

"Woowww." Patrick marveled at the sight of the large bubble. 'I get to see my favorite superheroes' arch-nemesis up-close.' The sea star no longer showed any signs of fear. He felt honored instead of endangered.

"Hold on, lads!" Mermaid Man yelled.

The two superheroes swam towards the Dirty Bubble at their max speeds.

"Uh uh uh." The Dirty Bubble shook his head.

He formed the small arrows into large spears and made them fly toward SpongeBob and Patrick.

The two best friends saw the spears and winced.

The Dirty Bubble made the spears stop flying.

The spears were an inch away from SpongeBob and Patrick's heads.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stopped swimming and stayed 'afloat' by paddling their feet in place. They glared at the Dirty Bubble and folded their arms. The two superheroes were not going to fall for any of the supervillain's tricks.

"If you want me to let go of these two, you'll have to allow me to kill you." The Dirty Bubble was holding SpongeBob and Patrick as hostages. His sole intent was to kill his two arch-enemies.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sweatdropped and bit their lips. They could not decide on the option to spare SpongeBob and Patrick or the option to allow the Dirty Bubble to kill them to spare the lives of countless others. Both options were not better than the other; there were an equal amount of pros and cons for each option.

SpongeBob looked at the spears and a light bulb lit up in his head. He watched 'The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy' enough times to know all of the Dirty Bubble's weaknesses. He remembered filling out an application for the delivery of the sculptures to Shady Shoals with a pencil. The sponge squeezed his hand into his pocket and took out the pencil. He tried to stab the large bubble with the pencil.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The Dirty Bubble screamed in fright and lowered the fist grasping SpongeBob to the ground at an extremely fast speed.

The fist was flying to the ground like a meteor. A potentially fatal injury was guaranteed if SpongeBob hit the ground.

Mermaid Man swam towards the yellow square and pulled him out of the fist just in time.

**CRRRAAASSSH**

The fist of garbage hit the ground and left a small crater. A multitude of pieces of trash landed on the area surrounding the crater.

Barnacle Boy shot red lasers out of his eyes while the Dirty Bubble was not paying attention.

The large bubble was more concerned with getting rid of the threat that tried to pop him with the pencil. He noticed the red lasers at the last second and formed a thick shield out of the trash spears in less than a second.

The trash that the hand holding Patrick consisted of also became part of the shield.

Patrick succumbed to gravity and fell to the ground at a high speed. "AAAAHH!" He flailed his arms and legs.

Barnacle Boy stopped shooting the lasers from his eyes and flew towards Patrick. He caught the sea star in a bit more than a second.

The two superheroes flew to the ground and landed on it while carrying SpongeBob and Patrick. They the two best friends on the ground.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up.

"We're gonna need more manpower." Barnacle Boy closed his eyes.

Mermaid Man closed his eyes as well.

The superhero duo concentrated on gathering the police to their location.

"Sea creatures of the deep!" Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy yelled at the same time. Messages from their brains came out of their heads in the form of sound waves and went directly to nearby police stations.

The Dirty Bubble moved the thick shield until it was in front of his face just in case if the superhero duo makes an attack that he did not expect.

S-S-S-S-S

Police officers inside police stations and in the police stations' vicinity received the two superheroes' messages. They ran to their police cars and entered them. Red and blue lights flashed on the vehicles as the sirens blared. The vehicles drove towards Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's location.

S-S-S-S-S

Once the Dirty Bubble realized that the superhero duo were not going to attack him by surprise, he formed all of the garbage in the vicinity of his location into one giant hand. He made the hand fly towards the diner, he wanted to get more hostages to make Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy surrender.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy swam towards the trash hand and then stayed 'afloat' in front of the hand as it came closer and closer.

"**SULFUR VISION!" **The duo yelled at the same time as large red lasers came out of their eyes. The two there mustering a lot of power into their lasers.

The lasers hit the hand of garage and made it stop moving. The hand began to melt due to the heat of the lasers.

The Dirty Bubble concentrated on making the trash hand not melt and gathering even more garbage to his location. The bubble became absolutely still as he concentrated.

The trash hand did not melt as quickly as before and even began to repair itself. The hand flew closer and closer to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy against the lasers.

"Rrrrrggggh!" The two superheroes put all of the power that they could muster into the lasers from their eyes.

The stubborn hand continued to move.

SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth.

Patrick's eyes were wide open. He marveled at the magnificent fight going on before him.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy formed water balls in their hands. They did this slowly so that the water balls could be larger than normal.

The trash hand was several feet away from the superhero duo.

The waterballs in the two superheroes' hands were nearly as wide as their hand-spans and were almost as tall as them. The two then threw the water balls towards the hand of garbage. The lasers were still coming out of their eyes as they formed and threw the water balls.

**S-SPLLAAAASSSH**

The waterballs and the trash hand collided.

The trash hand moved back by a few feet.

"Young lads!" Mermaid Man called SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob looked up at Mermaid Man.

"Huh?" Patrick looked up at Mermaid Man as well.

"When the police comes over here, tell the people inside that diner to evacuate. This fight is becoming too dangerous to have any civilians nearby." Mermaid Man said a command.

"Roger!" SpongeBob made a military salute and made a solemn facial expression.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs up.

A pause.

"How do you know if the police is coming?" SpongeBob asked a question that was on his mind after hearing Mermaid Man's words.

"What?" Mermaid Man could not hear SpongeBob. The sounds of his and Barnacle Boy's lasers blocked out the sponge's voice.

The trash hand was a foot away from the superhero duo. If the duo did not move out of the way, the hand was bound to hit them.

The blaring of police sirens were abruptly heard.

SpongeBob gasped and looked towards the horizon.

A large amount of police cars drove across both sides and directions of the road at high speeds. There were some SWAT trucks and police officers on motorcycles as well.

**S-S-S-S-S-S-SCRRRREEEEEECCCCH**

The police cars, SWAT trucks, and the motorcycles parked around the location of the Dirty Bubble. All of the police officers and SWAT members inside the cars, trucks, or on the motorcycles exited or stood up from the vehicles.

Police officers had pistols while SWAT members had sub-machine guns. They all aimed their weapons at the Dirty Bubble.

The Dirty Bubble had gathered another enormous amount of trash from other sections of Bikni Bottom. He made the trash hand fly towards him and separated it into numerous pieces. He formed a several-layers thick spherical shield that surrounded and covered his entire body.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy stopped using their Sulfur Vision and swam to the ground.

**RATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATAT**

**RATATATAT**

**RATATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATAT**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

The police officers and SWAT members pulled the triggers. Bullets sounded like they exploded out of their guns since there were so many police members and the tsunami of bullets flew towards the giant trash shield.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran towards the diner while covering their ears from the loud sounds of the gunshots.

**C-C-C-C-CLANK**

**C-C-C-CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**C-CLANK**

**C-C-CLANK**

The bullets left very few dents on the shield. The sheer willpower of the Dirty Bubble to not get hurt was part of what made the shield nearly indestructible.

"What?!"

"You gotta be kidding me..."

"Dear Neptune..."

"The hell?!"

"Looks like the Dirty Bubble learned some new tricks..."

The police officers and SWAT members exclaimed words of frustration.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the diner.

S-S-S-S-S

"EVERYBODY, GET OUT!" SpongeBob yelled at the customers to grab their attention.

"IT'S TOO DANGEROUS TO STAY HERE!" Patrick yelled an explanation for SpongeBob's words.

The customers inside the diner gasped and ran towards the double door.

Employees ran towards the exit as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Police officers stepped out of the way as frightened customers and employees exited the diner.

SpongeBob and Patrick were the last to exit the diner.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy formed water balls that were as big as themselves and combined them into one gigantic water ball. They threw the water ball towards the shield of garbage.

**SSSSSPLAAAAASSSHH**

The water ball left a large crater on the trash shield. The shield then repaired itself to its previous spherical state.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

**RATATATATAT**

Some of the police officers and SWAT members pulled the triggers and shot more bullets at the trash shield. They thought that the water ball weakened the shield.

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CLANK**

The bullets did not leave a mark on the trash shield at all.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy formed another giant water ball with their combined powers and quickly threw it at the shield.

**SPPLLAAASSH**

The water ball did not leave a mark or dent on the shield either. It was as if the shield became immune to the water balls.

SpongeBob watched the water balls and bullets hit the shield. He came to a conclusion and was about to put that idea into action when...

Tentacles abruptly came out of the shield.

**RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT**

All of the police officers and SWAT members fired shots at the tentacles to see if they were not as immune to bullets as the shield.

Mermaid Man discharged red lasers from his eyes and towards the shield.

Barnacle Boy discharged red lasers from his eyes and towards the tentacles.

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CLANK**

**CLANK CLANK C-C-CLANK CLANK C-CLANK**

**C-C-C-C-CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANk**

The bullets did not damage the tentacles at all, the tentacles were just as immune to the bullets as the shield.

The red lasers began to melt the tentacles and the shield.

Police officers, SWAT members, and civilians clapped and cheered for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. They thought that the fight was about to end in the Dirty Bubble's defeat.

The tentacles and the shield no loner melted from the lasers and became immune to the lasers. They repaired themselves.

Everybody became silent.

**CRRASSSHHH**

**CRRASSSSHH**

**C-C-CRRRRAAAASSSSHH**

**CRRASSSHH**

**CRAAAAASSSH CRRRAAASSSH**

**CRRRRAAAAAAAASSSSSH**

**CRRRRAAAAASSSSH**

All of the trash tentacles hit the ground and dug through it as if they were worms. The tentacles dug multiple pathways through the earth as if they were the roots of a plant.

**RRRRRRRUUUUUMMMMBBBLLLEEE**

Silence save for the sound of the shaking ground as the tentacles dug through it.

Most of the people within the vicinity of the Dirty Bubble's location sweatdropped, their bodies wracked with anxiety.

Everybody had absolutely no clue about what the Dirty Bubble was going to do next. There were many possibilities but not a single one was more likely than the other, all of the possibilities were equally possible as they thought.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy made fighting poses as they prepared themselves for whatever the Dirty Bubble had in store for them and the others.

Patrick was jumping up and down in excitement. He could not wait to see what the police and his favorite superheroes were going to do next as they continued to fight the Dirty Bubble. The fight was almost too awesome for him to comprehend, the extremely low likelihood of watching the fight without getting injured was what made Patrick not take the situation seriously at all. For the sea star, it was a game of watching the fight for as long as possible without hiding in a shelter and end up missing out on some 'scenes' or getting hurt and end up being sent to a hospital. In his mind, he was still watching an episode of a TV show.

SpongeBob tried to hide any signs of fear, he did not want to look cowardly in front of the police and his favorite superheroes. While showing confidence, he walked towards the superhero duo while gently and cautiously shoving police officers, citizens, and SWAT members out of the way.

**KAAABOOOOMMMMMMM**

**KABOOOOOOOOOMMMMM**

**KAAAABOOOOMMMM**

**KAABOOOOMMMMM**

**K-KABOOOOMMMM**

**KABOOOOOMMMM**

The tentacles exploded from the ground. They grabbed citizens and members of the police. The tentacles did not grab SpongeBob and Patrick since the Dirty Bubble considered them to be threats due to SpongeBob's attempt to stab the bubble with the pencil. The Dirty Bubble was going to hold even more hostages since he thought that the customers from the diner were not enough to convince the superhero duo to stop.

Citizens screamed in terror. Some of them yelled for help.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**RATATATATATATATATAT**

Stubborn officers and SWAT members shot bullets with their guns at the tentacles that were holding them.

SpongeBob ran towards the superhero duo and stood in front of him. "Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy; I've got an idea."

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy immediately looked at the yellow square.

"The Dirty Bubble makes his shield and the tentacles immune to anything that it expects to be thrown at him. That was why the water balls and lasers worked at first. The Dirty Bubble did not expect them so it damaged the shield and the tentacles. The Dirty Bubble saw the police so it expected bullets to be shot at him which is why the bullets did not affect the trash at all. Since the lasers and the water balls are slower than the bullets from the guns, the trash can be easily repaired. If something that the villain did not expect was shot at him as fast as a bullet, we might have a chance at popping him." SpongeBob explained his idea amidst the chaos that was going on.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy widened their eyes, they thought that SpongeBob was a genius.

Mermaid Man looked at a nearby police officer. "Sir, may I borrow that gun for a few seconds?"

"Sure. Not like it's gonna do much." The police officer gave the gun to Mermaid Man. "Don't do anything too crazy with it."

"Anything's worth a shot at this point." Barnacle Boy spoke to himself.

Mermaid Man gave the gun to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob took out the pencil and inserted it into the hole of the handgun. Chills ran down his spine since this was the first time he held a gun and he was aware of the fact that he could kill someone by accident if he was not careful. The sponge then aimed the handgun towards the large trash shield.

SpongeBob pulled the trigger.

Time slowed.

**P-TAAAAAFFFFFF**

The pencil was fired from the gun. The eraser was on fire and the pencil looked like a rocket as it flew to the shield.

It flew to the large sphere of garbage without getting hit by the tentacles.

The tip of the pencil pierced through the shield and the rest of the pencil did the same.

S-S-S-S-S

The pencil pierced through the layers of the trash shield.

S-S-S-S-S

The pencil entered the center of the shield.

The Dirty Bubble gasped and did not have time to react.

The pencil flew through the open mouth of the bubble.

It pierced through the other side of the bubble.

**POP**

The Dirty Bubble popped.

S-S-S-S-S

Time resumed.

**CCCRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSH**

All of the garbage no longer moved by supernatural means. The trash fell to the ground.

The people grabbed by the tentacles got covered by piles of trash.

Most of the trash fell to the diner and nearly covered the entire building. Mermaid Man made a good decision when he told the two best friends to tell the people in the diner to evacuate.

A very long pause.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. He gave the gun back to the police officer. The sponge was relieved since the ordeal was finally over.

People emerged from the piles of trash and ran towards SpongeBob with smiles on their faces.

Patrick lifted SpongeBob to the air and other people did this as well.

The people were screaming in delight.

SpongeBob felt bashful.

"That sponge kid has the potential to become a superhero, don't you think?" Barnacle Boy made a comment about SpongeBob and looked at Mermaid Man. He was impressed with how SpongeBob managed to defeat the Dirty Bubble.

"You said it, Barnacle Boy." Mermaid Man smiled.

* * *

**I would like any feedback. (I will probably have reminders like these at the end of each following chapter for now on)**


	34. Texas

**Chapter 34: Texas**

* * *

Sandy was inside the laboratory. She was sitting in a table and was looking through her email list on the laptop computer, she had finished her scientific studies for the day. The squirrel eventually noticed an email that was from an email address that she recognized.

The email address belonged to Randy Cheeks, who was her brother. The squirrel lived in Texas, the birthplace of Sandy. Nearly all of Sandy's immediate family lived in Texas.

Sandy widened her eyes somewhat and smiled widely. She was delighted to see that a family member communicated with her, it reminded the squirrel of her connection to Texas. She had been living at Bikini Bottom for almost a year and was not informed of any news about her family until that point. Sandy clicked on the email and opened it.

* * *

**Dear Sandy,**

**It's been tough for me and the others to live without you around. It took me kind of a long time to write this. Although I know you made your dream come true and you are trying to live it to its fullest, I can't help but say that we miss you. Working in the ranch isn't the same without you. The animals sometimes go out of control if we're not careful enough. But nonetheless we managed to control them and herding them didn't became too hard.**

**The family's been more quiet ever since you were gone. It's as if a part of us has been missing.**

**I'm not saying you should come back, I'm just trying to say that I hope you understand our situation. It would be best if you stayed with the sea critters while trying to do the things you love anyways.**

**I know this email is short. There is not a lot to say without repeating myself.**

* * *

Sandy read the whole email. Memories of being in Texas filled her mind. She remembered the days of being a cowgirl and learning karate. She began to miss her birthplace as she read the email but soon removed those thoughts from her mind once she read the end of the email. The squirrel had to move to Bikini Bottom in order to advance her career as a scientist.

The memory of working at the ranch under the hot sun lit up a light bulb in Sandy's head. She thought of going to Goo Lagoon with her best friends, it would help her not think too much of her past in Texas and would also not make her feel as lonely. Sandy turned off the computer and stood up from the table. She walked out of the laboratory and went upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked up to a wooden telephone and picked it up. She dialed a number and put the phone near her ear.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on a couch but was not paying attention to the TV. He was trying to comprehend what happened to him less than an hour ago. The stressful and dangerous fight with the Dirty Bubble seemed to be fantasy but the yellow square knew that it was a reality. The sponge was trying to remember the recent events in order. He was in that deep level of thinking ever since he began to walk back to the pineapple.

**RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

SpongeBob stood up from the couch and walked to the shell-phone. He put the shell-phone near his ear.

"_Hey, Sponge, you wanna go to Goo Lagoon?_" Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob grinned. Going to Goo Lagoon would make him stop thinking about the fight with the Dirty Bubble and would make him enjoy the rest of his Sunday. "I would love too!" The sponge was enthusiastic as he spoke into the phone.

A light bulb lit up in his head.

"Can I bring Pat with me?" SpongeBob said his idea to Sandy.

"_Sure. I'll see ya there._" Sandy spoke and put the phone down on her end.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down. "See ya later, Gary." The sponge waved at the snail who was watching TV and grabbed the handle of the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards Patrick's rock.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the rock.

**CRREEAAAK **

The rock opened while Patrick was sticking to the ceiling.

"How's it going, buddy?" Patrick greeted his best friend.

"You wanna go to Goo Lagoon with me? Sandy's gonna be there." SpongeBob asked and explained his situation.

Patrick felt a sense of déjà-vu. "Sure. Why not." He smiled and jumped to the ground.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

The two best friends walked towards Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the beach.

There were a few more people at Goo Lagoon than usual. The people who visited the beach increased as the weather became warmer, the first day of spring happened a few days ago.

SpongeBob and Patrick moved through the crowd in search of Sandy. The two soon found Sandy looking at the waves of the ocean.

The squirrel was looking at the ocean so the wait for her friends could pass quickly. The sounds of the waves also distracted her from the memories of Texas. She did not want to become depressed and stay inside the treedome for the rest of the day while yearning to return to her true home.

SpongeBob walked up to Sandy and tapped her shoulder. "Hey." He tried to grab Sandy's attention.

Sandy turned around and saw SpongeBob and Patrick. "Hi guys!" She greeted them.

Patrick and SpongeBob silently waved for a few seconds.

An awkward pause. The three friends did not know about what to do next.

"What're we gonna do?" SpongeBob glanced at his surroundings.

"Honestly, I dunno." Sandy shrugged.

Patrick looked down and picked up a handful of sand that had been washed up to the shore. A light bulb lit up in his head. "We could build a sand castle..." He said his thoughts out loud.

"Good idea, Pat!" SpongeBob patted his best friend on the shoulder and picked up some sand as well with both of his hands.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick had formed a replica of their neighborhood out of the sand. They thought that it would be more fun to make a replica of something instead of building a castle.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head after watching SpongeBob and Patrick build the sand houses. She formed a mound of sand.

"Good morning, Bikini Bottom! Ahh, what a beautiful day!" SpongeBob put his hand in front of the sand pineapple. The hand on the ground was 'SpongeBob'. "I wonder if Patrick's at home." He was speaking as if he was the hand.

"Hiya SpongeBob!" Patrick put his hand in front of the sand rock and 'walked' towards 'SpongeBob'. "Whatcha doin'?" He was acting like the hand as well.

"Goin' over to Sandy's place." 'SpongeBob' 'walked' over to what he assumed to be Sandy's home.

The 'home' did not look like the treedome at all. It was just a mound of sand.

"Hey, what's this? This doesn't look like Sandy's place." SpongeBob was still acting like his hand.

"Don't lose you barnacles, boys." Sandy raised her hand and aimed it at the sand mound. "Hi-yah!" She karate chopped the sand and made a miniature version of Texas. "There it is!" She smiled.

"What is it?" SpongeBob scratched his head in confusion. What Sandy formed looked like a random shape from his perspective.

"Can't you see? It's Texas." Sandy informed SpongeBob and Patrick about what she just made. The squirrel thought that by talking to her friends about Texas, she would stop missing it and would get over those feelings. Telling them about her birthplace would be like brining a kernel of it to them from her perspective, her home would somewhat be here in a way.

"Oh yeah! That's the place you came from." SpongeBob remembered what it was. The squirrel had told him about it at Rock Bottom.

"Why is it shaped like that?" Patrick asked a question that popped up in his mind ever since Sandy karate chopped the mound.

"It's a piece of land, Pat. Nearly all the lands in the surface world have irregular shapes. It's not like the seafloor where countries are only separated by borders. Although some lands or I should say 'states' in the U.S. are also seperated only by borders and have regular shapes." Sandy said an in-depth answer to Patrick's question.

A large wave crashed into the shore. The wave reached the sand replica of Texas and took away some sand from the replica when it receded.

The sand replica became a small mound of sand.

"Ohh, it's nothing but a memory now." Sandy frowned and looked at the ground with slightly misty eyes. Her yearning to return to her true home was inevitable. The destruction of her creation and the words she spoke triggered it. The memories of Texas entered her mind and multiplied until they consumed her mind. It was an 'illness' that the squirrel could not resist.

"Alright then. Let's make one of your treedome..." SpongeBob was making a mound of sand at a location a little bit more deeper into the coast so that it does not get washed up by a wave. He was making a mound so it could be the foundation for the 'treedome'. The sponge then looked at Sandy and could tell by her facial expression that she was upset. "...are you okay?" SpongeBob became concerned for Sandy's emotional well-being.

"You know, all of a sudden, I don't feel like sand castles, SpongeBob. I'll see y'all later." Sandy stood up and walked away from her two friends. She decided that she needed some time alone to deal with her feelings.

"Not even karate?" SpongeBob made a karate pose, his face showed his concern for his friend. He thought that he could cheer her up by doing her favorite activities with her.

"I'm not feeling up to karate either." Sandy looked at SpongeBob from the corner of her eye and shook her head. The squirrel was too upset to do any of the activities that she liked.

"No surfing either, right?" SpongeBob stopped making a karate pose and looked at the ocean. There were people including Larry surfing moderately large waves.

"Right." Sandy nodded and resumed her walk.

SpongeBob turned around and looked at Patrick. "Pat, she's upset. Neptune knows how long she'll be away. I can't leave her alone while she's like that. We gotta help her." The sponge expressed his concern for his friend through speech.

"Alright." Patrick stood up and kicked the sand replicas that he and SpongeBob created, what he did ruined the creations. The sea star considered Sandy to be a friend as well. He remembered a conversation he had with SpongeBob and Sandy at the treedome, it happened during the same day that they went to Rock Bottom.

"We just gotta find out where she went to." SpongeBob said his thoughts out loud.

The two best friends walked away from Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked up to and sat on a rock in Jellyfish Fields. She thought that the plain was a relaxing place where she could think things through. Sandy remembered what the email said:

_'It would be best if you stayed with the sea critters while trying to do the things you love anyways.'_

Sandy could imagine Randy's voice speaking those words as she remembered the words.

_'The family's been more quiet ever since you were gone. It's as if a part of us has been missing.'_

The meaning of the email seemed to be contradictory. Randy 'said' that Sandy should stay in Bikini Bottom while he also described the hardships of the family without Sandy. There were two opposing meanings; she should stay in Bikini Bottom to continue her career or she should come back to Texas to stay with her family. The latter was what most of the email consisted of and was more likely to be the actual meaning regardless of what Randy 'said' in the end of the email.

Sandy became more saddened after thinking about the email carefully. She thought that by staying in Bikini Bottom, she would be denying the 'true' meaning of the email and would also make her look like some kind of jerk since her family missed her.

"Woo-hoo!"

Sandy heard Patrick's voice. She looked at her surroundings and saw him trying to catch a jellyfish with his jellyfishing net.

"C'mon, Pat. We shouldn't be fooling around." SpongeBob was serious about trying to find Sandy and helping her.

"But there's so many jellyfish!" Patrick saw a group of jellyfish and ran towards them. He raised his net and tried to catch them.

**THUD**

The sea star tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

The jellyfish noticed the starfish and flew away.

Patrick's attempt failed. The sea star stood up. "Can't we have at least a little bit of fun?" He looked at SpongeBob.

Seeing SpongeBob made Sandy realize once again that she was not lonely although that realization did not stop her yearning to return to her home.

Patrick hopped to a rock and stood on top of it.

A jellyfish passed by.

Patrick jumped from the rock and swung his net. He caught the jellyfish in mid-air.

SpongeBob looked at his surroundings in search of Sandy and saw the squirrel sitting on a rock. He gasped and smiled widely. He was filled with joy at his little victory of finally finding Sandy. The sponge soon removed those thoughts from his head since he thought that thinking like that made him look arrogant. "I see Sandy!" He pointed at Sandy and walked up to her. The yellow sponge was still smiling.

"Hi, Sandy!" Patrick waved at the squirrel and walked up to her as well. He carried the jellyfish in the net with him.

"We caught a jellyfish." SpongeBob pointed at the jellyfish that Patrick was holding. He made one last attempt to cheer up Sandy before becoming serious again.

"Listen, SpongeBob. Right now, I don't want to build sand castles, play karate, or eat jellyfish." Sandy thought that her friends don't understand her situation and she needed more time alone.

The squirrel could not concentrate on her thoughts if there were two fools playing around her.

SpongeBob laughed. "We don't eat 'em! We let 'em go." He stopped smiling and became solemn. "We only eat their jelly. Anyways, Sandy, I know you'reupse-" The sponge was saying something but got interrupted by his best friend.

"Fly away, little critter." Patrick was still smiling as he released the jellyfish from his net.

SpongeBob turned around and saw the jellyfish slowly fly away. He could not help himself but make a slight smile at the sight of the pinkcreature. "Go on, go back to where you belong." The sponge spoke to the jellyfish.

Sandy felt a lump in her throat. SpongeBob was unintentionally making her more upset. She remembered a few more words from the email:

_'It's as if a part of us has been missing.'_

Sandy felt a lump in her throat. The squirrel began to think that she did not belong under the sea, it was not her natural habitat.

"Run along, back to your family and friends. I know they miss you as much as you miss them. Hurry, before they forget you and leave you behind. Remember: there's no place like home!" SpongeBob continued to speak to the jellyfish. He was encouraging the creature to fly faster.

The jellyfish flew across the plain at a normal speed.

From Sandy's perspective, it was as if SpongeBob was reading her mind. The squirrel remembered another part of the email:

_'Working in the ranch isn't the same without you.' _

Sandy knew that by not going back to Texas for a long-enough period of time, the family would start thinking that working in the ranch without her was normal.

_"Hurry, before they forget you and leave you behind."_

SpongeBob's words echoed in her head. What SpongeBob said to the jellyfish was like him revealing the meaning of the email.

Sandy became misty-eyed.

SpongeBob and Patrick turned around and looked at Sandy.

SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth. He realized that Sandy was on the verge of crying. "Was it something I sa-" He was saying something but got interrupted.

Sandy began to weep. Numerous tears ran down her cheeks and flooded the helmet full of air.

"Sandy, what're you crying about?" SpongeBob bit his lip and scratched the back of his head. He thought that he said something that made the squirrel more upset.

"I ain't crying! My helmet just sprung a leak!" Sandy said a very obvious lie. She did not want to look 'weak' in front of her friends. She pressed a button on the side of her astronaut suit.

The water was drained from the helmet like a toilet.

Sandy tried to make the most normal facial expression that she couldmake during that moment.

SpongeBob knew that Sandy was lying. "Sandy... I know that's not true. As a matter of fact, I know you've been sad ever since you made that face at Goo Lagoon." The sponge spoke the truth.

Sandy signed. "Oh, I guess I'm just feeling a little homesick." The squirrel felt a homesickness that would require a visit to the hospital in order to be treated if it was a real disease. The confession was only a half-truth.

"Homesick, huh?" SpongeBob entered a deep state of thought. He remembered that the sand replica of Texas was washed up by a wave right before Sandy became upset. "Is it about Texas?" The sponge guessed.

"Yeah..." Sandy looked at the ground and nodded.

SpongeBob sat next to her. "You left Texas nine months ago, why're you so sad now? I thought you'd got over it soon after you came to Bikini Bottom." The sponge said an assumption he made about Sandy.

"I received an email from my brother today and that was what caused it." Sandy revealed an important piece of information about her sudden depression.

"Oh." SpongeBob thought about what he was going to say next. "Well, I hope you cheer up soon. If you can't handle it by yourself, you can always let us help you." The sponge made a sight smile and stood up. He could not relate too much to Sandy's situation. Even when he decided to live in the wild and be a jellyfish, he could easily go back to his home and his friends were nearby. The sponge did not want to talk about that event since during that time he eventually gave up and went back to his pineapple. He thought that it was a poor example to talk about and it would encourage Sandy to go back to Texas as a consequence. SpongeBob did not want his friend to abandon him and Patrick. Their bond should not be broken so quickly and suddenly.

"See you later then." Patrick waved at Sandy and walked away. He wanted to do some other fun activities.

SpongeBob followed Patrick but glanced at Sandy. "Be okay, alright?" He whispered to the squirrel before turning around and resuming his walk.

Sandy stood up and walked towards her home. She needed to find a way to express her yearning for her return to her birthplace, the negative emotions became unbearable and she could no longer hide them or shove them to the side.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy opened the front door and exited the treedome. She was wearing a cowboy hat on top of her helmet and was holding a guitar. The squirrel decided to express her feelings through music. She sat in front of the entrance and tested out the strings of the guitar.

SpongeBob was walking towards Sandy. He could no longer leave the squirrel alone to deal with her problem. The sponge was going to try to support the squirrel even if he could not truly relate to her situation, he could not bear the following guilt of not trying to help her. The sponge saw Sandy wearing a cowboy hat and sitting down with a guitar in her hands. The sponge quickly tip-toed backwards and his behind a rock. He wanted to listen to the song that Sandy was about to sing. The yellow square thought that it was rude to interrupt the squirrel just before she began the song.

Sandy began to play the guitar.

"Wish I was back in Texas. The ocean's no place for a squirrel."

Sandy began to sing. She created the lyrics for the song as the song continued. The lyrics expressed her true thoughts and feelings.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. The sponge became surprised as he heard Sandy's voice, the squirrel was a good singer.

"Wish I was in Texas, pretteist place in the world oh no."

The musical words of sadness escaped Sandy's mouth.

SpongeBob felt a lump in his throat and his eyes moistened. He began to understand Sandy's longing to return to Texas.

"I guess that deep in my heart, I'll always be a Texas girl. I wanna go hooooooooooooooome, home."

Sandy continued to sing.

'No wonder Sandy doesn't want to do anything fun...' SpongeBob looked at the ground. He was fighting back the tears. The sponge realized that Sandy was completely occupied with thoughts of returning to Texas when he asked her to do fun activities with him.

"I wanna wake up in Texas. I miss those wide open skies. I miss my 20 acres, barbecues and pecan pies, oh, why?"

SpongeBob remembered the difficulty of adjusting to life without his parents. Back then, living in the pineapple for the first time was somewhat difficult due to his family not being with him and he also did not adopt Gary yet during that time. The sponge deeply cherished the childhood memories he had at his parents' house.

A tear ran down his cheek. The dam behind his eyes flooded.

"When I'm so far from you Texas, all I can do is cry."

SpongeBob put his hands over his face and sobbed.

"I wanna go hoooommme. I wanna go home."

Sandy stopped playing the guitar and stopped singing. She stood up, took off her cowboy hat, and bowed to a 'nonexistent' crowd; she was not aware of SpongeBob's presence.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy entered the treedome.

SpongeBob stopped weeping and wiped the tears from his eyes. "She REALLY needs help. There's no way I'm gonna leave her alone." What happened before the sponge's eyes reinforced his ambition to help the squirrel. 'But how?' A question appeared in his mind.

A long pause.

SpongeBob put his arm on the rock and put his fist under his chin. He was making a 'Thinker' pose. The yellow sponge was thinking critically.

A memory abruptly popped up in his thoughts. The sponge was thinking of ways to make Sandy no longer miss Texas.

_A large wave crashed into the shore. The wave reached the sand replica of Texas and took away some sand from the replica when it receded. _

_The sand replica became a small mound of sand._

_"Ohh, it's nothing but a memory now." Sandy frowned and looked at the ground with slightly misty eyes._

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's hand. The ocean had took away some of the sand from Sandy's sand replica of Texas but some of the sand was still there. The sponge thought of an idea to 'bring' Texas to Bikini Bottom, the sponge wanted to make the illusive birthplace a reality instead of a memory even if it was only done by a few pieces.

SpongeBob stood up and walked towards his neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick dipped a bubble wand into a bottle of bubble soap. He then blew into the wand.

Several bubbles came out of the hole in the sand.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick. "Pat, I've got an idea that might make Sandy cheer up." The sponge informed his best friend about him coming up with an idea.

Patrick closed the soap bottle and put it and the wand away. "What is it?" He became curious.

"I'm gonna host a small party at my house that's gonna make Sandy feel like she is in Texas. I'm gonna put as much Texas culture and as many customs into it as possible." SpongeBob explained his plan to make Sandy stay in Bikini Bottom.

"Sounds like fun." Patrick made a wide smile.

A pause.

SpongeBob took a step in a certain direction.

"Hold on." Patrick held out his hand towards SpongeBob as a signal for the sponge to stop. "We don't know a lot about Texas so how're we gonna have an authentic Texas party?" The sea star's intelligence increased. He questioned the sponge so the idea can be improved.

"We're gonna go to the library right now so we can do some research." SpongeBob pointed in the direction that he stepped in and explained his actions. "You've been reading my mind, Pat. Your question was the exact reason why I was walking towards the place."

"Oh." Patrick nodded. "Let's go." He walked ahead of his friend.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick opened the double door of a very familiar library and entered the building. The two friends had went to that library to do homework and research during their time at college.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the main desk and showed the librarian their library cards.

The librarian was an old lady. She took the cards and scanned them through a small machine. She then nodded and passed them back to the two friends. She recognized the sponge and the starfish.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to a table with desktop computers on top of it and sat next to each other. They turned on the computers.

SpongeBob waited until the home interface loaded up and once that happened, he clicking on the icon for the Internet browser.

Patrick kept looking at the screen of his computer. "What am I supposed to do next?" He scratched his head. He almost completely forgot how to use a computer, he did not use a computer ever since he finished college.

"Click on the icon that looks like a globe." SpongeBob tried to make his instruction simple.

"Oh." Patrick clicked on the Internet icon.

A website that had a white background and had a word in various colors that said 'Google' loaded up on the browser.

"Why does it say 'Google'?" Patrick scratched his head again and had another question.

SpongeBob's browser was on the same website. He typed 'Texas' into the search bar of the search engine before clicking on the grey button that said 'Search'. He then looked at Patrick's computer screen. "Google is a website. It's the first website you see since it can let you open to other websites. To find the website you want, type a keyword or more into that small space." He pointed at the search bar. He was explaining what Google was to Patrick.

"Oh. Okay." Patrick typed 'tecksahys' into the search bar. He became stupid again. His spelling was no better than that of a 1st grader. "Why are there no other sites popping up?"

"You gotta click on that small gray button that says 'search'." SpongeBob pointed at the 'Search' button.

"'kay." Patrick nodded, moved the mouse, and clicked on that button.

A list of links in blue text to several websites with short descriptions below each link appeared on the screen almost instantly. A sentence below the search bar said 'Did you mean: Texas'. The last word of that sentence was in blue text, it was a link.

"Pat, you spelled Texas wrong. Click on that word in blue." SpongeBob was patient with his best friend.

"Wow. This computer knows everything." Patrick clicked on the blue word and it led to almost the same list of links. He was impressed with the computer's 'intelligence'.

"Now just click on each link and read what you find." SpongeBob clicked on a link on his computer and read the information that he found.

Patrick clicked on a link and did the same.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A high school student studying for an upcoming test sat next to SpongeBob and Patrick. He turned on the computer that he sat in front of.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick were in the middle of their research.

The high school student looked at SpongeBob and gasped. He recognized the yellow square. "Weren't you that guy from the prom that beat up those thugs?"

SpongeBob looked at the high school student and smiled slightly. "Yep." He was nearly frightened by the student.

"Everybody's talking about you in school. They even decided that you and Pearl were Prom King and Queen. Your photo's gonna be on the yearbook, dude." The student told SpongeBob about the sponge's popularity at his high school.

SpongeBob felt grateful for the high school's appreciation of his valiant effort to stop the thugs' rampage. "Really?" The sponge smiled from ear to ear.

"Just wait. You'll see the yearbook eventually." The student smirked.

Patrick ignored SpongeBob and the student's conversation and continued to do his research.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the library. The two friends were finished with their research about Texas.

"Wanna go on a shopping spree, Pat?" SpongeBob needed to go to several stores to get the materials needed to prepare for the party.

"Alright." Patrick nodded.

The two friends walked to a store that sells knick-knacks.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking towards the pineapple. They were holding things that they had bought from several stores.

Patrick was holding three gallons of water in both of his hands.

SpongeBob was holding several containers of clay, a small bag of frozen peas, a small box pie mix, a purple Q made of plastic; and a container that had replica needles of a sea urchin in one plastic bag.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Can I drink all of the water in the gallons to empty them?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob and put the gallons on the floor. He picked up one of the gallons and put his hand over the cap.

"Go right ahead." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. "I'm gonna bake the pie and cook the peas." The sponge walked towards the kitchen.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to Patrick.

"Hi, Gary." Patrick greeted the snail before opening the cap. He then began to drink the water in that gallon.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the plastic bag on the table. He took out the small box of pie mix and the small bag of frozen peas. He opened the box of pie mix and took out a small bag of the actual pie mix from it. He then walked to the oven and opened it. He took out a circular tray and put it on the table. The sponge opened the bag of pie mix and poured it into the tray. The sponge then brought the tray back to the oven and put it inside the oven. He closed the oven, walked to a cabinet, and opened it. He took out a cooking pot and put that on one of the grates of the oven/stove. He opened the bag of frozen peas and poured them into the pot. SpongeBob picked up the box of pie mix from the table and read the instructions on the back of the box. He then turned the knob on the oven/stove to the right temperature.

The oven turned on.

SpongeBob turned another knob to the right temperature. The sponge had cooked peas before so he did not need to read any instructions.

The stove turned on.

SpongeBob quickly walked to the fridge and opened it. He took out a gallon of water and ran back to the oven/stove. He poured some of the water into the pot so the peas can be cooked properly. The sponge then put the gallon back into the fridge.

He was cooking the food for the party.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick drank all of the water in the three gallons. He had not eaten in several hours so his stomach felt full to a satisfying degree instead of overstuffed. "I'm done, Sponge." He announced to the sponge that he was finished with his task.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard Patrick's words. "Can you wait for a bit, Pat? I'm almost done." The sponge turned a knob on the oven/stove.

The oven turned off.

SpongeBob put on a pair of oven mitts and opened the oven. He took out the circular tray which now had afreshly baked pie in it and put it on the table. He then walked back to the oven/stove and turned another knob.

The stove turned off.

SpongeBob took the pot and put it on the table. He then took off the oven mitts and put them inside a cabinet. "Pat, can you come over here?" He called for his best friend.

Patrick entered the kitchen. "Yeah?"

"We're gonna make the other stuff now." SpongeBob took out the container of replica sea urchin needles, the purple Q, and the containers of clay.

Patrick walked up to the table. "What should we make first?"

A pause.

"Or should each of us make one thing?" The starfish had another question.

"We should make the cube of clay first. Making the barbecue might be too dangerous for either of us to do by ourselves." SpongeBob opened the containers of clay.

"'kay." Patrick nodded. He took all of the clay out of a container and began to form a cube with it.

SpongeBob took all of the clay out of another container as well and carefully formed a cube.

S-S-S-S-S

Eighteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick successfully made a clay cube.

"That wasn't too hard." Patrick commented on the difficulty of the task.

SpongeBob took out a roll of clear tape. He then opened the container of replica sea urchin needles. "Be careful." The sponge warned his friend before taking a needle, ripping a piece of tape off the roll, and taping the needle to the Q.

Patrick slowly took a needle, took a piece of tape from SpongeBob, and taped it to the Q.

"I think you're starting to get it. Just make sure that you don't tape them to the Q too fast." SpongeBob commented on Patrick's performance with the task and said another warning.

Patrick quietly nodded and continued to tape the needles to the Q.

SpongeBob resumed his portion of the work.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two best friends finished making the 'barbecue'.

SpongeBob took some peas from the pot and put them on top of the pie.

Without asking or saying anything, Patrick did what SpongeBob did. He knew by that point that he had to help the yellow sponge with whatever he was doing.

The two were silent as they made a 'pecan pie',

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two finished making the 'peacan pie.

"We're finally finished." SpongeBob looked at the fruit of his and Patrick's work. The two now had everything they needed for the party.

Patrick lifted the cube of clay from the table and brought it to the living room.

SpongeBob picked up the spiky Q and the pie. He then exited the kitchen while carrying those two things. He was careful with handling the Q since he could prick himself with it by accident.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the clay cube on the floor. "The gallon hats are over there." The sea star pointed at the empty gallons which were near one of the walls of the room.

SpongeBob put the pie on top of the clay cube. He put the spiky Q on the couch.

A pause.

"What're you waiting for, SpongeBob? Let's bring Sandy over here." Patrick smiled widely and...

**CRRREEAAK**

...opened the front door. He looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye.

SpongeBob had a thought in his mind, it was stuck in there ever since he and Patrick began to make the 'peacan' pie. "Pat, I've realized something, how're we gonna make Sandy get out of her treedome? She-" The sponge was interrupted by his friend.

"That's easy. We'll just tell her that she's invited to the party." Patrick said a simple solution to the problem that SpongeBob said.

"Patrick, let's be honest. Sandy is depressed. I heard her sing a song about going back to Texas and that song made me cry. If a song like that could make me cry, imagine the sadness that she's going through." SpongeBob tried to make Patrick realize what the squirrel was feeling.

Patrick narrowed his eyes and thought critically. His intelligence increased.

A pause.

"We should make her angry by making fun of Texas. She'll probably chase us to your house and we'll show her the party by surprise." Patrick stated a viable and effective plan.

SpongeBob widened his eyes and his face became pale. "Why in the world should we do that? She would probably karate chop us to pieces if we made her really mad. You can't completely predict her, Pat." The sponge immediately realized a flaw in the plan.

"We might as well take that risk. If she wants to go back to Texas so bad, she'll probably go there very soon. Trying is better than nothing, y'know." Patrick thought that his new plan was the one that was mostly likely to be successful. "Do you have a better plan?"

"No." SpongeBob frowned and shook his head.

"Well, do you wanna go with me or do I have to do this by myself?" Patrick folded his arms. He waited for SpongeBob's answer to his question.

A long pause.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and sighed. "I'll go with you as long as that party cheers up Sandy." He did not make his decision out of selfish reasons.

Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder and nodded. "You made the right choice." He then exited the pineapple.

SpongeBob mustered some courage and exited the pineapple as well. He was willing to deal with the wrath of Sandy in order to maintain their bond and make her not return to Texas.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick slowly walked up to the treedome.

SpongeBob gulped nervously and became hesitant.

"Don't worry, I'll knock for ya." Patrick walked up to the front door with confidence.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Patrick knocked on the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was packing belongings into suitcases of various sizes. She wanted her yearning to be at her home to end by actually going to Texas.

The squirrel heard knocking from the front door.

Sandy stopped packing her belongings and exited the oak tree, she was wearing her astronaut suit since she was going to enter her rocket to return to Texas very soon.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked to the large metal door.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The squirrel entered the glass hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

Sandy opened the front door. "What do you guys want? I'm gonna move back to Texas soon." The squirrel showed signs of impatience but was not annoyed. She was eager to go back to her 'true' home.

When SpongeBob heard Sandy's words, he made a deadpan face. Those spoken words shocked the yellow square so much that he did not know how to react. The sponge had assumed that Sandy's severe homesickness was temporary.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and winked at him. He then snapped his fingers. It was a cue for SpongeBob to not show any signs of negative emotion, the two were about to make jokes about Sandy's home so the two had to look like their words were sincere. The sea star was not surprised by Sandy's words; he had assumed that the squirrel's homesickness would eventually make her return to her home and that assumption was right.

SpongeBob wore a smile.

"What's so great about dumb ol' Texas?" Patrick smirked and raised his brow. He was acting like a jerk on purpose.

"What did you say?!" Sandy narrowed her eyes and glared at Patrick. She folded her arms. The squirrel was proud of where she came from and was very defensive of her birthplace when someone insulted or derided it.

SpongeBob's heart skipped a beat and his face slightly drained of color. He was still smiling but was actually anxious.

"Texas is dumb." Patrick spoke clearly.

"Don't you DARE take the name of Texas in vain!" Sandy gritted her teeth. She was becoming pissed off. She treated the name of her birthplace as if it was the name of a deity.

"You mean we can't say anything bad about dumb ol' Texas?" Patrick forced a giggle. He pretended that he did not take Texas seriously.

"No, you can't!" Sandy stomped her foot and tightened her fists.

"Then can we say people from Texas are dumb?" Patrick folded his arms. "Except for you of course." The sea star was aware of Sandy's intelligence, he was smart enough to be careful with the insults that he said.

"No! You can't say nothing about Texas!" Sandy thought of her family when Patrick said "people from Texas". Her face began to turn red.

"In your dreams. I can say all I want and you can't stop me." Patrick continued to smirk.

Steam came out of Sandy's ears. Her thoughts were filled with fury

'I can't do this.' SpongeBob sweatdropped, frowned, and backed away from Sandy. He could not manage to say one insult to the squirrel. The potential consequences would be horrific and the sponge felt that he would be a disloyal friend if he insulted her even if doing that was going to eventually help her.

"If you think Texas is so important and that it is better than Bikini Bottom, why're you getting angry over a little pink star like me? You should be worshiping Texas." Patrick made an extremely nasty insult.

"You better apologize, or I'll be on you like ugly on an ape!" Sandy palmed her fist and made a threat.

Patrick laughed. He acted as if he did not take Sandy's threat any consideration at all.

SpongeBob hid behind the same rock. His body was shaking in fear as he waited for Sandy to unleash her wrath on her best friend. The yellow square knew that he could not help Patrick at all since Sandy's strength could be limitless once she becomes enraged

"That's it..." Sandy pulled back a fist. Her ego could no longer tolerate Patrick's insults.

Patrick's eyes bugged out. He did not have enough time to react.

**BAM**

Sandy punched Patrick in the stomach.

Patrick flew away from the treedome due to the force of the punch and...

**SLAM**

...hit a large piece of coral.

**CRRAAASSH**

The piece of coral broke into several pieces. The force of Patrick's impact on the coral was too powerful.

A pause.

SpongeBob put a hand over his mouth.

Patrick slowly and shakily stood up from the pile of coral pieces, he was dizzy. He then shook back to his senses.

Sandy ran towards Patrick. "I ain't done yet!" She was not satisfied with what she had done to the sea star. She wanted to beat up the pink star a few more times so that her retaliation was equal to what Patrick did from her perspective.

Patrick ran away from Sandy.

SpongeBob stood up and ran after his two friends. He wanted to know the fate of his best friend.

Patrick was running as fast as he could. He was heading towards a certain location.

Sandy was chasing him and was quickly catching up with him.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy entered Jellyfish Fields.

Patrick quickly dodged incoming jellyfish and jumped to a rock. He then jumped from rock to rock.

Sandy jumped from rock to rock as well.

SpongeBob was sprinting so he could catch up with his two friends.

Patrick jumped to the ground and ran into a cave. He wanted to look like he wanted Sandy to stop chasing him so it can guarantee the continuing of Sandy's chasing. The starfish wanted to bring Sandy to a certain location.

Sandy ran into the cave. "You're not getting away from me!"

SpongeBob stopped running and walked into the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

Spongebob heard the rapid paces of footsteps as he walked through the cave. "Guys?" He called out for his friends.

His voice echoed.

The sounds of the footsteps ceased.

A pause.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!**" Patrick's voice was heard.

"Hi-yah!" Sandy's voice was heard.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob abruptly saw the incoming body of Patrick. He then ducked less than a second before the starfish's body was about to hit him.

Sandy had karate chopped Patrick.

Patrick flew out of the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Patrick hit a rock outside the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy carefully shoved SpongeBob out of the way and stomped towards Patrick. She was still not finished with her revenge. The squirrel focused her attention on the sea star.

SpongeBob tip-toed behind Sandy. He looked at Sandy with fear and wonder due to her strength.

The two exited the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick's vision was blurry due to him being dizzy again. He saw two white and yellow silhouettes. He cleared his eyes and saw an angry Sandy walking up to him and a timid SpongeBob tip-toeing behind her.

SpongeBob moved his lips without using his voice. 'Sorry.'

'Don't worry.' Patrick spoke without using his voice as well. He stood up and dove to the side before Sandy could grab her.

"Oh no you don't!" Sandy dove towards Patrick.

Patrick dodged hopped to a rock and then hopped to the ground. The sea star then sprinted towards his target location as if his life depended on it.

"You're not gonna stop without a fight, eh?" Sandy took out a lasso from a 'pocket' in her astronaut suit and threw it towards Patrick while holding on to the end of it.

The lasso missed Patrick.

Sandy resumed her chasing of the starfish and spun the lasso while she did that.

SpongeBob ran next to them so he can continue to watch the chase.

Patrick saw a wooden fence and jumped over if. He exited Jellyfish Fields and continued to run.

Sandy jumped over the fence as well and ran even faster to catch up with Patrick.

SpongeBob stepped out of the fence and sprinted towards them.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three friends were getting close to SpongeBob's pineapple.

Sandy lassoed a rock and threw it towards Patrick.

A dust cloud appeared after the rock landed on the ground.

A pause.

The dust cloud dissipated and reveled a still running Patrick.

Patrick ran directly towards the pineapple.

Sandy quickly threw the lasso towards Patrick and finally caught him.

Patrick grabbed the handle of the front door.

Sandy pulled with all of her might.

"C'mon... c'mon..." Patrick whispered to himself. He was holding on to the door's handle with all of the strength that he could muster. He eventually began to succumb to Sandy's strength through the lasso.

SpongeBob sweated profusely and bit his lip.

Patrick twisted the handle and...

**CRRREEAAK**

...opened the front door. He was then pulled by the lasso towards Sandy.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the ground in front of Sandy.

Sandy raised her fist.

"Sandy, look inside!" SpongeBob pointed at the open doorway of his pineapple. He wanted to reveal the surprise that he and Patrick had waited to reveal, it was their main goal for their plan of making Sandy angry.

"Sandy... please... just take a look." Patrick pointed at the open doorway as well.

"I ain't gonna fall for that trap!" Sandy refused to heed to her friends' words. She thought that Patrick was trying to fool her into making her trapped inside the pineapple. The squirrel was too consumed by her anger to realize the sincerity of their words.

SpongeBob walked up to Sandy and grabbed her raised fist. "We're not leading you into a trap, Sandy. There's a surprise that we made for you inside the pineapple. Take a look, nothing will, harm you, I promise." The sponge was making eye contact with Sandy and was speaking in a low voice. He was trying to calm down the squirrel.

Sandy took a deep breath and released Patrick from the lasso. She put the lasso away and walked towards the pineapple. She then slowly walked through the doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy saw some strange objects inside the living room. "Huh?" She scratched her head inside the helmet.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the living room. "Howdy!" They greeted Sandy in unison.

"W-what's this?" Sandy could not figure out what the surprise was. She did not know how all of the strange objects were related.

"It's a party!" SpongeBob smiled widely and said what the surprise was. He became enthusiastic and wantdd Sandy to cheer upc

"For you!" Patrick managed to speak. He could barely stand up without feeling any pain.

"For me?!" Sandy widened her eyes. She did not expect a party at all. The squirrel thought that she was going to receive a gift.

"It's your own little slice of Texas! Check it out Sandy! We got square dancing..." SpongeBob pointed at the cube made out of clay.

Patrick out the 'peacan' pie to the floor and picked up the cube.

"...a giant barbecue..." SpongeBob pointed at the spiky Q on the couch.

Patrick put the cube to the floor and picked up the Q with caution. He did not want to prick himself.

"...homemade peas-on-a-pie..." SpongeBob pointed at the pie.

Patrick put the Q back on the couch and walked to the pie. "Can I eat it?"

"Not yet." SpongeBob shook his head. "We also for our very own ten gallon hats!" The sponge pointed at three ten gallon 'hats' on the side of the wall.

Patrick picked the 'hats' up and gave one to SpongeBob and Sandy each and kept one for himself.

SpongeBob and Patrick put on the ten gallon 'hats' by putting the gallons on top of their heads.

"So what do you think? Are you gonna stay?" SpongeBob's eyes sparkled as he looked at Sandy. He assumed that he impressed the squirrel. The fruits of his and Patrick's labor might finally pay off.

Sandy laughed so hard that tears ran down her cheeks. The squirrel realized that her friends had a severe misunderstanding of Texan customs by taking the names of them as if that was what they actually were.

SpongeBob and Patrick thought that they made Sandy upset again.

"Don't cry anymore Sandy, I'll help with packing your things." SpongeBob looked at the floor and his eyes moistened. He assumed that he failed to reach his goal of cheering up Sandy.

"I ain't crying, I'm laughing! I appreciate what y'all are trying to do, SpongeBob, but home isn't about barbecues and pecan pies, home is where you're surrounded by critters that care about ya." Sandy had made a realization as she laughed. She thought that SpongeBob and Patrick cared about her since they went out of their way to bring Texas to Bikini Botttom. The squirrel had been too much of a slave to her emotions to realize that she had made bonds with people and that breaking those bonds so hastily would be foolish.

SpongeBob and Patrick smiled and hugged Sandy.

Sandy hugged SpongeBob and Patrick back. "Don't worry, guys. I'm staying." She assured the two best friends.

"This party wad SpongeBob's idea anyway." Patrick explained his and the sponge's plan. He looked at SpongeBob and released himself from the hug. He then smirked.

SpongeBob and Sandy were hugging each other.

SpongeBob started to blush and he could not hide it.

The sponge and the squirrel stopped hugging.

Patrick giggled at the sight of his embarrassed best friend. "Making you mad was my idea." He further explained his and SpongeBob's plan to Sandy.

"Is what Patrick's saying true?" Sandy asked SpongeBob.

SpongeBob silently nodded.

"Then you must be the kindest creature under the sea, SpongeBob." Sandy's eyes sparkled as she looked at SpongeBob.

* * *

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	35. Home Sweet Pineapple

**Chapter 35: Home Sweet Pineapple**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the evening.

Squidward entered the kitchen and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall.

The calendar indicated that April Fools Day was less than a week away.

"I better start planning." Squidward whispered to himself. He took out a folded piece of paper from his shirt and unfolded it. He sat in the table and took a pencil out of his shirt. He put the paper on the table and began to write and draw a blueprint for his prank on SpongeBob. The octopus became deeply focused into his task.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob yawned and...

**FLICK**

...turned off the lights. He was wearing his pajamas.

"Good night." Gary closed his eyes.

SpongeBob laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. He closed his eyes and his body became still.

A long pause.

Gary fell asleep.

SpongeBob fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was reading past journal entries on the large computer. "Hmm..." He was thinking deeply. "Maybe I can..." The plankton then shook his head and dismissed that idea. "Or I should..." He shook that idea off his thoughts as well. "Maybe I should eliminate the sponge's home before using the brute force method." Plankton came up with an idea that he did not use before. "Karen, show the camera." He said a command.

S-S-S-S-S

A robot that looked like a fly was hovering in front of SpongeBob's pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The screen switched to the camera screen of the tiny robot.

"The sponge is sleeping. I think now's a good time to implement the plan." Plankton decided to put that idea into action. "Switch back to the journal." The plankton said another command.

A list of journal entries was shown on the computer screen.

"New entry." Plankton commanded.

An empty entry appeared on the screen.

Plankton hopped from key to key on the keyboard. He was typing the plan that he made up in his head.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Now I need to find some nematodes." Plankton spoke to himself and hopped to the floor. He walked to a metal box and opened it. 'This thing is still in its experimental stages but I might as well put it to use.' He took out a mind control remote. He then walked to a jetpack that was leaning on the wall and put it on. The plankton then walked across the laboratory.

Creak

Slam

He exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked across the dining room.

Creak

Slam

Plankton opened the double door and exited the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a red button on the jetpack.

Flames came out of the rockets of the jetpack.

Plankton flew to the air and flew away from the Chum Bucket. He was looking for a group of nematodes.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton saw a group of nematodes below him.

The group of nematodes quickly ate a piece of coral that they saw. The nematodes then hopped in a certain direction in search of something to drink, they needed to satisfy their thirst.

Plankton aimed the remote at the nematodes and pressed a blue button that was on the remote.

The nematodes stopped hopping.

"Step to the left." Plankton said a command.

The group of nematodes hopped to the left in unison.

"Step to the right." Plankton said another command.

The group of nematodes hopped to the right.

Plankton pressed a button on the remote that was orange and had a word in black text that said 'NAME'. The plankton pressed that button so the nematodes can only obey him once he says their name. The plankton then made an evil giggle. "Nematodes, follow." Plankton flew towards a certain pineapple.

The nematodes followed.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton hovered before SpongeBob's pineapple.

The nematodes were directly below him.

"Nematodes, drink pineapple." Plankton commanded and pointed at the pineapple.

The nematodes hopped to the pineapple and began to drink it.

The pineapple began to slowly shrink.

'I'll give them until the morning.' Plankton thought. He typed '10:00' which represented ten hours into the remote and pressed a green button, the remote had a number pad. The remote became a stopwatch and when those ten hours pass by, the nematodes would no longer be mind controlled. He knew that a long time will pass before the nematodes completely consume the pineapple. He then flew back to the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Something that was sticking to the underside of the bottom floor of the pineapple fell to the ground and became buried.

S-S-S-S-S

The bedroom had became significantly smaller. The things inside the room including the doors and windows did not change in size.

**HOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm rung.

SpongeBob woke up and yawned.

CLICK

The sponge turned off the foghorn.

Gary woke up with heavy eyes. "Mornin', owner."

SpongeBob noticed that he, Gary, and the other things inside the room were the same size while the walls of the room were smaller. "Looks like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He stood up from the bed and walked towards the door to the right.

**CRRRRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAK**

SpongeBob had to put a lot of force into opening the door. The wall surrounding the door was stretched to the maximum limit.

**CRRRAASSH**

The pieces of the wall surrounding the doorway fell to the floor.

"What's going on?" Gary meowed and slithered to his owner.

"I don't know!" SpongeBob sweatdropped and began to panic. "Maybe someone that can look at our house from outside could help us." He thought that a neighbor could help him figure out what was going on with his home.

SpongeBob and Gary exited the bedroom by walking over the pile of wall pieces.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran down the stairs.

**CRRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door with some effort and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran across the kitchen.

**CCRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAK**

He entered the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw the shell-phone and a light bulb lit up in his head. "I know, I'll call Squidward." He ran to the shell-phone and picked it up.

Gary caught up with SpongeBob.

SpongeBob dialed Squidward's number and put the shell-phone near his ear.

The sounds of people drinking something was heard as SpongeBob waited for Squidward to pick up on the other end.

S-S-S-S-S-S

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING

Squidward heard the ringing of his shell-phone from inside his bedroom, he was sleeping and was wearing his pajamas. He woke up, wiped his eyes until his vision was clear, and stood up from the bed.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked down the hallway and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and walked to the shell-phone. He picked it up and put it near his ear. "Hello?" He droned into the phone. He did not find the phone interrupting his sleep to be pleasing.

"_Squidward!_" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard.

"Is it time already for you to ruin my day?" Squidward assumed that SpongeBob was going to annoy him. He expressed grumpiness in his voice.

"_Something's going on with my house! Can you look outside?_" SpongeBob asked through the phone.

"Will you leave me alone after I do that?" Squidward was not going to fulfill his neighbor's request without a 'fee'.

"_Okay._" SpongeBob complied.

Squidward walked up to the window in the living room and looked through it. He saw a group of nematodes surrounding the pineapple and drinking the fruit/building. The octopus slowly made a sincere and wide smile, he knew that nematodes were infamous for destroying many a building. "Dear Neptune..." He looked at the destruction of SpongeBob's home with awe, he could not escape his neighborhood but a higher being must have given him a second chance for more peace in his home. The octopus suddenly became one of the luckiest creatures under the sea.

"_Squid, are you okay?!_" SpongeBob panicked over the phone, he thought that something was wrong with his neighbor.

"Oh, don't worry, SpongeBob." Squidward smirked and walked back to the place where the shell-phone was originally at. "Everything'll be alright..." He tried to falsely assure the sponge and put the shell-phone down. "...for me at least." Squidward then laughed by honking his nose.

S-S-S-S-S

The pineapple was becoming heavily drained of its flesh and juice, some of the furniture inside the building began to stretch the exterior wall as the pineapple became smaller and smaller.

The nematodes drank faster as the amount of juice left became lower and lower. They even began to eat the exterior wall in search of more juice to drink.

S-S-S-S-S

"What in the world?" Gary saw a few nematodes eating holes through the wall and meowed in shock.

SpongeBob looked at Gary and saw a few nematodes walking across the floor. "Oh no, nematodes!" He yelled in shock, ran towards Gary, and grabbed the snail. "We gotta get out of here before we're squished to death." The sponge was aware of the threat that the small pests posed, some of the furniture inside of his home could flatten him and Gary into pancakes. If they stayed for a minute longer, the pineapple would become nil and the furniture would crash down on them.

SpongeBob sprinted toward the front door.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob hit the door face-first. The pineapple was too small for him to open the door by any normal means.

PLOP

The door fell to the outside ground.

SpongeBob stood up while still carrying Gary.

**BUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRP**

The nematodes burped, they were finished with drinking and eating the pineapple. They then no longer became influenced by Plankton's mind control remote and hopped to the horizon.

Not a single remainder of the building was left.

**CRRRRAAAASSSH**

All of the furniture and other things that were inside the building fell to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sleeping on the couch. He heard a **CRASH**ing coming from outside and woke up. He wiped his eyes and stood up from the couch. He then jumped to the ceiling to investigate what was going on outside the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the rock. He saw an empty space where a pineapple had stood, a large pile of furniture and belongings, and SpongeBob in pajamas while carrying his snail. "What happened?" The sea star became concerned for his best friend and walked up to him.

SpongeBob heard Patrick and signed. He frowned and put Gary on the ground. "Nematodes ate my house."' He spoke solemnly and looked at the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned on the radio inside the living room and turned the volume knob until it was at 'MAX'. He tuned to a certain channel and danced to the dance music that was blasted through the radio's speakers. His joy over the destruction of SpongeBob's pineapple and the assumed eventual departure of the sponge had to be expressed in one way or another.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hey, SpongeBob, your house is gone..." Patrick pointed at the pile of SpongeBob's belongings and furniture and stated the obvious. He did not wake up with a significant amount of knowledge.

"What am I going to do? Where am I going to live?" SpongeBob thought critically in search for an answer to his dire problem. Solving situations like the one he was having was not easy.

A pause.

"Maybe Squid knows something." Patrick pointed at the tiki. "He tried to move out of his home once." The starfish's memory was somewhat decent.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers and stood up. "You're right!" He thought that Squidward was a trustworthy neighbor and could be a major help for him. He walked towards the tiki and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the knocking of the door and turned off the radio. He then walked towards the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...opened it.

"Squi-" SpongeBob was saying something but got interrupted by Squidward.

"It's been great knowing you, SpongeBob. Good luck, somewhere else." Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's hand and shook it. He tried to fool SpongeBob into thinking that there was no other choice but to move out of the neighborhood. He did not want the yellow square to linger around.

"Bu-" SpongeBob raised his index finger and...

**SLAM**

...Squidward closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm gonna miss you. Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo." Squidward pretended that he was going to miss SpongeBob and made fake crying for added effect. He then turned on the radio and resumed his dancing. He thought that SpongeBob was certainly going to move to another home that was far from the neighborhood. The octopus laughed as he bathed himself in his 'victory'.

S-S-S-S-S

"Squid's taking it real hard. So what are you gonna do now?" Patrick completely fell for Squidward's deception. The fake crying was what deceived him. His low intelligence made him almost as gullible as SpongeBob.

"I guess I'll have to move back with my mom and dad." SpongeBob walked to the pile of his belongings and picked up a photo. The photo depicted him as a child with his older brother and his parents. All four were smiling. Brian was a brown sponge like his father instead of a yellow sponge like his brother. The brown sponge did not have buck teeth and was taller than the yellow sponge but was square-shaped as well.

Patrick walked to the pile of furniture and belongings. He searched through the pile and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Wait a minute, no you don't." The sea star beamed, looked at SpongeBob, and shook his head.

"We can't build a house." SpongeBob correctly guessed what Patrick was thinking and immediately doubted that the plan would be successful. The two did not have experience in the construction field at all.

"Then let's gather the materials first, trust me, building that house will be easy." Patrick was confident with his plan. He did not notice a single flaw in the plan.

"But I have to go to work soon." SpongeBob looked at his watch. He thought that bringing the materials to the neighborhood was going to take a long time.

"Then we'll just build the house later." Patrick found a quick solution to the time constraint.

A pause.

"Okay. Let's just a give it a try." SpongeBob looked at the large pile of stuff. 'I don't wanna move out anyway.' The sponge thought. He wanted to stay with his neighbors.

"Follow me." Patrick signaled with his hand for SpongeBob to follow him. He walked towards a certain place. His memory was serving him well.

SpongeBob followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

More than an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

A large truck parked in front of the neighborhood. Several employees picked up the heavy construction materials with their might and dropped them in front of the empty space that used to be SpongeBob's pineapple. The employees then entered the truck and...

**VRRRROOOOMMMMM**

...the truck drove across the road towards the horizon.

SpongeBob and Patrick had watched the employees do what they did. They went to a large construction-themed store and bought enough construction materials to make a small house.

"You see? Everything we need is right here." Patrick walked to a pile of wooden planks and patted it. He tried to dispel his best friend's doubts. He thought that by not having any doubts, his plan would have a higher likelihood of success.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked through the window in the living room and saw what happened. "SpongeBob's just destined to annoy me." He groaned. The octopus slowly took out the folded paper and unfolded it. He decided to continue making his April Fools Day plan. If SpongeBob would not leave the neighborhood, then the octopus would have to carry out his act of revenge. He wanted to give the yellow square a piece of his mind.

A pause.

Squidward remembered that he had to go to work.

'I better save that for later.' Squidward folded the blueprint and put it away. He then walked to the kitchen table, picked up the employee hat, and put it on. He could resumed the making of his plan either during work or after work.

S-S-S-S-S

"See you later, Pat." SpongeBob looked at his watch, took out his employee hat, and put it on. After seeing all of those materials before him, he began to think that Patrick's plan had a chance of success. He then walked towards the Krusty Krab.

"Remember to build the house with me!" Patrick waved at his best friend and reminded him of what they were going to do later during the day.

"Don't worry." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up to assure Patrick.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Gary slithered through different parts of the living room.

Patrick sat on the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward were walking back to their homes. They finished their work at the Krusty Krab for the day.

Squidward walked up to the front door of his tiki.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the door and saw Patrick sitting on the couch while watching TV.

"Hey, Squid!" Patrick greeted his neighbor. "Wanna watch some Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy with me?" He patted on some free space on the couch, he wanted the octopus to sit with him and watch TV together.

S-S-S-S-S

"NO! Now get out!" Squidward stepped into his tiki and pointed at the exit. Uninvited guests inside his house was not one of the best of situations in his opinion.

"'kay." Patrick stood up and walked through the open doorway.

"Hi." Gary slithered up to Squidward.

"You too." Squidward continued to point at the doorway.

Gary silently slithered out of the doorway.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was waiting for Patrick until he saw the sea star and Gary exiting the tiki. He then walked up to Patrick. "Alright, Patrick, lets get to work!" He wanted to begin the construction of his new home. The sponge remembered what Patrick said earlier about the time when they were going to build the house.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs-up.

The two best friends walked to the pile of construction materials.

Patrick grabbed a hammer that wad part of the pile, the two friends had bought some construction tools as well. He picked up some wooden planks and a small box of nails. He then began to nail the wooden planks together with the hammer.

SpongeBob picked up two buckets, red and green, and walked up to Patrick. "Pat, when you're done, can I paint the walls?" He held up the buckets of paint. The sponge was rather skilled in painting since he could absorb the paint with his spongy skin.

"No problem." Patrick grabbed a few more wooden planks and nailed them together. He was building the walls for the building. The building needed a foundation before anything else could be done on it.

"Can I help ya out?" SpongeBob looked at the large pile of wooden planks. He knew that it was going to take a long time to nail the planks if Patrick was going to do it by himself. He thought that helping his friend could speed up the process do building the walls.

"Sure." Patrick handed a hammer from the pile to SpongeBob. "Now go get some planks." He pointed at the pile of wooden planks.

SpongeBob walked to the plank pile and took ten planks from the pile. He then put the planks on the ground with all of them separated from each other and began to nail the planks together.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Spongebob and Patrick nailed together the parts of the walls that they have made. They almost reached the halfway point of their building of the walls.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The four main walls of the house were finished and were nailed together.

SpongeBob and Patrick began to nail planks together that the roof of the house was going to consist of.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick finished building the roof.

SpongeBob grabbed a ladder and made it lean against one of the wooden walls. He and Patrick then lifted the roof from the ground and climbed the ladder while carrying the roof.

The two friends gently placed the roof on the open space above the ground that was surrounded by the four walls. They then descended the ladder.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes as he looked at the incomplete house. "Something's missing..." He had a hunch that an important part of the house was not implemented.

Patrick shrugged. "I dunno." The house looked nearly complete from his perspective and he thought that the last thing the two needed to do was to paint the walls.

"Aha!" SpongeBob figured out what was missing and pointed at the wall that was facing the street. "We need to make a front door." The sponge stated the missing component.

Patrick grabbed a saw from the pile. "We gotta get some space first." The sea star walked up to the front wall.

SpongeBob crossed his fingers and sweatdropped, he assumed that Patrick was going to mess up by cutting a different shape through the wall.

Patrick quickly cut a rectangle through the wall, it was the shape of a normal door.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow in relief. He then walked to the two buckets of paint and opened them. He grabbed a paint roller from the pile and dipped it into the bucket of red paint. He then rolled the red paint across his face a few times while closing his eyes and mouth, he then dipped the roller into the bucket again and rolled the paint across his face a few more times so he can absorb more red paint into his face. SpongeBob then hit the roller on the ground several times until all of the paint absorbed by the roller was shaken off. He dipped the roller into the bucket of green paint and he turned around. He rolled the green paint across his backside several times since he could not really see what he was doing, dipped the roller into the paint again, and rolled more paint across his backside.

SpongeBob looked like a multi-flavored candy bar that was wearing clothes when he was finished.

"Damn, SpongeBob, lookin' good!" Patrick admired what he thought was SpongeBob's fashion sense and made a double thumbs up.

SpongeBob laughed. "Don't be silly, Pat." He walked up to the unfinished house and hit the exterior parts of the walls with his face.

The walls began to become covered in red paint.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished painting the lower parts of the exterior wall and climbed the ladder. He then began to paint the higher parts of the wall while still using his face.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished painting the exterior walls. He descended the ladder, grabbed it, and carried it as he entered the wooden house.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob made the ladder lean on the interior wall. He hit then hit the inner walls with his backside.

The walls began to become covered in green paint.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished painting the interior walls. He had climbed the ladder to reach the higher parts of the walls. By that point, SpongeBob was back to a yellow sponge. He took the ladder and carried it as he exited the building.

S-S-S-S-S

"You're done?" Patrick wanted to make sure that SpongeBob did not forget to paint any part of the walls. He knew for sure that the two were nearing the completion of the construction.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

"Meow meow meow." Gary reminded the two of something.

Patrick snapped his fingers. "Right!" He walked to the now small pile of materials and grabbed a door that did not have a knob. He then walked to the open doorway and fitted the door into the doorway. "Can you get the other stuff, Sponge?" The sea star looked at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob nodded and took the knob, a small box of nails, and the hinges from the pile. He then walked to the door and took out the hammer. He put the knob through the hole in the door and nailed it to the door with the hammer. He then nailed the hinges of the door with the same tool.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick stepped back and gazed at the fruit of their hard work.

S-S-S-S-S

"Let me see how SpongeBob's doing." Plankton walked up to Karen. He wanted to see how SpongeBob was reacting to the loss of his pineapple. The plankton did not want anything unexpected to happen, he was aware of the possibility of his plan backfiring. Plankton then hopped to the keyboard of the computer.

Karen's screen switched to the camera screen of the tiny robot that was spying on SpongeBob.

The screen was showing the new house that SpongeBob and Patrick had built.

"WHAT?!" Plankton's eye widened. He did not expect SpongeBob to react that way at all. "Looks like I underestimated SpongeBob's resilience." He came to a conclusion. 'Luckily, that robot has a weapon.' He remembered something and smirked. The plankton typed a command to the robot on the keyboard.

S-S-S-S-S

Cthung

A mini-flamethrower popped out of the nano-robot. The robot then flew towards the wooden house and shot a small amount of fire on the wood.

The wood was ignited and the flames spread quickly. The paint was flammable so it assisted in the spreading of the fire.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made an evil laugh as he watched the burning of the new house.

S-S-S-S-S

"MEOW MEOW MEOW MEOW!" Gary looked up and saw the fire. He then meowed loudly at his owner and Patrick.

SpongeBob gasped and looked up. He saw the fire and put a hand over his mouth. The flames caught the yellow square by surprise.

Patrick saw the flames as well. He then saw a semi-empty bucket of paint and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Maybe we could cool it down with the paint!" The sea star smiled, ran to the paint bucket, and picked it up. He was going to put his idea into action right away, he did not think critically.

"PAT, DON'T DO IT!" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he held out his hand.

Patrick became still and he quietly looked at SpongeBob.

"The paint is flammable! Did you read the labels on the bucket?" SpongeBob pointed at the bucket that Patrick was holding. The sponge was highly observant as he used the materials and built the house.

"Oh." Patrick stopped smiling and put the bucket back to the ground.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary could not do anything as the house burned down.

Within thirty seconds, the entire wooden house was burned to ashes. The money they spent on the materials and the time and effort they put into building the house had been wasted.

Silence.

C-clack

The nanorobot's mini-flamethrower retracted.

A long pause.

SpongeBob's eyes moistened and he petted Gary. "Well, looks like we've got to move back with Mom and Pop." The sponge thought that there was no other choice or possibility left for staying in the neighborhood.

"Well, you can't move back in with your parents! When my parents kicked me out of the house, I never went back..." Patrick did not want his best friend to move out of the neighborhood. He was trying to find an example or moment from his life that would encourage SpongeBob to keep trying to stay in the neighborhood. The sea star then looked at his rock and another light bulb lit up in his head. "Wait! You and Gary can come stay with me!" He told the sponge his idea.

SpongeBob gasped and beamed. "That's be great! It would be like a sleepover." He jumped up and down in excitement. His mood had made a completely opposite turn.

"Yeah! We'll be rock mates!" Patrick pumped his fist and smiled as well.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary walked towards the rock.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The three entered Patrick's rock.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Good night, SpongeBob." Patrick laid down on the bed and put the blanket over himself. He was wearing his pajamas.

"Good night, rockmate." SpongeBob laid down on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Meow." Gary slithered up to a pile of cans and became comfortable. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Good night, Gary." SpongeBob yawned and covered himself with a blanket of hardened sand.

Patrick fell asleep and began to drool.

SpongeBob fell asleep as well.

The living room was a mess. SpongeBob and Patrick had been fooling around inside the rock by playing childish games.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was snoring. His drool had covered nearly the entire pillow that he was laying his head on.

SpongeBob heard the snoring and woke up. "Oh... what the...?" He wiped his eyes until his vision was somewhat clear and saw Patrick snoring, he had thought that a monster was making that sound until he saw Patrick. "Oh." The sponge took out two corks and put them inside his ears. He did that so he did not have to hear the loud snoring of his best friend. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

A pause.

SpongeBob still heard the snoring. He opened his eyes and sat up in the couch. The yellow square needed to find a way to make Patrick stop snoring. He stood up and from the couch and tip-toed towards Patrick. He inched his hand towards the blanket covering the sea star and moved it until it was over the sea star's mouth. SpongeBob then winced in anticipation of Patrick suddenly waking up and becoming frightened.

Another pause.

Patrick's snoring was muffled due to the blanket covering his mouth.

SpongeBob quietly wiped some sweat from his brow and tip-toed back to the couch. He then laid down on the couch and put the blanket over himself again.

Patrick became aroused by the sounds of SpongeBob laying down on the couch. He stood up from the bed and began to sleepwalk, he was in the intermediate stage between sleep and wakefulness. "Hunting... hunting... hunting... hunting..." The sea star mindlessly said the same word as if he was chanting as he walked across the living room. The starfish was jellyfishing in his dream.

SpongeBob widened his eyes and his face drained of color. He did not know how Patrick was going to react if he touched the starfish or vice-versa. His best friend was sometimes unpredictable and that is mostly due to his ever-changing levels of intelligence. However, this case was different.

Patrick made a swinging motion with one of his arms. He was swinging a jellyfish net in an attempt to catch a jellyfish in his dream. He stopped snoring and continued to walk across the room.

SpongeBob gulped nervously as his body shook in anxiety.

Patrick stopped walking, he reacted to the sound of the gulp. "SPIDERS!" He yelled and ran to the bed. He then picked up the bed and walked towards SpongeBob. He was being attacked by spiders and picked up a large rock as a response in his dream. "SPIDERS! SPIDERS!"

SpongeBob quickly stood up and backed away from his best friend. "Pat, stop! It's-"

**SLAM**

Patrick swung the bed at SpongeBob and hit him. He then lifted the bed again for another swing. The spiders did not go away and he was attacking them with the rock in his dream.

SpongeBob was flattened to the floor. "No, Patrick-" He nimbly stood up.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob got hit by the bed again and fell to the floor. "No, Patrick-"

**SLAM**

"No, Patrick-"

**SLAM**

"No, Patrick-"

**SLAM**

SpongeBob was becoming pulverized by Patrick's swinging of the bed.

Patrick was relentless with his assault on the 'spiders'.

"Wake up! It's me, SpongeBob!" SpongeBob yelled in terror and dove to the circular wall of the living room. He covered his face with his arms to minimize the damage being dealt to him by the bed.

"SPIDERS! SPIDERS!" Patrick swung the bed like a baseball bat. He was trying to send the spiders to a part of Jellyfish Fields that was far away from him in his dream.

**BAM**

The bed hit SpongeBob across the face.

**THUD**

SpongeBob managed to stand up and shakily backed away from the violent starfish. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He rapidly shook his head and sweatdropped a few times. He did not want to receive any more injuries from his sleepwalking best friend.

Patrick dropped the bed and no longer stood up.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the floor back-first and resumed his normal sleep. In his dream, the spiders got hit by the rock and flew across the plain until they vanished from the horizon. He also resumed his snoring.

"Meow." Gary had awoken from his slumber when he heard the sounds of the bed hitting SpongeBob.

"Maybe we shouldn't sleep with Pat for the night." SpongeBob smiled nervously and whispered to his snail. "Disturbing him anymore will probably lead to something much worse." The sponge whispered loudly. He thought that it would be ideal if Patrick slept alone. He picked up Gary and climbed the wall of the large room.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple while carrying his pet.

S-S-S-S-S

'I guess Squid's the only hope I have left.' SpongeBob put Gary on the ground and walked towards Squidward's tiki. He then stood before the front door and took a deep breath. He hoped that the octopus would not become too grumpy after being woken up by him.

**DING DONG**

SpongeBob rung the doorbell.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the doorbell and awoke. He wiped his eyes and stood up from his bed. The octopus was in his pajamas.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

A very long pause.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and saw SpongeBob. "What do you want? I wanna get some sleep." He grumbled. The octopus became grumpy which was what SpongeBob did not want.

"Squidward, could we stay here a couple of days or a month or two?" SpongeBob pointed at himself and then pointed at Gary. He was at the mercy of Squidward since he had no other place to sleep in. He sweatdropped at the thought of Squidward refusing to provide hospitality to the sponge.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Squidward had a strong to desire to go back to sleep due to his drowsiness. He was not thinking straight.

"Thanks, Squidward." SpongeBob smiled and stepped into the tiki.

Gary slithered into the home.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw the kitchen and wanted to drink some water. He became thirsty due to all of that stress caused by the sleepwalking Patrick. "Could you get me a glass of water, please?" He asked Squidward as politely as possible.

"Yeah... sure." Squidward walked like a zombie towards the kitchen. His drowsiness overcame his grumpiness. He entered the kitchen and opened a cabinet. He took a glass cup and then opened the refridgerator. The octopus then took out a gallon of water, opened it, and poured some water into the cup. He then gave the cup to SpongeBob.

"Thanks, buddy."' SpongeBob drank the cup of water. He was grateful for Squidward's hospitality. The sponge then gave the cup back to Squidward once he finished drinking the water.

Squidward put the cup into the sink, closed the gallon of water, put the gallon back into the fridge, and closed the fridge. The octopus then exited the kitchen and pointed at the couch in the living room. "Sleep there." Squidward then walked upstairs.

"Good night, Squid." SpongeBob laid down on the couch.

Gary silently slithered to a chair and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Gary." SpongeBob closed his eyes as well.

"Good night." Gary meowed.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward yawned and laid down on his bed. He put the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. What he desired was finally about to happen.

A pause.

Squidward suddenly realized something. He quickly stood up from his bed.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stood in front of SpongeBob and poked the sponge.

"H-huh?" SpongeBob woke up and sat up. He saw an ill-tempered Squidward and bit his lip.

"Get out." Squidward glared at SpongeBob and pointed at the front door.

"But-" SpongeBob got interrupted by Squidward.

"GET OUT." Squidward spoke in a higher volume. He could not tolerate the presence of SpongeBob in his house, the yellow sponge was bound to annoy him all night.

SpongeBob sighed and stood up. He silently complied to Squidward's command.

Gary woke up after hearing the footsteps of his owner. He slithered out of the chair and followed SpongeBob.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Gary exited the pineapple.

Squidward walked upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary walked up to the large pile of the pineapple's furniture and their belongings.

"I guess we're gonna have to sleep here for tonight." SpongeBob took the bed out of the pile and laid down on it. "I guess I'm moving back to my parents tomorrow." He put the blanket over himself.

"Squidward's a jerk." Gary commented negatively about the octopus.

"Don't say that, Gar-bear." SpongeBob shook his head. "We were probably bothering Squid, he needed his sleep anyway." The sponge was looking for the good in his neighbor.

"Anyways, why was Pat hitting you?" Gary had a question that was stuck in his mind.

"I made a few sounds that disturbed Patrick while he was sleeping. He thought that I was the spider in his dream and then attacked me because of that. He was sleepwalking though." SpongeBob explained what happened at Patrick's rock to Gary; he answered his question.

"Sponge, do you think we'll do fine at your mom and dad's house? I kinda miss the pineapple." Gary was feeling sentimental for the home that he was originally brought to.

"Don't worry, Gary. It's just like when I brought you to the pineapple for the first time. You'll get used to it after a while." SpongeBob assured his pet and closed his eyes.

Gary slithered to the couch and closed his eyes.

The two fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidwadd closed his eyes as he laid on his bed. He then drifted off to sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob woke up and yawned. He sat up in the bed and then stood up from the bed. He walked up to Gary and poked his shell to grab his attention.

Gary slowly opened his eyes. "Mornin'."

"I think we should move to my parents' house right now. It'll be easier to get to work that way." SpongeBob informed Gary about what they were about to do. The sponge was taking the situation seriously.

"What're we gonna do with all of this stuff?" Gary slithered out of the couch and pointed at the large pile with his eyes.

"I'll just call some worker to move all of that to Ma and Pop's house." SpongeBob stated a simple answer to Gary's question. He then walked towards Patrick's rock. "C'mon, Gary. We gotta say our last words to our neighbors." His eyes became slightly moistened and he had a very small lump in his throat. The painful process of moving to a new location began.

"Okay." Gary followed SpongeBob; he complied.

**KNOCK KNOCK **

SpongeBob knocked on Patrick's rock.

A pause.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

The rock opened with Patrick sticking to the ceiling. "Hey, Sponge." He greeted his best friend and neighbor.

"Pat... I know this is gonna be hard to swallow but... I'm gonna move back to Ma and Pop's house. I am confident in my decision and I think it would be better if I left right now." SpongeBob spoke in a low voice and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He was on the verge of crying.

Plop!

"Why you didn't stay at my house?!" Patrick jumped to the ground and frowned. He had an urgent question to be answered.

"You were attacking me in your sleep. You thought I was those spiders in your dream." SpongeBob gave a valid reason for his absence inside Patrick's rock. It was too dangerous for him to stay there.

Patrick's eyed moistened. "Why you didn't stay at Squid's place?" The sea star wanted to make his last moments with his best friend as long as possible. Deep in his mind, he knew the inevitable was going to happen.

"He allowed me inside at first but he was not thinking straight. He soon got back to his senses and kicked me out. He probably did that since I might annoy him which is what..." SpongeBob giggled. "...I am guilty for. I didn't get mad though, Squidward needed his Z's." The sponge managed to make a slight smile.

Patrick fell to his knees. "Please, don't do this!" The sea star begged for SpongeBob to stay in the neighborhood.

SpongeBob patted Patrick on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, buddy. I tried my best but I no longer have another option." He was trying really hard not to cry.

Patrick felt to the ground and bawled at a very high volume.

SpongeBob could no longer help himself. A few tears ran down his cheeks; he was weeping silently.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard Patrick's bawling. He woke up and stood up from his bed.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked down the hallway and walked up the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the music room. He walked to one of the windows and looked through it. He saw a weeping SpongeBob and a bawling Patrick, it was a sign that something he anticipated for ever since the pineapple was destroyed was about to happen. He gasped and grinned. The octopus sprinted to the stairs and dashed downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

A few seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the front door open and walked into the scene. "Hold it! Hold everything!" The octopus was nearly jumping up and down in excitement. "I do not want to miss this. The day SpongeBob moves! I can't believe it's really happening." He was overflowing with joy.

"Don't worry, Squidward. I'll come visit you." SpongeBob beamed. He wiped his tears and patted Squidward on the shoulder. The sponge was desperately trying to stay optimistic.

"Don't try to cheer me up, SpongeBob. Please." Squidward gently brushed SpongeBob's hand off his shoulder. Due to the emotional moment that the two best friends were having, that gesture was extremely rude.

SpongeBob did not notice the rudeness of the gesture. "Squid, can I borrow your phone, please? I need to call my parents and a delivery person." He was trying to be polite in a similar way to what happened last night.

"Go right ahead!" Squidward picked SpongeBob up and carried him into the tiki. He was in such a good mood that he would willingly assist the person he hated the most.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward put SpongeBob in front of the shell-phone in the living room.

SpongeBob picked up the shell-phone and dialed a phone number. The yellow sponge then put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

"_Hello?_" Brian's electronic voice was heard.

"Brian, I know this seems so sudden but... I'm gonna be moving back to Ma and Pop's house. My pineapple got destroyed by nematodes." SpongeBob informed Brian of his situation. "I got no other choice but to move back."

A long pause. Brian was thinking of a proper response to SpongeBob's words.

"_Should I tell Ma and Pop?_" Brian asked through the phone.

"Yeah. You probably have to spill the beans anyways." SpongeBob nodded as he spoke into the shell-phone.

"_Well... see ya later than._" Brian put the phone down on the other end.

SpongeBob dialed another number into the phone. He remembered that phone number since he used it when he moved to the pineapple.

A pause.

An electronic voice was heard.

"This is SpongeBob SquarePants. I live in 123 Conch Street. I want to move to 39 Cliff Avenue so can you move my stuff to there?" SpongeBob spoke into the phone. He had called the post office.

An electronic voice was heard.

"You can just take the money from my bank account." SpongeBob wanted the paying process to be as convenient as possible. He wanted to come to work on time.

An electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down. "I just gotta wait now." The sponge spoke to himself and exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's father drove the boatmobile with SpongeBob's mother towards what used to be the pineapple.

"Here come my parents." SpongeBob looked at the incoming boatmobile and frowned. His leaving of the neighborhood was imminent. No matter how hard the yellow square tried, he could not stay in the neighborhood.

Patrick was still crying. By that point, hundreds of tears had fallen from his face. The sudden depression due to the revelation of SpongeBob's departure refused to leave his mind. Once SpongeBob moves back to his house parents' house, the sea star would cry for the next few hours to come.

"SpongeBob! Hi, honey, we're here!" SpongeBob's mother waved at SpongeBob.

Patrick heard SpongeBob's mother and bawled again. His best friend's final moment at the neighborhood had came.

Squidward was still smiling in spite of the annoying sounds of Patrick's bawling.

"Come on, SpongeBob, hurry hurry, son, your mother has breakfast waiting." SpongeBob's father signaled with his hand for his son to enter the boatmobile.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. SquarePants!" Squidward waved at SpongeBob's parents and spoke with glee. The sponge's parents were saviors from his perspective. A major source for the suffering in his life was about to be removed.

"Just give me a minute." SpongeBob wanted to make his last moment at the neighborhood last as long as possible. He walked to the large pile of belongings and furniture that laid on where the pineapple used to be. "I cannot hold on to this place any longer... even if it holds too many memories." The sponge was talking to himself and began to weep again.

A few tears fell from his cheeks and landed on the ground.

A long pause.

SpongeBob then turned around and walked up to Squidward. "Well, Squidward, this is good-bye." The yellow square held out his hand.

Squidward enthusiastically shook SpongeBob's hand. Hearing the word "good-bye" from SpongeBob made him begin to think that he was in a dream.

"Good-bye, Patrick." SpongeBob walked towards the boatmobile and waved at Patrick.

Patrick dove towards SpongeBob and grabbed his ankles. He was desperately attempting to make his best friend stay in the neighborhood.

"Good-bye, guys." SpongeBob waved at his two neighbors for one final time. He then carefully shook Patrick off his ankles and entered the vehicle.

"Meow meow." Gary slithered into the boatmobile.

Squidward began to dance as a way of expressing his immense happiness. "SpongeBob is leaving. He's leaving, he's leaving!" He chanted what was obvious.

S-S-S-S-S

The tears went through the ground and soaked a large seed. The seed was the thing that was sticking to the underside of the pineapple and was buried.

The seed began to move. Cracks appeared on the shell of the seed.

S-S-S-S-S

**RRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUMMMMMBBBBLLLLLLEEEEE**

The ground shook violently.

Everybody became quiet and still.

A pineapple grew out of the space left behind by the previous pineapple. The seed soaked by SpongeBob's tears grew to become a replacement for the sponge's home.

**CRRRRRAAAASSSH**

The large pile of furniture and belongings was pushed to the side by the pineapple.

The pineapple looked like a normal pineapple instead of a building since it was freshly grown.

"My house is back!" SpongeBob smiled from ear to ear and stated the obvious.

Squidward stood dancing and made a deadpan face. Frustration began to build up in his mind.

Patrick's eyes widened at the sight of the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Can I see SpongeBob again?" Plankton hopped to the keyboard. He wanted to see what happened to SpongeBob after the burning of the wooden house.

Karen's screen switched to the screen of the nanorobot's camera.

A freshly grown pineapple could be seen.

Plankton banged his fist on the keyboard in frustration. "When will SpongeBob give up already?!" He jumped to the floor and grabbed the jetpack and the mind control remote. "I'm gonna have to kick him out of his home in a less than subtle manner." He spoke to himself and made a sinister giggle. He put on the jetpack and turned it on.

He flew towards the double door and exited the laboratory. The plankton soon exited the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton flew towards the pineapple and saw a very large group of nematodes along the way. He pressed the blue button.

The nematodes stopped hopping.

He pressed the 'NAME' button. "Nematodes, follow." Plankton commanded. The plankton then resumed his flying to the pineapple.

The nematodes quickly followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the fresh pineapple and inspected it. 'Looks like I'll need some construction workers to make the rooms.' He thought. The sponge needed to call some workers in order to rebuild the rooms of the former pineapple.

A large group of nematodes hopped to the neighborhood.

"Nematodes, attack SpongeBob." Plankton commanded and then pointed at the yellow square.

The nematodes hopped towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's parents saw the nematodes.

"EVERYBODY, GET IN THE CAR!" SpongeBob's father yelled at the three neighbors.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward turned around and saw the nematodes. They then sprinted to the boatmobile and entered it.

SpongeBob's father slammed on the pedal.

**VRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM**

The boatmobile drove at a high speed down the road.

Plankton made an evil laugh. "That sponge can't get away from me!" He flew after the boatmobile.

The nematodes hopped in pursuit of SpongeBob.

"If only we still had the Conch Signal..." Patrick remembered something and spoke to himself. He looked behind the car and saw the ferocious nematodes. He then sweatdropped.

SpongeBob heard what Patrick said and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Ma, Pop, I know a place we can go to that can keep us safe. I'll tell you the directions." He informed his parents about the idea.

"Anything's viable at this point." SpongeBob's father shrugged.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCRRRREEEEECCCH**

The boatmobile screeched to a halt in front of Shady Shoals.

SpongeBob quickly exited the vehicle and ran towards the retirement home. He looked through a window and saw Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob rapidly knocked on the window as the almost one-hundred nematodes approached him.

SpongeBob's parents and Patrick crossed their fingers in anxiety.

Squidward was staring at space, he was dwelling on what just happened a few minutes ago.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were sitting on the sofa and were watching TV. They heard the knocking and looked at the window. They saw a panicking SpongeBob.

"Huh?" Barnacle Boy stood up and walked to the window.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Barnacle Boy opened the window.

Mermaid Man stood up and walked to the window as well.

"What's wrong?" Barnacle Boy noticed that SpongeBob was extremely anxious.

"Nematodes are trying to attack me!" SpongeBob yelled and dove through the window.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy gasped as they saw a large group of incoming nematodes. They then closed their eyes and concentrated on calming down the nematodes.

Sound waves came out of their brains and came in contact with the nematodes.

S-S-S-S-S

The nematodes stopped hopping and scattered to different directions in search of food.

"BARNACLES!" Plankton cursed and became frustrated. He then flew back to the Chum Bucket at a rapid speed so no one could see or hear him.

Squidward came to a conclusion in his mind. He had no doubts about making an epic prank on SpongeBob during April Fools Day. He could not escape his torturous confinement so he had to make a way out of it through force.

* * *

**Don't forget to review.**


	36. Fools in April

**Chapter 36: Fools in April**

* * *

Nearly a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

Early in the morning...

It was April Fools Day.

Squidward was looking at a blueprint that he taped to the wall of the music room. 'This is pretty much complete.' He made an observation and smiled. 'I got all of my materials...' The octopus turned around and looked at a mustard container, a very long piece of rope, and a bucket. He had bought all of those things from a few stores around Bikini Bottom. '...and all I have to do now is sneak them past Mr. Krabs.' He took out his employee hat and put it on. He grabbed the things he bought and carried them as he walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and walked towards the front door.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking towards a house that was home to a certain person. The octopus knew that he awoke at an earlier time than usual for him, he did it on purpose.

SpongeBob and Patrick were asleep as Squidward was active.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stood before Mr. Krabs' anchor.

**DING DONG**

The octopus rung the doorbell.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard the doorbell and slowly opened his eyes. "I wonder who could be up at this hour." The crab muttered to himself and stood up from the bed. He was in his light blue pajamas and had been awoken during the middle of his latest sleep cycle. The crab could barely recognize anything he was seeing as his eyes adjusted to being open. He walked unsteadily to the door.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the front door and saw Squidward. "Mr. Squidward, what in the world do you want this early in the morning?" He was somewhat grumpy and wanted to go back to sleep.

"I've got some materials that I want to put into the Krusty Krab. It's just in case if we run low on supplies." Squidward pointed at the stuff that he was holding.

"Is it free?" Mr. Krabs asked a crucial question. He did not want to spend money on extra supplies.

"Yep." Squidward nodded. "I bought them myself; you don't have to pay a single penny." He made a slight smile. He did not want to look like he was lying. His main goal for contacting Mr. Krabs was to obtain the key to the Krusty Krab.

"Well..." Mr. Krabs took out the key to the restaurant and gave it to Squidward. "Give it back when you're done with putting that stuff away." The boss trusted Squidward even though his employee was lazy, the octopus had worked in the Krusty Krab for a long-enough time to earn the crab's confidence. He knew that the octopus would not betray him and the restaurant.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the front door.

Squidward walked towards the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to the Krusty Krab and unlocked the double door with the key.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned around and made sure that the double door was closed to prevent Plankton from trespassing into the restaurant, he was highly aware of his surroundings and what he was doing.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned on the sink and filled the bucket with water. He then turned off the sink and...

**CREAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen. He was carrying the bucket full of water in one hand and the other things in another.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward put the mustard container on the floor and threw the very long piece of rope towards the mast.

The rope landed and wrapped around an adjacent and diagonal wooden pole.

He then slowly climbed the mast while holding on to the rope and carrying the bucket. He climbed by making small hops up the mast, he was careful so the water in the bucket did not spill.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward finally reached the top of the mast. He then gently leaped to the diagonal wooden pole that the end of the rope wrapped around.

Only a small amount of water was spilled to the floor.

"Phew." The octopus wiped some sweat from his brow. He had became anxious at the possibility of most or all of the water in the bucket spilling to the floor while he was jumping. Squidward now no longer had to worry about that. He grabbed the end of the rope and tied it to the handle of the bucket. The octopus then lifted the bucket with one hand and the other end of the rope with the other. Squidward slowly lowered the bucket full of water and then tied a loop on the other end of the rope. He lowered the loop until it was near the floor and below the bucket. The octopus then slid down the mast and landed on the floor. Squidward put the mustard container away, he was going to use that later.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squiward locked the double door with the key and then walked back to Mr. Krabs' anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

The freshly grown pineapple had been fully constructed into an exact replica of the previous pineapple. SpongeBob had brought construction workers to do that task.

**HOOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm blew off.

SpongeBob woke up and...

CLICK

...turned off the alarm. He then stood up from his bed. "Wake up, Gary." He spoke to his snail.

Gary woke up and yawned. "What?"

"We're moving today!" SpongeBob beamed and jumped up and down in excitement. His emotions seemed to be sincere.

"What the barnacle?" Gary raised a non-existent brow. He became suspicious due to what happened almost a week ago.

"That's right! We're leaving home." SpongeBob took out a cap and a fake mustache. He put on the cap and the mustache as a disguise. "We're going to become peasants."

Gary's stomach gurgled.

"I'm outta here. I'm hungry." Gary meowed and decided to ignore SpongeBob's behavior. He slithered to the right door and exited the bedroom.

SpongeBob giggled and followed Gary. The sponge was definitely up to something.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary slithered down the stairs and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary slithered towards the cabinet where the cans of snail nip were at.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and picked up Gary. "No more food." He opened a wooden cabinet and took out a can of clamshells and a can opener. He opened the can while carrying Gary and then opened another cabinet to take out Gary's bowl. He put the bowl on the floor and poured the clamshells into the bowl. "Sorry, Gary. Peasants only eat mashed-up clamshells." The sponge crushed the small shells into pieces with the opened can. He took out a small container of table salt from an opened cabinet and sprinkled some of the salt onto the mashed shells.

Gary looked at the floor and his eyes moistened. He thought of the torture he had to go through in order to get used to this new diet of clamshells. He was too used to his diet of snail food.

"April Fools!" SpongeBob took off the cap and mustache and put them away. He grabbed Gary's bowl and ate the clamshells within a few gulps. The sponge reached his hand into an open cabinet without looking and took out a can of snail nip. He opened the can with the can opener and poured the food into the bowl. The yellow square then put the bowl back to the floor. "There ya go, pal!"

Gary slithered to the bowl and ate the snail nip with delight. He was glad since he was not forced to transition to a new diet.

"Whew, I'm thirsty." SpongeBob wiped some non-existent sweat from his brow. "**This is an extreme thirst!**" He spoke in a deep voice. He opened the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of lemonade, he made lemonade a few days ago due to the increasingly warm weather of spring. He then opened a cabinet and took out a large amount of glass cups.

Gary looked at what SpongeBob was doing and became confused.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The pitcher ran out of lemonade.

Each cup was half-full of lemonade.

SpongeBob had poured some lemonade into each cup. "Whew, I'm exhausted. I sure can't wait to drink all of these drinks!" The sponge drank some from a cup. "April Fools!" He then laughed even though the joke was targeted at himself. The sponge then exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick's rock and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on it.

A pause.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened with Patrick sticking to the ceiling. "Hey, Sponge." Patrick greeted and smiled.

"Pat, I've got some important news to tell you." SpongeBob spoke in a solemn manner and made a solemn facial expression. He was trying to look sincere instead of deceitful.

"What is it?" Patrick became curious. "Was it shown on the news?" He wanted to make sure that SpongeBob got his information from legitimate sources.

"Yeah. The report was about the sky falling to the seafloor within two hours." SpongeBob lied but showed no signs of it. He had not watched the news at all. He knew that Patrick would definitely be fooled by what he said.

Patrick gasped and jumped to the ground.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

Patrick ran around the rock numerous times as he was panicking. "END OF THE WORLD! END OF THE WORLD! END OF THE WORLD! END OF THE WORLD!" He repeated the same words as he screamed in dread of the upcoming apocalypse. His intelligence was rather low when he woke up.

"April Fools!" SpongeBob laughed.

"Oh." Patrick stopped running and smiled. He forgot that today was April Fools Day. "Well, ya got me this time but I won't fall for it again." He then smirked as if he was SpongeBob's rival.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered his rock.

SpongeBob walked towards the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

More than an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was reading a novel on his couch.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rung.

Squidward walked up to the shell-phone and picked it up. He then put the phone near his ear.

"_Squidward, there's someone here at the Krusty Krab to see you. He says he's from the Barnacle Bay Art Museum and he wants to honor you as artist of the month._" Mr. Krabs' electronic voice was heard.

Squidward gasped. "I'll get there ASAP." He spoke into the phone and put the phone down. He took out his employee hat and put it on.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward quickly exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran towards the Krusty Krab as fast as possible. He would not miss that opportunity to become famous and get his artwork recognized. The octopus had waited for opportunities like that to knock on his door, they could also be keys to escaping the torturous confinement he was trapped in.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

Squidward barged the double door open and stepped into the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took a deep breath. "I have arrived." He was exuding confidence. The octopus thought that the art in his tiki would impress this person from the museum.

A pause.

Squidward noticed that there were no other people in the room except for SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. Those two members of the Krusty Krew were laughing. "What's so funny? Where's the art dealer?" He raised his brow at the sponge and the crab.

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs laughed more.

The sponge banged his fist on a table in laughter.

"You just missed him." Mr. Krabs stopped laughing and smirked. He knew that today was April Fools Day and he also knew that he deceived Squidward while talking to him on the phone. The crustacean did it due to a suggestion that SpongeBob made.

"Yeah, but he told us to tell you-" SpongeBob was giggling and could not hide it. The sponge was aware of the fact that the art dealer was non-existent.

"Tell me what?" Squidward anxiously wanted to know the last words of this art dealer. He at least wanted to walk in the track towards eventual success even if he missed an opportunity like the one Mr. Krabs said on the phone.

"He told me to tell you..." SpongeBob walked up to Squidward. "April Fools." He whispered into Squidward's ear.

"Well, it's been nice working here." Squidward frowned and put his hat on a table. He then walked towards the double door. "Thanks for everything, Mr. Krabs." The octopus was completely aware of what he was doing, he was deceiving SpongeBob and his boss.

"Squidward, wait!" SpongeBob dove towards Squidward and grabbed his ankles. He wanted to say something to the octopus that will make him stay at the Krusty Krab. The sponge knew that he sometimes takes things too far.

"Just send my last check to the mailbox, Mr. Krabs!" Squidward spoke to Mr. Krabs without looking at him. He grabbed the handle of the double door so he can exit the restaurant. It seemed to be that Squidward was serious about quitting his job. The octopus tried to shake SpongeBob off his feet.

"WAAAAAIIIIT!" SpongeBob clinged to Squidward's knees. He would not let go of the octopus.

Squidward looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "What?" He tried to look impatient.

"It was just a joke! No more jokes on you today, I promise." SpongeBob apologized for what he did, he knew that he had suggested that prank to Mr. Krabs. He made a sincere frown. The sponge did not want Squidward to become upset.

"You do?" Squidward raised his brow and smiled. The yellow square apologizing for his antics boosted the octopus's ego.

"I'm serious. Plus, there are lots of other willing participants. Right, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob turned around a caught a glimpse of Mr. Krabs putting a whoopee cushion on the boat.

Squidward glared at his boss.

Mr. Krabs had put that whoopee cushion on the boat as a punishment for Squidward. He felt like it was justified since the octopus was lazy and often naps on the boat, he thought it would be hilarious if Squidward took a nap and accidentally sat on the whoopie cushion. The crab smiled and quickly hid the whoopie cushion behind his back, he wanted to look innocent.

"April Fools." Squidward shook SpongeBob off his legs and walked to the table where his hat was. He then put on the hat. The octopus had fooled SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs.

"Huh?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side in confusion. He did not understand his co-worker's joke since there were multiple ways that the octopus could have deceived him and the boss. The sponge had did April Fools jokes by doing one confusing thing for each attempt, the octopus had done it differently in this case.

"I wasn't going to quit. Working in this dump is the only reason I can afford my home." Squidward sat in the boat. He no longer smiled and returned to his signature deadpan face. He felt satisfied with the success of his April Fools joke and was going to do another one later.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob just served a Krabby Patty to a customer when an old lady walked up to him.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the forks are?" The old lady had only visited the restaurant a few times. She was not familiar with the layout of the building.

"Sure! They're right here, lady!" SpongeBob pointed at a specific location in the utensils stand. He then giggled because he knew he was lying, he thought that the lady was the perfect target for a certain joke.

The utensils stand was against the metal wall and was next to the condiments stand.

The old lady walked to the utensils stand and picked up a spoon from the location that SpongeBob pointed at. "But this is a spoon." She noticed what the utensil was.

"April Fools!" SpongeBob laughed and walked up to the utensil stand. "Here you go." The sponge handed a fork to the lady from the stand. He then took the spoon and put it back to the stand.

Squidward gripped his novel tightly as heard SpongeBob's laughing. He wanted to give SpongeBob a piece of his mind but kept his mouth shut. His chance to laugh would come when he pranks the yellow square. The suffering caused by SpongeBob may not be as severe once Squidward gets his sweet revenge. All of the hatred locked inside his mind was going to be unleashed.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Welcome to the Krusty Krab. How may I help you?" Squidward droned. His head was on his hand.

"Yeah, give me two large fries and a Jumbo Krabby Patty." A blue male customer held out three fingers.

SpongeBob peeked through the window. "Hey, what's that?" He pointed at nothing in particular. The sponge was trying to distract the customer.

The customer turned around and looked at his surroundings.

SpongeBob dove through the ordering window and quickly crawled to a table without the customer noticing him.

The customer did not see anything particularly strange. He then turned back to the cash register. "Well, I didn't see anything." He shrugged.

A pause.

"Hey, where'd that other guy go?" The customer scratched his head and tried to look through the ordering window. He was hungry to a certain extent.

SpongeBob tip-toed to the customer from behind and poked him on the shoulder. "April Fools! I'm right here!" He then laughed.

"Hey, that was pretty good." The customer laughed as well.

Squidward covered his ears so he did not have to hear his co-worker's laughter. He became more and more irritable as SpongeBob laughed and made more April Fools jokes. The octopus was bound to prank the yellow sponge very soon.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dipped a mop into a bucket full of water. He then cleaned the floor of the dining room with the mop.

"Excuse me, can I get a couple of ice cubes in here, please?" A young man wearing a cap walked up to SpongeBob. He was holding a cup of soda.

"Sure. A couple of ice cubes coming up!" SpongeBob beamed and put the mop into the bucket. He then walked towards the kitchen. He just found another target for his pranks.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the freezer and...

**CCRRREEAK**

...opened it. He opened a bag of ice cubes that was inside the freezer and took out an ice cube.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the freezer.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob exited the kitchen and walked back to the young man. "Here you go." He whistled as he dropped the ice cube to the cup of soda.

"Thanks." The young man smiled and took a sip from the sofa. He was oblivious to the subtle prank that SpongeBob did.

SpongeBob giggled.

The young man looked at him.

SpongeBob took out the mop from the bucket and cleaned the floor. He was silent.

The young man resumed the drinking of his sofa.

SpogeBob giggled again.

"Huh?" The young man raised his brow and glanced at SpongeBob again. The sponge sounded suspicious from his perspective. He thought that the employee did something sneaky.

SpongeBob became quiet again. He was cleaning the floor as if nothing happened. He was hiding what would give him away as a perpetrator of a prank.

The young man drank all of the soda in his cup. He then took a deep breath as his mouth became cold due to the ice cube.

SpongeBob laughed. "April Fools!" He made another successful prank.

Squidward covered his ears again.

The young man grabbed SpongeBob by his shirt. "What did you do to my drink?!" He assumed that the employee contaminated his soda on purpose. The sponge's giggling made SpongeBob look untrustworthy. He was panicking since he thought that something harmful was going to happen to him.

"I..." *giggles* "I..." *giggles* SpongeBob struggled to get the words out of his mouth. He found the customer's reaction to be too funny. He could not contain himself and was about to laugh again.

"You what?!" The young man shook SpongeBob in an attempt to force an answer out of him.

"You asked for a couple of ice cubes in your drink, and I only put in one!" SpongeBob said what he did and laughed again. The subtlety of the prank was mostly the reason why he laughed.

"I guess that is pretty funny." The young man smiled and began to laugh as well. He thought that the joke was funny since he fell for it.

Squidward could no longer tolerate SpongeBob's laughter. 'That does it! I'm gonna settles this once and for all!' The octopus thought and stood up from the boat. He took out the mustard container and walked to the hanging end of the rope that had the loop. He lowered that end of the rope until it touched the floor. He then aimed the container at the space surrounded by the loop and squirted some mustard into the space. He then put the mustard container away and stepped away from the loop. He whistled to look innocent and to grab SpongeBob's attention.

"Oh boy! Something for me to clean up." SpongeBob heard Squideard and saw the mustard. He took out a ripped piece of towel and walked to the mustard on the floor. He then crouched and began to clean the mustard. He was focused on cleaning and did not notice the rope because of that.

"APRIL FOOLS!" Squidward announced the prank he was doing to everybody inside the dining room. He then pulled the end of the rope with the water bucket.

**SPLLAAASSH**

Water spilled to the floor, the bucket had landed on the floor.

The loop of the rope wrapped tightly around the hand that was holding the towel.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAHHHHH!" SpongeBob screamed as he was lifted to the ceiling by the rope. The speed of the bucket that fell to the floor spread to the rope. The sponge could hear his rapid heartbeat as he saw the incoming ceiling.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob hit the ceiling face-first.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose.

The rope succumbed to gravity and fell to the floor.

SpongeBob was pulled by the rope. The speed of the rope made him feel weightless for a few seconds. The rope swung him towards a table.

The customers sitting on that table dove out of the way.

**SLAM**

**SSHATTER**

SpongeBob hit the table at a high speed and knocked it over. Patties with Krabby Patties on them fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

Squidward was crying in laughter. He found SpongeBob's ordeal to be incredibly amusing. The octopus was feeling a sweet sense of victory that someone can get from revenge. The effort he put into his plan had yielded an excellent reward.

The rope swung all the way to the other side of the dining room and SpongeBob was pulled by it.

"WOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHH!" SpongeBob flailed his limbs in a desperate attempt to free himself from the rope.

**SMACK**

An incoming diagonal wooden pole hit hit in the cheek.

**BAM**

The back of his head hit the mast.

SpongeBob felt dizzy to a certain degree. He then slipped against the mast and fell towards the floor as gravity caught up with him. The helpless yellow square was bound to receive a severe injury if his body hit the floor while receiving the full force of the impact.

"I'll catch you, SpongeBob!" Squidward spoke while suppressing his laughter. He ran towards a nearby trash can and picked it up. He then sprinted to the location that SpongeBob's increasingly large and dark shadow was at. The octopus held out his hands so as to make his co-worker think that he was going to catch him.

SpongeBob smiled as he saw Squidward holding out his hands. He thought that his neighbor/'friend'/coworker was going to save him from further injuries caused by the rope.

At the right time, Squidward then grabbed the trash can and moved it until it was right below SpongeBob. "Whoops." He acted like what he just did was an accident.

SpongeBob fell into the trash can and got covered by its contents. The sponge managed to breathe while being almost completely buried inside the trash. Only his tied hand was sticking out of the trash can.

Squidward was suffocating in laughter.

The rope was still moving. SpongeBob was moved by the rope as he was inside the container. The yellow sponge swung towards the cash register by the rope.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob collided to the cash register. The metal container that he was confined to made the impact more severe.

**CLANK**

The cash register fell to the floor.

**CHA-CHING**

The cash register opened and released all of the money inside of it to the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was inspecting the safe full of money when he heard the cash register make that **CHA-CHING **sound and coins falling to the floor. He immediately stopped what he was doing and gasped. His face drained of color and he ran towards the exit of the office. He knew that something was happening to his precious money, the crab did not want to lose a single penny.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door open and entered the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

"What's going on here?!" Mr. Krabs made a dire face and quickly looked around the dining room. He saw the fallen cash register and the large amount of paper bills and coins on he floor. "Cashie!" His eyes bugged out.

"Look! Free money!" A male teenager stood up from a table and pointed at the money. He then ran towards the money so he can keep some for himself. He thought that the law of "finders, keepers" protected him from getting in trouble. He was not directly stealing anyone's money.

"GET AWAY FROM ME MONEY!" Mr. Krabs yelled at the teen and dove towards the money.

**THUD**

The teenager stepped back as Mr. Krabs landed in front of the money.

Mr. Krabs stood up and viciously glared at the teen. He gritted his teeth like a worm and began to pick up some of the money. "You're gonna have to go through me first!" He tried to intimidate the teen.

The teenager saw the claws of the crab and gulped nervously. He then stepped back by several steps. He did not want to discover what Mr. Krabs could do with those sharp claws.

Mr. Krabs picked up all of the money and began to put them back into the cash register. "Everything'all be okay, Cashie." He was speaking to the cash register, it showed the extent of his fantasies about money and his greed. The crustacean put the cash register back to its proper place, on top of the boat.

The parts of the rope that were wrapped around the horizontal wooden pole unwrapped due to the pull of rest of the rope.

**C-CLANK**

The trash can fell to the floor.

SpongeBob crawled out of the trash can and removed the rope loop from his wrist. He was nearly covered from head to toe in trash. The sponge being extremely filthy in front of the public was mortifying. His eyes moistened and within a few seconds he bawled, the embarrassment was unbearable. SpongeBob then ran towards the double door to hide his filthy self from the public eye.

"April Fools, you little sausage!" Squidward insulted SpongeBob to add another boost to his ego. He had little to no empathy for the yellow square.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the restaurant.

"Aww, man, poor kid."

"That guy has definitely got some issues to work out."

The customers inside the dining room sympathized with SpongeBob. They stood up from the tables and walked towards the exit. They decided that they were not going to eat at the Krusty Krab if the employees were going to be rude and unlikable.

"April Fools, jerk." The teenager insulted Squidward before exiting the restaurant. Even though he tried to steal some of the Krusty Krab's profits, he knew when mischief went too far.

Within minutes, Squidward and Mr. Krabs were the only people inside the Krusty Krab.

"Mr. Squidward, did you cause all of this?" Mr. Krabs looked at Squidward and raised his brow. After seeing the teenager and hearing what he said, he assumed that Squidward was the culprit for losing his customers and his fry cook. However, he wanted to make sure what he thought was true.

Squidward took a deep breath and made a solemn face. "Yes." He spoke without emotion.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes at his employee. "You wanna know something, Squid?"

Squidward continued to make eye contact with his boss and nodded. He thought that he was not going to receive any dire information.

"I can easily replace you with me money-maker, SpongeBob. I bet that sponge would be willing to take both spots as cashier and fry cook. Business might go a little slower but at least he's a hard worker. Mr. Squidward, the only reason you still work here is because you keep the ordering and delivery of the patties at a good pace." Mr. Krabs spoke a harsh truth that Squidward loathed. He wanted to bring reality back into Squidward's mind.

Squidward sweatdropped and bit his lip. He could not imagine how it would be like to deal with the burden of poverty on a daily basis. The octopus would lose nearly all of his belongings if he lost his job and would also eventually run out of money to pay for the water and electric bills for his home.

"If ya want to keep your job, bring SpongeBob back. He'll eventually attract the customers back here as well. Once you do that, we'll forget this ever happened. Okay?" Mr. Krabs folded his arms. He would rather have two employees than firing Squidward and shutting down his business.

"Okay." Squidward frowned and walked towards the double door. The only reason why he decided to bring SpongeBob back to the Krusty Krab was to keep his job.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slowly walked to his neighborhood. He was still covered in the trash. The sponge wiped the tears from his cheeks but still had an unhappy facial expression. He looked at the ground as he walked.

Patrick saw SpongeBob walking past him. "What's wrong, Sponge? Why do you came from work early?" The sea star immediately knew that something was wrong with his best friend. The starfish could recognize emotions, especially those of his best friend and friends.

SpongeBob did not reply or respond. He ignored Patrick and walked towards the pineapple. He was too embarrassed to even make eye contact with his best friend and needed to take a small break before going back to work.

Patrick felt concerned for his best friend. He walked up to SpongeBob and stood in front of him. "C'mon, Sponge. Tell me what happened." He was willing to listen to the yellow sponge's situation. The sea star could not leave his friend alone without at least helping him somewhat.

"Can I take a shower to wash myself?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick. "I'll tell you what happened once I'm finished." The sponge had decided to put taking a shower on high priority. He wanted to remove the trash from his body as soon as possible, it was the only way he cans regain his confidence and dignity.

"Alright." Patrick nodded.

SpongeBob resumed his walking towards the pineapple. He no longer frowned and no longer looked at the ground as he walked. Just the willingness of Patrick to support him was already making him feel better.

Patrick followed him, he wanted to have a conversation with SpongeBob about the sponge's situation at the pineapple. His intelligence had increased. He thought it would be best if the eventual talk was private, he did not want no one else except for Gary to hear his and SpongeBob's words during the conversation. The sea star thought that people getting into his best friend's business would worsen his best friend's problem.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door.

The two best friends stepped into the pineapple.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Meow meow meow." Gary looked at SpongeBob and his eyes widened. His eyes looked away from the TV and looked at his dirty owner.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and smiled nervously. "Don't worry, Gar-bear. I'm gonna take a shower right now," The sponge exited the living room by walking down a hallway but was still looking at Gary. "I'm never gonna go outside like this." He then turned around.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bathroom.

Patrick sat in the couch with Gary. He wanted to watch TV with his best friend's pet to make time go by faster. "Umm..." The sea star looked at the snail and thought of what the two could talk about. "What do you do when Sponge's not here?" He asked a question that was always on his mind when he sees or hears SpongeBob leave for work.

"Meow." Gary pointed at the TV with his eyes.

"Hmm..." Patrick was thinking of another question. "What's you favorite hobby?" He wanted to find a hobby that both he and Gary shared. He was trying to find common ground with the snail.

"Meow." Gary pointed at the TV with his eyes.

"You always watch TV?" Patrick had another question. What Gary said only opened up to more questions.

"Meow meow." Gary had other hobbies.

"I like eating too." Patrick smiled. His goal had been achieved.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bathroom. A towel was wrapped around the lower part of his body. He walked down the hallway and entered the living room. "Just wait a sec." The sponge held out his index finger and then opened the closet. He took out a clean pair of squarepants and exited the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked through the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked upstairs and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took off the towel and put on his squarepants. He put on a pair of socks and shoes as well.

S-S-S-S-S

A bit more than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob re-entered the living room. He sat in the couch with Patrick and Gary to begin the conversation. The clean clothes he was wearing boosted his confidence and made him regain some of his dignity.

Patrick was conversing with Gary when he saw his best friend. He then made eye contact with SpongeBob. "Anyways, what happened?" The sea star repeated the important question. He was prepared to listen to SpongeBob's answer and give feedback.

"I was cleaning some mustard on the floor at the Krusty Krab when Squidward pulled something. One of my hands then got wrapped by a rope and I was pulled to the ceiling. I was then tossed all around the place by the rope. Squidward tried to save me but made me fall into a trash can by accident. I then hit the cash register while I was still being moved by the rope and all of the money inside of the register fell to the floor. That made Mr. Krabs freak out. A person tried to steal the money but Mr. Krabs quickly defended the money and put them back into the register. I soon released myself from the rope and got out of the trash can. The trash can had covered me with trash and I became so embarrassed that I cried and ran out of the Krusty Krab. While all of that happened, Squidward was laughing and even said 'April Fools' a few times." SpongeBob explained his situation. He made a solemn face as he explained it. The memories he had from that incident were not pleasant. The sponge had been fooled by Squidward into thinking that him falling to the trash can was an accident caused by the octopus.

"Damn," Patrick slowly widened his eyes. "Why would Squidward do that to you? I would only do a prank like that to someone who did something or is really mean to me." The sea star then put his chin on his fist to make a 'Thinker' pose and thought critically.

A pause.

"Maybe you did something really mean to Squid that made him want to get revenge," Patrick came to a sound conclusion. He had used his memories to help him decide on a conclusion. "Can you think of anything you did that made Squidward really mad?" The sea star asked another important question.

_Squidward continued to cry silently._

_"Feel bad, Squid. You still have neighbors that hate you." SpongeBob tried to cheer his neighbor up. He meant the complete opposite when he said those words._

_Squidward stopped crying and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He slowly stood up and slowly turned his sight towards SpongeBob and Patrick. He made a glare so vicious that it was just like the one of a serial killer._

_SpongeBob and Patrick's faces became pallid. They became paralyzed in fear._

_"I love you guys too." Squidward spoke coldly. The other two neighbors knew what he meant since it was still Opposite Day._

A memory during Oppostie Day immediately appeared in SpongeBob's mind. "Remember what I said to Squidward after that lady drove away?" He was making sure that Patrick remembered the moment he was talking about.

"When was that?" Patrick tilted his head to the side. SpongeBob's question was too vague. He might give inappropriate feedback if he had thought of a different memory.

"It was during Opposite Day. Squidward had tried to sell his house for some reason." SpongeBob explained so the event could become more specific. He knew that Patrick was present during the event that he remembered.

"Oh yeah." Patrick remembered the event that SpongeBob was talking about.

"I think how I said those words to Squid made him really upset. He probably thought that we truly hated him." SpongeBob looked at the floor and frowned. He began to feel remorse for saying those words to Squidward, he had not realized how much those words had hurt the octopus's feelings until now.

"We should apologize to him." Patrick stated what he thought would be the best thing to do. He knew it was simple but effective.

"Okay." SpongeBob nodded and he stood up from the couch.

Patrick stood up from the couch as well.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking towards the pineapple when he saw SpongeBob and Patrick exit the pineapple.

SpongeBob and Patrick saw Squidward and then immediately ran up to him.

"Squid, I know this seems sudden and a little bit late but, I'm sorry for what I said to you when you were crying during Opposite Day. I was only trying to cheer you up, I meant the opposite with those words." SpongeBob made a sincere apology. He was not trying to deceive Squidward at all.

Squidward widened his eyes in shock. He thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were too foolish to remember what they say or do to him and did not expect them to consider the consequences of their actions when they annoy him. The octopus became speechless, he was thinking of what to say.

"Me and Sponge don't hate you. Whenever we annoy you, we're just having fun and want you to join with us. We never annoy you just to make you angry, if we did that, then me and Sponge would be jerks." Patrick added to what SpongeBob said. He had a serious facial expression.

"Squid, I know why you did that prank to me at the Krusty Krab. You were just trying to get revenge due to the bad things that we did to you. Honestly, that prank was kind of a wake-up call for me. I hadn't truly realized how much I made you upset until now." SpongeBob continued to speak. All of the words he said were honest.

It seemed as if SpongeBob read Squidward's mind. "Sponge, Mr. Krabs wants me to bring you back or else I'm gonna get fired." Squidward managed to get some words out of his mouth. He had stated his situation. The octopus did not need to explain his feelings since SpongeBob and Patrick already mostly understood them.

SpongeBob took out his employee hat and slowly put it on. "Don't worry, Squid. I was thinking about going back to work anyway." He beamed. His confidence and dignity had been fully restored.

Squidward felt something that he had felt when SpongeBob apologized to him about the bubblestand incident and when SpongeBob moved him out of the way to get hit by the laser. The sponge was willing to go back to the Krusty Krab and that would allow Squidward to keep his job as a consequence, SpongeBob indirectly saved him from poverty. His grudge against the sponge was lifted by a small amount. Without saying a word, Squidward began to think by a tiny amount that SpongeBob...

...was a friend.

"C'mon, Squid. Let's go back to work." SpongeBob skipped merrily towards the Krusty Krab.


	37. Walking Small

**Chapter 37: Walking Small**

* * *

Four days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Saturday evening.

Plankton stood on top of the computer's keyboard. "Karen, search for plans and blueprints." The plankton wanted to look at some of the plans he had written some or a long time ago so he can put them into action, he did not want to waste space on his computer and he knew that all of those plans could help him with stealing the secret formula or make the Chum Bucket more successful as a business.

"_Searching..._" Karen replied.

A small clock with its hands moving rapidly appeared on the screen.

A pause.

A list of documents was shown on the screen.

"_Search completed._" Karen informed Plankton of her progress with the task.

"Hmmm..." Plankton walked up to the arrow keys on the keyboard and repeatedly jumped on the down key. He was looking for a plan that he thought could be implemented by tomorrow. Enough time had passed after his last exploit to steal the formula.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton saw a document with the title: 'MEGA BUCKET'. "Interesting..." He commented due to the title of the document. "Open Mega Bucket." The plankton stated a command.

Karen opened the document.

Plankton read through the long and elaborate paragraphs that covered every detail of the plan and hypothetical scenarios. The plankton slowly narrowed his eye and smirked as he read the document. 'This can definitely be put to good use.' Plankton thought. He continued to read the document and found a certain sentence that caught his attention more than the others.

'This larger and improved building of the Chum Bucket can be placed in any open field e.g. Goo Lagoon or Jellyfish Fields, this can only be possible if the inhabitants or people of those places are driven out of the vicinity.'

Plankton removed Jellyfish Fields without hesitation as a possible choice for a place to put the Mega Bucket at, the jellyfish would be very difficult to remove due to their stingers. However, the plankton thought of Goo Lagoon as the best place for the Mega Bucket. He could not choose just any open land since there needed to be regular customers, popular places like Goo Lagoon attract many people and someone could gain a lot of profit if he/she started a business there. The main reason he wanted to put that plan into action was to bring more customers into the Chum Bucket. Goo Lagoon satisfied the requirements and could fufill the goal for constructing that new building.

However, the plan did not address one problem.

Plankton realized that fact and immediately knew the solution to that problem. 'Building a robot army won't be too hard. Heh. I could kill two scallops in one stone. All of the robots are in their prototype stages. It would be ideal if the people in that beach resisted my plan, I could test out those robots.' The plankton made an evil giggle as he thought. Using that plan began to be a better decision than he originally thought. "Karen, open program 'FR-047'." He wanted to edit the program for a model of his robots.

The program opened. Thousands of lines of codes appeared on the screen.

Plankton hopped from key to key as he edited the program.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton finished his editing of the program. "Open the crafting table." The plankton commanded Karen.

The tiles on the floor opened up and a large metal table rose to the floor. It had several pockets for storing robot parts.

"Take out the parts for FR-047." Plankton requested Karen to bring the robots parts of the robot whose name was stated.

A few tiles in the ceiling opened and a few robot arms came out of them. The arms were holding numerous small robot parts and put them on the crafting table in the proper pockets.

**C-C-CLACK**

The robot arms retracted to the ceiling.

"I need the tools as well." Plankton hopped to the floor and walked up to the crafting table. He was about to begin his building of the robot army

A robot arm came out of the ceiling and...

**C-C-C-CLANK**

**C-CLINK**

...dropped several tools on the crafting table.

**CLACK**

The robot arm retracted to the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

Loud construction noises were heard from the Chum Bucket as Plankton built his robot army.

S-S-S-S-S

Five hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 2:00 AM.

An extremely drowsy Plankton stepped back from the crafting table to look at the fruits of his brutal labor.

An army of robots with taser-like rods were standing on the crafting table. They were currently turned off. The robots were the exact models of the robot that zapped the trespassing jellyfish before Plankton came up with his 'scary sounds' idea. The robot that zapped the jellyfish was part of the army and had been updated with the new program. The program was edited to improve the A. I. of the robots of that model.

"Turn off the lights and shut down. I need some sleep." Plankton walked up to the table and laid down on it as if it was a bed. He rested his head on a small wrench as if it was a pillow. He fell asleep within a minute.

FLICK

Karen turned off the lights.

A pause.

The screen went black as Karen shut down.

Another pause.

The computer no longer made any sounds; it had completely shut down.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Sunday morning.

**HOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm blew off.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and sat up.

CLICK

The sponge turned off the foghorn's alarm. He smiled as he saw sunlight coming out of his window, it signaled the start of a brand new day. He stood up from his bed and put on his shoes. "Good morning, Gary." SpongeBob spoke with energy. He woke up in a good mood.

Gary opened his eyes. "Why do you wake me up so early?" The snail had been woken up at the wrong time.

SpongeBob laughed. "You can't sleep all day y'know. The foghorn makes us wake up at the same time anyways." The sponge tried to make Gary become a little bit more 'active'. He then walked towards the right door.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

Gary noticed that his stomach was empty. He then followed his owner.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary had eaten breakfast. They entered the living room.

Gary slithered to the couch and grabbed the remote with his mouth. The snail then turned on the TV with the remote. He wanted to watch a few hours of his favorite TV show.

RINGADINGALING

SpongeBob heard the faint sound of a bicycle bell from outside. He immediately knew what that sound indicated, the paper boy was making his weekly delivery of the newspapers.

**CRRREEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and stepped out of the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked down and saw a newspaper wrapped by a rubber band. He picked up the newspaper and took off the rubber band.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob stepped into the pineapple and closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the couch and sat on it. He then read through the newspaper out of curiosity.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob found an advertisement that grabbed his attention. It was about a special exhibit at the Bikini Bottom museum where there was going to be ancient cooking tools. The cooking tool that was going to be the major attraction was an ancient spatula. The exhibit was going to be completely implemented to the museum and ready for the public by next week.

"Wow." SpongeBob widened his eyes when he read through the archaic cooking tools that we're going to be exhibited, his eyes were sparkling. He imagined how the ancient spatula was going to look in countless ways. The thought of going to the museum gave SpongeBob an idea. 'Maybe I should bring my friends to Goo Lagoon.' SpongeBob thought. That idea led to another idea. 'I could have a karate fight with Sandy after that.' The sponge smiled, he considered those ideas to be a decent plan for spending his Sunday. He stood up, walked to the closet, and opened it. He then picked up his red karate gear. "I'm gonna save this stuff for later.' He spoke to himself and put the karate gear away for his fight with Sandy.

SpongeBob walked to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed a number and put it near his ear.

A pause.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone in the living room of the tiki rang.

Squidward was reading the sheets of music that he had written to check for any errors. He was sitting on the couch while doing that. He heard the ringing of the phone and stopped what he was doing. He stood up while carrying the sheets and walked to the phone. The octopus then picked the phone up. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Squid. You wanna come with me to Goo Lagoon? I'm bringing my friends with me. We'll have a good time._" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard.

"No thank you." Squidward shook his head and politely declined the offer. "I've already thought of stuff to do for the day. Plus, I don't consider two fools annoying me while I'm relaxing at a beach to be a good time." He explained the reason for his decision.

"_I understand. See ya later then._" SpongeBob then put the phone down on the other end.

Squidward remembered when SpongeBob proposed to take him to a place he liked to visit. Him, SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy being at Goo Lagoon was surprisingly a pleasant memory. The two 'friends'/neighbors had barely annoyed him during that part of the Sunday. However, that memory did not block the memory of the other part of the Sunday. The pain of him getting injured and getting unintentionally tortured by the same two people could almost be felt in his formerly injured limbs. The octopus's memories of his two neighbors were far from becoming a balance of good and bad.

Squidward sat back in his couch. He cleared his mind so he could stay focused on his task of proofreading. He then resumed his reading of the written music sheets.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob did not became upset. He knew the activities that Squidward liked and did not like to do. The sponge had two other friends that will probably agree to go with him to the beach. He dialed another number into the phone and kept it near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone in the living room of sand rang.

Patrick woke up due to hearing the phone and yawned. The shell-phone acted like an alarm clock from his perspective. He stood up from the bed and walked to the shell-phone. The sea star picked up the phone and put it near his ear. The sea star became somewhat excited; whenever SpongeBob wanted to do a fun activity with him, he would sometimes call him in the morning. "Hi, SpongeBob." He guessed who was on the other end.

"_Mornin', Pat. You wanna have some fun with me at Goo Lagoon? I'm planning on bringing Sandy as well._" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard.

"Ooh. That sounds nice. I'll definitely go with you." Patrick nodded and spoke into the phone.

"_Okee-dokee. I'll see you at eight o'clock. Alright?_" SpongeBob expressed his happiness through his voice.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs-up.

SpongeBob put down the phone on the other end.

Patrick put down the phone on his end. He thought that going to Goo Lagoon with his best friend was a great way to start his Sunday. The sea star almost always had a fun time at the beach. Memories of that place went as far back as when he was a child.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dialed another number into the phone and waited for the person on the other end to respond. He was jumping up and down in excitement since that was the person he had anticipated to call. The sponge was planning to do two activities with her.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was tossing some food to the birds in the treedome when...

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

...the telephone rang.

Sandy walked up to the oak tree and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked up to and picked up the telephone. "Howdy." She spoke into the phone.

"_Hi, Sandy. You wanna come to Goo Lagoon with us? Me and Pat have already decided to go._" SpongeBob's electronic voice was heard.

Sandy smiled widely. "I would love to." The squirrel often went to Goo Lagoon ever since she came to Bikini Bottom for the first time. She always enjoyed surfing at the beach. Going with her friends could make a new experience at Goo Lagoon even better.

"_I've also been thinking about having a karate fight with you after that. You wanna do that to?_" SpongeBob proposed something else that he and Sandy can do.

"Don't worry, Sponge. I'm gonna go with ya no matter what. All of that stuff sounds really fun." Sandy spoke into the phone with enthusiasm. The squirrel thought that she was going to have a fun Sunday with her friends.

"_Come to my house at eight o'clock. 'kay?_" SpongeBob stated the time that he and Patrick were going to begin to go to Goo Lagoon.

"Alright." Sandy nodded. 8:00 AM was only an hour away.

SpongeBob put down the the phone on the other end.

Sandy put down the phone on her end. She then crouched beneath the sofa of the living room and pulled a glass case out of the floor under the sofa. The squirrel opened the case and took out her green karate gear. She then put them away for her eventually karate match with the yellow sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton woke up from his slumber. He did not get much sleep due to working late in the night. He still felt drowsy and dragged himself to the floor. He then stood up and walked like a zombie towards a small coffee machine. "I need to get a cup of joe." He stated the obvious while speaking to himself. He turned on the coffee machine and put some coffee mix into it. The machine already had water since Plankton filled it with water yesterday morning.

Coffee poured from the machine to the glass container.

Plankton waited until the glass container was half-full of coffee and then turned off the machine. He picked up a tiny mug that was always next to the coffee machine and picked up the glass container with the coffee. He poured the coffee into the mug until the mug was full of coffee. He then grabbed a sugar packet that was on top of the machine and opened it. The plankton then sprinkled the sugar into the coffee to make its taste more tolerable.

Plankton sipped on the coffee. He walked to the computer as he did that and turned the switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

Karen turned on. A green line appeared on the screen.

Plankton leaned on the wall due to his drowsiness. The effects of the coffee did not kick in yet.

"_A lack of sleep must be a heavy burden for living creatures. My A. I. cannot comprehend how they lay down and do nothing for a few hours and then become active again whil still being tired._" Karen noticed how drowsy her husband was and made a complaint/comment. She made an exaggeration when she spoke because her A. I. understood the purposes of sleep for living creatures. However, she found sleep to be unproductive since it wastes time that could have been used for other activities, her A. I. was advanced enough to have an opinion.

"Don't nag, Karen. Building robots is a rather tedious process. You don't need sleep since you were given the gift of being born as a machine." Plankton reminded Karen about the differences between living things and machines. His wife's nagging did not annoy him that much; he was used to it.

"_That is a valid point. However, even a living creature could realize the negative effects of nonproductivity. It is the reason why some of them sleep only a few hours per night._" Karen replied to what Plankton said. Her A. I. knew that some people barely sleep or sleep in phases throughout the day due to their work schedules.

"Karen, you're a machine, you're built for work. I'm a living creature, I'm built for survival. Rest and laziness helps me and other members of my species to survive. We can't burn too many calories y'know." Plankton provided another point from his perspective. By that point, he had drank all of the coffee in the mug and was thinking clearly. The coffee was in full effect.

"_I am aware that this is off-topic but when are you going to begin the construction of the Mega Bucket?" _Karen asked an important question. Her memory almost never failed her.

"I'll give myself a bit more than an hour. I need to prepare a strategy for my robots in case if they need to combat opposing forces." Plankton walked up to the crafting table and picked up a somewhat large remote.

The remote was complicated; it had many buttons for many features.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. He was wearing blue shorts while being shirtless. He was more confident being shirtless than the last time that he wore clothes like that to Goo Lagoon. He was wearing sunglasses so his eyes can be protected from the bright sun at the beach, spring had intensified the heat and brightened the sun.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the rock. He was wearing shades and his usual floral pattern pants. He walked up to SpongeBob. "Ready to go?" The sea star was prepared to go to the beach.

"Hold on." SpongeBob held out his index finger. He was waiting for someone.

Patrick silently nodded.

A long pause.

Sandy walked up to the two best friends. She was wearing her astronaut suit. "Howdy, boys. Y'all ready?"

"Yep." SpongeBob smirked and made a thumbs-up. His clothes indicated his readiness.

"C'mon then. Let's go." Sandy turned around and walked towards Goo Lagoon. She was the most enthusiastic out of the three to go to Goo Lagoon. She looked forward to surfing at the beach.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed Sandy.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy entered Goo Lagoon.

"I'm gonna go surfing first. I'll see y'all in a few minutes." Sandy walked to a lifeguard tower and picked up a surfboard. She then ran to the ocean and swam while laying on the surfboard. She wanted to do the most anticipated activity right away.

Patrick looked up at the bright sun and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Why don't we tan a little?" He said his idea to his best friend. The sea star thought it would make the two look more 'coral'. He wanted himself and SpongeBob to be recognized more throughout the beach.

"That's a good idea, we'll look really nice once we're finished. But... I think it's too early to get a tan. The sun's not bright enough yet." SpongeBob knew that tanning would not be as effective if done during the morning.

"Oh." Patrick made a deadpan face.

An awkward pause.

Patrick saw a volleyball on the ground from the corner of his eye. He then walked towards the ball and picked it up. "Let's play volleyball then." He jogged to a volleyball court.

"Okay." SpongeBob smirked widely and quickly followed Patrick. He wanted to play a sport with his best friend anyway.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a green button on the remote. He was holding a small megaphone.

The green eyes of the robots lit up; the robots were turned on.

Plankton walked to the jetpack and put it on. He pressed a button on the jetpack. The plankton then hovered while flames came out of the jetpack's rockets. He pressed another button on the remote and flew out of the laboratory.

The robots followed Plankton. They ran at a high speed.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton flew towards Goo Lagoon. He or the robots did not bring construction materials since they were going to drive everybody out of the beach before beginning the construction of the Mega Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton landed at Goo Lagoon. He saw a large amount of people having fun at the beach. He was very aware of the risks of driving the people out of Goo Lagoon through the use of robots. He could get arrested by the police if someone calls them while being attacked by the robots. He was going to use the non-violence method first due to that reason.

The robots gathered behind him.

Plankton turned on the megaphone. "_Attention, beach-goers! You are trespassing! You have exactly seventeen minutes to haul your carcasses off the future site of the Mega Bucket._ _If you do not comply, I. WILL. USE. FORCE."_ The plankton threatened the people at the beach as he spoke into the megaphone. He thought and said an estimation for the time it would take for the people to leave the beach.

The sounds of conversation that could be heard throughout Goo Lagoon blocked what Plankton said through the megaphone. He was barely heard and no one could recognize any of his words.

"Do you hear something?" A young lady looked at her surroundings and then looked at her boyfriend. She heard Plankton's voice.

Her boyfriend shook his head.

Plankton turned off the megaphone in frustration and put it away. "Okay, have it your way. I don't mind electrifying each and every one of you." He lifted a finger and was about to press a button on the remote that would make his robot army attack the civilians. The non-violence method was useless if he could not communicate the information clearly.

The plankton abruptly saw SpongBob and Patrick playing volleyball from the corner of his eye. He then looked at them and noticed their sizes. 'I can not deny it any longer. I am too small to be heard by anybody.' He made a realization in his mind. SpongeBob and Patrick seemed towering from his eye. 'I need someone big to clear the beach for me.' The plankton also realized that the non-violence method could still be used. He would choose whatever option that uses that method since he did not want to go to jail.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped playing volleyball. They needed a short break. The two walked towards a man next to a cart that was selling ice cream.

"Two please," SpongeBob held out two fingers. "I would like vanilla." He stated the flavor he wanted, it was his favorite ice cream flavor. He then gave two dollars to the man.

"Rocky road." Patrick said the flavor he wanted, that ice cream flavor was his favorite.

The man took out two ice cream cones from a plastic bag and grabbed a scooping tool. He scooped vanilla ice cream and put it on a cone. He then scooped rocky road ice cream and put it on the other cone. He gave the vanilla ice cream to SpongeBob and the rocky road ice cream to Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked away and began to lick their ice cream.

Plankton looked at the crowd surrounding him in search of someone to do the dirty work and then settled his eyes on SpongeBob and Patrick again. 'I need SpongeBob...' Plankton knew that SpongeBob was the most gullible out of everyone in the beach. The sponge's child-like mind could be easily manipulated. The plankton made an evil laugh and walked to sand mound. He sat on the mound, tossed the jetpack to the side, and covered his face with both of his hands. He then pretended to cry and made fake sobbing sounds to make the fake crying more convincing.

SpongeBob saw and heard Plankton and frowned. Even though Plankton was Mr. Krabs' biggest enemy, he became concerned for the plankton. The sponge stopped licking his ice cream and walked up to Plankton. He wanted to find out why Plankton was upset. His kind nature could not allow him to leave the plankton alone. "Plankton, why're you crying?" He asked.

"Sponge, where're you going?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob and tilted his head to the side. He expected him and his best friend to resume the volleyball game. The sea star became curious and walked up to SpongeBob. He stood next to the yellow sponge and saw why his friend did not continue the volleyball game. "Oh." The starfish made a deadpan face.

"Oh, hi, SpongeBob and whoever you are." Plankton looked up at SpongeBob and Patrick and simpered, he did not know the sea star's name. "I'm crying because I want an ice cream cone, but too small to get one." The plankton then resumed his 'crying'.

SpongeBob looked at the ice cream he was holding and smiled, he felt sympathy for Plankton. He quickly ate the ice cream on the cone and endured the brain freeze. The sponge then gave the ice cream cone to Plankton. The yellow square was being generous.

Plankton gasped and widened his eye as he looked at the cone that he was holding. "Is this really for me?" He was pretending to be surprised; he was maintaining his facade. The plankton made an evil laugh mentally, he knew by that point that SpongeBob would obey any command from him as long as it was not about the secret formula.

Patrick finished eating his ice cream and ate the cone. "I hope you're happy." The sea star looked down at the small plankton, he thought that SpongeBob's gift ended Plankton's sadness. "See ya later, SpongeBob." The sea star walked away and laid down on the ground so he can get a tan. He was too impatient to wait for the afternoon to come by even after heeding SpongeBob's words.

Plankton tossed the ice cream cone to the side. "SpongeBob, isn't it great to get the things you desire?" He began to manipulate the sponge with his cunning words. "Like another ice cream cone, for instance. You can have anything you want with a little training." The plankton then stood up and slowly made a 360 degree turn as he pointed at everything in Goo Lagoon.

Patrick overheard Plankton's words.

"Training?" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time. The two then looked at each other.

Patrick became curious again. He stood up from the ground and walked up to Plankton again. He was interested in the 'training' that the plankton was talking about.

"Yes. You just have to learn to be more assertive. And I can show you how." Plankton replied to both of them and smiled widely. He made another mental evil laugh, Patrick was dumb enough to become another assistant in driving everybody out of the beach.

"Assertive, huh?" Patrick thought about what Plankton just said.

A pause.

"I'll pass." Patrick made a deadpan face as he became bored. His intelligence had decreased. He no longer became interested in Plankton's words due to not knowing what 'assertive' meant, the sea star did not have the patience to learn the possibly complicated definition of the word. The starfish was looking for some fun instead of an education. He then walked away from SpongeBob and Plankton and roamed around Goo Lagoon for a fun activity.

Plankton mentally cursed, he externally showed no signs of negative emotion.

"Anything I want..." SpongeBob thought about Plankton's words. He was considering if the 'training' was worth his time. His two other friends were occupied with other activities so the yellow square needed something to do that would occupy his own time, getting anything he wanted was a decent exchange for the time spent 'training'. "Sounds great!" The sponge beamed. He wanted to do what Plankton suggested.

"Wonderful." Plankton smiled evilly and made an evil laugh out loud. He assumed that SpongeBob was gullible enough to not notice his malicious intentions through his laughter.

SpongeBob laughed as well.

A young man moved some sand out of the way next to SpongeBob and laid a mat on the ground. He then laid down on the mat.

The sand landed on SpongeBob's face.

SpongeBob spit some of the sand out of his mouth.

"SpongeBob, don't let that guy do that to you! Assertiveness lesson number one: tell him to move out of the way!" Plankton began to teach the yellow sponge about assertiveness. In reality, he was teaching these lessons so that the sponge could become contemptible. The plankton was originally going to teach a different first lesson but changed his plans quickly.

"Umm, excuse me sir, can you scoot over? You made some sand get in my face." SpongeBob made a request and complained at the young man. He did not want to make his words too harsh since that would be rude.

The young man ignored SpongeBob. He thought that the sponge was talking to someone else.

Plankton shook his head. "You've got to be aggressive to get the things you want. You're too soft." The plankton opened a path of improvement for SpongeBob. He then turned around and walked away. "Follow me."

SpongeBob followed Plankton.

Plankton stopped walking in an area of Goo Lagoon with a lot of people. "Make a sand castle." The plankton spoke a simple command. He thought that SpongeBob did not understand 'assertiveness' until he gets into a situation that 'requires' it. His definition of 'assertiveness' was more related to revenge and his hostility than the actual definition.

"Umm..." SpongeBob scratched his head in confusing and then shrugged his shoulders. "One-dokee." He picked up a nearby bucket and began to make a sand castle.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob successfully built a sand castle. "Finished!" He smiled and stood up so he can look at what he made.

A castle with walls in the shape of upside-down buckets could be seen.

A nearby young male eel was playing frisbee with someone else. He threw the frisbee to the other person and backed away by a few steps so he could catch it. He accidentally stepped on the sand castle a few times as he backed away.

The sand castle became a sand mound.

"Aww..." SpongeBob frowned in disappointment. He only caught a glimpse of the sand castle that he had made. The effort he put into making that castle did not provide much fruit.

"Now is a good time to become assertive and make him apologize." Plankton whispered to SpongeBob and poked the sponge on the leg. He wanted his student to implement what he was learning into his actions.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and became unable to get any words out of his mouth. Plankton's pressuring made him nervous since he did not want to make another mistake in front of his teacher again. "Umm..." No matter how hard he tried, not a single idea for what to say appeared in his mind. His anxiety prevented him from speaking.

The young male eel walked away from the ruined sand castle and caught the frisbee that had been thrown to him by the other person.

'Maybe a little bit of help will make him know what to do.' Plankton thought. He then climbed SpongeBob's body and stood on top of the sponge's head. He went into one of the holes and peeked over the hole. "Listen, you! My friend's got something to say! " Plankton yelled at the young male eel. He was not helping SpongeBob out of kindness or generosity and only did it to advance his own goals.

"What, who said that? Was it you?" The young male eel looked at his surroundings, turned around, and looked at SpongeBob. He knew that the voice had came from behind.

"Tell him off, SpongeBob. Assert yourself!" Plankton whispered loudly to SpongeBob as he continued to peek from one of the sponge's holes. He thought that SpongeBob could handle the rest of the situation while being 'assertive'.

"You ruined my sand castle!" SpongeBob pretended to be annoyed and pointed at the sand mound that used to be a sand castle. He was actually not mad or irritated by the eel's behavior, he only did it so as to make himself look more 'assertive'.

"Great!" Plankton made an evil smile and made a thumbs-up. "Now let him have it." He was still whispering loudly to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob thought that Plankton wanted him to give something to the eel since he paid attention to what he said word-for-word. The sponge handed the bucket he used to build the sand castle to the young male eel. He was showing kindness and passiveness instead of 'assertiveness'.

"Thanks..." The eel looked at what he was holding and scratched his head. He did not know why SpongeBob gave that bucket to him.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in the young eel's head. He could use that bucket to collect shells along the shore later on, collecting shells was one of his hobbies. The eel turned around, put the bucket on the nearby ground, and threw the frisbee to the other person.

"No! No! NO!" Plankton shook his head and facepalmed. He was frustrated since SpongeBob was too hesitant to be 'assertive' or in that case, did not understand what he said. "I'll show you how!" Plankton was going to demonstrate an example of 'assertiveness' so SpongeBob could use that as a model. He jumped out of the hole and landed on SpongeBob's nose. He then dove to SpongeBob's mouth and entered it. "Hey, pencil neck!" He yelled at the eel, he was doing it inside the sponge's mouth so as to make it seem that SpongeBob was saying those harsh words.

The male eel heard Plankton and turned around to look at SpongeBob, he once again thought that the yellow sponge said those words.

"Yeah, you, slither over here!" Plankton continued to speak in an 'assertive' manner. "Surrender that bucket and apologize to me for ruining my sand castle or every waking moment for you will become a swirling torrent of pain and misery!" The plankton threatened the eel.

The young male eel's face drained of color. The 'sponge's' voice made the threat sound terrifying. "I-I'M SORRY!" He yelled more out of fear than sincere remorse. He dropped the bucket to the ground and ran away from SpongeBob and Plankton.

Plankton hopped out of SpongeBob's mouth and landed on the ground.

"Plankton, I don't think I should be assertive. You made that guy become really scared." SpongeBob made a solemn face and made eye contact with Plankton. He was beginning to regret trying to be 'assertive'. He was aware of the feelings of others.

"But can you see how wonderful life can be when you're maniacal? What would happen if you did that to an enemy?" Plankton made an evil smile and provided a viewpoint. He unintentionally revealed his definition of the word, maniacal was the best synonym for his version of 'assertive'.

"I thought it was called assertive." SpongeBob noticed a change in Plankton's wording. However, the sponge did not realize the flaws of getting anything he wants. After a few seconds of considering the option to quit his training, he decided to stay. The sponge no longer regretted his actions since he thought that he could still be 'assertive' while being kinder than Plankton. He also wanted to make the most of that opportunity given to him by Plankton.

"Whatever." Plankton shrugged.

A young purple man walked up to SpongeBob, he was holding a metal detector that was in two pieces. He had broken the metal detector by accident. The man had been searching for an old coin. "Uhh, excuse me, my metal detector broke. Do you have one?" He had asked the same question to a few other people in Goo Lagoon.

Plankton climbed SpongeBob's body and entered one of the holes on one of SpongeBob's sides. "SpongeBob, this is your next lesson. Be aggressive! Tell that guy to take a hike!" He whispered loudly to SpongeBob again.

"Do you want to take a hike with me?" SpongeBob asked the stranger. His kindness was making him misunderstand Plankton's words.

The young purple man thought for several seconds; he was considering SpongeBob's proposal.

A pause.

"That sounds nice. I'll do it." The young man nodded.

Plankton's face started to become red. The plankton was becoming angry at the sponge due to the sponge's inability to follow his basic instructions. "Now look what you've done! Tell that guy to go fall in a ditch!" He wanted to give SpongeBob one more chance before giving up on teaching him.

SpongeBob saw a nearby hole and smiled. "Hey, go check in that ditch." The sponge spoke to the stranger and pointed at the hole. He continued to misunderstand what Plankton said as if he had poor hearing.

The young man walked to the hole and peeked into it. He saw a very old coin at the bottom. "Wow, I've found it! Thanks!" He looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and made a thumbs up. He just found the coin that he was looking for.

"Did you see that, Plankton? That guy found something down there." SpongeBob felt happy for the stranger. He had unintentionally helped the young man. The sponge could not be assertive without being sincerely angry or upset, it was nearly impossible for him to be 'assertive' by Plankton's definition.

Plankton hopped out of SpongeBob's body and landed on the floor. He then walked to the jetpack and put it on. The plankton also took out the remote. He gave up on teaching SpongeBob the ways of 'assertiveness'. That type of 'assertiveness' just was not part of SpongeBob's nature. He had no other choice but to use violence in order to make everybody leave Goo Lagoon.

SpongeBob no longer felt Plankton inside his body. "Where did Plankton go?" He looked at his surroundings and eventually spotted Plankton. He then walked up to th plankton. "What's the matter, Plankton? And what's with that stuff?" He noticed the remote and megaphone that Plankton was holding and the jetpack that Plankton was wearing.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy landed on the shore after surfing a large wave. "I hadn't seen Sponge and Pat in a while. I think I had been surfin' for too long." She underestimated the amount of time she would spend surfing. The squirrel walked to the lifeguard tower and put the surfboard back to its original place. She then walked through the beach in search of SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, I'm going to be honest. What I'm teaching you will only end up to be a waste of time. You're good nature simply won't allow you to be assertive." Plankton stated a conclusion that he had came to while he taught SpongeBob. His face was solemn.

SpongeBob became silent, looked at the ground, and frowned. What Plankton said made him realize that he will not get everything he wants. That harsh truth was hard to accept. He thought that by getting everything he wants, he and others could be eternally happy since their desires will always be fulfilled.

Plankton pressed a button on the remote.

The army of robots gathered around him.

SpongeBob gasped. "What's with all of those robots?" He kept asking questions. The plankton's behavior was becoming increasingly strange from his perspective.

Plankton kept his mouth shut, he did not want to reveal a secret that he hid from SpongeBob. He pressed a red button on the remote.

The rods that the robots were holding became charged with heavy amounts of blue electricity.

SpongeBob's face drained of color. He had absolutely no clue about what the robots were going to do, the best and worst-case scenarios were equally as likely from his point of view. His fear of the unknown had begun when Plankton did not directly his questions, the activation of the robots' rods only worsened it. The sponge began to back away from the robots.

Plankton pressed another button on the remote.

The robots locked on to several nearby civilians including SpongeBob.

"Sponge, there you are!" Sandy spotted SpongeBob and smiled. She was glad to finally find one friend. The beach was becoming crowded and that made it difficult to find her friends. The squirrel walked up to SpongeBob.

**ZZZAAAAAP**

A robot ran up to SpongeBob and stung him with the rod.

SpongeBob bit his lip in pain and began to run away from the robots. He was frightened so much by the robot that he acted on impulse. The sponge did not have enough time to think critically.

Sandy dove out of the way as a robot ran towards her.

The robot tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

The other robots ran in several directions throughout Goo Lagoon.

**ZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZAAAAAAAAAAPP**

**ZZZZAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAAAAPPP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAAP**

They electrified the civilians that they had targeted.

"DEAR NEPTUNE!'

"SOMEONE HELP US!"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

"MOMMY, I SEE MONSTERS!"

Numerous civilians panicked and ran in several directions as they were chased by the robots. A massive commotion began in Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was drinking a cup of orange juice. He was sitting next to Larry who was drinking a cup of soda. The two were sitting at the juice bar and were the only customers there. They had played volleyball a few minutes ago.

A long pause.

The sea star and the lobster abruptly heard screaming coming from outside.

"Can you guys hear that?" The bartender heard the screaming and asked Patrick and Larry.

"Yeah." Larry put his cup of soda on the table and stood up. He then exited the juice bar to investigate the commotion going on outside.

Patrick quickly drank his orange juice and put the cup on the table as well.

A robot slowly walked towards Patrick from behind, it was going to do a sneak attack.

"PATRICK, WATCH OUT!" Larry's voice was heard.

"Huh?" Patrick scratched his head. He was about to turn around but it was too late.

**ZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAPPPP**

The robot stung Patrick in the back with the rod.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Patrick screamed in terror and quickly exited the juice bar.

S-S-S-S-S

Larry and Patrick saw the chaos unfold before their eyes. They then ran as fast as they could when a few robots targeted them.

'I gotta find a weapon.' Larry looked at his surroundings as he ran. He was searching for anything that could be used as a weapon, he needed to fight against the robots. It was his duty as a lifeguard to protect the civilians in the beach. The lobster then spotted a surfboard laying on the ground. He quickly picked up the surfboard and turned around. With mustered courage, he ran towards the robots that were chasing him and Patrick.

Patrick did not turn around to look at Larry. He knew that Larry was a lifeguard so he assumed that the lobster will survive the onslaught of robots.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick bumped into each other.

"Sponge, what's with these toys?" Patrick thought that the robots were toys. His intelligence was still low but he had an excellent memory. The robots were small enough to be mistaken as toys anyway.

Several robots were ganging up on SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob was sweating heavily. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" The sponge yelled at Patrick in desperation. He then climbed the ladder of a nearby lifeguard tower.

Patrick gasped as he saw the 'toys' and climbed the ladder as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick reached the top of the lifeguard tower. They wiped some sweat from their brows in relief. The two were temporarily safe from the robots' stings.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was flying on his jetpack throughout Goo Lagoon. He was making sure that the robots were making the civilians leave the beach. He then saw SpongeBob and Patrick on the lifeguard tower and smirked. He flew towards the two best friends. Nobody was going to stay out of his sight.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-S-SLAM**

"Batter up!" Larry was using the surfboard like a baseball bat. He swung the surfboard on the robots and made them fly to a far distance.

Silence.

A pause.

Larry noticed that the robots completely surrounded him. More and more robots had came to his location as he attacked the other robots.

The robots raised their electric rods.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was leaping from rock to rock and from umbrella to umbrella as the robots chased her. The squirrel picked up a small rock to see if it could be used as a viable weapon. She then threw the rock at a robot with all of her strength.

**CLANK**

The robot quickly deflected the rock with its rod. The robot was able to do that due to Plankton's A. I. improvement for it and the other robots.

Sandy gritted her teeth and sprinted away from the robots.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton hovered before the lifeguard tower. He made eye contact with SpongeBob and Patrick and narrowed his eye.

Patrick glared at Plankton. He remembered the night when Plankton controlled his best friend's brain. His contempt against Plankton lingered.

Plankton pressed a button on the jetpack

**CTHUNG**

A laser beam popped out of the jetpack and aimed at SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Uh oh..." SpongeBob's face drained of color and he backed away to a border of the tower's top, he needed to find a way to escape for him and Patrick before they get burned to a crisp. He then turned around and looked down.

At least a dozen robots were surrounding the lifeguard tower. Their electric rods were raised, they were ready to attack SpongeBob and Patrick immediately if the two landed on the ground.

Climbing down the ladder was not a viable option.

"Sponge, let's jump to the ground. I know what to do." Patrick made a solemn facial expression and looked at SpongeBob. He had an air of confidence as well. The sea star's intelligence increased as his anger against Plankton intensified. The starfish knew the limits of his physical strength.

SpongeBob bit his lip and hesitantly nodded. He would do almost anything that would max the chances of his survival.

SpongeBob and Patrick stepped up and stood on one of the borders of the lifeguard tower top.

Time slowed.

Plankton charged the laser gun with power. He wanted to leave a major burn on the sponge and the starfish's bodies so as to make them flee from Goo Lagoon.

The laser gun became enveloped by red electricity.

Time resumed.

SpongeBob and Patrick leaped off the lifeguard tower.

The ground zoomed towards them at a high speed.

**ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAPPPP**

The laser gun fired a bright red laser.

The laser just missed SpongeBob and Patrick. Plankton had pressed the 'FIRE' button less than a second too late,

Plankton did not become angry, he was aware of the robots below the lifeguard tower.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the ground, they were not seriously injured.

The robots ran towards the two best friends.

"Distract the robots!" Patrick pointed at the incoming robots. "I'll attack them from behind." The sea star made an in-depth explanation of his plan.

SpongeBob looked at the robots and gulped nervously. However, he trusted Patrick in spite of his anxiety.

A pause.

Only a few feet of ground separated the friends from the robots.

"**FOLLOW ME!**" SpongeBob yelled as loud as he could, wore a smile, and shook his arms to grab the robots' attention.

The robots targeted SpongeBob and ran directly towards him.

Patrick dove to the side and ran around the large group of robots.

SpongeBob sprinted away from the robots.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy saw a lifeguard tower as she ran. She also heard SpongeBob's voice, it was a sign that SpongeBob was nearby. 'SpongeBob's gotta be around here somewhere.' She thought. The squirrel wanted to make sure that her friends were protected from the robots. She was willing to fight the robots without any weapons. Sandy then ran towards the lifeguard tower, she assumed that the yellow square was near the tower.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-SLAM**

Larry spun rapidly while holding out the surfboard and repeatedly hit the surrounding robots.

**T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-THUD**

The robots fell to the ground in several directions and in several places. They were numerous feet away from Larry.

Larry abruptly heard SpongeBob's voice. "Looks like the square dude's in trouble." He assumed that the sponge's voice was a cry for help since he could not recognize any words from that voice. The lobster ran towards the source of the voice.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick grabbed one of the four supporting poles of the lifeguard tower. "RRRrrgggHHH!" He used all of the strength that he could muster into his arms, he was trying to lift the tower from the ground.

A pause of sweating and deep breathing.

The tower eventually lifted from the ground by a foot.

**GRROOOAAAN**

The distribution of the tower's weight was bound to make the tower fall to the ground very soon. Patrick could not carry the lifeguard tower for more than thirty seconds.

Plankton's eye widened. He did not expect Patrick to do such an action at all. He then charged the laser gun again.

The laser gun aimed at the lifeguard tower. Plankton wanted to destroy it so Patrick could not have any weapons.

Patrick ran towards the robots chasing SpongeBob.

**CRRRAAASSSSSH**

Patrick swung down the tower at the robots.

The roof of the lifeguard tower became broken and fell to the ground.

The robots hit by the lifeguard tower were broken into several pieces due to the weight of the tower.

Patrick looked up at Plankton and quickly lifted the tower again.

**ZZZZAAAAAAAAAP**

The laser gun fired another laser.

The laser burned a hole through the incoming tower, it was too later.

**CRRRAAAAASSSSH**

The lifeguard tower hit Plankton.

Plankton fell to the ground and dropped the remote

A long pause.

Plankton shook back to his senses and crawled out of the fallen lifeguard tower. He turned around and noticed that the jetpack was broken, the jetpack had been crushed by the tower's weight.

**BOOM**

The jetpack made a small explosion due to the fuel in its rockets, it had been crushed while flames were still coming out of the rockets.

Plankton also noticed that he did not have the remote in his hands. "Where's the remote?!" The plankton looked at his surroundings and began to panic. He could not control the robots without the remote.

Another pause.

Plankton noticed an object under the fallen lifeguard tower that looked like the remote. He ran towards that object and pulled it out of the tower.

It was a broken piece of the remote.

Plankton's face drained of color and he fell to his knees. He no longer heard the screaming of terrified civilians. The broken remote indicated the failure of his plan. The sudden peace in the beach indicated that the robots were no longer turned on. Just like trying to make SpongeBob 'assertive', the tiring labor he put into the night did not give him a single reward.

A hand grabbed Plankton. That hand was...

* * *

**I know that I took longer than usual to post this, I was busy with pre-writing my story. The next chapter might be posted late as well because of the time I spent pre-writing.**


	38. Neptune's Spatula

**Chapter 38: Neptune's Spatula**

* * *

...pink.

Plankton turned around and saw Patrick.

Patrick glared at him. "You won't be hurting anybody any longer." He maintained a tight grip on the plankton. He did not want the evil genius to cause more mayhem. The sea star could not imagine how much damage the plankton had done to Goo Lagoon.

SpongeBob, Larry, and Sandy walked up to the scene.

Robots that were either turned off and laying on the floor or broken into several pieces were nearby and in many places around the beach.

"It's over?" SpongeBob began to make a smile. The silence in the beach made him relieved. He no longer had to worry about the robots. However, he was still cautious when he walked towards the fallen lifeguard tower because he did not know that Patrick had grabbed Plankton.

"Guys, I'm right here." Patrick called out to the sponge, the squirrel, and the lobster and pointed at himself.

"Oh." SpongeBob walked towards Patrick and saw Plankton in one of the sea star's hands. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow and then giggled nervously. "I thought Plankton was still in that jetpack." He stated the assumption he had made.

Larry and Sandy soon walked up to Patrick as well.

"Now it's time for some answers." SpongeBob made a solemn face and looked at Plankton. That was the moment he had waited for ever since Plankton began his attack on the beach with the robots. His fear of unknown will finally disappear from his mind. "First of all, why did you try to make me 'assertive'?"

"I'm not telling." Plankton refused to comply and shook his head. The revealing of the secrets he had hidden may make future attempts with the same plan impossible to succeed. He thought that a few upgrades to the robots and jetpack may assist him in making that same plan succeed in the future.

"We ain't leaving until you tell us." Sandy folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the plankton. She had a question on her mind.

Patrick put more force into his grip on the plankton and squeezed Plankton.

Plankton's face was turning blue. "OKAY! OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TELL!" The plankton screamed in desperation for the sudden torture to end. He was going to become unconscious in less than a minute if the sea star did not loosen his grip.

Patrick put less force into his grip.

Plankton took a few deep breaths until he had a normal amount of oxygen again. "SpongeBob, to answer your question, I wanted to make you 'assertive' because I wanted everybody to leave Goo Lagoon." The plankton wanted to be as vague with his answers as possible. He did not want anymore of his secrets to be revealed.

"Why would you want us to leave Goo Lagoon?" Larry asked a question that appeared in his mind immediately.

"I want to build a larger and improved building of the Chum Bucket called the Mega Bucket here." Plankton answered Larry's question.

Sandy dismissed that question from her mind. Larry asked a similar question and that question was answered.

"Why would you want to make me 'assertive' when you could've used the robots right away? Those robots were more effective anyway." SpongeBob asked and stated a fact.

"I wanted to try the non-violence method first. If I used the robots and the assault on the civilians at the beach took too long, I may attract the attention of the police. By using non-violence, I could get away with my plan without getting arrested by law enforcement." Plankton replied with a simple answer.

A pause.

Nobody had anymore questions.

Patrick did not pay attention to Plankton. He was looking at his surroundings for any nearby civilians, he wanted to know if the beach was abandoned or not. As a consequence of searching with his eyes, his grip on Plankton loosened some more.

Plankton slipped out of Patrick's hand and landed on the ground. He then sprinted out of the vicinity of the fallen lifeguard tower. The plankton was running back to the Chum Bucket, he was completely defenseless while being at Goo Lagoon.

Patrick noticed that Plankton was not in his hand. "Where did that jerk go?!" He sweatdropped and rapidly looked at his surroundings in search of the small plankton. He assumed that Plankton had another weapon that he was hiding.

"Let him go." SpongeBob held out a hand towards Patrick as a signal for the sea star to cease his searching. "He obeyed us so I think we should allow him to escape. He's not a big threat anyway. We prevented much damage to the beach by breaking his stuff." The yellow square was aware of the state of the jetpack and the remote, he could see the broken parts of them from the corner of his eye.

"I was gonna call the police." Sandy stated what she was going to do after Plankton answered all of the questions that they asked. The squirrel found the plankton to be a threat that should not be underestimated.

"I know this is super off-topic but do you guys want to go to the museum next week? They're going to have a special exhibit full of ancient cooking tools next Sunday." SpongeBob wanted to visit the museum while bringing friends along. He thought that having friends with him during the visit would make the experience more enjoyable.

Sandy widened her eyes and then grinned. "I'll go with you for sure." The squirrel visited the museum often and loved to see new, special, and temporary exhibits. She did not spend all of her days at the treedome or doing her job.

"I'll go too." Patrick nodded. He visited the museum a few times and wanted to have some fun with his best friend.

"I guess I'll go as well." Larry shrugged. "It's always good to try something new." He did not visit the museum before. If he went to that place next week, it was going to be his first visit. Being the lifeguard for Goo Lagoon was sometimes boring since people did not get their lives endangered all of the time.

"Alright. I'll see you guys next week." SpongeBob smiled widely and waved at Patrick and Larry. He then walked up to Sandy. "Let's go to your house, Sandy. Remember that karate match we talked about?" He took out his red karate gear.

"Yep." Sandy nodded and took out her green karate gloves.

The sponge and the squirrel walked towards the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

A week later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Sunday morning.

SpongeBob entered the living room. He just finished eating his breakfast and brushing his teeth. He walked up to the shell-phone and picked it up. The sponge then dialed a number and put it near his ear.

A pause.

"_Hello?" _Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

"You wanna go to Jellyfish Fields?" SpongeBob spoke into the phone. He stated an idea for a fun activity that he and Patrick could do that would begin the series of activities that they do every Sunday.

_"I thought we were about to go to that museum." _Patrick had a good memory. He remembered what SpongeBob said about the museum last week. He had assumed that SpongeBob phone-called him so the sponge can inform him about when he was going to the museum.

"We will go, don't worry. The museum won't open until an hour passes from now. I just want to jellyfish with you so we can pass the time." SpongeBob said an explanation for why he asked Patrick to go to Jellyfish Fields with him.

_"Oh." _Patrick nodded from the other end, he understood what SpongeBob said. _"Okay. I'll go with ya." _

"Just get ready right away. I'm gonna be leaving in a few minutes." SpongeBob informed Patrick about when he was going to go to Jellyfish Fields. He wanted him and Patrick to enter the plain and begin jellyfishing at the same time.

_"Gotcha."_ Patrick made a thumbs-up on the other end.

A pause.

Patrick put the shell-phone down on his end.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down on his end.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. He was wearing a pair of glasses and was holding Ol' Reliable.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He was holding his jellyfishing net. The sea star then walked up to SpongeBob. "I'm ready when you are." The sea star did not want to go to Jellyfish Fields without his best friend. It was SpongeBob's idea anyway.

"Let's go." SpongeBob grinned and walked towards Jellyfish Fields with enthusiasm. Even though he was excited to go to the museum, that did not stop SpongeBob from getting excited to a lesser degree about jellyfishing with his best friend.

Patrick followed SpongeBob. He smiled widely.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Spongebob and Patrick walked through the gate and entered Jellyfish Fields.

The breeding season for the jellyfish was beginning to become obvious due to the amount of baby jellyfish flying around the plain. The breeding season for those creatures almost always occurred during the entire season of spring. The older jellyfish flew with their children in groups.

Patrick became intimidated by the amount of jellyfish flying in the air. "I think there's too many to catch, SpongeBob." He sweatdropped. He thought that by trying to catch a group of jellyfish, they would end up filling his jellyfishing net until it was beyond the brim.

"That's nonsense, Pat." SpongeBob was still smiling. "As long as you don't catch the baby jellyfish, they won't attack you. Their parents are very protective." The sponge reminded his friend about a certain fact.

Patrick silently nodded and took a deep breath. The sea star became relaxed.

An orange jellyfish flew past SpongeBob and Patrick.

"RARE. JELLYFISH. LOCATED. LOCKING. ON. TARGET." SpongeBob pretended to be a robot. He was being extra playful on that day. His anticipation for the visit to the museum made him enjoy his time at Jellyfish Fields more for some strange reason.

Patrick laughed. He found SpongeBob's behavior to be humorous. All of the thoughts related to anxiety disappeared in his mind.

SpongeBob laughed as well.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick shook back to their senses. They then chased the orange jellyfish.

The orange jellyfish flew across a large hill.

SpongeBob and Patrick sprinted as they went up the large hill and dove to the other side when they went down the large hill.

The orange jellyfish made several swift turns in order to get more far away from SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick hopped from rock to rock and swung their jellyfishing nets in mid-air as an attempt to catch the orange jellyfish.

The nets missed the orange jellyfish every time they were swung.

The orange jellyfish flew across several large hills that were larger than the large hill that SpongeBob and Patrick walked across.

SpongeBob and Patrick began the difficult task of running across these hills.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The orange jellyfish flew across a rocky surface that had a massive height and was purple.

SpongeBob and Patrick were sweating as they rolled down the last large hill. They saw what the jellyfish did and stood up when they reached the other side. The two friends then looked up at the surface.

That rocky surface was a mountain.

"Spork Mountain..." SpongeBob spoke to himself. He knew the name of that mountain due to overhearing jellyfishing enthusiasts talking about it at conventions. The mountain was infamous for being difficult to climb. Jellyfish often flew to it so they cannot get caught by jellyfishers.

Patrick walked to the surface of the mountain and began to climb it. "Do you wanna catch the jellyfish, Sponge?" The sea star looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. He did not want to miss the chance of catching a rare jellyfish. If he could no longer be intimidated by a large group of jellyfish with their children, then he could scale a mountain as large as Spork Mountain.

"Yeah..." SpongeBob nodded and looked up at the mountain. That situation was the opposite of what previously occurred. SpongeBob was the person being intimidated. He thought that climbing Spork Mountain was too dangerous and was not worth the risk. He did not want him and Patrick to get injured while climbing. "Maybe we should wait for the jellyfish to fly back to the ground, though." He scratched the back of his head in hesitation.

"C'mon, SpongeBob." Patrick moved his head towards the peak of the mountain and then put it back into its normal position. "It won't be that bad. You don't see jellyfish like that one everyday, y'know." The sea star was trying to encourage his best friend to join him in his climbing.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick with hesitation. He only did it so he can continue to have fun with his best friend. The sponge seized the mountain surface and slowly climbed.

"I got your back, Sponge. If you slip on something, I'll make sure that you don't fall." Patrick tried to dispel and fear from SpongeBob's mind.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and made a slight smile. He was no longer afraid of the danger ahead of him and Patrick. The support from his best friend made him muster some courage.

The two best friends steadily climbed Spork Mountain.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were almost halfway to the summit of the mountain.

The orange jellyfish was flying across the surface of the mountain and was nearby.

"Pat, look!" SpongeBob widened his eyes and pointed at the orange jellyfish. He was heavily surprised because he expected the jellyfish to be at the summit.

"Now's our chance." Patrick whispered to SpongeBob. The sea star then swung from cliff to cliff and took out his jellyfishing net. He was determined to catch the rare jellyfish.

SpongeBob quickly swung towards Patrick so he can catch up with him. He took out his jellyfishing net as well. Swinging from cliff to cliff began to make the sponge feel uneasy. Between grabbing each cliff, he was not clinging to anything while in mid-air for several seconds.

The orange jellyfish flew into a cave that went through the surface of the mountain.

"Barnacles." Patrick loudly whispered a curse. "That jellyfish's smart." He made a comment and swung to the cliff that was in front of the cave. He then stood before the cave.

SpongeBob swung to the same cliff and stood next to Patrick.

The two friends tried to look inside the cave but all they saw was darkness.

"This is when stuff like this thing..." SpongeBob smiled widely and took out his flashlight. "...come in handy." The sponge held out the flashlight before the cave. He had achieved a small victory. A jellyfishing net and a pair of glasses was not all that SpongeBob brought to Jellyfish Fields, he sometimes brought other things with him in case if he got into certain situations. He luckily brought a flashlight on that day.

"Good thinking, Sponge." Patrick smiled and made a thumbs-up.

FLICK

SpongeBob flicked the switch on the flashlight from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

A bright light projected from the flashlight. It lit up the floor and walls of the cave.

SpongeBob and Patrick slowly walked into the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick could hear the faint buzzing of the orange jellyfish. The cave was so quiet that they could also hear their own footsteps. The light of the flashlight guided them through the darkness as they walked. However, the flashlight could only shine through the darkness to a certain distance. An extremely thick wall of darkness retreated at the same pace of the two friends' footsteps, nothing could be seen past that 'wall'.

SpongeBob noticed that phenomenon and raised his brow. "That's strange... Pat, do you see that too?" The sponge asked his best friend as he walked.

Patrick squinted his eyes and noticed the phenomenon too. "Yep." He nodded. The sea star did not find that phenomenon to be alarming at all. He was more focused on catching the orange jellyfish.

SpongeBob stopped walking and turned around to see if the phenomenon was occurring behind him and Patrick as well.

Light could not be seen from the entrance. A thick wall of darkness also covered the path that they had walked through.

SpongeBob began to have the opposite thoughts of Patrick; he was beginning to become consumed by anxiety. Climbing Spork Mountain was dangerous but walking through an unexplored cave but walking through an explored cave had completely different dangers. Hostile creatures could be lurking behind the curtains of darkness.

The flashlight's light revealed some sort of intersection.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped walking and looked at the pathway in front of them, then the one to the left, and then the one to the right.

A pause.

"Which way should we go?" Patrick made eye contact with his best friend. He was clueless about which pathway would be best to walk through. All of the pathways had equal chances of giving them an opportunity to catch the jellyfish from his viewpoint.

The jellyfish's buzzing was the loudest in the left direction compared to the other directions.

SpongeBob carefully heard the buzzing and looked at the left direction. "That way." The sponge pointed at that pathway. He was trying to combat his anxiety by continuing his walk into the cave.

"'kay." Patrick nodded and walked into the left pathway.

SpongeBob followed Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick had walked in the same direction for a few minutes.

The orange jellyfish's buzzing became louder and louder as they walked further and further into the left direction.

Patrick was jumping up and down in excitement. He could not wait to catch the rare jellyfish.

When SpongeBob saw Patrick's behavior, he could not help himself and smiled. It dispelled some of the anxiety in his mind, it reminded him that there was someone to protect him.

The orange jellyfish came into view.

SpongeBob gasped and nearly dropped the flashlight in shock. He thought that the jellyfish was floating in once place instead of flying.

Patrick hopped towards the jellyfish and raised his net but...

**SLAM**

...hit the ceiling of the cave.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the floor.

The orange jellyfish fled from the sponge and the sea star as he fast as it could.

S-S-S-S-S

The orange jellyfish exited the cave within several seconds.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stood up and sighed. "I blew it." He became disappointed and looked at the ground. He had the confidence that would provide a boost to his jellyfishing abilities but his own abilities were not good enough to catch the jellyfish.

SpongeBob smiled and patted Patrick on the shoulder. "It's alright, Pat. You tried your best." He tried to cheer up his best friend. It was a return for the encouragement that the sponge received from the starfish.

"I guess you're right..." Patrick slowly smiled and turned around. It was not the end of the world for him, he could always try again when another opportunity came. He suddenly noticed something.

The two friends were in another intersection.

"I think we're lost." Patrick sweatdropped and scratched his head. He forgot which direction that the two were going through. His excitement for catching the jellyfish and his disappointment due to failing to catch it made him forget.

SpongeBob looked at all of the paths in the intersection and became confused. Instead of forgetting like Patrick, he simply could not tell which direction was which. The pathways looked identical. One of the worst-case scenarios when exploring a cave was occurring. "Uh oh." The sponge gulped nervously.

The sponge's voice echoed throughout the corridors of the cave.

SpongeBob's eyes slowly bugged out. The cave did not make those sounds before and it nearly frightened the yellow square.

The thick walls of darkness came closer and closer towards SpongeBob and Patrick until they were only a foot away from them.

Patrick noticed what just occurred. His face drained of color and he sweatdropped. "S-SpongeBob?" His body began to shake in anxiety. He had the feeling that he and SpongeBob were being watched.

"Y-yeah?" SpongeBob slowly turned and looked at Patrick. He was carefully watching his surroundings for any signs of danger.

"D-do you think t-there's someone else in this cave?" Patrick managed to speak as his body shook. He asked a paranoia-inducing question.

Plop

A rock fell to the floor in front of SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick suddenly felt chills that covered their entire bodies. It was as if the temperature in the cave suddenly dropped.

"Brrr!" SpongeBob shakily covered his body with his arms so he can stay warm. "W-why's the cave s-so c-cold?" The sponge asked a question that immediately appeared in his mind as he felt the cold. Winter had been over for almost a month.

"I-I dunno." Patrick shakily shrugged his arms. "I-I g-guess someone had a fr-freezer in here." He made a wild guess, any guess was a suitable explanation for the phenomena from his perspective. The sea star did not truly know the reason for why the phenomena was occurring either.

A gust of artic wind suddenly blew against SpongeBob and Patrick.

**T-THUD**

The best friends were pushed by the gust and slipped on the floor. The two then fell to the floor.

The gust of arctic wind stopped.

SpongeBob and Patrick slowly stood up. Their legs made that action difficult since they were shaking from the extreme cold.

Patrick swallowed and took a deep breath. He had enough courage to call out whoever else was inside the cave. He thought that the 'stranger' was fooling around inside the cave by holding something really cold and blowing on it. "HELLO?! WHOEVER YOU ARE, PLEASE STOP M-MAKING THIS P-PLACE C-COLD!" The sea star yelled at the 'stranger' while he was still shaking due to the cold.

_**"Who are you?"**_

SpongeBob's heart skipped a beat. He no longer thought that Patrick was going to protect him. The voice he heard did not sound like a normal person, it sounded like a phantom. There was no possible way that Patrick can defend the sponge from the phantom in their current situation. His anxiety completely returned to its previous state.

Patrick became pallid after he heard the voice. "S-Sp-SpongeBob, that's n-not a s-somebody." The sea star realized that the 'stranger' was actually a ghost as well. He had never heard a living being speak in that voice before.

_**"I assume ye are one of the foolish travelers that climbed this mountain for thrill-seeking." **_

SpongeBob and Patrick backed away to w wall. They were consumed by terror. The phantom sounded threatening.

A long pause.

_**"Interesting. You two are the first travelers to stay in my countenance for this long. Travelers like you flee in fear around this time." **_

SpongeBob and Patrick were dead quiet. They hugged each other and looked at the wall of darkness in front of them. They waited for the phantom to make its physical appearance.

_**"You dare to look at me directly? You two must have polished character. Very well, what is it that you seek?" **_

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "We were trying to catch a jellyfish and then we got lost in here." He spoke in a faint voice. His throat was choked by anxiety.

_**"You two trekked this mountain for a jellyfish? I can sense your determination. I do not believe an escape route is what you truly seek. A closer examination of you two may provide more insight."**_

A light shone in the wall of darkness. It did not come from the flashlight.

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped and dropped their jaws.

An almost transparent purple jellyfish flew up to them. It did not make any buzzing sounds. "_**Can it be?! No wonder you two did not flee."**_ The phantom became surprised.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped hugging each other. The phantom looked more menacing in their minds before they actually saw it. They became less afraid of the phantom; they had a sense of déjà-vu.

_**"Follow me." **_The phantom turned around and flew through the pathway.

"Why?" Patrick raised his brow and tilted his head to the side. He found the phantom's behavior to be suspicious. The sea star assumed that the ghost was leading them into a trap.

_**"There is a treasure that is waiting for you." **_The phantom continued to fly.

Patrick gasped and then smirked. "At least there's a reward for my effort." The sea star quickly caught up with the phantom. He thought that the treasure was a decent substitute for the rare jellyfish.

SpongeBob smiled. 'It'll be something nice.' He thought and then followed the phantom. He was beginning to think that the phantom was friendly, he had never seen or heard of a ghost giving a gift to someone before.

The light that pierced the darkness became larger and brighter.

The three eventually stopped before the sources of the light.

Four glowing pages were laying on the floor.

_**"You shall be gifted with a few pages of the Holy Book. Once you receive those pages, my purpose will be fulfilled and I will merge with your souls." **_

SpongeBob's heartbeat quickened but he tried his best to not show a single sign of anxiety. "What's gonna happen if you enter our souls?" He asked a crucial question.

_**"You will simply be able to utilize the magic contained in the pages. I can also communicate with you two in your minds if necessary." **_

"MAGIC?!" Patrick grinned and was about to grab one of the pages. He fantasized about all of the feats he could do by using the magic in the pages. The sea star was not aware of the pages having a limited potential of magic.

_**"HALT."**_

Patrick stopped moving his hand towards the page.

His hand was a few inches away from one of the pages.

_**"You two must have an equal amount of pages in order for the reward to be fair."**_

"Okay." Patrick nodded. He then seized two of the glowing pages.

SpongeBob gently took the other two.

The pages became even brighter.

_**"Before I enter your minds, I will teleport you out of the cave." **_

SpongeBob and Patrick's shoulders became warm. The phantom was touching them.

"Thanks, Mr. Ghost." SpongeBob was smiling widely. He was grateful for the phantom's assistance. He began to trust the ghost. His feelings took a completely opposite turn compared to what happened a few minutes ago. The sponge felt indebted but knew that he could not pay back, he did not have any magical powers or ideas that could give some benefit to the ghost.

The two best friends were enveloped by a white flash.

**BAMF**

They were teleported out of the cave by the phantom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were no longer enveloped by the white flash.

Their backs were facing Spork Mountain.

The purple and transparent jellyfish was hovering before them. It then split in half.

One half flew through SpongeBob's eyes and entered the sponge's body in that way. The other half entered Patrick's body by flying through the sea star's eyes as well.

SpongeBob and Patrick's senses were not altered by the phantom; they did not feel anything strange. However, the pages that they were holding became even brighter but then returned to their normal brightness.

SpongeBob looked at the two glowing pages that he was holding with disbelief. The chain of events that just occurred were miraculous, he thought that he was blessed by the gods. If he had told anybody other than Patrick about how he got the glowing pages, they would highly likely doubt his words.

Patrick looked at the glowing pages that he was holding and scratched his head. "How do we use the magic?" The sea star said a question that he pondered about.

_**"If you have extreme desires while having extreme emotions, the pages will then answer your call." **_The phantom answered Patrick's question.

"Hmm..." Patrick went into a deep state of thought after mentally hearing the phantom's words. He was thinking of a hypothetical situation where the magical pages can be used.

A pause.

"So if I'm really angry at someone and want to do something bad to that person, will it do it for me automatically?" Patrick had developed another question. The sea star was curious about the limits of the pages' magic.

_**"It will temporarily give you the ability to fulfill that desire. In your case, it may give you an abnormal amount of physical strength so you can harm that person. If you change your mind before using the pages' magic, it will not have any effect on the person that you are angry with. In the end, it is truly up to you to fulfill that desire." **_The phantom explained how the magic of the pages was used.

Patrick nodded. "I see." He paid attention what the phantom said and understood its words. He was having a gradual increase in intelligence.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick's pages and created a question of his own. "What happens if we find more of those pages?" The yellow sponge asked.

_**"The magic's potential would increase and the magic would become more convenient to use depending on the number of pages gathered. The more pages you collect, the more improved the magic gets." **_The phantom answered SpongeBob's question. However, its knowledge of the pages was limited. It did not know about what would happen if all of the magical pages were collected to recreate the Holy Book.

SpongeBob silently nodded. He simply asked that question out of curiosity. His thoughts were not about collecting all of the magical pages.

A pause.

SpongeBob looked at his watch. "We better go back home. The museum's gonna open soon." The sponge noticed that the museum was going to open in less than thirty minutes. His mind was focused on visiting the special exhibit at the museum.

"Alright." Patrick nodded and grinned. He was also anticipating their visit to the museum. He wanted to do it because it was an activity that he did not do often, he was always pleased to have some variety in his life. His endless search for new ways to have fun often endangered him.

SpongeBob folded his two pages and put it in his pocket. The yellow sponge thought that the two glowing papers were excellent good luck charms. The sponge then walked towards his pineapple.

Patrick walked towards the pineapple at the same pace as SpongeBob's.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door of his pineapple and looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. "Can you wait for a few secs? I'm gonna call Sandy and Larry." The sponge then stepped into the pineapple.

"'kay." Patrick nodded. He knew something that he can do that will pass the time spent waiting for his best friend.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

Patrick took out his two glowing pages and held them out before the front door. The sea star closed his eyes and focused solely on opening the front door of SpongeBob's pineapple. He wanted to open the door with the pages' magic so he can test the potential of the pages' magic.

A pause.

The front door did not budge.

Patrick opened his eyes and noticed that. He then closed his eyes again and concentrated harder on opening the door. A few drops of sweat ran down his face as he concentrated.

The front door still did not budge.

Patrick opened his eyes and began to become frustrated as he saw the still door. He closed his eyes for the third time and his face contorted as he focused on the simple action of opening that door. He even tried to simulate the sensation of touching the metal door in his mind.

The front door did not move at all; Patrick's emotions were not strong enough to match his powerful desire.

Patrick suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath. He had been holding his breath for the entirety of his concentrating on the door. The sea star took a few deep breaths before resuming his attempts on achieving the difficult feat.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was giggling as he spoke into the phone. "I'll be waiting for ya." He managed to speak. Larry had said a joke during their conversation that made the sponge laugh. The sponge had called Sandy and Larry in order to inform them that the museum was opening very soon and that they needed to come to his pineapple.

Larry put the shell-phone down on his end.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down on his end. The sponge then walked towards the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and saw what Patrick was doing. "Pat?" The sponge became confused and scratched his head. He found his best friend's behavior to be strange. From his perspective, Patrick looked like as if he was trying to stare into the inside of his skull.

Patrick opened his eyes and grinned. "YES!" The sea star held out the glowing pages to the sky in 'victory'. "I knew those things would work." He spoke to himself. The starfish thought that the pages' magic worked just like how the phantom said they would.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers to grab Patrick's attention.

"Huh?" Patrick noticed SpongeBob. His 'victory' had distracted him from the presence of his best friend.

"What were you doing?" SpongeBob asked out of curiosity.

"I opened the front door with magic!" Patrick pointed at the glowing pages that he was holding. His happiness was extremely obvious.

"Pat, I was the one that opened the door." SpongeBob pointed at his hand that was still touching the front door's handle. He seperated fantasy from reality. "Sorry to burst your bubble." He tried to be gentle with his words. SpongeBob did not want Patrick to become upset.

"Fish sticks!" Patrick cursed, put the two pages away, and folded his arms. He was frustrated since all of his attempts to open the front door through magic failed. He then took a deep breath and called himself down. It was pointless to get angry over a trivial magic trick, it was a sign of his increased intelligence.

"You okay?" SpongeBob became somewhat concerned for Patrick. He wanted all of his friends to be in a good mood before leaving to the museum. The sponge thought that an experience at the museum enjoyed by all of his friends was ideal.

"Yeah. It's nothing." Patrick moved a hand as a signal for SpongeBob to stop worrying. He had gotten over his failure quickly.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy and Larry walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Are you all ready?" SpongeBob stood up sand looked at his three friends, he had been sitting and leaning on the exterior wall of the pineapple as he waited for his friends. He wanted to make sure that his friends were prepared for the trip.

"Yep." Sandy nodded and smiled. She held out a camera that she brought with her from the treedome. The squirrel had did that after hearing a suggestion that SpongeBob made over the phone about taking photos of the special exhibits.

Larry made a thumbs-up.

"I'm ready." Patrick made a thumbs-up as well. He then giggled when he realized that he made an accidental joke. What he said was a joke because it referenced what SpongeBob chanted sometimes as he walked to work.

SpongeBob giggled as well. He knew that Patrick did not mean to make a joke but understood the accidental joke. "Alright. Let's go!" He then marched towards the museum while he was pointing with one hand in the direction of he museum. His enthusiasm was expressed by the smile on his face and the sparkling in his eyes.

Patrick, Sandy, and Larry followed SpongrBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Sandy, Patrick, and Larry stopped walking. They stood before a large building.

The building had Greek-style columns near its front door. The exterior walls, roof, and the columns were made out of marble. The building looked similar to buildings in Ancient Greece.

The four friends walked up the small set of steps and walked across the marble floor with the columns.

**CRRREEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door which was a double door, he opened one of the two doors. He held out the door so his friends could pass through.

Sandy, Larry, and Patrick walked through the doorway.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

There was a main desk that was right next to the four friends. The four friends were in the main lobby. The lobby had a ceiling made out of glass and the sky and the sun could be seen from it.

Without saying a word, SpongeBob took out his wallet and gave $16 to the employee. It cost $4 per person to enter the museum. The sponge had been here a few times before so he knew about what to do.

The employee that was sitting on the desk put the money into the cash register. He then silently signaled with his hand that SpongeBob and his friends could move along.

The four friends walked across the main lobby. There were several doorways that led to different exhibits.

"Which one is the special exhibit?" Patrick scratched his head. The doorways looked nearly identical from his perspective. He did not look through the small windows on the double doors to see what exhibit was through them.

Sandy walked up to the double doors and looked through the small windows of a few of them before stopping at one double door. "I found it, guys." She smiled widely, turned around, and signaled with her hand for her friends to walk up to her.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Larry walked up to Sandy.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Sandy opened one door of the double door and allowed her friends to pass through as a return for a favor that SpongeBob did a minute ago, that favor was him opening the entrance for his friends.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Larry walked through the doorway.

**SLAM**

Sandy closed the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Larry, and Sandy walked through the hallway that the exhibit consisted of and saw numerous ancient cooking tools.

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped walking and looked with wonder at an ancient pan covered with dry lava inside a glass case. To them, that tool looked the most interesting compared to the others that they had seen so far.

Larry and Sandy stopped before the glass case and looked at the pan as well.

"What's so special about it?" Larry asked. "No offense." He did not have any malicious intentions with his words or that question. He was merely curious about why SpongeBob and Patrick were more interested in a pan than a spoon or a cooking pot.

"If you look closely, there are a few teeny tiny ores scattered on the surface of that pan." SpongeBob pointed at the pan. He said an observation about what he and Patrick noticed. Ever since he had entered the exhibits, he began to notice small details that people might overlook.

A few of these tiny ores on the pan glinted.

Sandy noticed the ores due to the glinting. "I see what you mean." She nodded. The squirrel carefully looked at the pan for anymore minor details. Her curiousity was almost as large as SpongeBob and Patrick's. She was a scientist after all.

SpongeBob and Patrick then walked away from the glass case to see other objects being on display.

Sandy and Larry followed them.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Larry, and Sandy walked towards and stood before a large pile of dry and hardened grease. The pile of grease had a golden spatula stuck halfway inside of it.

SpongeBob felt a sense of déjà-vu as he looked at the golden spatula. It was as if he had used that golden spatula before. "The ultimate cooking utensil... the Golden Spatula..." He spoke to himself and his eyes sparkled at the sight of the spatula, he was looking at it with wonder. He had heard of that cooking tool before, Mr. Krabs had referenced it one time during work.

Patrick noticed a plaque that stood before the pile of hardened grease. "Hey, guys, look what is says here." The sea star pointed at the plaque and then walked up to it. The starfish was curious to know what was engraved on the plaque.

SpongeBob, Sandy, and Larry walked up to the plaque.

SpongeBob looked at what was engraved on the plaque. The text on the plaque said:

'This tool had been used by a major historical figure in medieval times who rebelled against his kingdom and became victorious. It was then used by Poseidon's fry cook until the fry cook died. After that, it was put into this pile of grease. Whoever pulls out the spatula may be worthy enough to be the new fry cook for Poseidon.'

"Seriously? Pulling out a spatula makes you worthy to be a fry cook of a god?" Larry raised his brow as he read the plaque. He then looked at the grease pile with the spatula inside of it and smirked. "This is gonna be easy." He commented. The lobster was confident in his physical strength. He then climbed the pile of hardened grease and hopped to the top of the pile. Larry put both of his hands on the handle of the spatula and tried to pull it out.

A pause.

The Golden Spatula did not budge.

Larry put more force into his pulling.

The Golden Spatula still did not budge.

The veins in Larry's muscles stuck out as Larry pulled with all of the strength that he could muster into his arms.

The Golden Spatula did not move at all.

Larry gave up. He knew that it was foolish to keep trying to pull the spatula if there were other things that he could do at the museum. He slid across the grease pile and landed on the floor. "I tried my best." He shrugged.

SpongeBob looked at the Golden Spatula again and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Oh, oh, oh, oh!" The sponge needed to tell someone his idea; he thought that it was really good. SpongeBob saw Sandy taking pictures of the ancient cooking tools and ran up to her. He then poked Sandy on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Sandy turned around and looked at SpongeBob. She stopped what she was doing.

"Take a picture of me and the spatula!" SpongeBob jumped up and down in excitement and pointed at the Golden Spatula. He thought that the photo was going to look great.

"Alright." Sandy smiled and nodded. She wanted to have a photo with one of her friends in it anyway. The photos that she had taken inside of the museum so far only showed the tools being displayed at the exhibit.

SpongeBob climbed the grease pile and stood on top of it. He then grabbed the handle of the Golden Spatula with both of his hands. "Okay, I'm ready!" The yellow square grinned for the camera.

The Golden Spatula began to glow.

**CLICK**

Sandy took a photo with her camera. The camera was digital so she looked through the collection of photos on it in search of the recently taken photo. She eventually found it. "It came out pretty nice." The squirrel commented.

An old lady walked up to Patrick. "Excuse me, do you know where the fossil section is?" The lady was not familiar with the layout of the museum.

Patrick's memory had became poor several minutes ago. "Uhhhhh..." He searched through the memories in his mind but could not recall anything that could assist the lady in her situation.

SpongeBob saw what was happening. "Fossil section? That's easy, it's over that way."

**SSSHIIIINNNG**

SpongeBob pulled the Golden Spatula out of the pile and pointed in the direction of the museum's fossil section. He was not aware of what he just did to the spatula.

"Thanks." The old lady nodded and walked away.

Everybody else in the room that SpongeBob was in stared at the yellow sponge wide-eyed.

Silence.

"What happened?" SpongeBob raised his brow and became confused. He did not know why the people were staring at him like that. His mind had been focused on how the photo might look once he saw it.

A long pause.

SpongeBob noticed a glow that was nearby. He looked down and his face drained of color as he saw the Golden Spatula in his hand, he did not expect that at all. He also saw an opening in the grease pile, it was where the Golden Spatula was stuck in until the sponge took it out.

A dark cloud suddenly formed several feet above the grease pile and inside the room.

Almost everybody inside the room gasped.

**B-BOOOOMMMMM**

**RRRUUUUMMMBBBLLE**

**B-BOOOOMMMM**

**RRRRUUUMMMBBBLE**

**B-BOOOOMMM**

**RRRRUUUUMMMMBLE**

A few small lightning bolts came out of the dark cloud and landed on the floor. A bright green light appeared inside the dark cloud and became brighter as...

**B-B-BOOOMMMM**

**RRRUUMMMBBBLE**

...a few more small lightning bolts came out of the cloud. The green light then opened up to become a portal and Poseidon entered the museum through that portal.

_"Yes, yes, at last! Someone worthy of being the royal fry cook. Who has freed the spatula from the grease?"_ Poseidon had a regal voice. The god was a merman with: orange hair, an orange beard, a golden crown with a shell on top, golden bracelets, and a golden belt with a seahorse engrave in the center. He sensed the release of the Golden Spatula from its greasy prison since the grease pile had been fused with a minuscule amount of his magic.

SpongeBob gulped nervously. This was the first time he had ever seen Poseidon, the god of the sea. "Uhh, I did, Mr. Neptune, sire." He had the courage to speak up. The sponge held out the Golden Spatula before Poseidon.

_"A fine jest, boy. You are but a lowly sponge. Puny, insignificant, a commoner." _Poseidon looked at SpongeBob and did not take the sponge's words seriously, he thought that the yellow square was too weak to pull the Golden Spatula out. _"Therefore you could never be a fry cook to a god and this is why it is funny!" _The god then laughed. _"Now step aside as I seek out the real fry cook." _The god saw a man running a hot dog stand. _"Ah! A purveyor of foods."_ He swam to the young man. _"Yes, you must be my new fry cook." _Someone from the fast-food business being the new royal fry cook would have made sense.

"Uhh, sorry, King Neptune. I don't make them. I just sell them." The young man spoke honestly.

_"Then who pulled the spatula from the grease?" _Poseidon raised his brow. There was no other person in the room that was part of the fast-food business save the young man and SpongeBob.

"Well, he did." The young man pointed at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob beamed and held out the Golden Spatula with confidence. He thought that Poseidon was going to change his mind. The sponge found being the royal fry cook to be an honorable position.

_"It is even funnier a second time!" _Poseidon laughed again, he still refused to accept the truth. He then looked around the room and saw a lobster who had well-developed muscles. _"You there, crustacean!_" The god of the sea swam towards the lobster and hovered before him.

"Who, me?" Larry looked up at Poseidon and pointed at himself. The lobster knew that arthropods such as crabs or shrimp were also part of the Crustacea group. He was aware of another crab being inside the room.

_"You have the physique of Atlas!" _Poseidon commented on Larry's heavily developed muscles, the god was impressed. He had not seen many sea creatures during this current age of history that had muscles similar to Larry's.

Larry smirked and then laughed. "Thanks, I work out." The lobster explained how he developed his muscles. The comment from the god gave a major boost to his ego. However, Larry was more of a casanova than a narcissist.

_"Make poses with me!" _Poseidon wanted to test the limits of Larry's muscles. He thought that normal postures were not enough to display the lobster's muscles.

"Okay!" Larry nodded.

Larry and Poseidon flexed their arm muscles and then made poses that showcased the other muscles in their bodies. "Body slam!" The two then slammed into each other with their bellies to test their physical strength.

_"You pulled the spatula from the grease." _Poseidon came to a plausible conclusion and pointed at Larry. He thought that Larry pulled out the Golden Spatula due to his physical strength.

"Nope, that was SpongeBob." Larry pointed at SpongeBob. He was not going to lie or blind himself to the truth before a god. The lobster was oblivious to Neptune's denial of an obvious truth.

_"This joke has gone far enough!"_ Poseidon became angry since the people inside the room were 'deceiving' him. The god began to blind himself from his own denial, not even a god or goddess could avoid having a flawed character. _"Where's my fry cook?!" _The god of the sea barked a command.

Nearly everybody in the room backed away to the walls. They were heavily afraid of the god's power. Poseidon's power was one of the reasons why he was respected.

Poseidon saw an obese sea star and swam up to him. _"Certainly you with your prodigious girth would know how to cook a burger to suit a royal palate!" _He assumed that the sea star ate many different types of food due to his weight.

Patrick silently pointed at SpongeBob. He would support his best friend even before a god. It was proof him being a loyal friend.

SpongeBob smiled widely after seeing what Patrick did. He appreciated Patrick's bravery.

_"What? Am I expected to believe that this creature is royal fry cook material?"_ Poseidon pointed at SpongeBob and looked at the yellow square with disbelief. _"I don't suppose you have any proof?" _The god demanded supporting evidence for SpongeBob's lifting of the spatula.

A very long pause.

Sandy took a deep breath and turned on her camera, she needed to help her friend in some sort of way. Just like Patrick, she was loyal to her friend and then searched through the collection until she found the photo with SpongeBob holding the Golden Spatula. She noticed that the spatula was glowing when the photo was taken.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head.

Sandy looked up at SpongeBob and moved her lips without using her voice. 'Drop the spatula.' She did that because she did not want to immediately attract Poseidon's attention.

SpongeBob nodded and dropped the spatula.

The spatula landed on the grease pile and stopped glowing.

Sandy smiled widely. 'Say cheese.' She moved her lips without her voice once again. The squirrel lowered the sound volume of the camera to 'MUTE' and aimed it at SpongeBob.

A bright flash came out of the camera as Sandy took the photo.

Sandy then looked at the digital phot and was pleased with how it looked. "I got proof right here!" The squirrel announced to everybody and moved her hand to signal for Poseidon to swim up to her.

Poseidon silently raised his brow and swam up to Sandy.

Sandy held out the digital photo on the camera screen before Poseidon.

SpongeBob bit his lip and crossed his fingers. He did not know if Poseidon was going to accept the evidence as valid.

Sandy then switched to the digital photo with SpongeBob holding the Golden Spatula. "See the difference?" The squirrel pointed at the Golden Spatula on the screen. She tried to indicate the significant difference between the photos.

"_Ha! These things are unfit to even scrub the royal tail fin!" _Poseidon thought that the photos were fake. He was aware of existing technology that can alter photos. The god needed more adequate evidence before accepting the fact that SpongeBob lifted the Golden Spatula.

"Then just take a look." Sandy pointed at SpongeBob. She knew that there was evidence before her and the others that were not taken through photos.

SpongeBob looked down at the Golden Spatula and immediately knew what to do. He had noticed that the spatula glowed when he held it. The yellow square grabbed the Golden Spatula and held it before Poseidon. He then gulped nervously and waited for the god's verdict.

Poseidon swam up to SpongeBob and folded his arms. _"It is not just enough to pull the spatula from the grease. There are certain qualities that a royal fry cook must have." _The god of the sea revealed his true intention. By denying the fact of SpongeBob lifting the Golden Spatula, he was testing the yellow fry cook's determination; determination was one of the necessary traits of a royal fry cook. The god knew that SpongeBob released the spatula from the grease since the spatula was glowing in the sponge's hands now and when he entered the museum. Since the yellow square did not give up, the sponge could advance to the next challenge prepared for him by Poseidon.

"Like?" SpongeBob became curious. He then smiled, he was confident that he had most or all of the traits of a royal fry cook. His desire to prove his worth before Poseidon temporarily conquered his roots and memories of being a fry cook, the Krusty Krab. His determination became obvious before the people inside the room.

_"Your traits will be revealed to me through a challenge." _Poseidon informed SpongeBob about what he was about to do next.

Patrick became angry. He thought that Poseidon was being arrogant by judging SpongeBob by his looks. The god had 'assumed' that he and Larry might have lifted the Golden Spatula due to their physical appearances. "He is the new royal fry cook and you-" The enraged sea star stomped a foot forward and tried to defend his best friend through words. However, he was interrupted by the god that he was speaking to.

Poseidon raised a hand.

**BOOMMM**

**RRRUUMMBBLE**

A small lightning bolt came out of the dark cloud and electrified Patrick.

"Is it hot in here or what?" Patrick made a goofy smile and stood unsteadily due to being light-headed. Soot covered his pink skin.

Sandy walked up to Patrick and carried him to a wall. She then made Patrick sit against the wall. The squirrel was going to keep him there until his health recovered. SpongeBob was not Sandy's only concern.

SpongeBob gasped and then became filled with a righteous fury. From his perspective, Poseidon was acting like a bully. "Why did you hurt my friend?!" The sponge yelled a question at the god of the sea. He stomped a foot forward and pointed at the god with the Golden Spatula.

_"Anyways, if you think you have what it takes to become a royal fry cook, you will be tested with a challenge. As I said before, your inner traits will be revealed through this challenge." _Poseidon was somewhat impressed by SpongeBob's courage and loyalty to his friend. However, he showed no signs of emotion on purpose.

"Bring it on! SpongeBob can handle any-" Patrick defended his best friend again even after receiving an injury from the god. He was thinking that Poseidon was a bully as well and was verbally pushing SpongeBob to a corner.

_"Silence!"_ Poseidon raised his hand.

**BBBOOOM**

**RRRUUUMMBLE**

A lightning bolt came from the dark cloud and electrified Patrick.

Patrick was still conscious but became dizzy. He could still speak but could not stand up.

_"Do not fear. Your friend's arrogance will not cost you anything. This challenge will be between you and me." _Poseidon was not influenced by Patrick and stated who was going to be against whom. He wanted to see if SpongeBob was going to react in a fearful manner.

SpongeBob showed no signs of fear. He silently nodded his head and held the Golden Spatula with both of his hands. He was determined to win the challenge given to him by Poseidon. Avenging his best friend became part of the reason for deciding to do the challenge.

Patrick shook back to his senses. "Only one? What is one challenge to someone like SpongeBob?" The sea star was outspoken. However, his words led to further injury instead of helping his best friend.

Poseidon raised a finger.

**BOOOMMMM**

**RRUUMMBBLLE**

Another lightning bolt electrified Patrick.

A pause.

"Some-" Patrick did not even finish saying a word before he got interrupted again.

_"ENOUGH!"_ Poseidon was about to lose his temper. He raised his finger again.

**B-BOOOOMM**

**RRRUUMMBBLLLE**

Two lightning bolts electrified Patrick.

_"There will be one challenge,"_ Poseidon raised his index finger. _"You will face me in: the ultimate cook-off!" _Poseidon stated what the challenge was. He did it partly to inform SpongeBob and as an attempt to intimidate the yellow square.

SpongeBob looked at the injured star fish and bit his lip. "I will accept your challenge if you fix my friend." The sponge wanted the sea star to be in a good condition before avenging him and proving himself worthy through winning the challenge.

_"Ah, yes, the round one. I shall restore him." _Poseidon nodded and lifted a hand.

**B-B-BOOOMMM**

**RRRRUUUUMMMBBBLLE**

A few green lightning bolts came out of the dark cloud. They had the opposite effect of the previous lightning bolts.

Patrick was restored back to his condition before getting hit by the yellow lightning bolts.

"How you feeling, Pat?" SpongeBob wanted to make sure that his friend was in good health. He was concerned for Patrick.

"Pretty good." Patrick nodded and smiled. He felt normal, exactly like how he was before the lightning bolts hit him.

_"And now, see the fate that may lie ahead. For if some minute chance you meet the challenge, your reward will be great." _Poseidon opened the portal in the dark cloud and revealed a large and highly advanced city. "_Behold! My beloved home of Atlantis. A prize worthy of Hades. You will reside here in this glorious palace, cook only for me, and be a god!" _

"Hey, that sounds pretty nice." Patrick thought that Poseidon was giving SpongeBob a fair exchange.

_"But if you should not succeed, you must give up fry cooking forever. What do you say?" _Poseidon stated the penalty of losing and then waited for SpongeBob's decision. He wanted to see if the sponge still wanted to do the challenge after becoming aware of the penalty.

In SpongeBob's mind, the main reason he wanted to win the challenge had now became to avenging his formerly injured friend. Proving himself before Poseidon was no longer important. The sponge was willing to lose his job for a best friend or other friend, it was an extreme example of his kind nature. His friends, especially Patrick, had supported him throughout his life so he thought that he was obligated to not abandon them. "I'm ready." The sponge took a deep breath and nodded. He had thought about making his decision for only one second.

_"Very well then. To Atlantis!" _Poseidon swam through the portal.

SpongeBob slid from the grease pile to the floor.

"I'll be watching ya." Patrick patted his best friend on the shoulder. He wanted to go with him so he can support him by cheering him on.

"Good luck with the cook-off!" Sandy smiled widely and made a thumbs-up at SpongeBob. She wanted to leave the challenge between SpongeBob and Poseidon so she can not interfere the competition, she did not want to anger the god of the sea.

"Can you tell us how it's like when you come back?" Larry walked up to SpongeBob and asked a question. He had seen Atlantis through the portal and became curious.

SpongeBob silently nodded at Larry.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked through the portal.

S-S-S-S-S

Atlantis, Atlantic Ocean.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Poseidon were inside a large indoor stadium. They were in a arena ring that was surrounded by thousands of seats. A banner on one of the walls had text that said: 'POSEIDOME', the Poseidome was the name of the stadium.

_"Can you two wait for a moment?" _Poseidon needed to gather an audience to the stadium. He looked at a double door.

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob made a military salute.

"Roger." Patrick nodded.

Poseidon swam towards the double door he looked at.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Poseidon exited the Poseidome.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Poseidon entered the stadium.

Numerous Atlantians entered the Poseidome and sat in the seats. They nearly filled the entire stadium. They consisted of a variety of species. They were informed by Poseidon about a competition that was going to happen at the Poseidome. The Atlanteans enjoyed watching events at the stadium.

Poseidon raised both of his hands.

A large dark cloud formed above the arena ring.

**B-B-B-B-BOOOMM**

**RRRRRRUUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLEE**

Many lightning bolts landed on the arena ring. Two stoves and numerous ingredients for sandwiches appeared on the arena. Poseidon had used his magic to make those things appear on the ring.

A microphone was also on the arena.

Poseidon swam to the microphone and picked it up. _"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the ultimate cook-off!_" The god spoke into the microphone.

The audience screamed and clapped in delight.

_"Alright. First to a thousand sandwiches wins." _Poseidon stated the minimum requirement for someone to win the competition.

SpongeBob's heart nearly skipped a beat but...

_The last anchovy swallowed the patty and left._

_Money littered the floor in piles._

_A pause._

_The anchovies returned to the five buses._

...a memory made him relax. The sponge had made a ridiculous amount of Krabby Patties before; Poseidon's challenge was not new.

"Don't let that challenge intimidate you, Sponge," Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "You've done amazing things before and you can definitely do one this time." He was supporting his best friend. The sea star was encouraging the sponge to try his best.

"Don't worry, Pat. I'm not backing down now," SpongeBob was confident in his fry cooking abilities. He smiled and walked up to Poseidon fearlessly. "May the best man win." He held out his hand and said those words to show good sportsmanship. The pages inside his pocket glowed brighter and brighter.

The god and the yellow sponge shook hands.

Poseidon gave Patrick a drumstick and a large bell. _"When we go back to our corners and when the bells sounds,"_ Poseidon pointed at himself, then SpongeBob, and then at Patrick who was holding the bell and stick. "_We will start cooking."_ The god of the sea stated how the competition was going to begin. He then put the microphone on the floor of the arena ring.

SpongeBob walked to the stove that was on his side of the arena. There were only a few differences between the stoves being used at the Poseidome and the ones at the Krusty Krab. He noticed that the ingredients scattered throughout the arena looked like the ones used for Krabby Patties. However, he knew that the patties on the arena were not Krabby Patties, Poseidon did not fully know the ingredients for the Krabby Patty since they were not disclosed to him. The sponge picked up a spatula and turned on the grill.

Poseidon turned on his stove and picked up a spatula as well.

Time slowed.

Patrick was holding up the bell.

**DIIIINNNNNGG**

Patrick hit the bell with the drumstick.

Poseidon made Krabby Patties at a lightning-fast speed.

Time resumed.

SpongeBob made a Krabby Patty in five seconds. He made sure that the ingredients were in the right order.

A pause.

Tiny white particles came out of the pages in his pocket and fused with the burger. The sponge noticed that and mentally gasped. 'The pages' magic is working!' He thought. The sponge's extreme desire to beat Poseidon in the competition while his courage to face the god combined to activate the power of the magical pages.

By that point, a large pile of a thousand Krabby Patties was in front of Poseidon's stove. The god fulfilled the requirement far before SpongeBob was going to.

Poseidon turned off the grill. He folded his arms with confidence. _"I win!"_ He announced who was the winner. The god of the sea assumed that the burgers he made tasted delicious since they were made by a god. _"Free patties for everyone!"_ The god then threw the patties in the pile at the crowd in the stadium.

Nearly everybody in the stadium caught a burger and took a bite. They then spit what was in their mouths to the floor immediately after that. The burgers tasted disgusting, they were cooked too hastily.

"_Fools! Have you no taste buds? There's nothing wrong with these, they're delicious!'_ Poseidon was stubborn to abandon his belief that the burgers had an excellent taste. He did not want to win the competition and end up being the actual loser.

Patrick saw what the crowd was doing, grabbed one of Poseidon's burgers, and took a bite. He then gagged at what he was eating and spit it to the floor outside of the arena.

_"You too?!" _Poseidon looked at Patrick and saw what he did to the burger. The god then raised his brow.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head.

Patrick picked up another burger and walked towards Poseidon while holding out the burger. "Try one." He said with a solemn face. He was putting his idea into action since he wanted to help his best friend in any possible way, breaking down Poseidon's ego was one of them.

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

**"TRY IT!"**

The crowd chanted for Poseidon to at least take a bite from one of his burgers. They were cheering for what Patrick was doing.

Poseidon swam up to Patrick and snatched the burger from the sea star's hand. He wanted to get that attempt over with. The god then ate the whole burger in one gulp. He realized how awful his burgers tasted. _"Okay, mine's no good. But what makes you think his will be any better?" _He remembered the reason why he challenged SpongeBob and then pointed at the yellow square.

SpongeBob slowly walked towards Poseidon and held out the burger he made with both of his hands. He made a slight smile to make himself look humble, he did not want to enrage the god by looking arrogant.

Poseidon silently grabbed the burger from SpongeBob's hands. He then tossed it into his mouth, chewed on it, and then swallowed it. The burger had an exquisite taste that was enchanted by the pages' magic. _"Mmmm. Why, this is really good..." _The god of the sea became surprised by the taste.

"So, uhh, what do you think?" SpongeBob sweatdropped, smiled nervously, and crossed his fingers. He was hoping that Poseidon was going to accept him as the winner, he had to complete his avenging.

_"Yours is superior. Therefore, I concede to you that you win," _Poseidon accepted SpongeBob as the winner of the competition. He also knew that the sponge succeeded in the challenge. _"By winning this challenge, it also indicates to me that you have all of the necessary traits needed for a royal fry cook." _

The audience including Patrick clapped and cheered for SpongeBob.

Poseidon swam to a double door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened it. _"Come SpongeBob, it's time to depart..." _Poseidon pointed at the open doorway. He wanted SpongeBob to become the royal fry cook immediately. He had desire to eat more of the burgers that SpongeBob makes.

"Can I bring my friends and family with me?" SpongeBob asked a question that had been stuck in his mind ever since he saw the portal to Atlantis. He did not really think about that question until now.

_"Absolutely not. Only people who are worthy will reside in the palace." _Poseidon made a solemn facial expression, folded his arms, and shook his head. He did not want 'parasites' to consume the resources of his palace, people from different places who can provide useful services or are highly productive are allowed into the palace.

SpongeBob looked at the floor and his eyes moistened.

The crowd became silent.

_"Anything I want..." SpongeBob thought about Plankton's words. He was considering if the 'training' was worth his time. His two other friends were occupied with other activities so the yellow square needed something to do that would occupy his own time, getting anything he wanted was a decent exchange for the time spent 'training'. "Sounds great!" The sponge beamed. He wanted to do what Plankton suggested._

_"Wonderful." Plankton smiled evilly and made an evil laugh out loud. He assumed that SpongeBob was gullible enough to not notice his malicious intentions through his laughter. _

A memory appeared in SpongeBob's mind. If he became Plankton's definition of assertive, he would no longer have any friends and would be a jerk. He did not act or choose a path that someone else wanted him to do.

_"I ain't crying, I'm laughing! I appreciate what y'all are trying to do, SpongeBob, but home isn't about barbecues and pecan pies, home is where you're surrounded by critters that care about ya." Sandy had made a realization as she laughed. She thought that SpongeBob and Patrick cared about her since they went out of their way to bring Texas to Bikini Bottom. _

SpongeBob remembered how he tried to keep the bonds between his friends together.

_The sponge gasped as he suddenly realized that the hooks in front of him were the dreaded monsters that Mr. Krabs was talking about. "Stop Patrick! Don't touch it! This isn't the carnival, Patrick. Those are hooks. Mr. Krabs said they were really dangerous." The sponge tried to warn his best friend about how dangerous this 'carnival' really was._

_Patrick sat on the tip of a hook that had a block of cheese on it. "Hmmm. I sense no danger here. How can they be dangerous? Some of them are covered with free cheese!" The starfish couldn't see why the hooks were life-threatening._

SpongeBob remembered the temptations that he had to face. The yellow sponge then came to a realization, his possible advancement to a royal fry cook was another temptation that would harm him in the long-run. "I... I... **I don't wanna go!**" The sponge gathered enough courage to say his thoughts out loud to Poseidon.

_"It's too late now. I can't live without your burgers. You're going to be the royal fry cook and will like it!" _Poseidon yelled at the sponge and continued to point at the doorway. His desire for SpongeBob's cooking was too strong.

A light bulb suddenly lit up in SpongeBob's head when he heard "can't live without your burgers". "Neptune, I have another idea!" The sponge smiled widely and raised his index finger.

* * *

**Do not get confused between the names: Neptune and Poseidon. Since the mythology for this fanfic will almost entirely consist of the Greco-Roman pantheon, the Greek and Roman names are interchangeable. Bikini Bottomites say the Roman names of the pantheon to show respect while the Greek names are the actual names of the pantheon.**


	39. SB-139

**I changed the name on purpose.**

* * *

**C****hapter 39: SB-139**

* * *

Nearly a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Saturday evening.

Poseidon was sitting in a table at the Krusty Krab and was eating a Krabby Patty. The god did not eat the whole burger in one swallow because he wanted to savor the taste, the Krabby Patties were more delicious than SpongeBob's burgers. He had to come to the restaurant later on in the day and on a Saturday due to having a busy schedule.

He was eating his twentieth Krabby Patty.

Mr. Krabs was standing under the open doorway to his office. The crab's eyes were narrowed at Poseidon and he mentally counted how many burgers Poseidon ate. The boss did not want a customer to leave the Krusty Krab without paying, even if that person was a god or goddess. The crustacean anticipated Poseidon to leave quickly without paying and was under the doorway so he can catch Poseidon before escaping. He was highly aware of Poseidon's magical powers, he had an encounter with the god of the sea during one of his pirate journeys.

Squidward was looking at his watch. It was a few minutes past 6:00 PM, those few minutes felt like a few hours since the octopus was becoming impatient. He and SpongeBob had already cleaned the Krusty Krab and prepared it for closing while Poseidon was eating the Krabby Patties.

SpongeBob was watching the god of the sea eat the current Krabby Patty from the ordering window. He felt accomplished since his alternate idea that he proposed to Poseidon had finally became reality. The yellow square had the spatula in his hand, he was ready to cook more Krabby Patties if the god asked for more.

Poseidon finished eating his twentieth Krabby Patty. _"I believe now would be a good time to depart."_ The god 'stood' up from his seat. He then raised his hand to summon a portal.

Mr. Krabs immediately ran up to Poseidon. "Oh no you don't!" The crab held out a hand.

Poseidon lowered his hand. _"What is the matter?" _The god of the sea then raised his brow. He expected to receive very important information since his departure was interrupted.

"You gotta pay up before you leave." Mr. Krabs held out a hand so he can receive the proper amount of money. The boss did not tolerate customers who do not give back money in return.

_"Are you talking about what you ordinary people call money? If giving you such mundane metals and papers allows me to eat more of these Krabby Patties in the future, I will comply to your demand." _Poseidon nodded. He thought that money was useless and causes unnecessary problems since the gods and goddesses had a different way of thinking compared to normal people. The deities' thoughts focused more on effort and efficiency instead of laziness and convenience. The god of the sea then raised one of his hands.

A dark cloud formed above Poseidon.

Poseidon lowered his hand and held out his other hand.

**B-B-B-BOOOMMM**

**RRRUUUMMMBBLLE**

A few thunderbolts came out of the dark cloud and hit Poseidon's other hand. A small cloud of smoke appeared on that hand.

SpongeBob gazed at what Poseidon did.

Squidward glanced at Poseidon for a few seconds before returning his gaze to the watch. He wanted to go home no matter what was going on around him.

The cloud of smoke dispersed and revealed a stack of money on Poseidon's hand.

Poseidon gave the money to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs smirked and dollar signs appeared on his eyes, he just gained a major chunk of profits. He then entered his office to put the money away in the safe.

Poseidon snapped his fingers.

The dark cloud opened up to reveal a portal.

Poseidon swam through the portal and entered Atlantis.

POOF

The portal then disappeared.

A long pause.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the office. "Closing time, lads." He announced that it was time to leave the Krusty Krab.

Squidward took a deep breath in relief. He stood up from the boat and walked towards the double door. His daily torture at the restaurant was finally over.

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs followed the octopus.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the double door and exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs flipped the sign on the double door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED' and...

FLICK

...turned off the lights in the restaurant by flicking a switch that was next to the exit.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs took out the key from his pocket. He then locked the double door by inserting the key into the keyhole and twisting it. "Watch out if Neptune comes here again, he almost got away without paying." The crab warned SpongeBob, he might be busy with an important task when Poseidon comes to the Krusty Krab to eat again. The crab needed someone else to watch him.

"Got it." SpongeBob smiled and made a thumbs-up. The sponge understood what Mr. Krabs said, he disliked those who steal.

"Good night." Mr. Krabs said a form of 'good-bye' to SpongeBob and walked towards his home. He soon vanished from the horizon,

SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple. He soon caught up with Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

SpongeBob turned off the lights in the bedroom and laid down on the bed. He was wearing his pajamas. The yellow square put the blanket over himself and faced the ceiling. "Good night, Gar-bear."

"Good night." Gary replied before falling asleep.

SpongeBob closed his eyes.

A pause.

He fell asleep as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The bedroom's lights were turned off.

Squidward laid down on his bed and put the blanket over himself. The octopus was wearing his pink pajamas. He then closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was watching TV while sitting on the couch and eventually fell asleep out of boredom.

S-S-S-S-S

There was a bright star in the night sky.

S-S-S-S-S

Above the sea...

In Eurasia...

In the Caucasus mountains...

An abnormally large man stood on the summit of a mountain. He was holding a torch and was looking intently at the horizon. There was a cut over the skin area above his liver and that had been stitched up. He had black hair and it swayed with the wind. He was waiting for somebody. 'When will that blond man return?' The deity thought. That question was something that he thought about for almost every single day.

That man was Prometheus, the fire-thief, a Titan.

'The Morning Star stated long ago that he will return when the situation becomes troubling again. Ever since the morning, that bright star had been on the sky. I bet even the humans can detect it.' Prometheus was in a very deep state of thought. He had not seen the 'Morning Star' since medieval times, that 'Morning Star' informed him about a tyrant and Prometheus assisted the people under the tyrant's rule in their overthrowing of their king. That tyrant was not Zeus. That same 'Morning Star' had also informed Heracles about Prometheus' torture. Heracles was the man who freed him from his eternal torture inflicted by Zeus. The 'Morning Star' had told the god to look for "a long-lasting bright star that was on the sky day and night" as a sign of his return.

The bright star indicated to him that his centuries of waiting was finally over. However, the Morning Star had not yet made his appearance.

A long pause.

Prometheus sat on the mountain and looked at the torch. The fire swayed with the wind and his hair. He wanted time to pass quickly by focusing on something. His former eternal torture with the eagle was more bearable when he looked at and focused on an object.

A very, very long pause.

An extremely bright flash suddenly occurred near the foot of the mountain that Prometheus was sitting on.

That flash surprised Prometheus. Prometheus stood up and looked down at the foot of the mountain in search of the flash's source.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A blond young human man was climbing with ease towards the summit of the mountain that Prometheus was on. His blond hair was somewhat long. The man was wearing a violet business suit with an orange tie and white shirt underneath. His nails were strangely painted black and a golden ring was on the middle finger of one of his hands. He had a strange case of heterochromia iridium since he had blue and red irises. The man looked strange and out-of-place but he had an air of charisma with him. However, an ordinary-looking human like him climbing a mountain in such a short time was undeniably strange and nearly unexplainable.

A pause.

The blond man soon reached the summit of the mountain.

Prometheus by that point was standing. His eyes widened at the sight of the blond man. _"Your looks have changed by a significant amount." _Prometheus made an observation. The blond man had worn a set of knight's armor during their previous encounter.

The blond man brushed some dirt off of his suit. "I have come here with alarming news. I have visited the future of this universe and realized that the Demiurge triad had seized it." The Morning Star had traveled through time.

_"Are you implying that there are going to be new vessels for the Demiurge?" _Prometheus became concerned for the future of the universe that he resided in.

"Yes. In this universe's future, most of the world had been wiped out by Y.H.V.H's forces and the pantheon was completely killed off. An apparent utopia stood above what used to be that king's kingdom. Samael and Saklas reside there but Yaldabaoth is no where to be seen, they seem to be missing a vessel," The Morning Star made a more in-depth explanation about the future. When he said "king", he was referring to the medieval tyrant that Prometheus and the past inhabitants had defeated. "The future victory of the triad was something that I overlooked. I was very busy with other matters." He explained why he had not informed Prometheus about the future earlier.

_"I see,"_ Prometheus nodded._ "Are we going to inform the people that currently reside in the former kingdom about this?" _The god wanted to put the information he received into action so the terrible future could be prevented.

"If we do that, the spread of the information may become out of control. It could hasten the future caused by the triad, the present potential vessels actively yearn for such a future to pass and that information may encourage them to put more strength into their efforts for such a future. The vessel for Saklas was an ordinary human and was the person who caused that future. He could easily conquer the pantheon if the gods and goddesses are not prepared to battle," The Morning Star stated a potential problem with Prometheus' hastily created plan. "It would be best if we informed someone who resided in the former kingdom about the future. He should be sent to the future so he can see what will happen first-hand. That person must vow to keep the information a secret until we tell him to reveal it. During the time that he reveals the information, Saklas' vessel would be pursuing the future. If we do it in the way I just told you, the future would not be hastened." The blond man had an enormous amount of intelligence and had wisdom that could rival Athena's. He traveled through several points in the history of this universe to know how the future of it developed.

Prometheus nodded, he fully understood what the Morning Star said. "_Can you elaborate on the means of traveling this person to the future and back?" _The god found something in the Morning Star's solution that was vague.

"You are going to have to freeze him/her and make sure that him/her stays frozen until the future comes to pass; you should not make him/her travel through time with me. Zeus might become suspicious if you were suspected of suspicious behavior. You are very aware of the pantheon's policy about unjustifiable murders," The Morning Star stated the means of transporting the person to the future and provided a reason for why Prometheus should do that. "I will transport you to the future so you can meet the person and show him the horrors of the utopia."

_"Please explain your definition of the word: 'horrors'." _Prometheus found an ambiguity in what the blond man said. He was paying all of his attention to the Morning Star's words.

"Samael rules the future utopia in a very similar manner to Y.H.V.H's control of Heaven. He is a tyrant just like Him and the king who was given the Holy Book by Metatron." The Morning Star elaborated what he meant when he said the term: 'horrors'.

_"I see," _Prometheus listened carefully to what the blond man said. _"Shall I go to the former kingdom?" _He wanted to put the Morning Star's plan into action.

"Wait until it is the morning for that former kingdom. You will have a wide variety of people to choose during that time since they will be awake." The blond man did not want to put his plan into action right away. He wanted Prometheus to wait until the time was right.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**DING DING DING DING DING DING DING**

Squidward's alarm clock rang.

Squidward woke up and yawned. The octopus then smiled and...

CLICK

...turned off the alarm clock's alarm. He was in a good mood since today was Sunday. He stood up from his bed and changed to his normal attire. "C'mon, Clary." He picked up his clarinet that was laying on the drawer with the alarm clock.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bedroom while holding the clarinet.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked across the hallway and went upstairs to the music room.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the music room and walked up to the sheet holder. He then kissed his clarinet, he was looking forward to playing with his clarinet. "I think I'll treat Bikini Bottom to some real music." He then put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth and opened a window.

Right before he began to play the clarinet...

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOONNNNNNNNK**

...the foghorn's alarm blew in SpongeBob's bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward gritted his teeth and looked through the open window at SpongeBob's pineapple. He found the foghorn's alarm to be annoying, it was always unexpected and always interrupts whatever he was doing.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened his eyes and sat up; he woke up.

CLICK

The yellow square turned off the foghorn's alarm. He then hopped out of his bed with a wide smile, just like how Squidward initially was, the sponge was in a good mood.

"Hey." Gary droned a meow and slowly opened his eyes. The snail was drowsy since he woke up during the middle of his latest sleep cycle.

"Good morning, Gary." SpongeBob spoke with exuberance. His voice was already at its normal volume; his voice normally sounded lower in the mornings. Numerous activities that he could spend time on were appearing in his head. The realization of his plan yesterday gave him a peace of mind before he slept and that made him sleep well as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

A jellyfish was flying around the neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw a jellyfish fly past the bedroom's window from the corner of his eye. He then immediately decided on what activity that he was going to do after breakfast. "Jellyfishing's a good idea." He stated his idea to himself.

Gary slithered past SpongeBob and slithered to the handle of the right door.

**CRRREEAAAK**

Gary then slithered out of the bedroom.

SpongeBob exited the bedroom as well.

**SLAM**

The yellow square closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward scanned from the open window at the surroundings that were outside of the tiki.

Silence. SpongeBob and Patrick were nowhere to be seen.

Squidward then walked back to the sheet holder. He was glad that SpongeBob and Patrick were not fooling around outside, it would make the foghorn's interruption much worse since they would be furthering the delay between the playings of the clarinet. The octopus put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth once again and blew into the instrument. He looked at the music sheet in front of him as he played.

Musical notes came out of the clarinet. Most were the wrong notes while a few were correct.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited his pineapple. He was wearing his normal attire, a pair of glasses that he uses for jellyfishing, and a jellyfishing net. The sponge then walked towards Squidward's tiki.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

SpongeBob knocked on the front door. He thought that it was a good idea if Squidward could jellyfish with him, he wanted to make the sport more refreshing for himself by helping someone else become skilled at the sport.

S-S-S-S-S

Knock Knock Knock

Squidward heard the low sounds of the knocking. The octopus then stopped playing and went downstairs to see who was knocking on the front door. He hoped that the visitor was not SpongeBob and Patrick but knew deep in his mind that the opposite was most likely true.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and walked up to the front door.

**CRRREEAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and saw SpongeBob. He then sighed since he knew that the yellow square was going to annoy him. The neighborhood had been peaceful for only a bit more than ten minutes.

"Good morning, Squidward! Wanna go jellyfishing?" SpongeBob asked and pointed at his jellyfishing net. "I got an extra net at my house if you need one." The sponge then pointed at his pineapple.

Squidward silently shook his head and...

**SLAM**

...closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob thought that Squidward nodded; he was thinking optimistically. The door closed so fast that he could not really get to see what motion Squidward's head was making. "Great! We'll be right over!" The sponge was going to jellyfish with Patrick as well. The yellow square walked towards the rock.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on Patrick's rock.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened. Patrick was sticking to the ceiling of the rock. "Mornin', Sponge." He greeted his best friend. He had awoken before SpongeBob and Squidward and had been watching TV.

"Wanna go jellyfishing with me?" SpongeBob asked. "Squid's coming as well." He pointed with his jellyfishing net at Squidward's tiki.

"Would I?!" Patrick grinned and...

**SLAM**

...fell to the floor on purpose.

A very long pause.

Patrick exited the rock while holding the jellyfishing net. "I would love to. Let's go!" The sea star ran towards Jellyfish Fields. He wanted to jellyfish immediately; he could not control his excitement.

"Wait!' SpongeBob held out his hand towards Patrick.

Patrick stopped running and turned around to look at SpongeBob. "What?" He tilted his head to the side, he did not know why SpongeBob made him stop. He had quickly forgotten one fact.

"Squid's coming too. Remember?" SpongeBob reminded his best friend about Squidward. He thought that leaving someone behind due to impatience was rude.

"Oh yeah." Patrick remembered and nodded.

The two best friends walked up to Squidward's tiki.

**KN-KNOCK KN-KNOCK**

SpongeBob and Patrick knocked on the tiki's front door at the same time.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking upstairs when he heard...

Kn-Knock Kn-Knock

...more knocking.

"I wonder who that could be." Squidward rolled his eyes and was sarcastic with his words. He went downstairs and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

...opened the front door. He then made a deadpan face due to a lack of enthusiasm, he was seeing SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Ready to go?" SpongeBob was jumping up and down in excitement. He was feeling the complete opposite of Squidward's feelings, he was enthusiastic. The sponge was thinking about all of the fun experiences that he, Squidward, and Patrick were about to have.

"No, I'm not ready to go!" Squidward frowned and became ill-tempered. He knew that the series of events that was currently happening was going to end badly.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door with force. He could not tolerate SpongeBob and Patrick's annoying.

"He doesn't wanna play with us." Patrick observed. He noticed what emotions Squidward was feeling by looking at the octopus' facial expression before he closed the door. His intelligence had increased slightly.

"No, Patrick, he's just not ready." SpongeBob thought that he and Patrick made Squidward grumpy by interrupting his preparation for the trip to Jellyfish Fields. He was still looking at the silver lining on the clouds.

A pause.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door again. He assumed that Squidward only needed a short amount of time in order to be ready. Jellyfishing did not require a lot of equipment.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's foot touched the first step of the stairs when...

Knock Knock Knock Knock Knock

...he heard more knocking from the front door.

Squidward's face began to turn red since he was becoming frustrated. He could not play with his clarinet if there was someone constantly knocking on the door; the knocking was distracting. The thought of escaping to a place of silence and tranquility entered his mind. He then walked up to the front door and...

**CRREAAK**

...opened it for the fourth time.

S-S-S-S-S

"How about now?" SpongeBob could not determine when Squidward was ready. He constantly knocked on the door and grabbed Squidward's attention. He wanted to bring the octopus to the plain right after the octopus was finished with his preparation.

"NO!" Squidward yelled at SpongeBob and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door with all of his might.

SpongeBob and Patrick became silent and stood still.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat on the couch so he can calm himself down. He did not want his Sunday to be ruined by constantly being angry. Today was supposed to be a day of relaxation and happiness. However, SpongeBob and Patrick proved to be an obstacle.

A long pause.

Squidward took a deep breath.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was becoming sleepy.

SpongeBob and Patrick had been doing absolutely nothing for an entire minute. They were waiting for Squidward to finish his preparation.

SpongeBob looked at his watch and realized that a full minute had passed. He felt like the time was right to knock on the front door again. Preparing for jellyfishing should not take a large amount of time to finish. He slowly raised his hand and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the front door. SpongeBob then gulped nervously, he was uncertain of how Squidward was going to react.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking upstairs when he heard the knocking again. His face became crimson, steam came out of his ears, and he gritted his teeth. The octopus could no longer tolerate the knocking on the door, it was so annoying that it made him lose his temper quickly. He turned around and stomped down the stairs. He then stomped to the front door.

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the door open.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick bit his lip when he saw Squidward's facial expression. "Squidward doesn't look happy." He stated the obvious.

"Ready... yet?" Squidward's facial expression caught SpongeBob by surprise. He sweatdropped, stepped back from Squidward, and bit his lip. He was afraid of the possibility of Squidward reacting negatively to his words.

"NO, I'M NOT READY! I'LL **NEVER** BE READY! DON'T YOU GET IT?!" Squidward exploded at SpongeBob and Patrick. He wanted them to stay away from his tiki immediately.

SpongeBob smiled nervously. "Sure we do." He then giggled nervously and sweatdropped again. He lied to Squidward in an attempt to calm the octopus down. He did not want his 'friend' to be in such a bad mood.

An awkward pause.

Squidward became silent and made a neutral facial expression. He did not expect SpongeBob to say those words at all. He did not know about what to say next and formed potential spoken sentences in his mind. The octopus then began the process of choosing the best sentence to say.

"Ready?" SpongeBob blurted a word. He wanted to make sure that Squidward was confident in his decision to not go to Jellyfish Fields. He did not want Squidward to miss out on the fun.

**SMACK**

Squidward facepalmed.

Another awkward pause.

Squidward sighed. "You should go to work every single damn day. You're driving me nuts with these jellyfishing shenanigans." He spoke frankly and was not hesistate to state his opinion. The octopus then grabbed the handle of the front door.

"I'd love to be at work today but it's Sunday; the Krusty Krab is closed." SpongeBob stated an obvious fact. He made a solemn face and no longer looked nervous. The fact that he said saddened him by a tiny degree.

After hearing SpongeBob's words, a light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. The octopus could simply walk to and enter the Krusty Krab so SpongeBob and Patrick could no longer annoy him. His desire to escape his neighbors' irritating made him forget one crucial fact. "Hold on a second. I'll be right out." Squidward wore a smile and...

**SLAM**

...closed the front door

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked through the living room. He then...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...opened the backdoor and entered his garden.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward then tip-toed towards the Krusty Krab without SpongeBob and Patrick noticing him. He knew that the two neighbors were going to be fooled for a long-enough time for him to get to the Krusty Krab without getting spotted. Once inside the restaurant, the octopus could play his clarinet as much as he likes without disturbance.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus and the Morning Star flew to the island with three palm trees and landed on it. The two were very close to Bikini Bottom. The two had waited until the morning for that time zone in Bikini Atoll.

_"Morning Star, I think your plan had a major flaw." _Prometheus realized that there was an error in the Morning Star's plan. He had been thinking about the plan as he flew with the blond man. He thought that constructive criticizing, open-mindedness, and critical thinking were almost always good things; he had used all three of those skills and traits when he tried to persuade Zeus to give fire back to the humans.

"Please tell me." The Morning Star turned to make eye contact with Prometheus. He was going to pay attention to what the god was about to say.

_"You did not specify the means of freezing this person being sent to the future. You are certainly aware that I do not have any ice elemental skills."_ Prometheus stated the flaw. He thought that the Morning Star forgot about his magical skills.

"Do not worry. I definitely know your magical capabilities." The Morning Star held out a hand and put his other hand above the hand being held out, the palms were facing each other. "A Bufula is guaranteed to freeze anybody for a long time if they are unprepared. If you bury the frozen person, the ice will definitely endure to the dystopian future." Two arctic cold breezes came out of his hand and fused into a small ball of blue gas. "Throw this at the person whom is your target." The Morning Star held out the gas ball to Prometheus.

Prometheus 'picked' up the blue gas ball. He held it with both of his hands and used a small amount of his attention on the gas ball so he could control it.

A pause.

The ball floated above his hands. It was now under Prometheus' control.

The Morning Star abruptly became invisible. "When you freeze your target and put him in a place where no one is going to find him for a few centuries, I'll take you to the future."

"Very well." Prometheus nodded and dove into the Pacific Ocean.

The Morning Star silently flew behind him.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking towards the Krusty Krab. He was muttering to himself about not having enough "peace and quiet" in his life. He could hear his neighbors' footsteps as they were searching for him.

SpongeBob and Patrick were looking through large pieces of coral and were turning rocks upside down in search of Squidward. "Squidward! Squidward! Oh, Squidward!" They were calling for their neighbor to come back.

Prometheus and the Morning Star spotted the three neighbors and watched them.

Prometheus was particularly interested in the octopus. He could tell by the octopus' facial expression that the octopus did not like the other two people and wanted to get away from them. "This young man is interesting..." He whispered to the Morning Star and pointed at the octopus.

The Morning Star looked at the octopus and saw what the octopus was doing. "I can see why." He understood why Prometheus was interested in the octopus.

Squidward was walking towards the Krusty Krab.

"He seems to be heading for that building." The Morning Star whispered to Prometheus and pointed at the Krusty Krab. He predicted the path of the octopus by noticing what direction he was going in. "Shall I check to see if it is locked? That is, if you want to freeze that person."

_"He seems to be suitable. The octopus wants to find a tranquil place." _Prometheus heard some of the words coming out of Squidward's mouth, he had an enchanced sense of hearing. He targeted Squidward as the person being taken to the future.

The Morning Star silently flew to the Krusty Krab and tried to open the double door.

The double door would not move out of its place; it was locked.

'Agi would be useful for this situation.' The Morning Star thought. He held out both of his hands and made them become super-hot. He then grabbed a small rock with his hands and melted it until it could be easily formed into any shape. He then fitted the semi-melted rock into the keyhole and made it form into the shape of the Krusty Krab key.

A pause. The invisible blond man waited for the rock key to cool down.

The Morning Star then twisted the rock key in the keyhole and unlocked the double door. He then took out the key and flew away from the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned around and saw an incoming SpongeBob and Patrick through the large window. He then dove through the ordering window and hid behind the grill; he did not want to get spotted by his two neighbors.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob opened the double door and his eyes widened by a slight amount. He expected the double door to be locked.

**C-CRRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked across the dining room but Squidward was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, he's not here. I'll bet that eager-beaver's already down at Jellyfish Fields!" SpongeBob was still thinking optimistically. He then turned around and walked towards the double door.

Patrick followed SpongeBob. He was still excited to go to Jellyfish Fields and did not want to wait for anybody.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stood up and looked through the ordering window.

SpongeBob and Patrick were nowhere to be seen.

"Phew." Squidward wiped some sweat from his brow. He had been nervous about being spotted by his neighbors. "They're finally gone." The octopus made a sincere smile and put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth. He blew into the instrument and began to play a short music piece of victory. The octopus could now relax and enjoy his Sunday.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Can you check on the octopus again?" _Prometheus asked a request to the Morning Star. He could not watch Squidward through the windows in the Krusty Krab since he could be seen by the octopus.

The invisible blond man flew to the Krusty Krab and looked through the window. He saw Squidward playing pieces of music with his clarinet.

Prometheus flew to the Krusty Krab and hovered above it. He wanted the Morning Star to state what he was seeing.

"He seems to be playing compositions of music with his clarinet for pleasure. The sponge and the starfish had left him alone." The Morning Star stated what he saw through the window. His words were honest.

_"I believe now would be a good time to reveal ourselves to him." _Prometheus wanted to begin the execution of the plan. Beginning the plan could only be done if the target was the only other person around.

"Indeed." The Morning Star became visible.

Prometheus landed on the ground.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Excuse me..." _Prometheus tried to attract Squidward's attention. He was being polite because he did not want to frighten the octopus. If the octopus showed resistance due to fear, he would have to freeze him by force and more troubles would come when the two meet in the future.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's eyes bugged out and he stopped playing with his clarinet. He had thought that there was no one else in the restaurant. "Who's there?!" The octopus backed away to one of the walls in the kitchen, he was nearly frightened by that godly voice.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Do not be afraid. Please come out of the kitchen." _Prometheus tried to calm Squidward down. He and the Morning Star walked up to the door to the kitchen and stood in front of it. They patiently waited for the octopus to exit the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward tip-toed to the door to the dining room. He did not know what the strangers were about to do and he was cautious because of that.

**CRRRRRRRREEEEEEAAAAAAK**

Squidward slowly opened the door and saw Prometheus and the Morning Star. His jaw dropped at the sight of the blond man, he had never heard or seen a human breathing underwater before. His face then drained of color when he looked at Prometheus, he knew that Prometheus was a powerful god and was important to the history of Bikini Bottom during medieval times. Bikini Bottomites learned about the history of the town at school. The octopus was absolutely speechless; he did not know about what to say.

_"This may sound sudden and shocking, but, we are talking to you for a very special reason. We picked you to receive some crucial information that may eventually save the future of this world." _Prometheus stated the reason for him and the Morning Star being in front of Squidward. He knew that ordinary people like Squidward would at least freak out a little bit.

"U-uh..." Squidward opened his mouth but could not force any words out. Pure shock had constricted his tongue and mouth. The unlikelihood of what was occurring before him was almost incomprehensible.

"However, you can only reveal this information at the right time. If you reveal the information to others right away, it may hasten the horrific series of events that is yet to come." The Morning Star added to Prometheus' explanation.

"H-horrific events?" Squidward slowly raised his brow. "D-do you mean t-the future?" The octopus was able to speak but shock still constricted his mouth to a certain degree. He had listened carefully to the Morning Star's words.

"Yes." The Morning Star nodded and smiled. "It seems like fear had not blocked your ears." He found the octopus to be amusing since the octopus had a temporary inability to speak many words.

"Am I dreaming?" Squidward looked at his surroundings and pinched himself. He was making sure that he was grounded to reality and not stuck inside a super-long dream. The thought of his mind getting altered by drugs entered his mind and he then sweatdropped.

"You are not." The Morning Star shook his head and giggled. He was making a facade so he can not look as frightening as before and make Squidward more comfortable with talking with him and Prometheus.

_"You need to have first-hand experience of this future in order to truly understand what we are talking about." _Prometheus resumed his speaking after the mini-conversation between the human and the octopus was over. He began his explanation of how he and the Morning Star were going to explain the future to Squidward.

"You can time-travel?!" Squidward widened his eyes. If there was a deity and a water-breathing human before him, then the possibility of them being able to time-travel was equally as likely from his viewpoint. By going to the Krusty Krab, Squidward had turned his Sunday towards a completely new and dramatic direction.

"I am able to do that," The blond man pointed at himself. "but he cannot." He then pointed at Prometheus. "However, I will not make you travel through time with me. I do not want to upset or enrage your native pantheon. Since Prometheus will be your guide for most of the 'trip', I find him getting accused of unjustifiable murder to be unfavorable. Your prolonged absence if you time-traveled with me may arouse suspicion from your gods. I hope you understand."

"Are you gonna send me to the future anyway?" Squidward had a question that was stuck on his mind ever since he asked the previous question. His mind was becoming vast with questions as his curiosity was further and further aroused. The more irrational and unexplainable a situation or incident was, the more question that needed to be answered.

"Absolutely." The Morning Star nodded. "Instead of time-traveling, we are going to use a more risky method." The human pointed at the blue gas ball that was floating above Prometheus' hands.

Prometheus looked at the gas ball and then at Squidward. He repeated that action a few times and then realized a crucial fact. The god then poked the Morning Star on the shoulder.

"Yes?" The blond man looked at Prometheus.

_"I have discovered another flaw in your plan." _Prometheus whispered to the Morning Star's ear.

"Excuse us." The Morning Star held out a hand towards Squidward and then walked to a corner of the dining room.

Prometheus followed him.

A pause.

_"How is the octopus going to survive the freezing? He will have died a long time ago once someone thaws him out in the future." _Prometheus whispered the flaw to the Morning Star.

"A simple problem. A simple solution." The blond man whispered back. He smiled and took out a small bottle with green liquid inside of it from a pocket in his pants. "This soma should do the trick. Once someone in the future thaws him out, they will recognized the soma and use it " He continued to whisper.

_"I have another question. Why is there so many flaws with your plan?" _Prometheus whispered another question to the Morning Star.

"I stated my plan with vagueness so you can figure out the flaws. By discovering the flaws, you will be better-equipped to handle a problematic situation during the execution of the plan." The Morning Star whispered an answer to Prometheus' question. The blond man was a genius.

_"I see."_ Prometheus nodded. He no longer whispered.

The Morning Star walked up to Squidward. "Take this." The blond man held out the soma to Squidward. "By having this with you, it will make your survival during the transition to the future a certainty." He stated the reason for him wanting the octopus to have the drink.

Prometheus walked up to Squidward as well.

Squidward slowly and shakily took the bottle. He initially thought that the bottle had poison inside of it due to how the liquid looked but he quickly changed his mind. Prometheus was the god of forethought and if he trusted the blond man, then the blond man could be trusted as well.

A pause.

Squidward looked at the soma. 'What in the world am I doing?' He thought as his rationality overcame his intense shock that was caused by the two people before him. He could not think of a good reason to drink the soma and follow Prometheus and the Morning Star's plan. Skepticism entered his thoughts and he somewhat reverted to his initial thinking, he trusted Prometheus more than the blond stranger since he was more familiar with that god.

The blond man's blue and red irises dilated and he sensed Squidward's doubt but could not directly read the octopus' mind. What he was doing was one of his many powers. His irises then returned to their normal sizes. "You are having doubts." He spoke frankly.

Squidward's face drained of color and he slowly nodded his head. He saw the dilation of the blond man's eyes and he became fearful of the human. The last thing he wanted to do was enrage or upset Prometheus or the blond man or both of them.

"If you doubt the effectiveness of a soma, I will demonstrate its healing properties before your eyes." The Morning Star digged into one of his pockets and took out another soma drink.

_"I trust this young man,"_ Prometheus pointed at the young blond man. _"the words I just said are sincere." _The god tried to dispel the doubts in Squidward's mind. The Morning Star's plan would never be executed successfully if the target was not persuaded.

The blond man opened the bottle and drank all of the green liquid inside of it.

A pause.

The Morning Star's body glowed and green particles surrounded him. The glow and the particles then disappeared in a flash. The drink was not fatal or poisonous at all. "It is not called the Drink of the Gods for nothing."

Squidward silently nodded as he looked at the soma that he was holding. The blond man gained Squidward's trust.

"When we send you to the future, there will be no danger or risk for you at all. I know of a way to send you back to this present state of the world. I had visited the future that me and Prometheus were talking about." The Morning Star explained the plan to a further level.

_"You will not realize the importance of what we are about to do to you until you actually get to witness the future for yourself, as I stated before." _Prometheus repeated something that he stated before in different words so as to make the plan's purpose more comprehensible for Squidward.

"Close your eyes." The blond man held out his middle finger and index finger in one hand towards Squidward's eyes and lowered the fingers as a signal.

Squidward silently closed his eyes. He complied to their orders since he had nothing to lose, he was eventually going to return to the present anyway.

Prometheus took a deep breath and held out the blue gas ball towards Squidward. The god then took a deep breath and blew into the gas ball with all of the air in his lungs.

**WHHOOOOOOOOOO**

An extremely cold wind came out of the gas ball and made contact with Squidward's body.

Squidward was frozen into a large and rectangular ice block within a second.

Prometheus then picked up the ice block.

"I think I know of a place to bury it." The Morning Star walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

The blond man opened the double door completely so that the open doorway had enough space for the ice block to be pushed through.

Prometheus steadily and walked to the double door and carefully gripped the ice block. He then squeezed the ice block through the doorway and stepped out of the Krusty Krab.

**S-SLAM**

The double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus and the Morning Star walked to the other side of the Krusty Krab while carrying the ice block.

"Halt." The Morning Star held out a hand as a signal for Prometheus to cease his carrying.

Prometheus gently placed the ice block on the ground.

"Prometheus, I believe you know what to do." The blond man pointed at a spot on the ground.

_If you bury the frozen person, the ice will definitely endure to the dystopian future._

The god of forethought remembered what the Morning Star said about burying the frozen target. 'Tera.' Prometheus mentally stated the spell he was going to use. He then held out both of his hands towards the spot on the ground that the Morning Star was pointing at.

**RRRRRUUUUUUUMMMMMBBBBBLLLLEEEE**

The spot on the ground opened until it was a crater.

Prometheus then picked up the ice block and placed it on the center of the crater. The god then stepped back from the crater and held out his hands towards the crater.

**RRRUUUMMMBBBBLLLE**

The crater on the ground became closed.

The Morning Star snapped his fingers.

A red and black portal that led to a futuristic city opened from thin air.

The blond man quickly moved his head towards the portal as a signal for Prometheus to follow him. He then walked into the portal and exited the present world.

Prometheus slowly entered the portal as well. He showed no hesitance in the pace of his walking before he entered the portal, he was confident in his ally's plan.

**POOF**

The portal disappeared.

**S-S-S-S-S**

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**200 years later...**

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**S-S-S-S-S**

April 20, 2208

The town known as Bikini Bottom that was familiar to Squidward no longer existed, all of the buildings were teared down at some point to be replaced. It was now an enormous city.

A giant glass dome surrounded the city and the entrances to the city were scattered throughout the surface of the dome. The entrances were more like security checkpoints. A small machine stood on the metal pole at an entrance and scanned the person entering the city for anything suspicious such as illegal drugs or past criminal activity. The person or vehicle would then stand or lay on a large green circle made out of glass which was one end of a teleportation machine. A group of security guards would then teleport them into the city.

There was always a sign next to those scanner poles that had blue text saying: 'Welcome to Bikini Millennium'.

Inside the glass dome, nearly all of the buildings were white or grey skyscrapers. The white buildings housed people while the grey ones were one of the places where people go to for work. Most buildings that were not skyscrapers were factories and people work there as well.

The streets in the city were highly organized and were mathematically exact. If someone had a map, they would almost never get lost in here. Highways connected many skyscrapers in the city and stretched many miles across the ground within the glass dome. Numerous advanced vehicles drove these roads on a daily basis. There were also highways that did not have roads and looked like light blue tubes, these highways were meant for vehicles that moved by flying. Numerous light blue barriers surrounded these highways and that is what makes them look like tubes.

The people were diverse in terms of species, just like Bikini Bottom. They behaved peacefully and almost never commit any crimes. They obeyed whatever the Master ordered them to do, they were given their set of instructions for the day every morning. The Master and his Council pick what jobs the citizens were going to have once they reach a certain age and they also pick what tasks they are going to do for their job on a daily basis, the job tasks were also part of the instructions.

Some people call a place like Bikini Millennium a utopia.

Three workers in metal protection vests and pants made out of a thick material (they were repairmen) were digging near a grey building that stood over the place where the Krusty Krab was formerly located. A complaint about water not being accessible through the pipes in the building prompted them to come to the building to fix the problem.

"Hey, Jake, have you reached the pipes yet?" A worker was taking out a few tools from his toolbox.

"No. We still got a few more feet to go." Jake and another worker were using large shovels to dig through the tough ground.

A long pause.

Jake dug through one spot in the ground and saw a piece of ice. "Huh?" He raised his brow. "Guys, come take a look at this." He moved his hand as a signal for the two other workers to walk to his location.

The other workers walked up to Jake and saw the revealed piece of ice.

"Dig it up completely. If the object is strange, we will give it to the Master." The worker who went to the toolbox and was holding a wrench spoke. He had seen and experienced a few situations like the current one before.

The other two workers nodded and all three continued to dig until the entire ice block could be seen.

An octopus wearing a brown shirt that was holding a soma drink in one of his hands while his eyes were closed was inside the ice block.

"Wow. Now this is a rare sight." The worker that was holding the wrench widened his eyes at the sight of the octopus. That was the first time he ever saw someone from a time before Bikini Millennium existed, he knew that the person was from an older time period due to the clothes that the octopus was wearing.

"Let's take him to the Master, guys." Jake grabbed one end of the ice block and began to lift it.

The other two workers lifted the other end.

The three workers then walked towards the vehicle that they used to drive to the gray building.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

Jake opened the backdoor of the vehicle.

The other workers gently placed the ice block into the vehicle.

SLAM

Jake closed the back door.

The three workers then entered the vehicle.

Jake sat in the driver's seat and turned on the vehicle by pressing a green button. He then took hold of the steering wheel.

The vehicle began to move.

S-S-S-S-S

The Morning Star and Prometheus were watching the three workers from the top of a skyscraper. The blond man had made himself and the god invisible so they both can avoid detection. The two then silently flew in the air as they followed the vehicle.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The vehicle parked in front of a steel fortress that surrounded the largest skyscraper in Bikini Millennium. The skyscraper surrounded by the fortress was also in the exact center of the city.

The three workers exited the vehicle, opened the vehicle's backdoor, took out the ice block with Squidward inside of it; and closed the vehicle's backdoor. They then carried the ice block to the entrance of the steel fortress.

A group of four security guards blocked their path. They were holding high-power laser guns. They were wearing heavy sets of protective metal armor that were also used by soldiers, the security guards were heavily militarized.

"Halt." One of the security guards spoke and held out his hand as a signal for the workers to stop walking.

The three workers stopped walking.

"Please state your reason for coming here." Another security guard spoke. No emotion was expressed in his words.

"We are bringing a foreign object to the Master, as required by law." The other worker who did not hold the wrench explained what he and the other workers were doing. In one of Bikini Millennium's laws, it was required to bring foreign objects to the Master to prevent the hoarding of valuable objects. The wealth either had to be shared with the community or kept for the Master. Self-expression and many other freedoms were minimized in the city. Selflessness and altruism were encouraged throughout the community, it was evident in the wording of the laws.

"Very well." The security guard that first spoke nodded.

The four security guards stepped out of the way. Two of the guards stood on both sides of the workers' path.

**S-SSSSHHHIMMM**

An automatic double door opened once it detected the presence of the three workers.

The three workers entered the fortress.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus and the Morning Star were hovering in front of the central skyscraper.

"I will now leave to another dimension. Prometheus, you know what to do beyond this point." The blond man whispered to Prometheus. He had explained Prometheus' role in the plan to the god during their wait for the morning in Bikini Bottom. The Morning Star then snapped his fingers.

A red and black portal appeared out of thin air.

The Morning Star took out a remote from his pocket and gave it to Prometheus. He also gave the god an invisible cloak that was inside his coat. The remote only had a large red button. "Press it if you need my assistance. Put the cloak on so you can stay hidden." The blond man turned around and then entered the portal. He left the dimension that Prometheus was in so he can deal with other matters.

**POOF**

The portal disappeared.

Prometheus quickly put on the invisibility cloak and became invisible again.

S-S-S-S-S

The three workers were inside the lobby of the fortress. The floor and walls were made out of a dark metal. Some parts of the lobby were dimly lit.

A robot that looked just like SpongeBob walked up to the worker trio. It had just finished a chore that was related to the cleanliness of the fortress and the central building. It was looking for another task to complete. _"Is that a foreign object?" _The robot asked.

"Yes." Jake nodded.

_"May I take the object?"_ The SpongeBob robot held out both of his hands and tried to be polite.

The three workers gave the ice block to the robot.

_"Have a nice day." _The robot carried the ice block with ease. It was walking towards the entrance of the central building.

The three workers exited the fortress.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus looked down and saw the three workers exiting the fortress. He noticed that they were no longer carrying the ice block with Squidward inside of it. The god quickly realized that he had to deal with a major problem, he needed to find a way to enter the building and keep watching the ice block without attracting the attention of the authorities.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Prometheus' head. 'Distracting the guards may provide me enough time to enter the premises.' He thought. The god then flew to the ground. He lit up one of his fingers with a flame and made that finger touch the ground.

The ground became ignited by the finger.

A small fire was burning on the ground.

The four security guards raised their brows and walked up to the small fire. They needed to figure out the cause of the fire so the fire does not become a threat to the central building or the other buildings.

Prometheus walked to the entrance without making a single sound. He then raised his hand to alter the size of the fire.

The fire became higher by several feet; the small fire became a column of fire.

The four security guards became alarmed. The thought of cooling down the fire entered their minds. There was not a single fireman in Bikini Millennium since fires rarely occurred. The guards had to find a fire extinguisher.

Prometheus stood before the fortress while the guards were distracted.

The automatic double door opened.

Prometheus swiftly entered the fortress in one motion.

The automatic double door closed.

The security guards did not hear the automatic door. The roaring of the fire blocked out the door's sounds. The guards looked around the exterior wall of the fortress in search of the fire extinguisher.

S-S-S-S-

**SSSHHIIMMM**

An automatic double door detected the presence of the SpongeBob robot and opened.

The robot entered the central building while carrying the ice block.

Prometheus quickly dove into the building as the double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Prometheus landed on the floor.

The robot heard the sound and silently looked at its surroundings.

Prometheus continued to lay down on the floor and stood as still as a statue. The worst-case scenario would be him getting detected by an officer or other security machine. The plan would be completely ruined if that scenario happened.

_"A very powerful source of energy has been detected." _The sponge-bot turned around and observed. He made direct eye contact with Prometheus even though the god was invisible. The cloak could not hide the massive amounts of spiritual and magical energy coming from the god.

Prometheus continued to act like a statue. He showed no signs of apprehension. The God had experienced many battles and knew which strategies were most effective, stealth was one of them.

_"The source is not moving. Threat has not been detected."_ The sponge-bot turned around and resumed its walking. He assumed that the energy source was not a threat since it did not make any movements, many major sources of energy were not automatically threats. For example, the sun was source of energy but was not considered a threat.

The god and the robot were inside a hallway. The walls were made out of a white metal while the floor was made out of a purple and durable material. The ceiling was painted grey. The hallways in the building were identical except for the floors, the floors in the hallways had different colors depending on the floor of the building to prevent confusion.

The robot turned to the left when it reached a one-way corner in the hallway and continued to walk down the hallway.

A pause.

'I have to keep my power hidden.' Prometheus thought. He then stood up and held both of his hands to both of his sides. 'Makarakarn.' The god mentally stated the name of the spell he was going to use.

An orange shield quickly formed around Prometheus and then became invisible. It made anybody and anything beyond the shield unable to detect the god's energy through normal means.

Prometheus calmly walked down the hallway and followed the sponge-bot. He needed to know where Squidward's ice block was going to be stored.

The sponge-bot stood before an automatic metal door.

**SSHHIIMM**

The automatic door opened.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge-bot walked through the open doorway and entered a staircase. It then began to walk down a large amount of stair sets.

Prometheus slipped through the closing automatic door at the last second. It quietly followed the robot.

S-S-S-S-S

There was a giant room that had a gigantic computer that was nearly the size of one of the walls in the room, the giant computer was displaying a map of Bikini Millennium with important locations highlighted in blue. There were numerous other computers and high-tech machines inside the room. The room was some sort of computer laboratory.

An orange sixteen year old square-shaped sponge was typing on a very large desktop computer. He was wearing a baseball cap in reverse and was also wearing what was considered to be casual attire for citizens of Bikini Millennium; a white shirt, a pair of white pants; and black shoes. He was coding a program for a lesson that he was being taught by a teacher.

_"Excuse me, Nicholas." _A sponge-bot was holding a wet towel. It and its brethren were cleaning the laboratory and doing other chores. There was more than one sponge-bot in existence.

"'kay." Nicholas stood up from his seat and stepped out of the way. He thought of the pause as a super-short break. Programming was a difficult skill to learn and was very taxing. The sponge sometimes spent hours on coding programs, it was a hobby of his.

The sponge-bot carefully cleaned the computer and the table that it was on top of within several seconds. It had been designed and programmed to do numerous tasks and feats. It and its brethren's A. I. was far more advanced than the ones in the robots of Squidward's time. It then briskly walked to the next object that it was going to clean.

Nicholas sat back down on the seat and resumed his coding.

S-S-S-S-S

Whuuuurrrrrrr

**DING**

An elevator stopped on the same floor as the computer laboratory.

**SHIMMMM**

The elevator door opened.

An orange male square-shaped sponge stepped out of the elevator and entered a hallway.

**CLANK**

The elevator door closed.

The sponge was forty-one years old. He was wearing a white robe on top of a loose long-sleeved blue shirt and loose blue pants. The sponge was wearing the blue clothes within the robe to indicate his high social status in the futuristic society. He then walked at a confident pace towards an automatic double door.

**S-SSSSHHHIMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

The orange sponge stepped into the computer laboratory.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Greetings, Master Thomas."_ A few sponge-bots that were cleaning the laboratory or doing other chores noticed the orange sponge and bowed before him.

Thomas silently nodded and then walked up to Nicholas. He had nodded to the robots as a way of acknowledging their respect.

Nicholas turned around and saw Thomas. "Hey, dad." He greeted his father. The sponge's father was the teacher that was teaching the lessons to him.

'When will my son ever use proper vocabulary? He is fortunate that he is the son of the Master himself.' Thomas mentally complained but showered no signs of irritation. His son did not completely abide to the norms of the futuristic society, the teenage sponge was not shunned by the citizens since he was the Master's son. The father could not find the true source for his son's behavior. It could be natural teenage rebellion or core and permanent personality traits. "How is the lesson going?" He indirectly stated his reason for entering the laboratory.

"The program is more than halfway complete." Nicholas quickly answered his father's question. He knew the limits of his skills, he was somewhat humble. He was kind of the opposite of his father, who was somewhat arrogant.

Thomas took a close look at the desktop computer's screen. "I see. Very well, carry on." The orange sponge turned around and walked towards another automatic double door in the room. Programming was not the only skill that he was teaching to his son, he was teaching a few other important and useful skills as well. He wanted Nicholas to be a renaissance man so that he can be a decent heir to the position of Master.

**S-SHHIMMMM**

The automatic double door opened. A white sign above the double door had black text saying: 'FOREIGN OBJECTS'.

Thomas exited the laboratory and entered another room.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked across a room full of strange objects inside glass containers.

The containers were organized into neat rows and columns. The room was three times bigger than the laboratory and had three different levels that were part of the room which indicated the height of the room. A set of stairs led to the second level.

Thomas walked up the set of stairs and walked up the next one as well. He entered the third level of the laboratory. The orange sponge then walked to the far side of the that room's level.

There was only one glass container near the wall that Thomas was walking towards. The glass container was significantly larger than the other containers. Inside the container was someone who looked very similar to a human and was frozen. He had dark blue hair, white skin, a set of metal armor over his torso; legs; and arms; the scleras of his eyes were completely black, the irises of his eyes were a light blue; and the pupils of his eyes were red. A spear was also in one of his hands. The only physical differences between him and a normal human were the eyes and the hair.

"Heh. Kaos is nothing compared to someone as godly as me. However, I am going to have to save the conquering of his universe for later. I must take care of business here before venturing off to unknown places." Thomas spoke to himself and smiled. He was the one that froze the 'human' known as Kaos. The 'human' was from another dimension. Thomas stepped closer to the glass container so he can look at the 'human' closely. He became curious at the thought of discovering the normal inhabitants of Kaos' dimension. He did not know if anthropomorphic animals or another intelligent species of life existed in Kaos' dimension. The orange sponge had came to the Foreign Objects storage room so he can inspect on the frozen 'human', he was making sure that he was not moving and was truly frozen.

A long pause.

Thomas turned around and walked down both sets of stairs. He then walked towards the automatic double door.

**S-SSHHIIMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas exited the storage room.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked towards the other double door.

**S-SSSHHIIIMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas exited the computer laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked towards the elevator and pressed the green button that was next to the metal door.

A pause.

**DING**

The elevator came down to Thomas' floor and the door opened.

Thomas stepped into the elevator.

S-S-S-S-S

There was an array of buttons to certain floors on a metal panel.

CLICK

Thomas pressed the one to the top floor. As the Master, he watched the city and performed his duties on that floor.

**CLANK**

The elevator door closed.

Whurrrrrrrrr

The elevator went up to the top floor.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge-bot reached a certain floor and walked away from the sets of stairs. He then walked towards an automatic double door.

**S-SHHIMMM**

The automatic double door opened and revealed the computer laboratory.

The sponge-bot entered the laboratory and Prometheus entered the laboratory while being closely behind.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas saw the sponge-bot carrying the ice block from the corner of his eye and smiled. He always became curious when someone or something brought a foreign object to the laboratory so it can be put into the storage room, some of the things brought into the storage room were unexpected. The sponge halted his coding and stood up from his seat. Nicholas walked to the sponge-bot and poked on the ice block. "Can I take a look at it?"

_"Sure." _The sponge-bot smiled as well and nodded. He gently laid the ice block on the tiled floor so Nicholas can make an inspection of it.

Nicholas inspected the ice block and gasped loudly. One of his hands covered his mouth and his face drained of color. He saw something inside the ice block that immensely shocked him.

_"Why did you emotionally react that way?" _The sponge-bot asked and tilted its head to the side. It did not know why Nicholas was shocked.

Nicholas did not say a single word and just pointed at the ice block. He wanted the robot to see what was inside the ice block for itself. Words were not on his tongue and he could not get them out of his mouth.

The sponge-bot nodded. _"Scanning object..." _The robot looked at the ice block.

Green lasers came out of its eyes and went up and down on the ice block.

The robot then stopped scanning and gasped as well. _"A frozen cephalopod!" _It detected what was inside the ice block, it did not expect it to be an octopus. It aimed its pupils at the body inside the ice. It thought that the octopus was still alive and needed to be rescued.

**ZZAAAAAAAAP**

Red lasers came out of its eyes. The lasers quickly melted all of the ice.

The soma bottle dropped to the floor.

"Is that a soma?" Nicholas' eyes widened and he picked up the bottle of green liquid. Somas were rare in the world since they were difficult to brew and he recognized that drink due to what his father taught him. He knew which medicine to use during emergencies.

The sponge-bot looked at the drink that Nicholas was holding. _"Indeed." _It nodded.

Nicholas smiled widely. He could save the octopus' life by feeding the soma to the octopus. He crouched to the side of the octopus and lifted the octopus' head. He then opened the octopus' jaw and opened the soma bottle. He then poured the soma into the octopus' mouth and made him sit up so the liquid can go down his esophagus.

The octopus glowed and green particles surrounded him.

Nicholas and the sponge-bot looked at what was happening before them with wonder.

Prometheus was silently watching.

The glow and the green particles then disparaged in a flash.

Squidward slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He realized that he was inside a computer laboratory. The room looked completely different from the dining room at the Krusty Krab, the restaurant's dining room was the last place that he remembered being at. The octopus shakily stood up and looked at the sponge-bot in front of him. He did not know about how to react. From his perspective, things and people were popping up into his vision for no reason. The unlikelihood of the chain of events that took place boggled his mind.

_"Greetings, primitive." _The sponge-bot greeted Squidward and waved. It knew that the octopus was from an older time period due to the shirt that the octopus was wearing.

"Sp-SpongeBob? Is that you?" Squidward raised his brow at the sight of the sponge-bot. The robot looked identical to SpongeBob. He mistook the robot for the actual SpongeBob.

_"SpongeBob? No."_ The sponge-bot shook his head. _"My model and voice is based off of who you call SpongeBob. I am SpongeTron." _SpongeTron stated who it actually was. _"Welcome to the future." _

Nicholas began to giggle. The orange sponge expected Squidward to be shocked at the predicament that he just got into. He would giggle even more if Squidward reacted in the way that he expected.

Squidward noticed Nicholas and made eye contact with him. "You built it?" He pointed at SpongeTron. The octopus was assuming that Nicholas was SpongeTron's creator.

"Nope." Nicholas shook his head. "A relative of SpongeBob built the first model of SpongeTron nearly two centuries ago." For a strange reason, he knew about SpongeBob. The most likely cause for him having that knowledge was that he was taught by his father about the robot's creator.

"T-two centuries ago?" Squidward widened his eyes. After hearing Nicholas' words, he assumed that he was two-hundred years into the future. He had expected to be sent twenty or thirty years into the future.

"You are definitely from the time period of SpongeTron's original creator." Nicholas pointed at Squidward's shirt. "Your shirt make it very obvious." The sponge was not trying to be rude. He was simply pointing out a fact.

Squidward looked at Nicholas' clothing. "Do all the people that live around here wear similar clothes?" He asked. Bikini Millennium was a completely foreign place from the octopus' viewpoint and that fact was the breeding ground for many questions to come.

"Yep." Nicholas nodded.

"I thought people from the future would be more fashionably sophisticated." Squidward spoke frankly. He frowned and crossed his arms in disappointment. He expected to see many wonders in the future, including those that were artistic.

Nicholas laughed. "This clothing..." He pointed at his shirt and pants. "...is required by one of Bikini Millennium's laws to be worn by all citizens who are not part of the government." He stated a fact. The orange sponge thought that the clothes he was wearing were not too pleasant to look at, he wanted to express himself more be wearing different clothing. Self-expression was the reason why he wore the baseball cap, he did not get punished since he was the Master' son. The immediate family of government members could bypass certain laws that were considered unimportant.

"Why did they have to make a law like that? What is wrong with wearing different clothing?" Squidward raised his brow again. From his viewpoint, Bikini Millennium's law about clothing seemed to suppress people's creative expression although he would care about himself more than others. The octopus began to have a sense about the type of government that the city was ruled by.

Nicholas laughed even more. "I have your stance as well." He held out his baseball cap. "It's the reason why I wear this cap. No one else in the entire city wears a hat except for the Council since they wear hoods over their heads." He put his baseball cap back on.

"Do other cities have that law too?" Squidward asked another question. He could not control his curiosity. However, he was aware of his purpose for being in the future.

_"No." _SpongeTron answered Squidward's question. _"Just ask my brothers: SpongeTrons X, Y, and Z." _He pointed at a few of his nearby brethren.

Squidward looked at the many SpongeTrons inside the laboratory. "How many of these are there?" He scratched his head. The octopus could not count them since all of the robots were moving.

_"I have 486 brothers. They are named after many letters and short words from numerous languages." _SpongeTron immediately answered the octopus' question. He held out a blue wristband that was wrapped around one of his wrists. _"I am SpongeTron Beth." _He pointed at the Hebrew letter that was on the wristband.

Squidward scratched his head. A thousand questions were flooding his mind. He felt like he had just entered another planet.

"Maybe a tour of the city will help you in gaining more information." Nicholas walked towards the desktop computer and sat in the seat. "Unfortunately, I am in the middle of coding a program. One of the SpongeTrons can definitely take you on the tour though." He resumed his coding of the program.

_"I cannot help you either."_ SpongeTron Beth took out a wet towel from one of his pockets and held it out. _"I have to complete my obligatory cleaning chores." _It walked to a table and began to clean it with the wet towel. _"SpongeTron Senior can help you. His schedule is currently free." _

"Who is SpongeTron Senior?" Squidward asked.

_"He is the first SpongeTron ever built, his real name is simply SpongeTron. He was built two-hundred years ago and received many updates over the years." _SpongeTron answered the simple question. His A. I. had a vast amount of knowledge. _"If you want to know where he is, walk down the hallway and go to the first right." _

Squidward silently nodded and walked up to the automatic double door. He noticed that the double door did not have a handle.

**S-SSHHIMMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

Squidward became surprised and then stepped out of the computer laboratory. He was reminded that he was in the future and not in another planet, handles in that time period were obsolete.

Prometheus slipped through the closing opening of the double door.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

_Greetings, octopus. _

Squidward mentally heard a familiar voice. "Prometheus, is that you?" The octopus looked at his surroundings but did not see the god. He expected the god and the Morning Star to be in the future as well through time-travel.

_We can communicate mentally. There is no need to use your mouth. I do not want anyone but you to notice my presence._

'Like this?' Squidward spoke mentally to see if he can communicate with Prometheus through his mind.

_Exactly._

'Can you read my thoughts?' Squidward sweatdropped. He wanted the thoughts in his mind to remain private. It would be quite awkward if the god reacted to what Squidward was thinking.

_I can only 'hear' what you mentally speak. By the way, this is off-topic but what is your name? _

'Squidward.' Squidward mentally answered the question in a plain manner. The question was too simple to require a more complex and wordy answer.

_Very well, Squidward. Continue with what you are doing. I will provide commentary as you tour the city._

Squidward walked down the hallway and took a right turn once he saw a right branch in the hallway. He saw a large automatic double door when he reached the end of that hallway's branch.

**S-SSSHHHIIMMMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

Squidward walked through the open doorway.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

The room was small. It had four chairs and three giant computers that nearly covered three out of the four walls in the room.

SpongeTron's back was facing Squidward as it sat on the front chair. It was typing on the computer that was directly facing Squidward and was also searching through its files. The robot was checking to see if the computer's security system was up to date. It wanted to be productive so it was spending its free time doing that task.

Squidward stepped up to SpongeTron. "Excuse me-" He was saying something while trying to be polite but SpongeTron interrupted him. The octopus was trying to be polite so he could not get in trouble with the authorities, since nearly all of the citizens in Bikini Millennium wore the same clothes, the likelihood of other suppressive laws existing was plausible from his point of view.

_"Hello, octopus."_ SpongeTron grinned and turned its seat around so it can face Squidward. It looked no different than the other SpongeTrons except that it did not wear a wristband. _"My brother, SpongeTron Beth, had sent me a message about you." _It stood up from its seat, the robot had stopped doing his current task so he can fufill a more meaningful task.

"How did you get that message? I didn't see the other robot type anything on a keyboard." Squidward became confused. He did not know how the SpongeTrons communicated with each other.

_"We do not need text messages in order for me and my brethren to communicate with each other. We can send sound waves to each other if communication over a long distance is necessary, the sound waves can only be heard as spoken words and sentences by us." _SpongeTron explained how SpongeTron Beth communicated with it.

Squidward silently nodded. He was trying his best to absorb all of the information that was bombarding his mind. Him being in the future was almost unbelievable and would sound like an event created by fantasies if told to the other people in his time period.

_"Follow me."_ SpongeTron walked towards the automatic double door. _"Your tour through Bikini Millennium is about to begin." _

Squidward followed the robot.

**S-SSSHIIMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

An invisible Prometheus had been waiting for Squidward. He then stepped out of the way as SpongeTron walked across the hallway's right branch.

Squidward exited the room as well.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

Squidward was walking at the same pace as SpongeTron's.

Prometheus quietly followed them.

SpongeTron walked up to the elevator. It pressed the green button.

A pause.

**DING**

The elevator came down to their floor and the door opened.

Squidward and SpongeTron stepped into the elevator.

Prometheus decided to stay inside the hallway. If he entered the elevator, he might be touched by SpongeTron by accident. The size of his body was too big to not be noticeable inside the elevator.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeTron pressed a button to the first floor.

**CLANK**

The elevator door closed.

Whurrrrrr

The elevator went up to the first floor.

_I will catch up with you, do not worry. _

Squidward nodded. It looked like he was nodding to no one in particular since Prometheus had mentally communicated to him. By that point, he began to truly trust Prometheus since the god was helping him during that turbulent chain of events even though the god was partially responsible for causing them. The octopus knew that the god of forethought would not betray him.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus flew through the numerous flights of stairs; it was catching up with the elevator.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**DING**

**SSHIIMMMM**

The elevator stopped at the first floor and the door opened.

SpongeTron and Squidward stepped out of the elevator.

S-S-S-S-S

Prometheus entered the first floor and landed on a the floor of a hallway. He then recognized the hallway and instantly knew where the exit was. The god could retrace his steps due to having an excellent memory.

SpongeTron took a left turn and walked down the hallway. The robot was walking towards the exit.

Squidward followed it.

SpongeTron eventually stood before an automatic double door.

Prometheus caught up with the two and stood adjacent to them.

**S-SSHHIIIMMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

SpongeTron, Squidward, and Prometheus exited the central building.

S-S-S-S-S

The three walked across the lobby of the fortress.

_I am next to you. _

Squidward looked at his surroundings. He could not know for certain about the actual location of Prometheus. The god's invisibility made it difficult to know where the god was unless the god mentally spoke about where he was. 'To the left or to the right?' The octopus mentally asked.

_To the left._

Squidward looked in the left direction but saw nobody. 'Are you invisible?' The octopus mentally asked another question after coming to a conclusion. The god's invisibility was unexplainable from his perspective since he was able to see Prometheus when they were at the Krusty Krab.

_Indeed. The Morning Star gave me a cloak that made me invisible. I am wearing it so I can avoid detection. _

SpongeTron snapped his fingers.

Squidward made eye contact with SpongeTron. He noticed that several feet separated him and the robot. He then realized that he had stopped walking and stood in place as he mentally conversed with Prometheus. The octopus walked up to the yellow robot.

**S-SSHHIIMMMM**

The fortress' exit opened.

The three exited the fortress.

S-S-S-S-S

A burned spot on the ground was what remained of the fire that Prometheus ignited. The security guards had found a fire extinguisher and cooled down the fire with it.

The four security guards were standing in their normal positions. They turned around and saw Squidward.

"Who are you?" One of the security guards raised his brow at the sight of the octopus. The octopus' improper attire made him look suspicious from the guard's perspective. Trespassers of Bikini Millenium were almost always killed immediately by the authorities, the government only wanted people of 'purity' to live in the city.

_"Remember the ice block that had been brought to the central building earlier?"_ SpongeTron came to the rescue. _"An octopus..."_ The robot pointed at Squidward. _"...was frozen inside that ice. The Master's son thawed him out and saved his life. I guarantee you that he will not harm anybody, the city seems to be almost alien to him. I am taking him on a tour throughout the city so he can be more familiar with his surroundings." _The robot explained the situation.

The four security guards nodded and stepped out of the way. They were persuaded by the robot's words. They knew that the robots that served the city rarely lied and when the robots did lie, they did not have serious intentions.

"Phew." Squidward wiped some sweat from his brow. He thought that he was about to arrested by the guards for being a foreigner. He was grateful for SpongeTron's verbal rescue. SpongeTron and SpongeBob had a few personality differences do it did not matter to him. It did not mean that he was willing to be friends with SpongeBob.

SpongeTron walked away from the fortress.

Squidward and Prometheus followed it.

Squidward gazed at the grey and white skyscrapers that almost the entire city consisted of. There were not many skyscrapers in Bikini Bottom so seeing a massive amount of them was certainly going to catch the octopus' attention. 'Can people visit this city?' He asked a question in his mind.

_Absolutely. However, if you come here without someone from the authorities seeing you, which is considered trespassing, you would be killed at once. There would be no trial at court at all._

Chills ran down Squidward's spine. If he was not with SpongeTron, the entrance to the fortress would be his grave. He realized that the robot had just saved his life.

_"It would take many hours to visit every location in Bikini Millennium."_ SpongeTron began to explain about what he was going to do. _"In order to save time so I can get to work on time, I will guide you through each area of the city instead of going from one specific location to another." _

Squidward focused his attention back to SpongeTron and nodded.

_"Come closer."_ SpongeTron moved one of its hands as a signal for Squidward to walk closer to it.

Squidward walked up to SpongeTron and stood in front of it while facing it. Only an inch separated them.

SpongeTron moved one of its index fingers in a circle. _"Turn around." _

Squidward turned until his back was facing the robot. He did not know what was SpongeTron's intention for making him do these actions. However, he was beginning to trust the robot as well.

SpongeTron hugged Squidward with both of its arms. "Activating rockets..." It stated its action.

**C-CTHUNG**

A rocket booster popped out of each sole of each of its feet. Flames then came out of the rocket boosters.

SpongeTron soared at a somewhat fast speed. It carried Squidward as it soared and made sure that it was not flying too fast so it could not hurt the octopus by accident. It was also highly aware of the dangers of breaking the surrounding glass wall of Bikini Millennium by accident although it would have to go faster than supersonic speeds in order to break the wall's glass.

Squidward looked down and his face drained of color. The ground and people below him were shrinking at a rapid pace. However, he was not screaming in fright. The octopus did not want to attract attention to himself and also knew that SpongeTron would protect him.

SpongeTron stopped soaring, it was hovering in the air.

The entire city was within Squidward's view. It was at least ten times the size of Bikini Bottom and four times the size of New Kelp City.

_"As you can see, Bikini Millennium is an absolutely massive city. Living creatures and robots like you and me reside here and work together; the city is a feat of technology. The citizens could not survive without the dome that encapsulates them." _SpongeTron began a detailed explanation about Bikini Millenium.

'Why do they need to survive by being under a glass dome?' Squidward mentally asked Prometheus. He thought that Prometheus had more reliable information than the robot since Prometheus was a god.

_The aftermath of the usage of weapons of mass destruction had rendered most of Earth uninhabitable. Someone in this city was the person who caused it. That person or I should say demon as a more proper term, is Saklas. _

Squidward's face became pallid after hearing the god's words. The information he had just received was extremely shocking. 'Who is Saklas exactly?' The octopus had another question.

_A demon whose full power can only be reached if he has a vessel with certain ideals. That vessel could be an intelligent life form, sea creature or air creature. The vessel that he was in when he destroyed most of the world was a human._

Squidward nodded as he received the information. 'Are there more of these demons inside the city?' His mind did not cease to produce more questions.

_Yes. There are two more of them. The Master is the vessel of Samael while Yaldabaoth currently resides in a computer. Saklas also resides in a computer since his vessel died. _

More shocking facts entered Squidward's mind. Some of them were so shocking that the octopus did not know how to react. Squidward thought that he was in a fantasy instead of reality but he quickly changed his mind when SpongeTron spoke again. Time had slowed down as Squidward had mentally conversed with Prometheus.

_"We will visit the oldest area first." _SpongeTron stated what it was going to do next. It then flew towards an area that had smaller skyscrapers than the ones in the other areas in the city.

**THUD**

SpongeTron landed on a rooftop and released Squidward from its grasp.

Squidward unsteadily walked across the rooftop but then stood in a normal posture. He had gotten used to SpongeTron carrying him.

_"This is the oldest district of the city. Two centuries ago, this area was a town called Bikini Bottom. I was built at Bikini Bottom and had memories of that place before it expanded. As I just implied, it then expanded and became the Bikini Millennium that is known today. It is probably unrecognizable for you since you were from a time period before Bikini Millennium was built. I do not see any familiar buildings from that older time period either." _SpongeTron explained the history of that area of Bikini Millennium. It had seen the evolution from Bikini Bottom to Bikini Millennium.

Squidward walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked at his surroundings. As SpongeTron said, he could not recognize any of the buildings. All of the buildings were white and grey skyscrapers. The original buildings of Bikini Bottom had been torn down somehow during the construction of Bikini Millennium.

_"Shall we move on?" _SpongeTron signaled with its hand for Squidward to come closer.

Prometheus was hovering nearby. He had followed SpongeTron by flying.

Squidward walked towards SpongeTron and turned around. He wanted to see the other parts of Bikini Millennium, what the robot said about the oldest part of the city made him become even more curious.

Flames came out of the rocket boosters again.

SpongeTron flew to another district while carrying Squidward.

Prometheus followed them.

S-S-S-S-S

A light bulb lit up in one of the four security guards' heads. "Should we inform the Master about the octopus?" He said his idea as a question. He did not want to lose his job due to negligence, he found the position that he was in to be highly honorable. There was no such thing as money in Bikini Millennium.

The other three security guards nodded.

The security guard took out a tablet phone and turned it on. He inputted a complicated password and then opened his contact list once he got to the main menu. The guard scrolled down the list until he found a contact with the name 'Master Thomas'. He tapped that contact and put the phone near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas was sitting on a comfortable chair in front of a large and polished wooden desk. He was typing on a laptop computer that he built with custom parts, the Master was currently doing electronic paperwork. Tasks like what he was doing was a daily obligation for someone in his governmental position. The Master had the most paperwork to do due to being the most powerful member of the government.

A large window was what the front wall of the room consisted of. More than half of the entire city could be viewed from that window. The floor of the room was a green rug. A white wall and a large automatic double door in the center was behind the wooden desk.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The tablet phone in one of Thomas' pockets rang.

Thomas nimbly took out the phone and put it near his ear. "Hello?" He spoke into the phone.

_"Greetings, this is one of the security guards. I would like to inform you that an octopus that was not wearing proper attire had exited the central building with a SpongeTron. The SpongeTron had stated that your son had thawed the octopus out of an ice block that a few workers had brought to the building earlier." _A security guard's electronic voice was heard.

Thomas narrowed his eyes. "Interesting." He spoke only a word into the phone. He was fearing that the ice block had came from another dimension. A few days ago, a 'human' called Kaos had traveled from another dimension and attacked the central building. "Please inform me of any suspicious behavior by the octopus. If one incident of such behavior by the octopus occurs, he will be monitored once I receive any information about that incident." He spoke his words with arctic coldness. His sternness was one of the classic traits of a tyrant.

_"Very well." _The security guard on the other end nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

The security guard turned off his tablet phone and put it away.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas turned off his tablet phone and put it back into his pocket. He then looked at the city through the window as he reflected upon the likelihood of the octopus being a threat to Bikini Millennium.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeTron flew towards a district that completely consisted of grey buildings.

**THUD**

The robot landed on another rooftop and released Squidward.

Squidward looked up and saw a few vehicles drive through a roadless highway. His eyes widened at the sight of the vehicles, he had never seen vehicles like those that passed by before. What was a usual sight for the citizens of the city was an incredible sight for the octopus.

_"This is the business district of Bikini Millennium. Many an engineer and low-rank programmer work several hours inside these buildings. A few high-rank people from the food industry also work here but the farmers work somewhere else. Most citizens in this city who have jobs work here." _SpongeTron gave Squidward some information about the district.

A pause. Squidward took several seconds to look at his surroundings and familiarize himself with that area of Bikini Millennium. From his perspective, it was better to know where he was than desperately trying to escape back to the past and end up getting lost. However, he had no yearning for his time period and home at all, Prometheus and the Morning Star had given him a purpose for being in the future.

_"Let us make haste. I do not want you to miss out on seeing the other districts." _SpongeTron looked at its watch and realized that its free time was going to end in half an hour. However, it still wanted Squidward to have several glances at the districts as they went from one district to the next. It then walked up to Squidward from behind and hugged the octopus.

Flames came out of the rocket boosters.

SpongeTron flew to the next district while carrying Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas stood up from the wooden desk. 'I can no longer allow my son to interfere, his 'free spirit' is going to lead to his demise. The Devil has been trying to fool me with too many tricks and I can not let any obstacle or person stand in my way.' The orange sponge thought deeply. There were too many interdimensional invaders coming to Bikini Millennium in recent days. He knew that Nicholas was not fit to be his heir yet, his son's personality traits were not ideal for a ruler. In spite of what he said on the phone, he actually suspected the octopus to be an invader immediately after hearing about him. He assumed that someone brought the ice block to his dimension so the octopus could be thawed out; the Master was completely oblivious to the actual series of events that happened to Squidward.

Thomas turned around and walked towards the automatic double door. He was resolute in his decision to investigate the thawing of the octopus.

**S-SSHHIIMMMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

Thomas exited the room.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked down the hallway and pressed a green button.

A pause.

**DING**

The elevator came up to Thomas' floor and...

**SSSHHHIMMM**

...the door opened.

Thomas stepped into the elevator.

**CLANK**

The elevator closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Whurrrrrr

**DING**

The elevator stopped on the floor with the computer laboratory.

**SSHIIIMMMMM**

The elevator door opened.

Thomas stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway. He walked towards an automatic double door.

**S-SSHIIMMMM**

The double door opened.

Thomas stepped into the computer laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

The SpongeTrons who saw him bowed. _"Greetings, Master Thomas."_ They formally greeted the Master.

Nicholas turned his head and made eye contact with his father. "Hey." He informally greeted.

Thomas walked up to Nicholas. He had a solemn facial expression. "Nicholas, I have heard from a SpongeTron that you have thawed out an octopus from an ice block that was recently brought to this place. A security guard told me about it through a conversation on the phone. Did you actually do that?" He asked a crucial question. The Master was going to get informative answers from the people he asked even if it was against their will. He was taking the current situation very seriously.

Nicholas nodded with honesty, he did not want to lie since his father had a serious face. "I saved that octopus' life. He had a soma in his hand when I thawed him out. I used that drink to revive him." He explained his actions.

Thomas' eyes bugged out. "That is impossible! All of the somas in this area of the Earth are stored in our underground facilities. It is highly unlikely that a normal person obtained a soma and end up getting frozen." He was shocked by his son's words. The somas were kept inside underground storage areas in case of emergencies.

_"I had witnessed what Nicholas did." _SpongeTron Beth walked up to Thomas and spoke honest words.

Thomas thought about who might have gave the soma to the octopus and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Have any of you detected or seen strange phenomena occuring inside the central building?" He asked another important question.

_"I had detected a very powerful source of energy a few seconds after entering the central building. I was carrying the ice block during that time. The source did not make any movements so I did not consider it a threat." _SpongeTron Beth informed Thomas about what it detected earlier. It had no malicious intentions as it spoke.

Thomas narrowed his eyes. "THOSE ACCURSED **DEMONS!**" He banged his fist on a wooden table, he became frustrated and lost his temper in the process. "Those unclean beings are now using stealth to deceive me." He then started to speak to himself. The orange sponge was venting out his frustration through speech.

Nicholas made a facial expression of concern but did not walk up to his father. The sponge knew that trying to consul his father was foolish, his father could not be calmed down once something malicious escaped his tight grasp. The teenager also knew that the best course of action was to let his father solve the problem and calm down by himself.

"That Demon Lord is becoming more successful with his tricks!" Thomas stomped to the largest computer in the room and flicked a switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

The large computer turned on.

Thomas nimbly typed on the keyboard.

Text on the screen said: 'Load Demon Summoning Program?'. There were three options on the screen: 'YES', 'NO', and 'CANCEL'.

Nicholas gulped nervously. He was familiar with that program. His father had coded that program a few months ago and it was one of his father's grandest achievements. The program was massive and needed a lot of disk space in order for it to load successfully. His father had made that program for a specific purpose.

Thomas grabbed the mouse and clicked on 'YES'.

A white light glowed inside the small hard drive for the computer, future achievements in technology had made hard drives smaller while having more disk space.

The screen of the large computer became a bright green.

Nicholas and all of the SpongeTrons backed away from the computer. They knew what was going to happen; they had witnessed it several times before.

A long pause.

Several human-like beings flew out of the computer. They were wearing white robes and each 'person' had two large wings. A aura of white light surrounded their bodies but did not hide them from view.

They were angels.

_"What is your request?" _The angels spoke in unison. They always asked the same question when they were summoned by the program. The winged beings were acquainted with Thomas.

"One of the SpongeTrons had detected a powerful energy source. Find that energy source and destroy it." Thomas coldly stated a command. He knew that the energy source that SpongeTron Beth was talking about was a demon.

_"As you wish." _The angels complied to the command and spoke in unison again. They then flew towards the automatic double door.

**S-SSSHHIIIMMMMM**

The automatic double door opened.

The angels quickly exited the computer laboratory.

"I will deal with the octopus personally." Thomas levitated and then flew through the open doorway as well. Just like the gods and the angels, he had magical powers. The orange sponge was going to kill the octopus, he considered the octopus to be threat to the city since he assumed that the octopus was a spy working for his enemies. He believed that his enemies had gave the soma to Squidward, frozen the octopus, and put him in his dimension so the octopus could gather information in secret.

**C-CLANK**

The automatic double door closed.

Nicholas' face drained of color at the thought of Squidward's fate. He was oblivious to the fact that Prometheus was near Squidward and could protect the octopus from harm. The sponge then looked at the floor with a solemn face. His mind was full of conflicting feelings. He had revived the octopus but also caused his death at the same time.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSSHIIMMMM**

The automatic double door that was the entrance to the fortress opened.

The angels and Thomas quickly flew through the open doorway.

The purpose of the demon summing program was to protect the city from interdimensional or foreign threats by summoning angels with the program. Thomas had fought a few interdimensional enemies one time and managed to defeat them with his magical powers just before the enemies were about to cause serious damage, it was back then when the idea of a demon summoning program entered his mind. That orange sponge then made that idea into a reality as that fact was indicated by the angels flying with him in his home dimension. The angels obeyed Thomas' commands because their own leader had been killed and Thomas had a special connection with them.

The four security guards quickly stepped out of the way. They were also familiar with those winged beings, that was not their first seeing them.

Thomas continued to fly while the angels hovered.

The angels were trying to sense the powerful energy source that Thomas and SpongeTron Beth talked about. They closed their eyes as they concentrated on their sensing.

Invisible and faint waves of magic came out of their heads and quietly flew across the city. The angels were using a magical 'echolocation' to locate the energy source.

A pause.

The same amount of magic came back to them.

The angels opened their eyes and looked in the direction of where the reflected magic came from. The angels then flew towards Prometheus.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeTron landed on a rooftop and once again released Squidward from his grasp.

The district that the three were in was full of white skyscrapers.

Prometheus noticed other sources of magic and looked in the direction of the angels. He saw the angels and Thomas and widened his eyes. The god needed to inform Squidward about the imminent danger.

_Squidward, do you remember about the Master being Samael? _

'Mm-hm.' Squudward mentally answered Prometheus' question. 'What about it?' He did not know why Prometheus asked him that question. He was not aware of the incoming angels and the Master.

_I am not trying to frighten you but he and his angelic servants are rapidly coming to our location right now. _

Prometheus had fought the angels only once before and considered them to be enemies. The angels were also enemies of the Morning Star and the Morning Star had fought them many times.

Squidward looked up and saw Thomas and the incoming angels. His face drained of color in terror. The octopus had no clue at all about what the Master and the winged beings were going to do to him. The fear of the unknown had made the octopus speechless.

SpongeTron looked up as well. _"Numerous sources of energy had been detected." _The robot stated what it suddenly detected and looked up at Thomas and the angels. _"The sources of energy are coming from above and are moving towards our location. However, one of these sources of energy is that of Master Thomas. A threat had not been detected." _The robot recognized the special magic contained in Thomas and did not became hostile because of that.

Prometheus removed his cloak. His entire body was revealed.

SpongeTron looked at the god from the corner of his eye and gasped. The robot had not been aware of the god that was following them until now. The robot did not know how to react since it could not detect any magic coming from the god.

Prometheus grabbed Squidward and SpongeTron and quickly flew from the rooftop.

"Trying to flee?" Thomas raised his brow as he chased Prometheus. That god was his new target since the god grabbed the octopus. 'Mudo.' The orange sponge mentally spoke the spell he was going to use. He then raised a finger.

A rotating dark circle with several strange symbols and letters on it appeared before his finger. The symbols then came out of the circle and quickly flew towards Prometheus.

Prometheus nimbly dodged the strange symbols. He knew by that point that it was too dangerous for Squidward to stay in the future. He needed to find a way to get Squidward back home without making the pantheon in the present world suspicious.

'Zan.' The angels mentally stated in unison the spell that they were going to use. They held out their hands towards Prometheus.

Large and powerful gusts of green wind came out of their palms and flew towards Prometheus, the green winds howled loudly as they flew through the air. The angels were careful to aim the gusts directly at the god so as to minimize the accidental damage dealt to their surroundings.

Prometheus soared to the air and dodged the green gusts.

The gusts of wind flew across the rooftops of the city and eventually disappeared.

Prometheus stayed on the altitude he soared to as he flew. _"Is there any technology in this city that can travel this octopus back to his home and time period?" _The god asked SpongeTron a question and pointed at Squidward as he said those words. He said the words quickly since he was being chased.

Thomas flew closer and closer towards Prometheus. 'Bufu.' One of his hands became covered by a cold wind and he then tried to touch the god with the hand, he was trying to freeze Prometheus. Spells could be used in different ways depending on the power of the user.

Promentheus turned around and took a deep breath. 'Agi.' He then blew a large amount of fire towards Thomas. He did not use his hands since he was carrying SpongeTron and Squidward.

Thomas did not expect Prometheus to do that but he flew out of the fire's way anyway. He had superhuman reflexes.

_"It is in the central building. I will show you where it is." _SpongeTron spoke with haste. It was willing to help Squidward and Prometheus so it could stay out of danger, the fight between the angels and Thomas and Prometheus could become intense.

Prometheus flew towards the central building.

S-S-S-S-S

People that were walking across the sidewalks looked up and saw the fight that was occurring. They always became speechless and amazed when they saw the Master using demons to fight a foreign or interdimensional invader.

S-S-S-S-S

Some of the angels flew around Prometheus and surrounded him. They were trying to trap the god.

Thomas raised both of his hands to the air.

Numerous shining arrows appeared in the air. Their sharp tips were aimed directly towards Prometheus.

Prometheus put Squidward on the same arm that was holding SpongeTron so he could have one free arm. 'Agilao.' He held out his free arm.

Time slowed.

Thomas brought both of his hands down. He was controlling the arrows with his arms.

The arrows shined with a brighter light as they flew towards Prometheus.

The angels held out all of their arms, their hands were facing Prometheus. 'Hama.'

The angels' hands then glowed after they mentally stated the name of the spell. Glowing papers with strange symbols written on them came out of their palms and flew towards Prometheus.

An explosion of fire came out of Prometheus' hand. He had activated his spell less than a second before the others activated their spells.

Time resumed.

**BOOOOMMMMMM**

The fire explosion, the glowing papers, and the glowing arrows collided into each other. When the flames surrounded the glowing objects during the collision, the combined spells looked like a small sun for several seconds.

Prometheus dove out of the way a nanosecond before the collision occurred.

**B-BOOOOMMM**

**BBOOOOM**

**B-B-BOOOMMM**

**CRACKLE**

**SIZZLE**

**C-C-C-CRACK**

**SIZZLE**

**CRACKLE**

**BOOOOOOMMMMM**

**B-BOOOMM**

**C-CRACK**

**S-SIZZLE**

The shining arrows and papers exploded under the immense power and heat of Prometheus' 'Agilao'. They looked like and sounded like fireworks as they exploded. Plumes of smoke and burning pieces of arrow and paper soared to the ceiling of the glass dome.

S-S-S-S-S

Citizens of Bikini Millennium looked at the 'fireworks' with awe. They had never seen fireworks before.

S-S-S-S-S

A very long pause.

The numerous remaining pieces of the angels and Thomas' spells cooled down. The plumes of smoke dissipated as well.

Prometheus, Squidward, and SpongeTron were nowhere to be seen.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Prometheus landed before the fortress that surrounded the central building. He released SpongeTron and Squidward from his grasp. However, he knew that he could not enter the fortress so easily.

"A DEMON!" One of the four security guards yelled and pointed at Prometheus. He then aimed his laser gun at Prometheus.

The other three aimed their laser guns at Prometheus as well. Once they kill the god before them, they will then kill the octopus since they all hastily assumed that the octopus assisted Prometheus in entering their dimension. The four guards were brave enough to risk their lives in order to protect the central building.

'Tera.' Prometheus held out both of his hands towards the ground.

**RRRRRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLEEEEE**

The ground below the security guards' feet shook violently.

**T-T-T-THUD**

All four security guards fell to the ground and were unable to stand back up due to the shaking of the ground.

**C-C-C-CLANK**

They dropped their laser guns and the weapons fell to the ground as well.

Prometheus opened and closed his hands.

The ground opened below the security guards and formed holes.

**T-T-T-THUD**

The four security guards fell into the four holes. The ground was still shaking so they still could not stand up.

The holes then closed.

The guards' heads and upper parts of their torsos stuck out of the ground.

The ground stopped shaking.

Prometheus had trapped the four security guards.

"Curses..." One of the guards spoke in a low voice in frustration. A fear about losing his job entered his mind.

After a few seconds, all of the guards had the same fear.

_I must go back to the present world. _

Squidward was losing his mind. The fight that had just occurred with the angels and the Master could have been written in a fantasy novel. The octopus could no longer recognize the difference between fantasy and reality, the chain of events that he was in had merged those two concepts together. That merged concept was called insanity. 'Why?' The odorous mentally asked. His flood of thoughts had been stopped by a dam, that dam was Prometheus' mental voice.

_It is too dangerous for you to stay in the future. If I fight Samael and the angels again and use my powers... you might get injured as a consequence. _

Prometheus did not want his only hope for a changed future to die. He made eye contact with SpongeTron._ "Guide Squidward to the time machine. I must leave."_ The god spoke to the robot. He then took out the remote given by the Morning Star and...

CLICK

...pressed the button.

_"Alright." _SpongeTron nodded. He then walked towards the automatic double door. _"Follow me, Squidward." _He correctly guessed that Squidward was the name of the octopus.

Squidward walked towards the automatic double door. He became relieved at the thought of going back to his home. He needed a break from the stress and disbelief that were results from being in the future.

**S-SSHIIMMMMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Squidward and SpongeTron entered the fortress.

A pause.

A red and black portal opened out of the thin air.

The Morning Star's head protruded out of the portal. "Yes?" The blond man spoke. He assumed that Prometheus pressed the remote's button for a request.

_"I need to return to the present Earth with haste, Samael and the angels seek to slay me and the octopus." _Prometheus informed the Morning Star about his situation. He then looked at his surroundings to make sure that Thomas and the angels were not watching him.

"Come right in." The Morning Star held out a hand and moved it as a signal for Prometheus to enter the portal.

Prometheus stepped into the portal.

The Morning Star's visible body parts entered the portal as well.

**POOF**

The portal disappeared.

S-S-S-S-S

"Is that demon still around here?" Thomas asked the angels and lowered himself until he stood on a rooftop. He had initially assumed that he and the angels killed Prometheus with their spell 'fireworks'. However, he wanted to be assured that his assumption was correct.

The angels closed their eyes and did their magical 'echolocation' again.

The faint waves of magic were released from their minds and silently flew across Bikini Millennium.

A long pause.

Not even a tiny amount of magic was reflected back to them. The angels did not detect any major sources of magical energy other than themselves and Thomas. The winged beings opened their eyes and shook their heads. _"There are no other powerful energy sources." _They spoke in unison.

Thomas nodded and made a slight smile. He assumed without question that Squidward had been killed by the 'fireworks'. The chances of the octopus surviving the fiery blast were extremely unlikely. "Angels, return." He commanded.

The angels covered themselves in a blinding white light by raising their hands to the sky. The otherworldly beings then scattered into tiny particles and flew towards the central building. They had broke down their physical forms so that they can quickly return to the computer that they came from.

Thomas flew to the central building as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Whurrrrrrrrr

**DING**

The elevator stopped at the floor of the computer laboratory.

**SSSHHIIIIMMMMM**

The elevator door opened.

Squidward and SpongeTron stepped into the hallway.

**CLACK**

The elevator door closed.

Squidward and SpongeTron walked toward an automatic double door.

**S-SSSHHIIMMMMMM**

**C-CLACK**

The cephalopod and the robot entered the computer laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeTron Beth saw Squidward and smiled. It then walked up to the octopus. _"How did the trip go?" _The robot wanted to know if Squidward enjoyed his trip around Bikini Milennium. He wanted to leave a good impression of the city on the octopus.

Nicholas gasped and stood up from his seat. He then turned around and looked at Squidward. He had came to the conclusion that Squidward had died when he was coding his program. The presence of the octopus made that conclusion fictitious.

SpongeTron grabbed Squidward's arm and gently pushed SpongeTron Beth out of the way._ "I must bring the octopus back to his world, the city is becoming too dangerous for him to stay here any longer." _It stated Squidward's situation to the other robots and Nicholas.

The other robots nodded and stepped out of the way. They and the original SpongeTron were programmed to be more protective and supportive than hostile and aggressive. There were other robots that were more capable of defending Bikini Millennium than the SpongeTrons.

A few Patrons stepped out of the way as well. They had similar programming to SpongeTrons but focused more on protecting than supporting.

SpongeTron released Squidward from his grasp and walked up to an input panel on a wall. It then inputted a large and complex passcode that consisted of numerous letters and numbers.

A pause.

**SSSSSSSHHHHIIIIMMMMMMM**

A hidden door opened.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Thomas landed before the fortress. He saw the four security guards that were trapped in the ground and raised his brow. "What happened?" He requested an explanation. A sight like what he was seeing was certainly abnormal.

"A demon... attacked us... nggh... and escaped," The security guard that phone-called the Master spoke as he struggled to escape from his confinement. "The octopus I talked... about... nggh... entered the fortress... with a SpongeTron." He finished his sentence and took a deep breath. Speaking while trying to escape was exhausting.

A blue light shone around the sole of one of Thomas' feet.

**SLAM**

Thomas stepped on the ground with the glowing foot while using force.

**RRUUMBLE**

The holes opened.

The security guards crawled out of the holes and took several deep breaths.

**SLAM**

Thomas stepped on the ground again with the glowing foot.

**RRUUMBLE**

The holes closed completely and the ground returned to its state before Prometheus' attack on the guards. Thomas had used his magic to free the security guards. The guards were useful when it came to protecting the central building so keeping them would be the best option.

Thomas silently walked towards the automatic double door. He was determined to find Squidward and kill him. The octopus returning to the present world and leaking information about the future would be the worst-case scenario, the chance of Bikini Millennium not existing would become real.

**S-SSSHHIIIIMMMMMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas entered the fortress.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked briskly to the next automatic double door.

**S-SSHHHIIIIMMMMMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas entered the central building.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeTron and Squidward walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot and the octopus walked down a long hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeTron and Squidward entered a small room. There was a metal door in front of them that was not automatic. There was a small input panel next to the door.

_"That is one of the time machines." _SpongeTron pointed at the time machine.

Squidward raised his brow at the sight of the time machine. He expected the time machine to look like something else instead of a room. The octopus then returned to his neutral facial expression, going back to the present world was better than getting killed by the angels or the Master.

SpongeTron walked up to the door and...

**CRRREEEEAAAAAAAK**

...opened it. _"Get inside."_ The robot pointed at the room that was beyond the open doorway.

Squidward slowly walked into the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The floor consisted of a green rug while the walls had been painted pink. It was a strange color scheme for something as serious and complex as a time machine.

'Well, I wouldn't have chosen this interior...' The octopus mentally commented on how the room looked. The octopus then sat on the floor. He was waiting to be sent back to his time period.

A pause.

The thought about the Master finding him and killing him entered his mind. A sense of vulnerability then followed that thought. If the Master could make arrows appear out of nowhere and control them, the robots and Nicholas would be powerless to stop him. Chills ran down the octopus' spine at the thoughts of how he could be possibly executed by the Master. Anxiety soon became apparent; his body was shaking in fear.

S-S-S-S-S

Whurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

**DING**

**SSSHHIIIMMMMMM**

The elevator stopped and the door opened.

Thomas stepped into the hallway and then looked at the double door to the computer laboratory. He was going to search first through that room for the octopus. The orange sponge correctly assumed that Squidward was trying to leave his time period. He also knew that a way of escaping lied in that room.

A pause.

**CLANK**

The elevator door closed.

Thomas slowly walked towards the double door, he walked at that pace so he could not accidentally alert Squidward.

His footsteps echoed loudly throughout the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

_"What year was it in the present world when you were frozen?" _SpongeTron asked a critical question. It could not sent Squidward back to the past if it could not input a date.

"2008." Squidward answered the question simply. The question was too simple to require more than a one-word answer. His anxiety also made him what to leavens future as soon as possible.

_"Can you tell me the month and day as well?" _SpongeTron asked another critical question. The year was certainly not enough of a date for it to send Squidward to the past. It needed more information.

"April 20." Squidward answered that question in a simple manner again. He had a calendar in his tiki back in the present world so he was aware of the date. The octopus looked at that calendar every morning.

_"Interesting." _SpongeTron quickly inputted the date into the panel. _"You were frozen two-hundred years from today. Today is April 20, 2208 for us." _The robot observed. It then looked behind itself and saw no one walking down the hallway. It was aware of the fact that the Master endangered Squidward during his fight with Prometheus and it also assumed that the Master was trying to kill Squidward. That assumption was plausible. The Master had not given the robot specific orders about Squidward yet so the robot was free to do whatever it thought was appropriate or beneficial.

SpongeTron pressed a green button that had blue text saying 'TRAVEL'. _"I will see you later, Squidward. Tell my past self that I said hello." _The robot made a military salute. It remembered Squidward being alive during its first several decades. The robot also unintentionally revealed a piece of information that it kept hidden, it considered that piece of information to be unimportant.

"How did you know my name?!" Squidward became heavily suprised after hearing SpongeTron's words. He had not told that SpongeTron his first name yet. The octopus remembered only telling Prometheus his name.

"You will understand eventually." SpongeTron smiled and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door of the time machine.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSSHIIMMMMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas entered the computer laboratory. It saw the opened hidden door and the long hallway beyond it. "Oh no..." He spoke to himself in a low voice. The orange sponge was running out of time, Squidward was about to escape. The sponge then levitated and flew through the open doorway and down the hallway as fast as possible.

Nicholas crossed his fingers. He hoped that Squidward returned to the time period he came from unscathed. The sponge revived the octopus so he felt that the octopus should stay alive. There was no point in feeding the soma to Squidward if the octopus was going to die again.

The robots waited for the Master's next commands and the resumption of their duties at the same time. They would accept either a new command or a resumption or both without resistance.

S-S-S-S-S

The room shined brightly and then vanished.

A dead end was what was left behind.

**THUD**

Thomas stopped flying and landed on the ground.

It was too late.

'That octopus will not escape from my grasp so easily.' Thomas thought. He then tightened his fists in determination to fufill his task.

S-S-S-S-S

The time machine was traveling through the vast amount of universes in the multiverse and numerous layers of time at a lightning-fast speed as it flew towards Squidward's time period.

It eventually flew through a universe that entirely consisted of a white void.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward patiently waited for the time machine to go back to his time period as he sat on the floor. The octopus was relieved since he was no longer in danger. He thought that he could relax and spend the rest of his Sunday in a normal Bikini Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

Four formless entities were inside the white void dimension. They sensed the presence of the time machine. The four had silently watched the Morning Star and Prometheus in the present time period of Squidward's universe and also watched Squidward and Prometheus in the future period of that universe. The entities could open portals that no one could enter or exit so that they could watch other beings or people from other universes.

A portal became closed.

_"Is Helel truly that foolish to believe that he can change the future and save another universe?" _A male voice spoke.

_"The efforts that we made eons ago would be put to waste if we allow that demon to continue his plans." _A deep male voice spoke.

_"Would it be best if we brought the octopus here and inform him?" _A female voice spoke.

_"Let us do that." _ A younger male voice spoke.

S-S-S-S-S

**RRRRUUUUMMMMMBBBBBLLLEEE**

The time machine began to shake violently.

Squidward stood up and held on to a wall. "W-what's happening?!" He asked an unanswerable question while panicking. The octopus did not know why the time machine was shaking. However, the octopus knew that the shaking of the machine was not normal. The time machine could not be entering another time period since it hadexited the future time period without shaking.

S-S-S-S-S

The time machine entered a random time period.

The formless entities were unsuccessful in their attempt to bring the time machine into their dimension. They had formed physical arms so they could grab and hold the machine. The arms had been successful in holding the time machine but the machine still had been moving since it was traveling to a time period, that was what caused the rapid shaking in the machine. The arms had soon lost control and the entities accidentally sent the time machine to another time period.

**S-S-S-S-S**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**3,000,000 years ago...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

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**...**

**S-S-S-S-S**

Giant pieces of coral and large kelp forests littered the land. The sky was green and the land was mountainous. The ancient ancestors of the life forms in Squidward's time period resided on the planet. The continents looked slightly different from their modern counterparts. It was a struggle every single day for the archaic sea creatures to survive and thrive on the ancient seafloor, there was not a single god on the face of the Earth yet.

Not a single intelligent life form resided in Earth during that time period.

A primitive square-shaped yellow sponge and a primitive pink sea star were walking through thick kelp trees until they found an opening in the forest. They then slowly stepped into the opening and realized that they just exited the kelp forest. The two ancient life forms had not eaten in a few days and were ravenous as a consequence. They were completely nude since they were not intelligent enough to put clothes on.

A pause.

The two saw several medium-sized pieces of coral before them. Their mouths then salivated at the sight of the coral. The sponge and the sea star tip-toed to the coral. They were moving cautiously so as to not attract any predators.

Another pause.

The primitive sponge ripped one of the pieces of coral off of the ground.

The primitive sea star ripped another piece of coral out of the ground.

The two began to eat on their pieces of coral. They considered themselves to be 'survival partners', 'partnerships' were the early versions of friendships. They were not intelligent enough to be friends or understand what friendship was. However, they were able to have emotions and express them. The canine teeth that they both had were sharper than those of their modern descendants, their feet assisted them in eating the coral.

A bright flash.

A metal room appeared on the ground nearby, it was the time machine.

**CRRREEEEEEAAAAAAAAK**

Squidward slowly opened the door and protruded his head through the open doorway. He noticed that he was in prehistoric Bikini Bottom. 'Maybe the time machine had a glitch.' The octopus mentally came to a conclusion and stepped out of the room. 'I'll just relax and try traveling through time again later.' The octopus decided on what he was going to do. He wanted to enjoy his Sunday before going back to his time period.

The primitives partners looked at Squidward with bugged out eyes. They were shocked by how the octopus entered their vision with the bright flash, they had also never seen that type of octopus before.

The sponge ran towards the kelp forest.

The sea star ran towards a large rock.

They both hid from the octopus, they were afraid of the octopus since they thought that the strange creature was going to attack them if it saw them.

Squidward did not notice the two primitives and took out his clarinet. "Maybe now I can finally be alone with my clarinet." He spoke to himself. The octopus remembered the reason for going to the Krusty Krab and starting the entire chain of events when he noticed how quiet his surroundings were.

A few whale calls were abruptly heard.

A jellyfish with ten stingers that were sharper than the ones of its modern descendants bumped into Squidward by accident and then quickly flew away from him. Modern jellyfish usually have five to eight stingers on average.

Squidward became frightened by the bump and turned around. When he saw the fleeing jellyfish, he glared at it. "Unfortunately, I'm in a time before manners were invented." He spoke a complaint under his breath. The cephalopod only had a tiny taste of the extreme hardships that the ancient sea creatures had to go through.

S-S-S-S-S

The primitive sponge finished eating his piece of coral and shifted in his hiding position.

His feet stepped on some fallen kelp leaves a few times.

S-S-S-S-S

Rustling sounds were heard.

Squidward looked at the kelp forest from the corner of his eye.

Not a single suspicious creature was visible in the forest.

S-S-S-S-S

The primitive sea star began to climb the rock he was hiding behind to get a better view of Squidward. He wanted to observe the octopus' behavior so he can know when it was safe for him and his partner to flee.

An urchin was on the rock.

One of the sea star's feet touched the urchin. A sharp pain immediately hit the sole of that foot.

"OOH!" The primitive starfish yelled in pain.

**THUD**

The sea star fell to the ground that was behind the rock. He was still not visible by the octopus' eyes.

S-S-S-S-S

"Huh?" Squidward's eyes bugged out and he quickly looked at a nearby rock. He had heard a loud voice and the collapsing of something from a location around that rock.

A long pause.

Squidward walked to a small rock and sat on it. He then put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth and was about to blow into the instrument. The octopus was going to spend his time by playing the clarinet, playing compositions of music was therapeutic for him and the opportunity for doing that activity came at a much-needed time. His trip to the future was chaotic, stressful, and almost unbelievable. The octopus needed something that will straighten his mind and prevent insanity as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

The primitive sponge gazed at the musical instrument that Squidward was holding. He thought of the instrument as a tool that he could use to aid his survival. He could use the instrument as a weapon for killing prey or a tool for getting things off of high places. The sponge then quietly, carefully, and slowly walked toward the octopus. He exited the kelp forest and entered Squidward's vision.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward saw the primitive sponge from the corner of his eye. He then took the clarinet's mouthpiece out of his mouth and looked at the archaic sponge.

The primitive sponge stopped walking and became as still as a statue. He kept a firm gaze on Squidward's clarinet. A lot of predators that lived on the seafloor feel threatened and become inclined to attack if another creature makes eye contact with them, that was the reason why the sponge was not making eye contact with Squidward.

Squidward raised his brow. "SpongeBob?" He noticed that the primitive sponge was similar to SpongeBob in terms of physical appearance. Many incredible incidents happened when he was in Bikini Millennium so a crazy idea about SpongeBob going back to the past and becoming a caveman was possible by that point from his viewpoint.

"AAAAHH!" The primitive sponge screamed in fright and backed away by a few steps. He did not expect the octopus to have such a deep and nasal voice. The sponge only understood an extremely basic language that consisted of body language and short sounds.

"Stay back!" Squidward stood up and held out the clarinet towards the sponge as if it was a weapon. He assumed that the sponge was going to attack him due to the sponge's screaming so he threatened the sponge.

The primitive sea star stepped away from the rock. He thought that the octopus was not hostile since it did not attack his partner yet. The starfish then walked up to Squidward and stood behind the cephalopod. He then resumed the observing of the octopus' behavior, he wanted to see if the strange creature was 'partnerly'.

A pause.

The primitive sponge made eye contact with Squidward. He wanted to see if the octopus was going to react with violence.

Another pause.

Squidward kept holding out the clarinet. He did not move. The octopus was prepared to strike the sponge with the clarinet.

A third pause.

The primitive sponge cautiously walked up to Squidward and touched one of the octopus' arms with his index finger. He then smelled his index finger and held it out towards Squidward so the octopus could smell it. The sponge wanted to see how Squidward communicated.

"Uh, no thanks." Squidward sweatdropped and shook his head. He moved the sponge's index finger away. He knew by that point that the primitive sponge was not SpongeBob. Based on how the yellow creature behaved, the octopus knew for sure that it was not a modern sponge.

The primitive sea star walked around Squidward and stared at the octopus. He opened his mouth and showed his teeth in a somewhat threatening manner. The starfish wanted the octopus to know that he was capable of attacking him. The sea star thought that the octopus was physically weak and vulnerable, he was also interested in Squidward's clarinet.

The ancient ancestors had strange and primitive ways of communicating.

A foul odor was released from the sea star's mouth and assaulted Squidward's nostrils. It would be thousands of years before advanced forms of hygiene developed.

"Uh, hi there. " Squidward smiled nervously. He then pinched his nose to block the odor from his senses. "Well, I better be going now." He put the arm holding the clarinet behind his back and backed away from the archaic sponge and starfish. He needed to find a tranquil place to play his clarinet. The octopus also did not want to enrage the two creatures; he knew that he was outnumbered.

The sponge crawled around the octopus and grabbed the clarinet from behind. He wanted to have the clarinet before the octopus left.

"Oh no you don't." Squidward shook his head and pulled the clarinet towards himself. He knew that the sponge and the sea star were virtually wild animals and would do anything to survive because of that. Stealing and killing were two of the things that the two creatures were capable of doing.

The sea star grabbed the clarinet as well and assisted his partner. He wanted to have the clarinet to increase his chances of survival as well.

"You won't have it!" Squidward bit his lip and pulled with all of the strength that he could muster into his arms. He refused to allow the two savages to take away what was going to make him enjoy his time at prehistoric Bikini Bottom and regain his sanity.

A nearby jellyfish flew past the three.

**"AAAAAHHHHHH!" **The sponge and the sea star screamed in fright at the sight and buzzing of that jellyfish. They knew that the pink creatures were dangerous due to their stingers. They had been stung by jellyfish before and those memories were unpleasant.

Their screaming echoed throughout the nearby kelp forest.

The sponge and the sea star backed up to a giant piece of coral and hid behind it. The partners then waited for the jellyfish to fly to a far location.

Rustling sounds from the kelp forest were heard.

Squidward tightened his grip on the clarinet and looked at the kelp forest. He did not know what caused those rustling sounds and became cautious because of that. His face showed slight signs of anxiety, if savages and large coral pieces could be found, the possibility of other dangerous creatures being nearby then became very real.

A few purple, blue, and green fish emerged from the cover of the kelp trees. Their descendants would be the average-looking general population of Bikini Bottom. Their canine teeth were not as sharp as those of the sponge and the starfish. The fish had exited the kelp forest because they heard the sponge and the starfish's yelling, they were ready to take action to defend themselves if necessary.

Squidward backed away from the group of archaic fish. He did not want to make the fish feel endangered, he had already been in enough danger after entering and escaping the future. The octopus no longer wanted to deal with anymore dangerous threats. The cephalopod eventually walked backwards to a rock and hid behind it. He then peeked at the jellyfish and the others to see how the scene was going to unfold.

The jellyfish flew towards the kelp forest, it was hungry and wanted to eat some kelp. It was flying in a direction that would make it fly above and past the fish group's heads.

The fish group moved out of the jellyfish's way in fear. Just like the sponge and the sea star, they were afraid of jellyfish as well.

S-S-S-S-S

A member of the fish group was standing on the branch of a large kelp tree. He held out his hand as much as possible since he was trying to get a bone that was on the leaf of a higher branch, the fish was ravenous and was willing to eat nearly anything edible. He did not want to climb to the higher branch and get the bone while standing on that branch since he did not want to take the risk of accidentally falling to his death.

A pause.

The fish could not reach the bone at all. He then looked at the branch he was standing on and saw a large twig.

The twig had two wooden points at the end and the space between those points were covered by several leaves.

The fish ripped the twig out of the branch and then lifted it up to see if he could reach the bone.

The twig touched the bone and moved the bone slightly.

The fish smiled at his victory. He then moved the twig in a certain direction so the bone could fall to the branch he was standing on.

A medium-sized scallop accidentally bumped into the fish's back and then flew in another direction.

The fish became frightened by the scallop's bump and winced in anticipation of a sting. He thought that a jellyfish bumped into him. He accidentally dropped the twig as he winced.

S-S-S-S-S

The jellyfish entered the kelp forest.

PLOP

The twig fell into the jellyfish and landed on the ground with the pink creature.

The jellyfish was trapped by the leaves on the twig and the wooden points; it could not fly away from the location on the ground that it had landed on.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge and the sea star had stepped away from the rock by that point and had watched what just happened. They were heavily surprised by what they were seeing. The two savages had never seen a trapped or caught jellyfish before.

The fish group gazed at the trapped jellyfish. They had never seen a trapped jellyfish before as well.

Squidward was still peeking from the rock.

The sponge walked up to the caught jellyfish and slowly picked up the twig. He was curious about what was going to happen if the jellyfish was released. He wanted to know if the jellyfish was no longer hostile after being caught.

The jellyfish flew in the air in a normal manner. It was flying as if nothing had happened. The pink creature thought of the twig as a minor obstacle.

The ancient sponge gasped in shock and swung the twig at the jellyfish by impulse. He had to take action quickly since he thought that the jellyfish was about to sting him.

The jellyfish became caught by the twig again.

The prehistoric sponge smiled at the sight of the caught jellyfish. A sense of accomplishment washed over him. The sponge then began to desire to feel that feeling of victory again.

A pause.

The sponge released the jellyfish from the twig and then caught he creature again. The same feeling of victory was then felt. The positive feeling was becoming addicifng.

Squidward had walked away from the rock and was looking closely at the scene by that point. He was aware of the fact that he was watching a historical moment. The octopus knew the basic fact about jellyfishing being invented during prehistoric times by accident. He was in total disbelief at what he was seeing, the chances of him being randomly sent to that moment in history by the time machine were just as slim as the chances of winning the lottery.

The sponge showed the twig to the others with the jellyfish inside of it. He wanted the others to know about his discovery. He pointed at the jellyfish to indicate what he wanted to show.

A few others grabbed some nearby twigs that had two points on the end that were on the ground and took some leaves from the ground as well. They then began to tie the leaves to the twigs to form nets where the jellyfish was going to be trapped.

Squidward walked to a medium-sized rock that was somewhat far from the kelp forest and sat on it.

Everything was peaceful and quiet. The chasing and catching of jellyfish could be heard from the kelp forest.

"Finally, some well deserved peace." Squidward made a sincere smile. He put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth and blew into it. The octopus then played a composition that he memorized.

Off-key notes came out of the instrument and were heard through the vicinity of the rock that Squidward was sitting on.

All of the primitive people were jellyfishing with their new 'nets' by that point and stopped when they heard the clarinet's off key notes. Their faces then contorted into expressions of anger and they then ran towards the source of the sounds, they found the sounds to be unpleasant and wanted to get rid of them. Some of them yelled as a way of threatening the source of the sounds; some of them thought that the source was a creature.

Squidward heard the yelling, stopped playing with his clarinet, and looked up to see an incoming hoard of angry primtive people. His face drained of color and he gasped, he did not expect the primitives to react to his music in that manner. The octopus stood up and ran as fast as he could.

The primitives did not slow down at all as they chased the octopus. They were determined to get rid of the source of the sounds so they could resume their jellyfishing, they found that sport to be too fun to quit due to a nuisance.

Squidward made a u-turn and ran towards the time machine. He sprinted and quickly reached the metal room. The octopus inputted the date 'April 20, 2008' into the input panel at a hasty pace. The cephalopod then pressed the 'TRAVEL' button and...

**CRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the time machine.

A pause.

The primitives reached the time machine and banged their fists on it. They were trying to break the room open so they can kill Squidward and destroy his clarinet. The ancient people's desire to jellyfish was powerful and now influenced their decisions.

The time machine glowed and then vanished.

A long pause.

The primitives no longer showed facial expressions of anger. They walked back to the kelp forest and resumed their jellyfishing.

S-S-S-S-S

The time machine once again traveled through a vast amount of dimensions. It was flying towards the present time period of Squidward's universe. However, it abruptly stopped when it reached the dimension of the white void. It had been caught by the white arms. It was then brought to the floor by the arms.

The white arms vanished.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the door and exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Instead of modern Bikini Bottom, his surroundings were a white void. The difference between the ground and the sky could not be seen.

There was a howling wind.

"Huh?" Squidward raised his brow. He did not expect the time machine to stop here at all. "Out of all the times that it can glitch out, why now?" The octopus asked a question to himself that he could not answer. He found the 'glitch' by the time machine to be annoying and inconvenient.

A very long pause.

The wind stopped.

Dead silence.

Squidward cautiously looked at his surroundings and sweatdropped. He could not find or see the cause of the wind stopping.

Four entities materialized before him. One looked identical to Mr. Krabs, another looked just like SpongeBob, the third one had the exact physical appearance of Patrick, and the last one looked identical to Sandy. However, they were covered in white.

_"Cephalopod, we have brought you here so we can inform you about the fate of your world," _'Mr. Krabs' broke the silence. The four had different voices compared to the ones of the people that they resembled. _"We are the White."_

_"Do not be fooled by Helel and Prometheus. Changing the future is a foolish decision." _'SpongeBob' spoke. The White spoke in a manner that almost sounded like droning.

_"The utopia known as Bikini Millennium is a work in progress, not a finished product," _'Patrick' spoke. What he stated implied that the White had been watching Squidward. _"'Millennium' became part of the utopia's name for that reason."_

_"People secretly yearn for a world of eternal harmony. Eternal happiness would reign over the land and sea if eternal harmony came true." _'Sandy' spoke.

_"Life is endless suffering. Everything is destroyed and then recreated to undergo the same destruction." _'SpongeBob' spoke.

_"Conflict between other living beings makes the already unfortunate circumstances worse. People dominate others in certain situations and cause more destruction for the dominated." _'Mr. Krabs' spoke. The White had been watching intelligent life forms for a very long time.

_"As you will see eventually, Saklas will try to end this suffering through 'purification'. The evil people in your world that cause suffering against others will be banished from the earth." _'Patrick' spoke. He stated a solution to the 'problem' of suffering.

_"Although our conversation is currently brief and one-sided, it ends now. What we just said will come true and make more sense as time passes on. Return to the time machine, we will send you back to your world and your time period." _'Sandy' spoke for a final time. She then vanished.

The three others vanished as well.

Squidward was silent when he heard what the White said. The octopus could not think of a response to say to the White. What the White said were more like statements than arguments. The cephalopod could not decide if the White were trying to persuade him into thinking from a certain viewpoint or were trying to teach him something. However, Squidward thought that the White were suspicious, he did not know their true motives for bringing him to the white void dimension and the White had used a problem-solution method for their arguments. The octopus was not shocked by the sight of the White, many fantasy-like incidents had made him begin to think that such events were normal.

Squidward stepped into the time machine and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

The time machine resumed its normal functioning. It traveled across multiple universes until...

S-S-S-S-S

A bright flash.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the time machine. He was in his neighborhood in the present time period. His familiar surroundings did not look different in the slightest. The octopus grinned at the sight of his tiki. He was grateful for SpongeTron's assistance in bringing him back to the present world.

Someone poked one of Squidward's shoulders.

Squidward turned around and saw the Morning Star. "What're you doing here?" The octopus raised his brow. He did not know the possible reason for the blond man and the god's presence under the sea.

"I was waiting for you. I have to destroy that time machine. It would be unfortunate if someone accidentally enters it and uses it. Suspicion from the pantheon would be certain if several people do that." The Morning Star stated his reason for being in Bikini Bottom.

Squidward stepped out of the way. He considered the blond man's reason to be reasonable.

The blond man walked up to the metal room and touched it with an index finger.

The time machine quickly became frozen. It was completely covered by ice.

The blond man touched the room with the other index finger.

The time machine burned into ashes at a rapid speed.

A gentle breeze blew the ashes away.

"Farewell, Squidward. However, I must tell you something that Prometheus forgot to say to you. Do not reveal the information that you learned to others until Prometheus tells you to do it. I will allow Prometheus to allow you to do that when the time becomes right. I hope you comprehend what I am saying." The Morning Star thought that the command that he was saying was crucial. He wanted to make sure that Squidward understood the command.

Squidward nodded. "Basically... Prometheus will come at a certain time and allow me to tell the others about the future." He said a summation of the Morning Star's command.

The blond man made a thumbs-up and smiled. "You got it." He then snapped his fingers.

A red and black portal appeared.

The Morning Star walked through the portal.

**POOF**

The portal disappeared.

Squidward strolled towards his tiki with his signature deadpan face. The chain of events that he experienced were mentally exhausting. He had expressed and felt so many emotions that his mind needed some time to rest.

**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the future...

S-S-S-S-S

_"The date I inputted was April 20, 2008. It was the date when he was frozen." _SpongeTron answered a question that Thomas asked.

The robot and the Master were no longer in the long hallway to what used to be the time machine and were in the main room of the computer laboratory.

"Where was he frozen?" Thomas asked anothe question. He decided that he was going to go back to the past and kill Squidward. The octopus was bound to unintentionally end Bikini Millennium's existence if he revealed the information to the others.

_"SpongeTron Beth may know the answer." _SpongeTron did not know the answer. It made eye contact with SpongeTron Beth.

SpongeTron Beth walked up to Thomas. _"The workers that brought the ice block drove a truck from what seemed to be coordinates: X:8125 Y:7924. Those coordinates are the location of a business building. There was a complaint about the water pipes not functioning properly."_ The robot answered Thomas' question.

Although SpongeTron assisted Squidward in his escape, Thomas did not want to get rid of it. The robots were too useful. "That may be the place where the ice block was left in the past." The Master stated one of his thoughts out loud. Then a light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. "I will go to the past and retrieve the ice block. I will not kill the octopus directly." The newly lit light bulb made him change his plan slightly.

Nicholas was listening to the conversation while he was coding his program. "How is that possible? The octopus is already in the past unfrozen and... oh." The teenage sponge realized something as he spoke.

Thomas walked down the long hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than half a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas reached the end of the hallway and turned towards a input panel on a wall. The room was nearly empty since the time machine was not there. The orange sponge inputted a passcode that was more complicated than the one that SpongeTron inputted to access the long hallway.

**SSSSHHHIIIMMMMM**

Another hidden door opened.

Thomas walked at a moderate pace into a room.

S-S-S-S-S

Several large doors that were separated by spaces of several feet were before Thomas. There was an input panel next to each door. These rooms were the back-up time machines, they were made in case if a time machine became missing or destroyed.

Thomas walked up to the leftmost door and quickly inputted 'April 20, 2008' into the panel. He then pressed the 'TRAVEL' button and...

**CRREEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the room.

A bright flash.

The room vanished.

S-S-S-S-S

The time machine traveled through numerous universes...

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the present world...

S-S-S-S-S

Another bright flash.

The room appeared on the ground.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Thomas hastily exited the time machine. He needed to retrieve the ice block at a fast pace so no one could spot him. The orange sponge took out a tablet GPS that was in one of his pockets and turned it on. He then tapped the local sea coordinates 'X:8125 Y:7924' into the GPS. Thomas could use those coordinates since Bikini Milennium was built directly over Bikini Bottom.

A green map of Bikini Bottom was on the screen. A flashing red spot popped up in a certain location on the map. A flashing yellow arrow was pointing in the direction that Thomas needed to go through in order to reach the location marked by the red spot.

Thomas levitated until he was at a somewhat high altitude. He then flew towards Krusty Krab at a lightining-fast speed.

On the GPS' screen, the yellow arrow was inching towards the red spot.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Thomas landed on the ground. He was in front of the Krusty Krab. "A restaurant?" The sponge raised his brow. He expected the coordinates to be near a more formal location. He then walked around the restaurant and stood on a certain spot on the ground while the rear side of the building was before him.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Thomas' GPS was beeping. It was doing that since Thomas was standing on the location that the red spot was indicating.

The orange sponge dug through the spot with his hands. He did not want to use magic since the loud sounds of moving earth might attract the attention of nearby citizens.

An ice block with a Squidward that was holding a soma was revealed.

It seems that the octopus went back to a time in the past that was after the incident of him being frozen.' Thomas thought. The ice block that was below him confirmed his light bulb to be true. He quickly and effortlessly lifted the ice block from the ground. 'If given the proper training, this octopus could become the vessel for one of Triad's members.' The orange sponge carefully put the ice block on the part of the ground that was outside of the hole. He then covered the hole and picked up the ice block again.

Thomas levitated until he was at a high altitude in the sky. He then flew towards the time machine at a nearly supersonic speed while carrying the ice block.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

_End of Arc One_

* * *

**I have omitted Scaredy Pants from this arc to prevent a major timeskip and possible plotholes as a result. That chapter will be posted in later arcs.**

**By the way, this fanfic is FAR from over. It will probably go as far as the eight other seasons before covering other material such as the two movies. Video games may be integrated into the plot as well.**


	40. Arc 2: Squid's Day Off

**I'm sorry if this took longer than usual to post. I had problems with my internet connection. The next chapter will be posted soon, it's more than halfway done.**

* * *

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 40: Squid's Day Off**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting in the boat and was staring into space. He was heavily distracted by his thoughts while he was working in the Krusty Krab. Yesterday's events had eventually traumatized the octopus. The effects that the chain of events had on Squidward's mind were not immediate. It was upon the reflection of the incidents when the trauma kicked in. For the whole Sunday, Squidward shut himself from the world and stayed in his tiki. The heavy toll that the memories had on him was crushing his soul.

A sense of despair had filled Squidward's heart. The oppressive 'utopia' known as Bikini Millennium and the fact about most of the world getting destroyed by weapons of mass destruction was almost too much to bear inside his mind. However, the White's words added a heavy amount of fuel to that despair. Although his conversation with them was short, it was by far one of the most traumatic incidents. Squidward could not help himself but find what the White said to be at least somewhat true. He had to go through excessive amounts of suffering almost every single day and times of peace were only temporary. However, he was despairing over the possibility that such a society without suffering would end up being similar to or just like Bikini Millennium. Such a utopia would also mean the end of his hobbies, such as making music, painting; and playing clarinet. The law in that utopia that restricted what clothes citizens could wear indicated the types of laws enforced by their government.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

SpongeBob pressed the bell that was on the ordering window. He was testing the bell.

'Here I am, trapped in a prison of high cholesterol.' Squidward thought and sighed. He then made a face that revealed his hidden depression. He would have to wait a few more brutal hours before he could go back to his tiki and swim in the ocean of his dark thoughts.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

SpongeBob continued to test the bell. He found the bell not working after finishing an order to be inconvenient. He wanted to make sure that such a situation would never happen again; he wanted to work efficiently.

'Why can't Mr. Krabs just let us go home?' Squidward mentally asked. His potent emotions were conquering his rationality. The heavy sadness was too heavy to be carried by logic and reason.

**RING RING RING RING RUNG RING**

SpongeBob rung the bell for the third time. He was going to ring the bell ten times to assure himself that the bell was functioning properly.

Squidward narrowed his eyes. He became irritated by the ringing of the bell, he only wanted to be with his thoughts instead of annoying sounds and an annoying sponge. "SpongeBob, stop ringing that bell!" He yelled at the yellow square and glared at him from the corner of his eye.

"I was just testing it." SpongeBob stated his intention and excuse for his actions. He then shrugged. He could not see what was the harm with testing the bell.

Squidward turned around and completely glared at SpongeBob. " I will ring the bell when there's an order. But..." He spoke in a stern voice. He quickly formed an idea that would make SpongeBob stop ringing the bell. The octopus then turned around and looked at the dining room. "..there's no customers." He stated the obvious.

"Okay." SpongeBob nodded and turned around.

The dining room was empty.

A dust ball rolled across the floor.

The Krusty Krab was having a rough start for the week, not a single customer went to the restaurant since it opened for the day.

The cash register began to lean toward the floor. It was not firmly set on the tip of the boat.

Squidward groaned. The leaning of the cash register was a common occurrence, he could never properly set the register on the boat's tip no matter how hard he tried. The octopus grabbed the cash register and...

**SLAM**

...slammed it down to the tip of the boat. The employee knew that setting the register on the tip with force would delay the next occurrence of the leaning.

**CHA-CHING**

The cash register made a bell-like sound and its drawer opened.

S-S-S-S-S

"One Krabby Patty coming up!" SpongeBob raised his index finger and grinned. He assumed that a customer ordered a Krabby Patty since the bell rang. The sponge turned on the grill and took out his spatula. He was eager to start cooking the burger.

S-S-S-S-S

A few pennies dropped to the floor and the bottom of the boat.

S-S-S-S-S

"That sounds like me money dropping." Mr. Krabs widened his eyes after he heard the sound of falling coins. He then stopped counting last week's profits and stood up from his desk. The crab then walked towards the door to the dining room. He was not sure if the falling money was from the cash register or his employees.

S-S-S-S-S

"There aren't any customers, SpongeBob!" Squidward looked through the ordering window at SpongeBob. He was not in the mood to fool around or do antics of his own with SpongeBob. His mind was too dimly lit by angst.

S-S-S-S-S

"Oh." SpongeBob stopped smiling and then turned off the grill. He then put his spatula away. He was only disappointed by a minor degree. However, he thought optimistically. He believed that a customer was going to come to the restaurant eventually.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

"What's going on out here?!" Mr. Krabs made a serious face and folded his arms. He then looked at Squidward and SpongeBob. He demanded to know what had just occured.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs's eyes bugged out when he noticed that the cash register's drawer was open and some of the pennies were on the floor. "My babies!" He ran towards the pennies as if they were his children. His greed often revealed itself when he personified money. "Get away, you barbarian!" He shoved Squidward out of the way as if the octopus was a villain. "What have you done? Nice, clean money... soiled!" The crab then hastily picked up the pennies that were scattered on the floor and the boat. He always wanted his money to be clean, it makes him feel proud for managing a business. "I'll take care of ya. Let papa clean ya up." He scrambled towards the kitchen door. "Clear the way!" He yelled at SpongeBob so SpongeBob could get out of the way when he enters the kitchen.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen in two swift movements.

Squidward rolled his eyes. 'I wonder how he treats his daughter at home.' The octopus thought. He assumed that Mr. Krabs was super-cheap when it came to buying things for his daughter since he would think that money was his children.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gulped nervously and stepped out of the way. He did not want to make his boss further upset or angry. The sponge became somewhat worried for the well-being of the crustacean.

Mr. Krabs ran across the kitchen and towards the sink. He then turned both the hot and cold faucets.

Water came out of the sink's spout.

Mr. Krabs began to wash the pennies he was holding with the water coming out of the sink. "No, no, no, don't cry, little ones." When he said 'cry', he meant getting dirty. The crab's concern for the money began to make his imagination become wild.

SpongeBob walked up to the crustacean with a facial expression of concern. "What's wrong, Mr. Krabs?" He managed to ask. The yellow sponge did not want to bother his boss or interrupt what he was doing.

Mr. Krabs jumped slightly in fright.

Time slowed.

The pennies flew to and flipped in the air. A few were flying towards Mr. Krabs while the others were flying towards the sink.

Time resumed.

Mr. Krabs held out both of his claws and caught almost all of the pennies. He then turned off the sink, looked down, and gasped in horror. "Me penny!"

A penny had rolled down the sink and was rolling around the hole of the drain. Its fate was in limbo.

A short pause.

The penny then leaned to the hole and fell down the drain.

"No!" Mr. Krabs put one of his claws into the drain and grabbed the penny at the last second. "Phew." He then wiped some swear from his brow in relief. "I got it, boy." The crab then smiled and tried to pull his claw out.

Mr. Krabs' claw would not budge.

"What the? It's stuck!" Mr. Krabs stated the obvious in panic. He then desperately tried to pull his claw out of the sink's drain. "You gotta help me, SpongeBob!" The crab made eye contact with SpongeBob. He now relied on his employee to get his claw out of the sink.

"You've gotta let go of the penny." SpongeBob stated a piece of advice. He tried to help his boss as best as he could. It showed the loyalty he had for Mr. Krabs

"I can think of ten good reasons to never let go of a penny, boy. There's got to be another way! Grab me captain's quarters and heave!" Mr. Krabs stated an alternative plan. He wanted to keep his profits, even if it was by one cent.

SpongeBob grabbed Mr. Krabs' back and held on to it firmly.

Mr. Krabs pulled his claw.

SpongeBob pulled Mr. Krabs' back to the best of his ability.

Mr. Krabs' claw finally came out of the sink's drain while still holding the penny.

**THUD**

SpongeBob was pushed by Mr. Krabs' body and fell to the floor.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs hit a wall head-first.

**CRRRRAAAASSH**

Several kitchen utensils that were hanging on a wooden shelf above Mr. Krabs fell down and hit the crab on the head several times. The force that the crab's head had when it hit the wall was what made the utensils fall down.

Mr. Krabs closed his eyes, his jaw became agape, and his body became still. The crustacean became unconscious.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob stood up and gulped in anxiety. He then ran towards the door to Mr. Krabs' office and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob picked up the shell-phone that was on Mr. Krabs' desk and dialed 9-1-1.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

An ambulance had been parked in front of the Krusty Krab. The paramedics had arrived promptly to the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Two paramedics lifted Mr. Krabs from the pile of fallen utensils and laid him on a stretcher. The two then moved the stretcher towards the door to the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and moved out of the way. He was trying to assist the paramedics due to his loyalty to his boss.

The paramedics moved the stretcher through the open doorway. They then moved the stretcher towards the double door.

Squidward had a sincere smile on his face. For some reason, leaving the Krusty Krab early and not working for the rest of the day put him at ease even though he was going to dive into his angst over the future at home. His despair would be slightly lessened it he did not work in the job that he hated even if it was only temporarily. His job at the Krusty Krab added a major chunk of misery to his life, it was a symbol of the people's rejection to his artistic 'talent'. Although he knew that the far future was dim, his short-term future was bright.

Mr. Krabs slowly opened his eyes as the stretcher was moving by the paramedics past the boat. "Wait." The crab managed to speak. He knew that Squidward was nearby.

The paramedics stopped moving the stretcher.

"Squidward... I'm putting you in charge of things around here while I'm gone." Mr. Krabs made eye contact with Squidward and continued to speak. Although the octopus was a lazy employee, the crab knew that Squidward had enough experience to be eligible to be a substitute manager. SpongeBob had to work at the Krusty Krab for at least six months before becoming eligible to be a substitute manager as well.

Squidward stood up from the boat and walked up to Mr. Krabs. "You can count on me, sir!" He made a military salute. The octopus was trying to look and act like he was trustworthy, he did not want Mr. Krabs to become suspicious. He was trying to fool his boss so he can stay at his house for the rest of the day.

The paramedics resumed their moving of the stretcher towards the double door. They knew that the need to send Mr. Krabs to the hospital was urgent.

"Take care, Hurry back. Get well soon. You're in our thoughts." Squidward waved in a cheerful manner at Mr. Krabs. His behavior became similar to SpongeBob's, he was imitiating the sponge since the sponge was loyal to the crab. "Takes more muscles to frown than to smile." He even tried to act like he was optimistic.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The paramedics exited the Krusty Krab with Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

The paramedics moved the stretcher towards the back of the ambulance. They then opened the double door of the ambulance's back and moved the stretcher into the vehicle.

**S-SLAM**

The paramedics closed the double door. The two then entered the ambulance.

**VRRROOOOMMMMMMMM**

The ambulance drove towards the hospital and disappeared from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward had watched the ambulance vanish from his sight. He was standing before and looking through one of the dining room's large windows.

A loyal SpongeBob was looking through the large window as well. He wanted to have a last glimpse of his boss before resuming his duties as a fry cook.

"Okay, SpongeBob, let's get down to business. My first official act as new manager is to give you a promotion." Squidward made his normal deadpan face and looked at SpongeBob. He had a scheme that he was going to put into action.

SpongeBob widened his eyes and his pupils sparkled with stars. His neutral facial expression curved into a grin. "Really?!" The yellow square was ecstatic. He had worked at the Krusty Krab for almost three months and he was already getting a promotion.

"You get to run the cash register." Squidward pointed at the cash register. He then took his employee hat off of his head. His plan was going as he expected it to be.

"The cash register... wow!" SpongeBob marveled at the cash register, he imagined all of the fun things that he could do by being a cashier. "Squidward, who's gonna work the grill?" He asked a question after realizing that there was an ambiguity in what Squidward said.

"You are." Squidward pointed at SpongeBob and smirked. "It's part of the promotion I mentioned earlier. You'll be wearing two hats now. You're gonna take the orders and then you're gonna make them." He put his employee hat on SpongeBob's hat. The octopus used his power as manager to make SpongeBob relieve him of his cashier duties.

SpongeBob was wearing two employee hats. He looked somewhat silly. "This is one of the best days of my life!" He was jumping up and down in excitement. The sponge could not wait to begin his duties as cashier and fry cook. The responsibility of having both roles was going to bring vast amounts of joy for the sponge.

Squidward chuckled at the sight of SpongeBob wearing two employee hats. "Me, too." He covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to suppress his chuckling.

"But wait, if I'm running the register and the grill, what are you gonna do?" Another question appeared in SpongeBob's mind and the yellow square asked that question. The yellow employee was curious about what his manager was going to do.

"I've got some very important boss-like errands to run. See ya later." Squidward lied and briskly walked towards the double door. The octopus was walking back to his tiki. One of the worst possible scenarios was SpongeBob becoming suspicious of him.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob held out his hand and called for his manager. He still had a desire to gain more knowledge.

**C-CREEEE**

Squidward opened the double door half-way through. "What is it?" He looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and began to tap his foot. The octopus was impatient.

"You forgot to teach me how to use..." SpongeBob walked towards the boat. "...the cash register." He rubbed the cash register. The sponge liked how the dark metal felt when it rubbed against his spongy skin.

Squidward walked up to the cash register. "You push the button..." The octopus pushed a large white button that was on the register.

**CHA-CHING**

The cash register's drawer opened.

"...and put the money inside the right places." Squidward pointed at the closed-off sections of the drawer. The octopus then closed the cash register's drawer. "Okay, you're on your own." The octopus did that quick tutorial so SpongeBob could no longer annoy him. He walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

"I can't believe this is really happening." SpongeBob sat in the boat and stared at the cash register in disbelief. He had feelings that were similar to Squidward's when he met the blond man and Prometheus. "Today, I start living!" The sponge made a radiant beam. For the first time, he could be fully productive during his job since he was involved in the entire process of ordering and making Krabby Patties. The sponge dove through the ordering window and entered the kitchen, he wanted the kitchen to have all of the utensils and ingredients out of the cabinets and containers so he could be ready to fufill customers' orders.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward opened the front door and entered the tiki. His joy was shown through his smile.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked around the living room and took a deep and refreshing breath. "Well, Squidward, you've really outdone yourself this time. A beautiful day of..." He was speaking to his own ego when he was reminded of the true reason for his happiness. The octopus' successful temporary 'escape' from his job only eased the pain of something else that he was suffering from. "...oh." The cephalopod made a deadpan face and walked to the couch. He then sat on the couch and looked at the floor in a brooding manner. His mind once again focused on the memories of that turbulent Sunday. The knowledge he had gained yesterday was a burden for his emotions.

Silence.

The battle between Prometheus; Thomas, and the angels constantly rewinded in his head. Those amazing feats of magic that were made during that fight left a lasting effect on Squidward's memory, it was the first time that he saw magic being used to a large extent. The octopus would probably remember that battle to his grave.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen. 'I'm ready!' He thought with optimism. He then walked up to the double door and stood before it. The yellow square was beggining to patiently wait for a customer to enter the restaurant. It would be more efficient if he stood there instead of in the kitchen or the boat since he was both fry cook and cashier.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward slowly walked up the stairs and entered the music room. He then walked to the sheet holder and picked up his clarinet which was on the holder. The octopus wanted to do one of his hobbies so as to lessen the despair that was mentally crushing him. He put the clarinet's mouthpiece into his mouth.

_Eternal happiness would reign over the land and sea if eternal harmony came true._

Squidward took the clarinet's mouthpiece out of his mouth. He wanted the trama caused by the information about the future to be eliminated and get replaced by eternal happiness. However, that could only happen if eternal harmomny occured before it and came with it. The octopus was then reminded of what type of society that eternal harmomny would develop.

A jellyfish flew past the two windows of the music room. It was chasing a piece of kelp that was being blown by the wind.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. Instead of trying to hide the problem, he should try to face it. Unfortunately, that led to another problem. The only way he can attempt to prevent the future of Bikini Millennium from coming true was by informing others. He was told by the Morming Star to not reveal the information he had learned to anyone yet. What made it worse was that the octopus was not given an explanation for why he should not hastily reveal the information. Since Prometheus knew a lot about Bikini Millennium, he assumed that the god of forethought and the blond man had visited the future before him and had a plan to prevent that future from occuring. He also assumed that giving him permission to reveal the information was also part of the plan.

Squidward shook his head and put the clarinet on the sheet holder. The octopus then walked downstairs. He needed to relax, the opportunity for an attempt at changing the future would eventually be given to him. A small light of hope sparked within him.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and briskly walked to the couch. He quickly sat on the couch and grabbed the TV remote from the small table that was in front of him. The octopus then turned on the TV with the remote.

A long pause. The octopus tried to pay attention to what was on the TV screen.

His thoughts wandered to other regions of his consciousness.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside Squidward's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab. He had a silly smile on his face and walked up to SpongeBob who was sitting in the boat. "Hey, SpongeBob!" He greeted and waved at the sponge.

SpongeBob was smiling in a silly manner as well. "Hey, Patrick!" He greeted and waved at the sea star. He was wearing his and Squidward's employee hats.

SpongeBob and Patrick were idiots in Squidward's thought.

"Hey, SpongeBob could you give me change for a quarter?" Patrick looked at his surroundings by looking at both of his left and right sides, he was doing the opposite of being cross-eyed. His mouth became agape. The sea star took out a quarter from his pocket and held it out so SpongeBob could see it.

SpongeBob stuck out his tongue and snatched the quarter from Patrick's hand. He then made a fist with his other hand and lifted that fist before the cash register.

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob repeatedly hit the cash register with his fist. The sponge drooled and looked at the floor as he did that.

**CHA-CHING**

The cash register's drawer opened.

SpongeBob put the quarter into the correct section of the drawer and then took out all of the $5 bills that were in the drawer. "Here ya go." He handed a large stack of $5 bills to Patrick. He stuck his tongue out again and made a military salute.

"Thanks." Patrick made his pupils return to their normal positions and he made a thumbs-up. The sea star then skipped merrily towards the double door while carrying the stack of paper money in one arm.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward gasped and stood up from the couch. "I forgot to tell him how to make change!" He stated his conclusion out loud. His suppressed feelings of despair and angst found a new way to be expressed, that new way was the octopus' trust in SpongeBob. Squidward could not fight against his negative emotions without suffering the consequences. The octopus quickly turned off the TV with the remote and tossed the remote to the couch. "Ohhhh!" He bit his lip and ran towards the front door.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward hastily exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran towards the Krusty Krab as if his life depended on it. The worst possible mistakes that SpongeBob could commit due to Squidward's negligence filled his thoughts. He also imagined how Mr. Krabs was going to angrily react to what SpongeBob did and how he was going to eventually fire Squidward and unintentionally condemn him to poverty.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's destination was incoming before his vision. The building became larger and larger with each step.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw Squidward and smiled from ear to ear. He was ready to comply to any order that came out of his manager's mouth. The sponge stepped out of the way.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward barged the double door open and ran into the Krusty Krab. The octopus did not see SpongeBob sitting at or standing near the boat and his eyes bugged out. The cephalopod expected the sponge to be located near the boat since that was the place where he saw him before he left the restaurant. "SpongeBob, are you there?!" He called for SpongeBob. The octopus assumed that SpongeBob was in the kitchen.

SpongeBob giggled and poked Squidward's shoulder.

Squidward jumped in fright and saw SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "Oh." He made a neutral facial expression and turned towards the yellow sponge.

An awkward pause.

"Hi, Squidward. All done with those errands?" SpongeBob wanted to know if Squidward was finished with the chores that Squidward said that he was going to do. The sponge was oblivious to the fact that what Squidward said about the 'errands' was a lie.

"No, I am not. I just remembered I needed change for this dollar." Squidward took out a $1 bill. He was testing SpongeBob to see if SpongeBob could correctly convert the dollar into coins.

SpongeBob jogged to the register and...

**CHA-CHING**

...opened the drawer. "Do you want four quarters?" The yellow square took out four quarters, held them out, and put them back. "Or ten dimes?" The sponge quickly took out ten dimes and held them out. He then put those small coins back into the drawer and took out twenty nickels. "Or twenty nickels?" He held out twenty nickels with both hands. The yellow employee then put the nickels back into the drawer and quickly took out a hundred pennies. He put those pennies on his back and turned around to make his back face Squidward. SpongeBob then jumped and flipped in the air.

The pennies flew to the air and fell back into their proper section in the cash regisfer's drawer.

"Or one quarter, three dimes, seven nickels, and ten pennies?" SpongeBob took out the amount of coins and the types of coins that he stated. The dimes were on his fingers, the nickels were on his thumb, the pennies were on both of his shoes, and the quarter was on his nose. "Or, if you give me a five dollar bill, your options are-"

"Alright, goodbye." Squidward walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab. After seeing what SpongeBob did, he became confident in the sponge. He knew for certain that SpongeBob could make change without a problem.

SpongeBob put the coins away and closed the drawer. He walked up until he was before the double door and resumed what he was doing before Squidward came to the restaurant; standing and waiting for customers.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was inside the music room. He was painting on a canvas, the piece of art portrayed himself standing on the summit of a mountain. The painting made Squidward's narcissism become very obvious, the painting symbolized who Squidward thought he was; a young man with artistic talents that were superior to others. 'Everything will be fine. There won't be an excessive amount of customers today anyway. He'll probably just stand there, bored.' The octopus thought.

S-S-S-S-S

In Squidward's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood before the double door and was becoming sleepy.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward chuckled at that thought. "SpongeBob, bored." The octopus spoke to himself and chuckled again.

Abruptly, the thought of most of the world getting destroyed by weapons of mass destruction entered his mind. A memory from yesterday somehow entered his thoughts.

S-S-S-S-S

In Squidward's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

"Ehh... getting kinda bored." SpongeBob became drowsy and rubbed his eyes. The sponge then yawned.

A pause.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor and fell asleep. He snored as he slept.

A match fell out of one of SpongeBob's pockets.

Another pause.

The march ignited the floor. A large fire spread to the other parts of the wooden building and enveloped the building. It was how the thought of weapons of mass destruction entered his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward gulped nervously, put the paintbrush and the palette on the floor, and ran downstairs. He thought that SpongeBob was going to accidentally set the Krusty Krab on fire and he needed to take action to prevent that.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and sprinted towards the front door.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the tiki by opening and closing the front door by one swift movement.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran towards the Krusty Krab.

A pause.

Squidward stopped running towards the restaurant after realizing something. "Oh, what am I doing?" The octopus took out his watch and looked at it. He thought that constantly running to the Krusty Krab to see what SpongeBob was doing was a waste of time. "I mean, really. What are the odds of SpongeBob setting the Krusty Krab on fire?" His rationality became stronger than his emotions. He realized that he was worrying over something that did not happen and was highly unlikely to happen. The octopus turned around and walked towards his tiki. He should be doing something such as finishing that painting since it was grounded in reality instead of fantasy.

The blaring of an alarm was heard.

Squidward saw a fire truck drive down the road towards the Krusty Krab. He gasped and sprinted towards his house. He assumed that the fire truck was driving towards the restaurant since there was a fire occuring inside the building.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the tiki while carrying a fire extinguisher. He had taken that fire extinguisher from a closet in the tiki. The octopus then ran towards the Krusty Krab once again.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward barged the double door open and entered the Krusty Krab again. He then pulled the fire extinguisher's trigger and...

**FFFFFFFFRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAPFFFFFT**

...white foam was sprayed throughout the dining room. The octopus was extinguishing a non-existent fire.

A pause.

The foam scattered throughout the floor and tables subsided.

Squidward and SpongeBob had some of the foam on their faces. The foam on their faces looked like white beards.

"May I help you, sir?" SpongeBob did not immediately assume that the person in front of him was Squidward. He had met a few look-a-likes in his life and did not want to confuse himself. The sponge thought that the octopus in front of him was a senior due to the octopus' white 'beard'.

Squidward narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob and wiped the white foam off of his face. The octopus became somewhat irritated due to SpongeBob not recognizing him. The white 'beard' showed how easy SpongeBob could be manipulated. "It's me, you dunce!" The octopus folded his arms.

"Oh, hi, Squidward!" SpongeBob giggled nervously and then greeted the octopus. He realized the foolishness of his mistake. The sponge looked down and noticed the white foam on his face. The yellow square then wiped the foam off of his face, he thought that he looked silly with a white 'beard'. "How are those errands going?" He wanted to know his manager's progress with the 'boss-like' errands.

Squidward looked around the dining room and did not see any signs of a fire occuring in the building. He became relieved after realizing the fact that his job was not threatened. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm very busy." His relief made him forget about the lie he had said earlier.

"Well, I'm sure you are." SpongeBob thought that Squidward was busy with the 'errands'. He completely trusted his manager since the manager was his neighbor and 'friend'.

Squidward raised his brow after hearing SpongeBob's words. He became confused because of an ambiguity in what SpongeBob said; he did not understand those spoken words. The octopus then made a deadpan face and sighed. "Just do your jobs." He then walked towards the double door. Staying in the Krusty Krab and talking with the fry cook/cashier was a waste of time for him.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

"Aye aye, Mr. Tentacles." SpongeBob made a military salute towards a walking Squidward. "Boy, no wonder Mr. Krabs put him in charge." The employee thought that Squidward was an excellent manger since he was constantly visitng the Krusty Krab to check on him. From his viewpoint, it showed how much Squidward cared about the business.

A long pause.

**C-CRREEEEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A young woman opened the double door and entered the restaurant.

SpongeBob gasped and grinned in delight. He was seeing the first customer of the day.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward slowly laid down on the couch. "I... must... re... lax..." He stretched his muscles in order to relieve them of any tension caused by anxiety and stress. The octopus then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Stop worrying so much. Now, repeat after me. You will not go back to the Krusty Krab." He was going to do some sort of meditation. He knew that his anxiety that was caused by his repressed angst was unhealthy and had to be controlled.

In the blackness of his eyelids, an image of SpongeBob's face formed out of his imagination.

_"I will destroy the Krusty Krab!" _The image of SpongeBob spoke. It then smiled and broke into several pieces as if it was a mirror.

Squidward had a hyperactive imagination, it was caused by the despair that he was 'escaping' from. The octopus considered that type of imagination to be caused by his anxiety over SpongeBob making a mistake while working both duties. In reality, unless the octopus removes the root of his emotional problems, new troubles will constantly arise and attract his anxiety.

Squidward opened his eyes and bugged his eyes out. The octopus immediately stood up and ran towards the front door. His anxiety was becoming out of control and was beginning to have a mind of its own, it kept asking the octopus to be eliminated. The only way that anxiety could be eliminated was by going to the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

There were several customers inside the dining room.

"Here you go, sir." SpongeBob gave a Krabby Patty that was on a plate to a young green man who was sitting in a table.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab. "SpongBob!" He called for the yellow employee. His facial expression caused by his extreme fear made his anxiety look obvious.

SpongeBob walked towards his manager. "Have you finished-" The sponge got interrupted by the cephalopod.

"No!" Squidward shook his head. The octopus did not see any destroyed or wrecked object inside the dining room. The sponge had not done any damage to the building. Although relieved, he had ran all the way to the restaurant only for his fearful assumption to be proven untrue. He then turned around and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

"That's it. No matter what sick fantasies run through my mind, I will not go back to that restaurant!" Squidward spoke to himself in an attempt to make his willpower stronger. He thought that committing the same mistakes over and over again was going to make him insane and look foolish. The octopus was going to try to resist his anxiety to the best of his ability, he wanted his will to overpower his emotions. He then resolutely walked towards his tiki.

**S-S-S-S-S**

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

"Have you finished those errands?"

...

An hour later...

**S-S-S-S-S**

Squidward walked towards the Krusty Krab with rivulets of sweat running down his brow. He wiped some of that sweat from his brow as he panted. The octopus had run back and forth between his tiki and the Krusty Krab numerous times and became exhausted because of that. His anxiety had chained him to the restaurant that he was walking towards as if he was a slave and the emotion was the master.

**C-CRRREEEEEEEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward slowly owned the double door and stepped into the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

The customers ignored Squidward but that point. They had seen Squidward entering the restaurant so many times that they no longer took his presence seriously. Nearly all of them thought that Squidward was insane or had another type of mental disorder.

SpongeBob was sitting in the boat when he saw Squidward. The sponge then stood up and walked up to his manager. "Have you finished those errands?" He asked an extremely familiar question.

"No, I am not finished with those errands and I never will be. So quit checking up on me!" An artery popped up on Squidward's forehead. He said those words due to being frustrated by the situation that he brought himself into. The cephalopod felt powerless against his potent anxiety. His anxiety was also beginning to control his thoughts, he could no longer think straight as his fears clogged his mind with the worst-case scenarios. His heartbeat had quickened even after the vigorous physical activity that he just did.

A pause.

Squidward narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob in suspicion. "I know what you're up to." The octopus then carefully looked at the dining room for anything that was hidden or suspicious. "Forcing me to come back here every time you mess up!" He had succumbed to his fears so many times that he no longer noticed them. He suspected that SpongeBob was committing misdemeanors when the octopus was not around. However, there was no evidence that supported that assumption. The nearby customers were evidence against his assumption.

"But I haven't-" SpongeBob was the rational person in that case. He would never betray his boss or manager in secret. The sponge loved his new position and was speaking with honesty.

"OKAY." Squidward wore a smile but still glared at SpongeBob with his eyelids at their normal postion. The face that he was making was unsettling. The octopus then walked in reverse towards the double door. "Maybe you haven't messed up yet, but you will. You will..." He continued to speak as he walked in reverse. His anxiety had evolved into paranoia. "And when you do, I'll be there. I'll be there!" Squidward then made a maniacal laugh by honking his nose.

**C-CRRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

"Gosh, Squidward sure is a hard worker. He makes me proud to wear these hats." SpongeBob appreciated Squidward's effort in making sure that the Krusty Krab was intact. He said those words in spite of knowing that Squidward was suffering from extreme emotions.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The tiki's living room was a mess. Tables and chairs were covering the doors that led to the outside world and the windows. The furniture was being used as defense walls as if an invader was going to enter Squidward's home. The sofa completely covered the front door.

Squidward had a key in his hand. He squeezed that hand through the small opening between the bottom of the sofa and the front door. The octopus then locked the front door and pulled his hand out. "There!" He threw the key to the floor. "Now I'll have to stay here and enjoy myself." He slowly made a wide smile. His face had multiple wrinkles, his pupils were dilated, and his hands were shaking constantly. His body was becoming damaged by the intense fear of Squidward, his emotions were putting too much stress into his body.

A pause.

Squidward walked unsteadily towards the couch. He was suffering the consequences of becoming a servant to his anxiety. The trauma caused by yesterday's incidents was glaring; extreme shock, angst, and despair led to the extreme emotions that the octopus was suffering from.

"I'm not even gonna think about you-know-who at the you-know-what doing I-don't-care." Squidward spoke and then laughed nervously. His mind was being overwhelmed by numerous thoughts. A tiny amount of willpower was still left inside the octopus' mind. He tried to forget about SpongeBob and his possible antics at the Krusty Krab.

Another pause.

Predictably, he failed to do so. Thoughts about SpongeBob destroying the Krusty Krab in several creative ways flooded his mind. "Just... gonna... relax..." The octopus shakily stood up and slowly walked up the stairs. Two people were fighting against each other for the total control of Squidward's body, his rationality and his paranoia.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The bathtub was filled with warm water.

Squidward put on a purple bathing cap. "Let Squid's day off.." He spoke to himself, stepped into the bathtub, and then sat in the water. "...begin." He lowered his head and submerged himself into the water.

A long pause.

Squidward heard SpongeBob's laughing. His imagination was becoming so vivid that it seemed to be reality. Due to the cephalopod's borderline insanity, he thought that what he imagined was real.

Squidward came out of the water as he sat up. "What was that?" He cautiously looked at his surroundings in search of SpongeBob or any signs of the sponge.

SpongeBob's nonexistent laughing was heard again.

"It's SpongeBob. He's spying on me, to see if I'm really doing errands." Squidward jumped to a wild conclusion. Almost all of his conclusions by that point were also assumptions, rationality was currently losing the battle occuring inside his head. The octopus then chuckled like a madman. "But, but he left his post." He began a series of assumptions/conclusions. Squidward chuckled again. "And I've finally caught him messing up." He smirked and stood up from the bathtub. The octopus stepped out of the bathtub and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...opened the window. He thought that SpongeBob was stalking him through that window. "Aha! I caught you, Sponge-" Squidward smiled widely and was saying something but he quickly became quiet more than halfway through his sentence. His eyes widened and his mouth returned to a neutral expression.

SpongeBob was nowhere to be seen.

Squidward's rationality started to win the battle within the cephalopod's mind. It took control of his mind. "You're losin' it, Squidward. Calm down. If I let this get to me again, I'll just end up running down to the Krusty Krab, bursting through the front door, up to that yellow headache SpongeBob, and he'll say-" The octopus was saying something and his face became not as wrinkly as before. However, he got interrupted by a certain 'sponge'.

"Hi, Squidward." 'SpongeBob' greeted the octopus and waved at him. It was a figment of Squidward's hyperactive imagination. "Are you finished with those errands yet?" 'He' then...

**SPLASH**

...dove to the water of the bathtub.

Squidward's face became wrinkly again and he made a maniacal smile. "Aha!' He stepped back and dove towards the bathtub. He was trying to pounce SpongeBob in a desperate attempt to catch him. Once he catches the sponge, he will carry him to Mr. Krabs and tell the crab about what happened. His fears were so powerful that they became self-destructive, the octopus was now seeking and desiring for evidence supporting a misdemeanor by SpongeBob in the Krusty Krab.

**SPLASH**

Squidward fell into the bathtub's warm water.

A pause.

While Squidward was underwater, he saw a now tiny 'SpongeBob' wink at him and then swim into the drain. He gasped after seeing that and then stood up from the water. "He's heading back to the Krusty Krab! I'll beat him there!" The octopus stated his conclusion/assumption out loud. He grabbed a towel that was on the floor and wrapped it around the lower part of his body. The cephalopod then ran towards the door.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the door open and exited the bathroom. The octopus then ran down the hallway and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room. He grabbed the key from the floor and sprinted to the front door.

**SLAM**

The octopus pushed the sofa out of the way. He then unlocked the door and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...quickly exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked through the automatic glass double door and exited the hospital. He had been laying on a bed under his doctor's watch while he was unconscious. Once he woke up, his doctor decided that it was safe for the crab to leave the hospital and carry out his everyday activities.

His doctor walked up to him from behind. "Okay, Mr. Krabs. Get plenty of rest and if things don't seem right, come back." The doctor then turned around, walked through the automatic double door, and entered the hospital.

"Thanks, Doc." Mr. Krabs smiled and walked towards the Krusty Krab. He wanted to see how SpongeBob and Squidward were doing with the business without his supervision. The boss especially wanted to see how the octopus did with managing the business, the crab had a bad feeling that Squidward was either sleeping during the job or went to his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

Squidward barged the door open and sprinted into the Krusty Krab. "Aha! I caught you now!" He smiled widely at his 'victory'. "You didn't think I knew you were watching me outside my window. Ha!" He stopped running and pointed at SpongeBob. His unstable negative emotions were glaring to all.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He did not know what Squidward was talking about. The sponge also became concerned for his manager's well-being, the octopus looked extremely stressful from his viewpoint.

"And then you were in my bathtub, and I... a-and you... and I... and then you... swam... down the drain and... beat me to the... Krusty Krab." Squidward made a dramatic realization. The octopus did not realize how close he was to insanity until he saw SpongeBob's puzzled face. His face no longer became wrinkled, his pupils no longer dilated, and his hands no longer shook. His mental state returned to normal. The despair and angst caused by seeing the future returned to his mind as well, the anxiety was eliminated. "Sponge, I'm sorry for what I did. I'm just having a bad day today." The octopus spoke with honesty to the yellow employee, he did not want SpongeBob to tell Mr. Krabs about what he was doing. He also felt comfortable enough to tell those words to the yellow square. "And yes, SpongeBob. I am finished with those errands." Squidward walked up to the cash register. "I want to take my place back at the cash register." He wanted to work again. It would distract him from the angst and despair since there were plenty of customers nearby.

"You better put some clothes on then." SpongeBob giggled and gave Squidward's hat back to the octopus. The sponge was aware of the fact that Squidward was almost nude and found that to be funny since the public could see him

Squidward hastily ran towards the double door and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the restaurant.


	41. Bubble Buddy

**Chapter 41: Bubble Buddy**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was the morning.

**HOOOOOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm blew.

SpongeBob opened his eyes, beamed, and sat up. With optimism, he thought that today was going to be a great day full of wonderful incidents that he was going to remember. Out of the days in the week that had passed so far, he considered Monday to be the best. He thought that day was the best since he got to be fry cook and cashier for a short amount of time on that day.

CLICK

SpongeBob turned off the foghorn's alarm. The sponge then hopped to the floor and put on his shoes. "Good morning, Gar-bear." He greeted his snail.

"H-hi." Gary slowly opened his eyes and meowed. He was more drowsy than usual on that day. The snail slithered out of the pile of newspapers in an attempt to bring more energy back into his body. His stomach also felt empty; he was hungry.

SpongeBob merrily walked towards the right door.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom and walked down the stairs.

Gary followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited the pineapple. He had eaten breakfast and brushed his teeth. While he had did those activities, he decided on what fun activity he was going to do for the next few hours before work. The sponge walked towards Patrick's rock and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the rock. He wanted to play some childish games with his best friend. He was aware of the fact that some of the games he played with the starfish were foolish and were what kids played but he did not care.

A pause. There was no response.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the rock again. He assumed that Patrick was drowsy like his pet snail. The sponge knew that the sea star sometimes slept for excessive periods of time.

Another pause. There was still no response.

"I guess Pat's still sleeping." SpongeBob shrugged. He knew by that point that his best friend was sleeping more than usual on that day. The sponge turned around and walked towards Squidward's tiki. The yellow square thought that playing games with Squidward was the next best activity to do. He did not visit Sandy since he did not want to bother her during her work.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door. He patiently waited for Squidward to open the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was in the kitchen. He was writing in a large notebook that was recently bought from a store. He had decided that after the incident on Monday, he could no longer repress the negative emotions that began their development during Sunday. He needed a way to express these emotions without making them evolve into other negative emotions, the octopus had decided that doing it in written form was best. From his viewpoint, words instead of pictures could most accurately describe his emotions.

The notebook was being used as a diary.

Squidward stopped writing when he heard the knocking of the front door. He stood up from the chair at the table and hoped that the person who was knocking was not either of his two neighbors or both. The octopus walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and walked up to the front door.

**CRREEAAAK**

He opened the wooden door and saw SpongeBob. He then groaned and became grumpy. The octopus could guess by SpongeBob's smiling face that the sponge was going to annoy him.

"Hey, Squidward. Wanna play?" SpongeBob asked. He was jumping up and down in excitement. The sponge was anticipating to the fun activities that he could with the cephalopod.

"No." Squidward shook his head and frowned. He then folded his arms. His body was expressing seriousness. The octopus had an activity that was more important to do than playing stupid games with his yellow neighbor.

"Are you sure?" SpongeBob put his hands together. He was about to beg for Squidward to play with him. He thought that he and Squidward could become better 'friends' by spending some time together. The innocent sponge had no malicious intentions.

"Yes." Squidward nodded with confidence. He grabbed the handle of the front door and...

**SLAM**

...closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the kitchen and resumed the writing of his diary entry.

S-S-S-S-S

"Darn." SpongeBob said a very mild curse in frustration. He had no one to play with. The yellow sponge did not want to jellyfish during that morning since he did not feel like it. SpongeBob did not want his morning to be boring and be a typical one for a workday. He sometimes tried new hobbies or activities during these mornings so they are not repetitive. It was one of the many ways his child-like nature influenced his decision-making. "I wish I had a buddy to play with." He stated what he was thinking. He looked at the ground as he walked towards his pineapple.

SpongeBob saw a rock.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers and grinned. "I know! I'll make one!" He decided to make that idea into a reality. He was going to have an imaginary friend that would act as a substitute for his missing friends, he would do all of his fun activities for that morning with that 'friend'. He grabbed a wooden stick that was on the ground and made it stand up. "Stick buddy!" He gave the newly made imaginary friend a name.

The stick fell to the ground.

"Nah..." SpongeBob shook his head and decided that the wooden stick was not going to be his 'friend'. He wanted to make an imaginary friend that had a unique physical appearance so 'he/she' could be memorable. He grabbed a few nearby rocks and put them on top of each other to form a pile. "Rock buddy!" He gave the 'new' friend a name.

**CRASH**

The rocks fell to the ground. The weight distribution in the rock pile was not balanced.

"Nope..." SpongeBob shook his head. He needed a 'friend' that had a stable physical form.

A long pause.

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "I've got it!" He took out a bottle of bubble soap and a bubble wand. He opened the bottle and dipped the wand into the bottle's soap. He then blew into the wand.

A bubble that was in the shape of a humanoid wearing a top hat came out of the wand's hole.

"Bubble buddy!" SpongeBob gave the bubble a name while being enthusiastic. Even though the 'friend's' physical form was not entirely stable since it could pop, he considered the newly made imaginary friend to be acceptable. He then held his hand on the humanoid bubble's 'hand', they were helping hands. "C'mon, Bubble Buddy, let's have some fun!" He then pranced merrily to the park with his new 'friend'. He had already planned what fun activities he was going to do with his 'friend'.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob skipped to a seesaw while he was bringing Bubble Buddy with him. He put Bubble Buddy on one end of the seesaw while he sat in the other end of the seesaw.

SpongeBob pushed his feet towards the ground and made his end move towards the ground. He then lifted his feet from his end and made his seesaw end move towards the sky. The sponge repeatedly did that so the seesaw could stay in motion.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

"This... is... great!" Just 'someone' being with the sponge while he was doing those morning activities made those activities fun from his perspective. Even though he was truly playing with himself since his 'friend' was not 'alive', he was enjoying the activity.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stepped out of the seesaw and grabbed Bubble Buddy's hand, he became satisfied with the amount of time that he played with his 'friend' at the seesaw. He then walked towards his neighborhood. The sponge was going to show many new activities to the humanoid bubble and make it 'try' them. "This is just the tip of the iceberg, Bubble Buddy." The sponge made a wide smile and pulled the bubble along. "There's so many more things to show you." He stated a thought in his mind.

A light breeze blew against SpongeBob.

Bubble Buddy swayed in the air due to the breeze.

SpongeBob looked at Bubble Buddy from the corner of his eye and he then widened his eyes, he thought for a second that the bubble was flying away. The sponge was worried about his new 'friend' popping. If the humanoid bubble flew away from him and hit a sharp object, it would be the death of his imaginary friend. He pulled the bubble towards himself. "Don't scare me like that, buddy. Stay with me." He made a solemn face and then looked at what he was heading for.

Bubble Buddy's 'head' swayed in a certain way that made it look like it was nodding.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

"..and that is how you jellyfish." SpongeBob swung Ol' Reliable in front of Bubble Buddy for a final time. He had been demonstrating the catching of a jellyfish to the humanoid bubble. That was the eighth activity that he did, showed, or tried to teach to the bubble. He thought that teaching his new friend about the many fun or useful things in his world would be fun and productive at the same time for him.

Bubble Buddy had been floating in the same position for the last thirty minutes.

SpongeBob looked at his watch and noticed what time it was. "I better go to work." He took out his employee hat and put it on. The sponge walked up to Bubble Buddy. "Wanna come with me? I could show you around the Krusty Krab." He spoke his imaginary friend.

Bubble Buddy did not make any response.

SpongeBob's optimistic thinking made him assume that Bubble Buddy said "Yes." The bubble had already 'agreed' to do the eight activities that they did for the past few hours. Since it was an imaginary friend, a piece of the sponge's psyche was projected to it. "Okee-dokee." He smiled and dragged Bubble Buddy with him.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick slowly opened his eyes; he woke up.

A long pause.

Patrick sat up in his bed and wiped his eyes until his vision was clear. He then yawned and stood up from his bed. The sea star had overslept and his eyes made that fact apparent.

Another pause.

Patrick heard SpongeBob's footsteps and then smiled. Life quickly entered his mind and body, he was going to do his nearly daily ritual of greeting his best friend during the morning. The starfish almost always became fully awake after greeting SpongeBob, that morning ritual was the main way that he dealt with sleeping problems. It was surprising due to it being true in spite of the fact that Patrick was oftentimes stupid.

The sea star leaped to the ceiling.

**SLAM**

The starfish hit the rock's ceiling and became stuck to it.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAAK**

The rock opened.

"Hi, SpongeBob." Patrick greeted SpongeBob as the sponge walked towards the Krusty Krab while holding Bubble Buddy. After saying those words, he became fully alert and also became ready to tackle the day as a result. "Who's that?" He pointed at the humanoid bubble. The sea star's intelligence decreased by a large amount. He could not if the 'person' was a nonliving object or alive.

"This guy's called Bubble Buddy." SpongeBob pointed at Bubble Buddy. "He's a new friend of mine and I'm gonna show him the Krusty Krab." The yellow square stated the reason for why he was bringing the bubble with him to work, he knew that Patrick was going to ask a question about that.

"Hi, Bubble Buddy." Patrick smirked and waves at the humanoid bubble. He truly believed that the bubble was a living person. His stupidity made him almost as gullible as SpongeBob.

"Well, see ya later, Pat." SpongeBob waved at Patrick and then looked at the road ahead of him. He briskly walked towards his destination while he carefully held on to his imaginary friend. The sponge did not want to be late for work.

"Bye, Bubble Buddy." Patrick giggled and waved back at SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy. The humanoid bubble's name sounded silly in his opinion.

Patrick's back eventually slipped off the rock's ceiling.

"Yikes!" Patrick flailed his limbs as he fell to the floor.

**CRASH**

Patrick fell into the couch and tipped it over.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"I can't wait for you to meet Squidward and Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob whispered to Bubble Buddy as he became nearer and nearer to the Krusty Krab by walking towards it. He wanted to introduce his 'friend' to his coworker and boss, he wanted them to become acquainted with the bubble since he was going to bring the bubble to the restaurant as a guest. He eventually then stood before the double door of the building. "This is the place." He informed Bubble Buddy about them being at the destination. The yellow square then pointed at the sign so Bubble Buddy could identify what the place was.

Bubble Buddy floated in the air while SpongeBob was holding its arm.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the double door and took out the key from his pocket. "Morning, lad." The crab greeted the yellow employee, he did not look directly at the sponge so he did not see the humanoid bubble. He then unlocked the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the Krusty Krab.

Squidward walked up to the Krusty Krab and noticed the bubble that SpongeBob was holding. He then raised his brow at the sight of the bubble. "SpongeBob, what sort of antic you're doing this time?" The octopus asked.

"I want you to meet my new friend, Bubble Buddy." SpongeBob introduced Bubble Buddy to Squidward and pointed at the bubble with the thumb of his hand, he was treating the bubble like a normal person. He had a vivid imagination but could tell the difference between reality and fantasy, it was not like the situation that happened with Squidward a few days ago.

"This bubble is your friend?" Squidward smiled since he was on the verge of chuckling, he was not taking SpongeBob's words seriously. He found the idea of an imaginary friend to be childish. He looked at Bubble Buddy's 'face' and saw a reflection of his own face on the bubble's 'face'. "Well, he's handsome, I'll give him that." The octopus spoke some words that reveled another sign of his narcissism. The cephalopod thought that he was more decent-looking than the average Bikini Bottomite. He then walked towards the restaurant and...

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the building.

"Don't be nervous, Bubble Buddy. I'll give you a little tour of the place." SpongeBob tried to dispel any doubts in the bubble's 'mind' and then walked towards the double door while dragging the bubble along. In reality, he was talking to himself since the imaginary friend was part of his psyche.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the double door and entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen while he was still dragging the bubble with him. "I'll show you where I work in the building." The sponge was going to show his working station first while preparing it at the same time.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy were in front of the Krusty Krab's back side. "That is where you put the trash." The sponge pointed at the dumpster, he was enjoying his teaching about the Krusty Krab to the bubble. The two had reached the last place in the restaurant that SpongeBob did not cover.

A pause.

"Well, that's about it." SpongeBob took hold of Bubble Buddy's hand and walked towards the back door.

**CRRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy re-entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

"After seeing all of that stuff and doing all of that walking, you must be hungry, right?" SpongeBob let go of Bubble Buddy's hand and asked the humanoid bubble a question. He wanted to hear an answer to his question, he knew what he was doing was a fantasy but he did not care since he was having fun anyway.

A long pause.

Bubble Buddy did not respond. It flew in the left direction at a snail's pace.

SpongeBob assumed that the bubble said "Yes." The yellow square grabbed Bubble Buddy's wrist. "Alright." He nodded. The sponge walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up while bringing Bubble Buddy with him to Squidward who was sitting in the boat. "Hi, Squidward." He greeted his co-worker. While he was doing the tour, he realized that he forgot to greet Squidward so he waited for an opportunity like the one that was currently happening to arise.

"What'll it be?" Squidward assumed that SpongeBob wanted to order something. The octopus did not want to get involved in his yellow co-worker's antics, he would look silly if he joined SpongeBob in that game of 'imaginary friends' and played that game in front of customers. He also thought that SpongeBob ordering something from the Krusty Krab was humorous since the sponge was the one that was doing the cooking.

"Oh, I'm not hungry." SpongeBob made a slight smile and shook his head humbly. He had brought Bubble Buddy with him for a reason.

"Well, thanks for stopping by." Squidward shrugged and spoke with sarcasm. The sponge often tried to talk to him for the sake of it anyway.

"Wait! You haven't taken Bubble Buddy's order yet." SpongeBob unintentionally stated the reason for why he had walked up to Squidward and talked with him. The sponge pointed at Bubble Buddy.

"Why would I do that?" Squidward raised his brow. He did not consider the bubble to be a customer since the object was not even alive. From his viewpoint, SpongeBob looked and sounded foolish by thinking that a bubble wanted to order something.

"He's hungry." SpongeBob stated the reason for why he walked up to Squidward intentionally. He gently shoved Bubble Buddy towards the boat.

"He's an inanimate object, his money's no good here." Squidward folded his arms and rolled his eyes. For him, there was no way that he can take an order from a bubble. A bubble does not have a brain so an order from it would be impossible. The octopus also knew that bubbles cannot earn money unless it was fake or give money to someone unless the money was given to that someone by another person who was doing it for the bubble.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs overheard the conversation between SpongeBob and Squidward. He stood up from his desk and walked towards the door to the dining room. He wanted to say something to the octopus.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened that door and stepped out of his office.

S-S-S-S-S

"What are you saying, Mr. Squidward? Everyone's money is good here. At the Krusty Krab, we serve all kinds." Mr. Krabs stated something to Squidward since the fact that the cephalopod said was not accurate. Due to his cheapness and pirate personality, anybody could come to the restaurant to order something. Even criminals could order food from the restaurant.

"I'm not taking an order for a bubble. That bubble is not a person." Squidward still refused to take Bubble Buddy's order. He thought that his dignity as an employee would be lowered significantly if he had to serve food to something that was not even alive. The disrespect that Mr. Krabs had to his employees was one of the reasons why he hated his job.

"Sure you are! Or I'll fill your life with misery and woe." Mr. Krabs glared at Squidward. He made a threat by indirectly stating that he will fire the octopus, he knew that the cephalopod was a mediocre artist and musician.

**CRRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

Squidward sighed. "May I take your order?" He spoke in a voice that had a somewhat lower volume. The octopus was not proud of having to serve a bubble and it was even embarassing to a slight degree.

"Wait, Bubble Buddy. Let me decide for you." SpongeBob looked up at the Galley Grub. In reality, he was ordering for himself. However, he was considering which item on the menu would suit Bubble Buddy's tastes best. "Hmmm. Krabby Patty, Double Patty, Krabby Junior, Jumbo Small Patty, Junior Senior Sophomore Patty, Quarter Ouncer Double Pounder..." He spoke what he was reading as he thought about which of the Galley Grub's items that he was going to pick. "...ohh, it's all so good! He'll just take one of everything." He could not decide on a certain item.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard what SpongeBob said and his eyes widened in surprise. "One of everything?!" The crab smiled widely and ran towards the door to the dining room.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door open and exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

"I love Bubble Buddy!" Mr. Krabs announced his suddenly platonic love for the bubble to his employees and the bubble itself. He imagined all of the money that he was going to earn due to that extremely large order. The crab did not care if the bubble was alive or not, he knew that bubbles were not living things, but he loved the bubble since it was what caused SpongeBob to make that excessively large order. He walked up to the octopus. "Squidward, show our best customer to his table." He pointed at a nearby table. The crab then walked up to Bubble Buddy and carefully patted it on the shoulder, he did not want to accidentally pop the bubble with his claws.

SpongeBob looked at Bubble Buddy and noticed that it was floating towards the ceiling. He then grabbed its hand and lowered it to the floor. "Bubble Buddy's thirsty as well." He assumed.

Squidward looked down at the boat and noticed that there was a shampoo bottle beneath the tip of the boat. The octopus sometimes leaves his belongings inside the boat due to forgetting them. "How about a glass of our finest shampoo?" He held out the shampoo bottle and laughed by honking his nose. He made a joke since bubbles could come out of shampoo while shampoo was being used.

"Sounds great!" SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He believed that shampoo could be a healthy drink for 'anthropomorphic' bubbles like Bubble Buddy for the same reason why what Squidward said was a joke.

Squidward stepped out of the boat and...

Creak

...opened the door to the kitchen. He left it ajar.

A pause.

Squidward exited the kitchen with a straw in his hand and...

Slam

...closed the door. Squidward opened the shampoo bottle and put the straw into it. "Here's your hair care product, sir." The octopus then gave the shampoo bottle to SpongeBob and chuckled. He could not take an order such as the one he suggested seriously. The customer who 'ordered' the shampoo made the order even funnier.

SpongeBob inspected the straw that was on the bottle and then looked at Bubble Buddy. He became worried about the possibility of Bubble Buddy popping due to the straw piercing its frail and transparent skin. "Uhh, Bubble Buddy likes bendy straws." He gave the shampoo bottle back to Squidward.

Squidward bent the straw and then quickly gave it back to SpongeBob. He wanted the bubble to 'drink' the shampoo so he and his yellow co-worker can move on to the excessive order that consisted of all of the Galley Grub's items.

SpongeBob carefully put the straw on the area where Bubble Buddy's 'mouth' would be. He then squeezed the shampoo bottle so his 'friend' could sip on the liquid.

The liquid passed through the straw and got absorbed by the bubble's skin. The transparent skin became discolored by a slight tint of grey.

"Huh, what's that? Bubble Buddy says it tastes funny." SpongeBob thought that Bubble Buddy was trying to say that the shampoo tasted abnormal through the discoloration on his 'mouth'. "What do you think?" The sponge held out the shampoo bottle to Squidward, he wanted his co-worker to try it. He did not look at the label on the back of the bottle, he thought that the shampoo was non-toxic.

Squidward gulped nervously at the thought of drinking the shampoo. He would certainly get poisoned from drinking the liquid. "Mr. Krabs!" He called for his boss. He thought that SpongeBob was becoming ridiculous with his requests.

Mr. Krabs was sitting at an empty table and was watching his employees and Bubble Buddy. He was making sure that the order went smoothly. "Think of the customer." He responded simply.

Squidward sighed. "I'll pass." He gestured with one hand to indicate that he did not want the shampoo bottle.

A pause.

"Will you make those patties already?" Squidward pointed something out. He made a solemn facial expression. The octopus was tired of SpongeBob's shenanigans.

SpongeBob remembered the order that he said. "R-right." The sponge smiled nervously and walked towards the kitchen door.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Bubble Buddy floated towards the metal wall and leaned on it.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob kicked the door to the dining room open. His hands were both holding a plate of a Galley Grub item each. "Excuse me. Coming through." The sponge briskly walked to a table and set the plates on that table. He was trying to bring the plates out of the kitchen as fast as possible. The sponge then rapidly entered and exited the kitchen with new plates of food in his hands every time he exited the kitchen.

Squidward watched SpongeBob do that tedious task. He would loathe his job even more if Mr. Krabs made him do tasks like the one SpongeBob was doing everyday.

SpongeBob eventually brought all of the plates to the table. He walked up to the kitchen door and...

**SLAM**

...closed that door. The sponge then grabbed Bubble Buddy's 'wrist' and dragged him to the table full of plates. The yellow square than picked up a normal Krabby Patty from a plate. "Try this one." He inched the burger towards the bubble.

The Krabby Patty made physical contact with Bubble Buddy's frail skin.

SpongeBob raised his brow in confusion and moved the Krabby Patty away from the bubble. He then noticed that the cheese was sticking to Bubble Buddy's 'mouth'. "Oh no..." The sponge bit his lip and came to a conclusion. "Squidward... I think Bubble Buddy's lactose-intolerant." The sponge turned around and made eye contact with his co-worker, he pointed at the cheese that was sticking to the bubble at the same time. "He can't eat cheese! What should we do?" The sponge did not want to remove the cheese from the burgers, he wanted Bubble Buddy to enjoy the full tastes of the Krabby Patties.

Squidward groaned. He knew by that point that SpongeBob was going to unintentionally make the order more difficult to serve. The octopus then mildly glared at the yellow square. "We? How about YOU take these patties and sho-" He was making a bitter remark when he got interrupted by his boss.

"Mr. Squidward!" Mr. Krabs pointed at the octopus and then folded his arms. He reminded his employee to treat the humanoid bubble with kindness. What he did wad also a reminder for the imminent firing of Squidward if the octopus refused to serve the bubble.

"Don't worry, Bubble Buddy. I'll make a fresh batch. Squidward will change and take some things out of the burgers until they are suited for your tastes." SpongeBob told Bubble Buddy about what he and Squidward were going to do. He then walked towards the door to the kitchen. The sponge thought that freshly made food that were also tweaked for his 'friend's' taste would be ideal.

Squidward looked at the burgers and plates on the table and raised his brow. "What're we gonna do with all of these patties?" He then looked at Mr. Krabs as he asked the question, he expected an answer from his boss.

"Simple." Mr. Krabs smirked and stood up. He took out a small price tag gun and walked up to the Galley Grub items on the table. "I'll price 'em for nearly double. They're pre-made after all." He typed a price into the gun and began to put price tags on the plates that the food were on. He typed different prices and put them on the plates as well depending on the food on the plates. Since the food were pre-made, the crab felt like that was a good excuse for raising the price by 1.5 times. It was a quick way to earn extra cash.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Another ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and hastily exited the kitchen with several plates in his hands. The cheese in the burgers were removed.

A few customers had entered the Krusty Krab and were eating the pre-made Galley Grub items that they had bought.

SpongeBob set the plates on a empty table. He then ran back and forth between the table and the kitchen. Within less than a minute, he had brought all of the plates to that table. "Order up!" The yellow square called for his co-worker.

Bubble Buddy has been floating near the boat.

Squidward stood up and dragged Bubble Buddy to the table by grabbed its 'wrist'. He then made it sit in the table and grabbed a normal Krabby Patty from a plate. The octopus inched the Krabby Patty towards the humanoid bubble. He had a neutral expression and looked at his surroundings as the burger became closer and closer to the bubble's 'mouth'. He found the idea of feeding a bubble to be ridiculous, he was afraid of looking silly in front of the public.

SpongeBob sweatdropped at what he was seeing. He did not want Bubble Buddy to pop. The sponge put his hand on Squidward's hand that was holding the burger. "Umm..." The sponge was forming some words inside his head.

"What, is he allergic to bread, too?" Squidward rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. The octopus had expected SpongeBob to do such an action.

"Actually, he doesn't like the crust..." SpongeBob became the advocate for Bubble Buddy. He began to say what the 'friend' did not 'like' as a precaution, he wanted to make the food safe for the bubble to consume.

"Gimme your spatula." Squidward held out his hand. It would be easier to get all of the crust out of the buns if a thin metal object was used. He did not want to waste a long amount of time perfecting the food for Bubble Buddy's consumption. The octopus predicted that a large volume of customers were going to visit the Krusty Krab since customers had already arrived in less than an hour after the restaurant's opening.

SpongeBob took out his spatula and gave it to Squidward.

Squidward quickly removed the crust from all of the buns with the spatula. He then grabbed the Krabby Patty again and moved it towards Bubble Buddy's 'mouth'. The octopus gave the spatula back to the yellow sponge at the same time.

SpongeBob smiled and made a thumbs-up. He approved of Squidward's feeding of the humanoid bubble, he believed that the Galley Grub items were safe for the the bubble to eat.

A pause.

Something inside SpongeBob's pocket glowed.

The sponge opened the glowing pocket and looked inside. His eyes then bugged out in shock.

The pages were glowing. SpongeBob had kept them inside his pants and forgot about them.

_**I believe I have made an error.**_

A familiar voice was heard inside SpongeBob's head.

'Mr. Ghost?' SpongeBob mentally spoke. He was staring into space as he said those words. From someone else's viewpoint, it looked like SpongeBob was deep in thought.

_**It seems like the pages can gather the emotions of its' users. Such a case is occuring right now. **_The phantom was aware of what was happening to the pages.

The pages had been gathering the energy from the emotional connection between SpongeBob and his imaginary friend. The sponge's strong but temporary belief that the humanoid bubble was an actual person gave the pages magical power. Instead of the situation, it was the will of the user that made them glow. However, the pages had only gathered a minor amount of magical power; it was nothing like what happened during the cook-off between the yellow square and Poseidon.

SpongeBob dug into his pocket and touched the pages. He was curious to see what was going to happen if the pages' magic were used.

The Krabby Patty touched Bubble Buddy's 'mouth'.

The humanoid bubble glowed for a few seconds and then grabbed the burger. It then ate the Krabby Patty as if it was a normal person.

SpongeBob and Squidward's eyes bugged out in extreme shock and they stepped away from Bubble Buddy. They did not expect the bubble to do that at all.

The pages in SpongeBob's pocket stopped glowing.

The chewed pieces of the Krabby Patty floated inside the bubble and then slowly disappeared.

Squidward could not believe what he was seeing. "I-I guess Bubble Buddy's alive a-after all..." He managed to get some words out of his mouth. The octopus had came to a conclusion. He thought that he should have believed his co-worker from the beginning; he was not aware of the magical pages in SpongeBob's pocket.

SpongeBob grabbed a Krabby Patty deluxe. "H-here you go." The sponge gave the large burger to the humanoid bubble. He wanted to see how Bubbke Buddy was going to react.

Bubble Buddy began to eat the Krabby Pattty deluxe.

SpongeBob's mouth slowly curved into a smile.

Squidward stared the bubble for several more seconds before walking back to the boat. He could not figure out the cause for the humanoid bubble being 'alive'. He just accepted the fact that it was eating the food served to it as if it was a normal situation. More mind-boggling incidents had happened on that Sunday. "C'mon, SpongeBob. We have customers waiting for us." He had noticed from the corner of his eye that a line in front of the boat had began to form.

"Eat up, Bubble Buddy." SpongeBob patted his friend on the shoulder and then walked towards the kitchen.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen, he was ready to fulfill the customers' orders.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing next to his rock and was doing nothing. It was some sort of meditation for the sea star. He allowed random and numerous thoughts pass through his conscience while he did not look at a particular object. When it comes to critical thinking, Patrick's brain under most circumstances would function best after it gets cleared. However, when high-stress situations arise and there is only a short amount of time left, Patrick's brain can also function well although it is not guaranteed that it will do so for every high-stress situation. Nearly half of the time when it comes to those situations, the sea star becomes too stupid to be of much assistance.

Patrick's stomach grumbled.

The starfish had ignored his hunger until that point. Since his mind had been cleared, he could interpret body signals better. When his stomach made that sound combined with its emptiness, the sea star decided that he needed to eat. 'A Krabby Patty'll probably fill me up.' He thought. Patrick walked towards the Krusty Krab; his mediation ended.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick entered the Krusty Krab.

Customers were occupying all of the tables. The restaurant was having a large amount of customers ordering from it and eating there on that day. Profits were going to be high.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the ordering window and was watching Squidward put some money into the cash register. There were no orders to fulfill so he decided to watch his co-worker until a customer comes with an order. When he watched the octopus do his job, the sponge suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeahhh..." He raised his index finger and took out his wallet with the other hand. The sponge opened the wallet and took out $100. "Here you go, Squid." SpongeBob held out the $100 towards Squidward.

Squidward turned around and raised his brow when he saw the $100 being held out to him. "Is this some sort of trick?" The octopus was assuming that SpongeBob was up to more antics. He knew that the yellow square does a wide variety of foolish actions or activities when it comes to annoying him.

"It's for the second batch of food that I made for Bubble Buddy." SpongeBob explained the reason for his action.

Squidward nodded and took the money. He then put that money into the cash register. He found SpongeBob's reason to be plausible.

Patrick walked up to the boat. He looked up at the Galley Grub and then decided on what he was going to order. "I would like a Krabby Patty Double Deluxe." He stated his order. The sea star picked a larger Krabby Patty so it would fill his stomach faster.

Squidward jotted down the order on a sticky note and then stuck the note to the metal wheel on the ordering window.

"Coming right up!" SpongeBob smiled widely and began to make that Krabby Patty. His reflexes made him immediately take action.

A pause.

Patrick looked at his surroundings. He was trying to find Bubble Buddy. The sea star last remembered seeing the bubble when it was going with SpongeBob to the Krusty Krab. He then looked at the door to the kitchen and became curious. The bubble being inside the kitchen was possible. Patrick then walked up to the door, a peek inside the kitchen would not hurt.

**CREAK**

Patrick opened the door until it was ajar. He then peeked inside the kitchen.

Bubble Buddy was floating near a wall inside the kitchen.

SpongeBob was flipping two patties.

A thought suddenly entered Patrick's mind. It was about how SpongeBob treated Bubble Buddy and him. 'Why can't I come to work with him? Why did he do it with Bubble Buddy instead? Is there something wrong or different about me?' The sea star mentally asked a series of questions. The early stages of jealousy grew like green ivy in his mind, it would soon cover the brain and all of his thoughts as a result. However, he kept these feelings to himself and did not take them too seriously. He wanted to see what SpongeBob did with Bubble Buddy in order to make an accurate judgement.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**RING**

SpongeBob rang the bell on the ordering window. "Order up!" He announced the completion of the order.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen with a Krabby Patty Double Deluxe on a plate in his hands. He then saw Patrick, walked up to him, and gave him the burger he ordered. "Hey, Pat." The sponge greeted his best friend before...

**CRRRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...he entered the kitchen again. SpongeBob could not talk with his friend for long, he had other customers that were waiting for him. They had gathered in a line before the boat.

Patrick sat in a table and ate the burger.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the empty plate on a stack of empty plates that was leaning on the metal wall. Most customers left their plates in stacks near the metal wall so as to make it easier for the employees to clean the dishes. The sea star then walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

..exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was in a deep state of thought as he walked towards his home. He was thinking of a way to see how SpongeBob treated Bubble Buddy without being a stalker.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The idea of visiting a location with his friends entered his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sky was orange and the sun was beginning to set.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

FLICK

The crustacean also turned off the lights in the building by flicking the switch from 'ON' to 'OFF'.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Squidward, Mr. Krabs; and a dragged Bubble Buddy exited the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob and Squidward were finished with their cleaning and maintenance duties. The crab had counted today's profits.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs took out the key and locked the double door. "Have a good day, me lads." The boss put the key away and walked towards his anchor. The crustacean was going to do some leisurely activities such as reading old newspapers and watching TV.

"Time to go home, buddy." SpongeBob spoke to his imaginary friend and then walked towards his pineapple. He dragged the humanoid bubble with him. He knew of an activity that he and the bubble could do together at home.

Squidward silently walked towards his tiki with a slight smile. The octopus was beginning to feel glad that Bubble Buddy was around. SpongeBob was focusing most of his attention on the bubble instead of him. The yellow square did not annoy him as much on that day as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting down while leaning on his rock. He had been waiting for SpongeBob to come back to the neighborhood for thirty minutes. His mind was in a state between being awake and being asleep, it was some sort of semi-nap. The mediation that the sea star did earlier in the day assisted him in staying awake. If he had not meditated, he would have been napping by that point.

Squidward walked up to his tiki's front door.

**CRREEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered his tiki.

Patrick opened his eyes until his eyelids were in their normal positions at the sight of SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy. He stood up and walked up to the sponge. The sea star had decided on what location he, SpongeBob, and Bubble Buddy were going to visit as he waited for the two friends. "Sponge, I wanna ask you something." He began the conversation.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob made eye contact with his best friend. He thought that it would be nice to talk with Patrick since he only said a few words to him at the Krusty Krab.

"You wanna go to Goo Lagoon? You can bring Bubble Buddy along if you want." Patrick asked the question that he had waited for a large chunk of the day to ask. He was confident when he spoke his words. Under most times, the sponge would agree to go and have fun with him after a question like the one he asked was asked.

SpongeBob thought for several seconds. "Sure. Why not?" He grinned and began to jump up and down in excitement. He thought that relaxing or playing a fun game at Goo Lagoon would be better with two friends than one.

Patrick walked towards Goo Lagoon. "Last one there is a rotten clam!" The sea star then ran towards the beach at a somewhat high speed. He wanted to have some fun before even entering the beach.

SpongeBob smirked and ran towards his best friend. He was quickly catching up with him. He continued to hold on to the humanoid bubble as he ran.

The pages in SpongeBob's pocket glowed by a slight intensity.

Bubble Buddy began an attempt to run at the same pace as SpongeBob's.

The pages in SpongeBob's pocket returned to normal.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stepped into Goo Lagoon first. He was holding Bubble Buddy's hand. He smiled widely at his tiny victory.

After a few seconds, Patrick entered the beach as well. However, he did not become upset. He had an important task to do that was also the reason why he brought his best friend to the beach.

"Here we are buddy, Goo Lagoon. There are lots of ways to have fun here." SpongeBob introduced the new location to the humanoid bubble. He pointed at the people that were playing on the sand of surfing. He also pointed at the large waves, sand castles, and rocks.

Patrick watched SpongeBob as he said those words to Bubble Buddy. His viewpoint immediately became not in favor of his best friend. He found it odd how SpongeBob talked first to someone that the sponge had met in less than a day instead of him. However, after listening to the sponge's words, he quickly changed his mind. SpongeBob was only introducing Goo Lagoon to Bubble Buddy.

Bubble Buddy moved its head as if it was looking at its surroundings.

SpongeBob walked across the beach while holding on to Bubble Buddy's wrist. "There's gotta be a frisbee around here." He was looking for a frisbee. The sponge wanted to play frisbee with Patrick while teaching the bubble how to play at the same time.

Patrick followed the two.

A purple teenage male walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Hey, Scooter." SpongeBob greeted the teenager. He often saw the purple male fooling around in the beach and was acquainted with him.

Scooter laughed. "Dudes, bury me!" He wanted the sponge and the sea star to assist him in a stunt that he was about to do.

"Can I do it?" Patrick raised his hand. He was willing to have some fun while watching his best friend. He did not want to have a boring and dull time at the beach. The sponge and the bubble would not walk too far away from him anyway; they would almost always be within his sight.

"Go ahead." Scooter made a thumbs-up. He then walked towards the ocean until he was close to the edge of the shore. Small waves lapped over his ankles as he stood on that spot near the ocean. "Do it here." He pointed down at his location. What made his burial a stunt was that it was going to be done near water, if he was not released from his sandy confinement within a short amount of time, his life would be endangered.

"Alrighty." Patrick smiled and walked up to Scooter. "Step out of the way." The sea star gestured with his hand for Scooter to move out of his path. He was going to prepare for the sand burial of the male teenager.

Scooter stepped out of the spot that he had stood on. He was going to obey Patrick's commands as long as he gets buried to the desired ground level eventually.

Patrick dug through the spot that Scooter had stood on and eventually formed a large hole, the hole was several feet deep. The starfish then climbed out of the hole once he was finished. "Get in there." He stated a simple command. He pointed at the hole that he had dug.

Scooter made a wide smile and hopped into the hole. He expected the burial to begin with his entering of the hole.

Patrick pushed the sand that he had moved out of his way during his digging into the hole, he was burying Scooter. The sea star looked at SpongeBob and Bubbe Buddy from the corner of his eye as he was burying, he was still watching them for suspicious behavior.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Stop." Scooter commanded. Nearly his entire body was buried beneath the sand. His head was the only body part sticking out of the ground by that point. The true challenge of the stunt was about to begin, that challenge was trying to escape the prison of sand.

"That's it?" Patrick wanted to make sure that Scooter was satisfied with the ground level that his body was in. He glanced at SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy for several seconds before looking at the purple teenager. The sea star did not want to unintentionally kill Scooter due to negligence, he might get in trouble with the police. However, he was not worried about that possibility. Since he was in Goo Lagoon, the starfish needed to relax.

"Yep." Scooter nodded.

Patrick returned his eyes towards SpongeBob and Bubble Buddy and walked towards them. He resumed his watch of his best friend and the humanoid bubble.

SpongeBob eventually found a frisbee that was laying on top of a small sand mound. "Aha!" He walked up to the frisbee and picked it up. 'I can't keep this for myself.' The yellow square thought. He was going to borrow the frisbee until he felt satisfied after playing frisbee with his friends. SpongeBob was going to return it to the same place that he found it. The sponge tried to put a photographic memory of the sand mound into his mind. He then turned around and saw Patrick walk up to him. "Ready to play?" SpongeBob held out the frisbee and beamed.

Patrick could not help himself and smiled as well. It was a reminder that he should not immediatly assume that his best friend was disloyal by being with the humanoid bubble instead of him. As a matter of fact, the sea star would look like a friend of poor quality and little trust if he made that assumption. "You bet!" The starfish smiled and made a thumbs-up. He then backed up to a certain distance.

SpongeBob squinted as he aimed the frisbee towards Patrick. After a second, he nimbly threw the frisbee towards his best friend.

Patrick hopped and caught the frisbee with both of his hands. He then stepped back and threw the frisbee back to sponge with some force put into his throwing arm.

SpongeBob dove to the ground and caught the frisbee with one hand. The sponge then jumped to his feet.

A pause. SpongeBob came to a realization.

"Where's Bubble Buddy?" SpongeBob raised his brow and looked at his surroundings. His imaginary friend was not within his vision. After several glances, the sponge became worried. He hoped that the worst-case scenario did not happen, that scenario could occur easily.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob. He had not exactly heard the words coming out of his friend's mouth since he had been standing far from the sponge. "What's wrong?" The sea star wanted to know the question that the sponge had asked and why his friend had a worried facial expression.

"I don't know where Bubble Buddy went; I can't see him." SpongeBob informed Patrick about the urgent situation. Telling his troubles to someone else made himself feel less worried. The sponge knew that Patrick could assist him in the following search for the bubble.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubble Buddy was floating across the beach.

**CRRREEAAAK**

A blue young man opened the door to a restroom stall.

The humanoid bubble floated into the restroom stall.

The man groaned and closed the door. He only saw the bubble for a second so he thought that he saw a normal person enter the stall. 'I need to remind myself to enter that stall more quickly.' He thought. The man then patiently waited for the 'person' to finish his 'business'.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked at his surroundings. "I don't see him either. He probably went to some other place." The sea star came to a conclusion. He thought that the humanoid bubble was in a place where someone could not see the other person inside from the outside.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head after the sponge heard Patrick's words. "Why don't we search through some hiding places in the beach and ask some of the folks about the whereabouts of Bubble Buddy?" He proposed the idea to his best friend. The sponge had came up with a decent idea.

"Good idea." Patrick smiled and made a thumbs-up. He was impressed by SpongeBob's creative way of thinking. His jealousy was waning and his trust for the sponge was returning.

"Let's go!" SpongeBob held out an index finger and began to walk around the beach. His optimism prevailed against the possibility of Bubble Buddy's popping; he thought that he and Patrick were going to find the humanoid bubble soon.

Patrick caught up with his best friend and walked at the same pace as his.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick pushed a large rock to the side. He put a small amount of effort into the push, the strength in his arms was massive.

A pause.

Bubble Buddy was not behind the rock, it could not be seen on the hidden surface of the sand mound. There was a large sound mound behind the rock and the rock was pushed to the side so that surface of the mound could be viewed.

The two friends then walked towards elsewhere. They were not going to give up their search for Bubble Buddy yet.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to a male teenager who was building a sand castle. The two best friends decided to begin their interviewing of the nearby people.

"Excuse me..." SpongeBob lightly tapped the male adolescent's shoulder. He was trying to be as polite as possible. The sponge did not want to annoy the teenager by suddenly interrupting his building of the castle.

"Huh?" The teenager stood up and turned around. He saw SpongeBob and Patrick. "What do you want?" He wanted to resume the building of his sand castle, he was barely irritated.

"Have you seen a bubble floating around that looks like a person?" Patrick asked an important question. That question was central to all of the interviews that the two were going to conduct. The sea star had a solemn face, he wanted to assist his friend in the search and took the situation seriously as a consequence.

"Nope." The teenager shook his head.

"Carry on." Patrick walked away from the teenager and looked for another person to interview.

"Tell us if you see any bubble like the one he asked you about." SpongeBob turned around and followed his friend. He and Patrick tried to keep the conversations between the interviewees brief, they were trying to find Bubble Buddy as quickly as possible.

"'kay." The male adolescent nodded and resumed his building of the sand castle. He took a few glimpses at his surroundings in case if the humanoid bubble appeared within his vision.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

There was a long line of impatient people, most of the people in Goo Lagoon were on that line.

Patrick pointed at a long line of waiting people. "Hey, there's still some people we can ask." The sea star pointed at the line of people. Their resources for people playing or walking around in the beach had been exhausted and the two had not gained any information about the whereabouts of Bubble Buddy.

"It's always good to try." SpongeBob walked up to the line. The sponge was determined to find his friend even if the odds were against him. The sponge was not only loyal to his boss, he was loyal to his friends as well.

Patrick nodded in agreement and walked to the waiting line as well.

The two friends then tried to decide on the best person to interview.

The blue young man looked at his watch and gritted his teeth. He realized the amount of time that had passed. "Thirty-four minutes is long enough! That's it!" The man could not hold his urine any longer. The man lost all of his former patience. He grabbed the handle and...

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

...opened the wooden door.

A humanoid bubble was revealed.

SpongeBob looked at the restroom stall and gasped at the sight of Bubble Buddy. He grinned in jog and ran up to the bubble. "Bubble Buddy!" He yelled in delight and hugged the humanoid bubble. "I'm so glad you're safe." He spoke his thoughts out loud.

Patrick walked up to Bubble Buddy and smiled. He was glad that he had assisted SpongeBob in his search for the bubble, he was the one that suggested the interviewing of the people waiting in the line.

"We were waiting for a bubble?" An impatient and outraged man asked a question in disbelief. He needed to go to a restroom within a short amount of time.

"Why don't we pop it? That'll teach that bubble and his friends somethin'." An ill-tempered teenager glared at the bubble, SpongeBob, and Patrick. He wanted to get his revenge on the bubble for making him waste his time waiting to enter the bathroom. He needed to go back home soon in order to not stay outside past his parents' curfew.

"Yeah!"

"Nobody's gonna mess with us!"

"Pop it!"

Several people in the long line yelled in agreement. The amount of people yelling and agreeing with the teenager rapidly grew in amount after ten seconds.

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!" **

The angry citizens then chanted for the death of Bubble Buddy.

SpongeBob's face drained of color. He became frightened by the people's dramatic change in heart. They became from passive and impatient to hot-headed and savage. He continued to hug Bubble Buddy and backed away from the angry people.

Patrick backed away with his best friend from the citizens as well. He assumed that the enraged people were unpredictable due to their sudden change in emotion.

The pages in SpongeBob's pocket glowed. They were reacting to SpongeBob's protection of Bubble Buddy against the angry people that want to pop the bubble. The light from the pages exited those pieces of paper and entered the humanoid bubble.

The people grabbed sharp objects such as small rocks and needles from the ground.

A lifeguard ran up to the savage group of people. "WHAT'RE YO-" He was yelling a question at the citizens since he wanted to know why they suddenly became so angry. However, he got interrupted by the group of people that he was asking.

The angry people charged towards the lifeguard like a stampede and pushed the lifeguard out of the way. They then resumed their deathly chant.

"No!" SpongeBob made a very serious facial expression and shook his head. He was determined to protect his imaginary friend from harm. "Pat, grab Bubble Buddy's arm." He looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye and whispered to him.

Patrick nodded and grabbed Bubble Buddy's arm.

The angry people ran towards Bubble Buddy and raised their sharp objects. They were bound to pop Bubble Buddy if the bubble does not get out of the way.

Bubble Buddy took a deep breath and inflated itself to a large size. The recent magic boost from the pages made it learn more actions and movements, it began to have a moderate amount of intelligence. Its transparent skin became more durable due to the magic of the pages as well. It then soared to the air and brought SpongeBob and Patrick with it.

The angry group of people chanted louder and threw some of their sharp objects at the Bubble Buddy in a desperate attempt to pop the bubble.

All of the thrown sharp objects missed Bubble Buddy by a significant distance. Bubble Buddy was too high in the sky to be reached.

A pause.

'They'll never catch us now.' SpongeBob thought as he looked at the people that were below him. He was relieved that the humanoid bubble was safe from any harm. His friend's death could have came at any moment if the three stayed on the ground.

Another pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick's weight was too much for Bubble Buddy to carry. The bubble deflated to its normal size and slowly floated down to the ground.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip. He then crossed his fingers, he hoped for the best possible outcome; Bubble Buddy's survival.

Patrick gulped nervously. He hoped that he did not get injured by the sharp objects that were aimed at Bubble Buddy.

The sponge, bubble, and sea star eventually landed on the ground.

The enraged people lifted up Patrick and threw him out of the way. Their only target was Bubble Buddy, they were going to move SpongeBob out of the way as well.

**THUD**

Patrick landed into a sand mound.

The mob then raised their sharp objects and stomped towards Bubble Buddy. Their eyes were locked on to the bubble. They were about to pop that bubble. They once again chanted the announcement of Bubble Buddy's death.

"No! You can't!" SpongeBob's eyes moistened and he shook his head. "He's not just a bubble, he's a Bubble Buddy! He's my friend and I love him!" The sponge had a platonic relationship with the humanoid bubble. He did not want to cope with the loss of his friend, especially since they had been friends for less than a day.

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!"**

**"POP THE BUBBLE!" **

The mob was determined to pop Bubble Buddy. They thought that the humanoid bubble would cause more destructive situations throughout the beach if left unharmed. They also thought that staying in the restroom for an excessive amount of time was the tip of the iceberg when it came to what Bubble Buddy could do.

The male teenager who first suggested the popping of the bubble ran towards Bubble Buddy and tried to stab the humanoid bubble with the needle that he was holding.

Time slowed.

SpongeBob's face became pallid. His eyes widened as he watched in horror.

The pages in SpongeBob's pocket glowed brightly. The bright light then flew towards Bubble Buddy and entered its body.

The teenager's needle was a few inches away from Bubble Buddy's transparent skin.

Time resumed.

"Woah!" Bubble Buddy spoke and grabbed the needle with one of his hands at the last second. His voice was somewhat deep. "Hey, don't I get a say in this?" He stood up while still holding on to the needle.

The teenager's eyes bugged out. He released the needle from his grasp and backed away from the humanoid bubble.

Everybody (including SpongeBob) that was near and heard the bubble gasped. They did not expect Bubble Buddy to speak at all. Every person except for SpongeBob thought that the bubble was not alive. The bubble's voice nearly frightened them.

Patrick dug himself out of the sand mound. "What did I miss?" He did not hear Bubble Buddy's voice or saw what happened. He walked up to the crowd and stood on his tip-toes to see what the people were looking at. The sea star was curious.

Bubble Buddy turned around and looked at SpongeBob. "I'll see you later, SpongeBob. Things are getting too dangerous around here." It spoke its final words to its friend and then began to soar to the air. It needed to find a safer place so it can properly begin its new life as a living being.

'Why do you have to leave so suddenly?' SpongeBob thought as his eyes moistened and he looked up at the floating humanoid bubble. What saddened him was the fact that he and Bubble Buddy were friends for less than a day, they did not have much time to enjoy their friendship. "So long." He spoke with a heavy throat.

Scooter walked up to the crowd. He managed to dig himself out of the sandy confinement. "What's going on?" He scratched his head. He wanted to see what the crowd was gathering around.

"I dunno either." Patrick made eye contact with Scooter. He was equally clueless when compared to the purple teenager. After several seconds, he could no longer control his curiosity. He carefully pushed through the surrounding crowd until he reached the center which consisted of an opening. Patrick saw a teary-eyed SpongeBob who was looking up to the sky. The sea star then walked up to the yellow square and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What happened?"

"Bubble Buddy… left. He said that it's too dangerous for him to stay." SpongeBob looked at Patrick and spoke honestly. He could not bottle up his feelings by saying lies, he also did not want to lose another friend by becoming untrustworthy.

"That's okay, SpongeBob. You still have friends like me with you." Patrick spoke while slightly smiling. He was relaxed in the face of his upset best friend. He was receiving one of the benefits from a stupid yet usually calm personality.

The crowd scattered. They no longer desired to pop Bubble Buddy since that bubble left Goo Lagoon.

"Anyways, how did you and Bubble Buddy meet?" Patrick asked a question that was on his mind since he first saw Bubble Buddy. He had been waiting for the an appropriate moment to ask that question but forgot about it until now.

"Pat, l'm gonna tell you something. This morning, I wanted to play a few games with you but you were sleeping when I knocked on the rock. When I went to Squid's place, Squid didn't want to play. Since no one else was around to play with me, I decided to make an imaginary friend. I used a few objects until I decided on a bubble. Me and Bubble Buddy then had some fun times while you were sleeping." SpongeBob explained what had happened in the morning. He did not show a single sign of lying.

Jealousy had been entirely removed from Patrick's mind. The sea star understood why SpongeBob had fun with Bubble Buddy instead of himself. However, he had another question to ask. "How was Bubble Buddy… alive? Isn't he a bubble?"

"The magical pages reacted to my emotions." SpongeBob took out his magical pages and showed them to Patrick. He wanted to fully inform his friend of the situation that had occured.

"Oh." Patrick nodded.

A pause.

"Wanna have some more fun, buddy?"The pink star picked up the frisbee that he and SpongeBob had used. The starfish then held out the frisbee to his best friend.

SpongeBob beamed and took the frisbee. "Sure thing, Pat." He then backed away in preparation of throwing the frisbee.

* * *

**Please review.**


	42. Something Smells

**Chapter 42: Something Smells**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Sunday morning.

**HOOOONNNNNNNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm announced the time of the day by make its irritatingly loud sound.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and yawned; he woke up. The sponge made a beam that was as bright as the riding sun from outside when he looked at the calendar from the corner of his eye.

The day that was next to the last day with an 'X' mark was a Sunday; it was today.

SpongeBob took the blanket off of himself and he stood up from his bed. He did a few stretches so energy could return to his muscles. The sponge quickly...

CLICK

...turned off the foghorn's alarm.

Gary opened his eyes and made a quiet and long meow. He did the equivalent of groaning for snails. 'Why did it talks so long for him to turn off that damn alarm?' The snail thought. It was somewhat grumpy due to hearing the honking of the foghorn for an excessive period of time. The snail absolutely hated that alarm, it always interrupted his sleep in the most irritating ways. However, he had never said a complaint about it. He knew that his owner relied on the alarm in order to get to work on time and do several activities throughout the day. "Morning." He meowed.

SpongeBob took a deep breath so his mind could start working properly again; he was preparing to think straight again. The sponge thought that he was do physical and mental preparation for the day. The yellow square wanted to try it out for the week. He then looked down at the snail. "It's Sunday, Gary. Guess what's for breakfast?" He asked a question. The sponge already wanted to have some amusement.

"Snail nip?" Gary stated a possible answer to the question. He was unsure if his answer was correct. He sometimes ate snail chow or a variant of snail nip for breakfast.

"You're gonna have to find out." SpongeBob smirked and walked towards the right door. He expected the snail to become curious and follow him. He had a surprise that was awaiting Gary.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

Gary slithered towards the right door. He became curious, just as SpongeBob expected. He hoped that the food he was going to be served was new and tasted good. The snail slithered to the handle and...

**CRRREEAAK**

...opened the door by twisting it. The snail then hopped to the floor and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door as it exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was waiting for Gary. Once he saw the snail, he walked downstairs and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

...entered the kitchen. He left the door open so Gary could slither into that room.

Gary slithered down the stairs and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door as he entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a cabinet and took out Gary's bowl. He then set it on the floor. The sponge walked to the refrigerator to get the food. "That's right." He opened the upper door of the refrigerator which covered the freezer. He looked at Gary as he opened the upper door. "A sundae." The sponge then giggled, he had made a pun.

"Ohhhh." Gary understood the joke that SpongeBob made and nodded. He realized that SpongeBob had given a hint when he said in the bedroom that today was Sunday.

SpongeBob looked into the freezer for any containers of ice cream.

There were no ice creams containers inside the freezer.

"Whoops... looks like we're out of ice cream." SpongeBob had thought that there was still some ice cream left inside the freezer but changed his mind when he looked inside. He then thought about buying more of them at Barg'N-Mart. However, he still wanted to give something different to Gary for breakfast. "Guess I'll have to use something else... " The yellow square decided to make his own sundae. He walked to another cabinet and opened it.

A ketchup container was the first thing that could be seen inside that cabinet.

"Ketchup!" SpongeBob grabbed the ketchup container. He decided and announced out loud that ketchup was going to be his first ingredient for the sundae. He focused more on the texture and individual tastes of the ingredients than the taste of the actual sundae. The sponge jogged to Gary's bowl and opened the ketchup container. He then squeezed some of the ketchup into the bowl.

Gary raised his brow at the sight of the ketchup on his bowl. He did not know what type of sundae that his owner was trying to make.

SpongeBob ran to the refrigerator and closed the upper door. He then opened the upper door and quickly took out a few bananas, a branch of cherries, and two onions. The sponge leaped to the bowl and put most of the ingredients that he took out from the refrigerator into the bowl. He then quickly karate chopped the two onions (the only remaining ingredients) into several slices and tossed them to the bowl. "Just one more thing!" The sponge then skipped to another cabinet, he was going to take out the final ingredient for his 'sundae'. "Pea-" He opened the cabinet and looked inside but saw an empty peanut jar. He had expected the jar to be at least somewhat full of peanuts. "-nuts." The yellow square finished saying his word and then looked at Gary from the corner of his eye. "Gary," He took out the empty jar from the cabinet and turned around. He then walked up to the snail and held out the empty jar to him. "Our peanut jar is totally empty." He informed the situation about the minor problem he was having.

"What about the peanut butter?" Gary pointed something out that SpongeBob forgot. He knew where food and ingredients were put in the kitchen.

SpongeBob remembered about the peanut butter jar and snapped his fingers. "Good thinking, Gary." He smiled and opened the refrigerator again. He took out the peanut butter jar from the fridge and closed the bottom door. The sponge then stepped to a drawer and opened it. He took out a larger spoon from the drawer and walked back to the bowl. The yellow square was going to use the spoon for putting the peanut butter into the bowl and mixing the ingredients into a sundae. He crouched and opened the peanut butter jar. He then scooped some peanut butter from the jar with the spoon and put it into the mix of ingredients on the bowl. The sponge then mixed the ingredients with the spoon at a rapid pace until they became a 'sundae'. 'This sundae's gonna taste great!' The sponge thought as he mixed the ingredients.

An extremely unpleasant odor wafted in the air as SpongeBob mixed the ingredients together. The ingredients did not agree with each other in terms of smell.

Gary's eyes widened as he smelled the foul odor. 'There's no way I'm eating that.' He thought. He then quickly slithered to the door to the living room and...

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

After ten more seconds, SpongeBob was finished with making his sundae. He stood up, walked to the sink, turned on the faucet with cold and hot water, cleaned the dirty large spoon, turned off the faucet, walked back to the drawer, put the spoon away; and closed the drawer in rapid succession; he did all of that within twenty-five seconds. The yellow sponge then wiped a few drops of sweat from his brow. 'Gary finally has something to eat.' He mentally spoke the obvious. "Gary, it's time to eat up!" He announced that the sundae was ready. He turned around but did not see Gary. "Gary?" He called out for his snail.

A pause.

Silence. The snail's slithering could not be heard.

"Oh well." SpongeBob shrugged. "Guess I'm gonna have to eat it." He spoke a thought of his out loud. He was not going to waste a sundae that he used several ingredients to make, those ingredients costed some money. The sponge also knew that he could eat the sundae for breakfast, he rarely ate ice cream for breakfast anyway. The yellow sponge opened the drawer, snatched a spoon from it, and closed the drawer. He walked to Gary's bowl and picked it up. The sponge then set the bowl on the table and sat in a seat. SpongeBob ignored the odor wafting out of the 'sundae', he thought that the homemade food was going to taste delicious. He then began to eat the 'sundae'.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was trying really hard not to fall asleep. He was watching a commercial on the TV while sitting in the red chair, he was waiting for Bikini Bottom News to be on air. The snail obviously wanted to be informed about what was going on around Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob entered the living room from the hallway, he had brushed his teeth. "You know what they say, Gary. I'm easy like Sunday morning." The sponge spoke in an upbeat mood. The 'sundae' had a certain taste that appealed to SpongeBob's tastes. The 'sundae's' taste was strong and a little bit sour.

The same foul odor came out of SpongeBob's mouth.

Gary's eyes watered as he smelled the odor. The smell was so unpleasant that his eyes reacted to it when he inhaled it.

"I'll see ya later." SpongeBob walked towards the front door and...

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

The odor vanished from the room, it went with SpongeBob.

Gary took a deep breath in relief. He was relieved since the odor from SpongeBob's mouth was gone.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob thought about what activities that he was going to do for the day. Like eating a 'sundae' for breakfast, he wanted to do a different activity instead of going to Jellyfish Fields with Patrick. The yellow square wanted to have more variety in his activities for that Sunday, it was always refreshing to have variety in his life from his perspective.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. 'Exploring Bikini Bottom sounds pretty nice.' The sponge thought. In his opinion, exploring his hometown was a good idea. The sponge then left the neighborhood and walked towards the horizon, he wanted to have some fun by trying to find locations in Bikini Bottom that he had never visited before and the changes in the locations that he had already visited.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking through the downtown area of Bikini Bottom on the sidewalks. Not many people were walking through the sidewalks since it was still early in the morning. He looked up at several buildings as he walked through the area, he was trying to find a building that was recently constructed or one that he had not seen before.

A green young man was walking in the opposite direction of SpongeBob. The two were walking into each other.

"Hello." SpongeBob grinned and waved at the young man. The yellow sponge was being friendly. He wanted to greet the people that walked or drove past by him, it was part of his kind nature.

The odor came out of his mouth as he spoke.

The young man smelled the odor and his face became somewhat pallid due to the foulness of the odor. He then covered his nose with both of his hands and ran away from the sponge. The smell was too disgusting for him to endure.

'Some people must be late on Sunday.' SpongeBob mentally stated. He turned around and looked at the green man that was running away from him. He assumed that the young man was late for his job since he was running. The sponge then turned around again and resumed his walking. He was so used to smelling that 'sundae' odor that his nose could no longer detect the smell, SpongeBob thought that he had a normal and neutral smell.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A mailman walked past SpongeBob. He was holding a blue bag filled with a somewhat large amount of mail.

"Hi, mailman." SpongeBob greeted and waved at the mailman. His foul breath escaped his mouth as he said those two words. The yellow square did not have any malicious or suspicious intentions when he spoke.

The mailman's eyes bugged out when he smelled the odor. He opened the mailbag and put his head inside of it. He then sprinted from the yellow sponge and bumped into parked boatmobiles and the exterior walls of buildings along the way. The mailman blinded himself with the mailbag in a desperate attempt to no longer smell the odor. He would rather be temporarily blind instead of smelling that odor again.

Several boatmobiles were driving down the road next to SpongeBob, they were becoming nearer and nearer to the sponge's location.

"Hi, drivers!" SpongeBob waved and greeted the drivers inside the boatmobiles. He continued to greet people that were nearby even though they were negatively reacting to his odorous breath. The sponge thought that the people who made such reactions were doing so due to other reasons.

The odor wafted in the air surrounding SpongeBob as the sponge said the greeting. The nearly poisonous breath of the sponge spread out and reached the boatmobiles.

**S-S-SCRREEEEEEECCCCCCH**

**C-CRRRAAAASSSSSH**

The boatmobiles crashed into each other as the drivers smelled the odor.

"MY LEG! My leg!" A driver stepped out of his boatmobile and hopped on one foot to the sidewalk. The shin of the leg that he was not using had bumped into something when his vehicle crashed into the other ones, the leg was under an almost unbearable amount of pain although not broken.

The other drivers hopped out of their vehicles with their noses covered by at least one of their hands. They wanted to escape the grasp of the foul breath before they could phone-call for a repair for their vehicles.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side at the sight of the car accident. "Why do people run away from me, cause accidents, or become disgusted when I say hi to them?" The sponge asked a question that had developed as he had greeted more citizens. "Was it something I said or my looks?" He asked another question as he resumed his walking down the sidewalk. The yellow square did not pay attention to what was in front of him or where he was heading for.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob abruptly bumped into something that was squishy and pink. He backed away from the strange object and scratched his head at the sight of it. "Now there's... giant piles of bubble gum?" The sponge could not identify the object. He thought that today was strange and if it actually was a large pile of gum, the sponge would not be suprised.

The object turned around, it had a star-shaped body; it was Patrick. The sea star had awoken early in the morning and had decided to roam Bikni Bottom out of boredom. Unlike SpongeBob, he had no goal or task for exploring the town. "Hi, SpongeBob." The starfish smiled and greeted his best friend.

"Oh, hi, Patrick." SpongeBob made a slight smile and greeted his friend. He hoped that Patrick would not run away from him unlike the others since the starfish was his best friend. "I'm confused." He began to talk about his situation, he wanted Patrick's opinion/advice so he could come up with a solution. However, SpongeBob was aware of Patrick's stupid and intelligent phases. If Patrick gave advice while he was intelligent, he would usually give an appropriate solution to the problem and SpongeBob would quickly put it into action. If the sea star gave advice while he was stupid, the sponge would only allow that advice to influence the solution that he was going to implement. It was sometimes hard to tell if Patrick was stupid or smart but it was worth the risk in the end since he always gained something that would help him.

The odor came out of SpongeBob's mouth.

Patrick silently nodded. He wanted to hear more about SpongeBob's situation. The sea star ignored the disgusting breath of his friend, he was used to smelling odors just as unpleasant as the one he was currently smelling. Another reason for why he did not react with disgust to SpongeBob's odor was that he had a poorer sense of smell than other sea creatures. Sea stars' noses are not as receptive to smells when compared to other species. Although some sea creatures look like they do not have noses, they actually do have them. They are usually one or two minuscule holes between the eyes and mouth, starfishes have ones that are almost microscopic.

"Everyone is running away from me. Watch." SpongeBob turned around and looked at an adolescent that was walking down the same sidewalk. "Hi." He greeted the young male, he was using the male as an example.

The adolescent smelled the odor and widened his eyes. He then sprinted down the sidewalk and away from SpongeBob.

"See?" SpongeBob pointed at the running male adolescent. "I just don't get it." He informed Patrick about him not being able to figure out the cause of his situation.

"I don't either. Maybe it's the way you're dressed." Patrick shrugged. He currently had a low level of intelligence. He made a guess for the reason why people were running away from SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked down at his clothes.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob's clothes.

A pause.

"Nah." The two best friends spoke and shook their heads at the same time. They dismissed clothing as a reason for people running away from SpongeBob. Clothing would not make any sense as a reason in certain situations such as if someone was blind and ran away from the yellow sponge.

"Maybe it's your voice." Patrick stated another guess. He was not thinking critically about the situation, he was too dumb to use a disciplined method of thinking.

SpongeBob laughed since he thought what Patrick said was funny. He laughed for several more seconds than he usually does to see if Patrick was going to run away. After ten seconds, he stopped laughing. "Good one, Patrick." He smirked and then returned to a neutral facial expression.

"Well, maybe it's just because you're ugly." Patrick was already running out of ideas for reasons for the people's repulsion of SpongeBob. His current stupidity prevented him from thinking creatively. The sea star shrugged again when he said those words.

"Ugly?" SpongeBob raised his brow after hearing Patrick's words. He then snapped both of his index fingers and made a pose while his hands were making gun gestures. "You gotta be kiddin' me..." The sponge thought that Patrick was making another joke. Although humble, he had high self-esteem. The yellow square thought that he was a bit more good-looking than the average sponge.

"Better try the reflection test." Patrick had an idea for testing SpongeBob's ugliness and stated it. He got that idea from a rumor that he had heard in elementary school about a kid who was unlucky and not pleasant to look at, he was fortunate enough to have a good memory during that Sunday. He walked up to the window of a nearby building and pointed at it.

SpongeBob stepped up to the window and looked at his reflection. "Hi." He greeted his reflection to see what was going to happen to the window. He assumed that if the window gets damaged in some way, he would be ugly.

His foul breath came in contact with the glass and covered the window with moisture. The yellow square could no longer see his reflection.

Patrick squinted as he looked at the window but could not see SpongeBob's reflection either. "Ugly." The sea star whispered into his best friend's ear, he thought that the yellow sponge needed to accept the harsh truth. He wanted SpongeBob to accept the cause of his situation so the two could find a solution for it.

"Oh no..." SpongeBob widened his eyes, sweatdropped, and his face drained of color to a certain degree. He was beginning to panic, he thought that being ugly was a plausible cause for his situation. Due to his assumption, the sponge thought that he was 'hideous' since the window became covered with moisture to 'hide' his reflection.. Numerous thoughts about how he was going to live his life while being 'ugly' swam through his mind like a waterfall, his sudden 'ugliness' would significantly change his life. He could no longer work at the Krusty Krab or live in his neighborhood due to customers and his friends/neighbors running away from him. "I can't be ugly! I can't be! I can't be ugly!" His panicking quickly shifted to denial. His intuition told him that being 'ugly' as the cause of his situation was illogical but the sponge could not pinpoint why that reason was illogical. It was a struggle between his gut feeling and the higher orders of thinking in his brain.

A couple that consisted of a young man and a young woman walked past SpongeBob and Patrick. They were holding hands. The two were heading for the building that they worked at.

SpongeBob saw the couple and walked up to them. He then stood in front of the couple. "Am I ugly?" He desperately asked for their honest opinion of his physical appearance. He was trying to find out the reason for why 'ugliness' cannot be the cause of his situation, he needed at least one hint in order for him to guide himself to that reason.

The stinky breath escaped SpongeBob's lips as SpongeBob spoke.

The couple pinched their noses and backed away from SpongeBob. The odor was too powerful for their noses to handle. They then ran across the street and ran down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The two were trying to go to work while avoiding the further smelling of the odor.

SpongeBob looked at the ground and frowned. His throat began to become heavy, he was beginning to truly believe that his 'ugliness' is what was causing people to flee him. However, the sponge still wanted to find some evidence that could falsify 'ugliness' as the actual cause. The yellow square did not give up yet.

Patrick leaned against the external wall of the building with the moisture-covered window. He simply watched his best friend desperately trying to escape the truth. The sea star decided to not calm down the sponge, he felt that SpongeBob needed to accept the truth by himself. He thought that by making SpongeBob learn on his own, he would be truly helping him. However, his reason did not make being inactive less difficult. His emotions were telling him to assist his friend and Patrick was trying his hardest to resist them. The starfish did not have any malicious intentions and his intelligence had increased when he began to watch the sponge have a breakdown.

A boatmobile drove past SpongeBob.

"Am I ugly?!" SpongeBob loudly asked a question to driver who was in that boatmoible. His emotions were becoming more and more unstable as people continued to react with disgust at the smell of his odor.

The driver smelled the odor of SpongeBob's mouth and cringed. His back and head moved to edge of his seat and he closed his eyes as he cringed. He then opened his eyes and the rays of the morning sun assaulted him with blinding amounts of bright light. "MY EYES! MY EYES!" The driver shrieked in pain as his eyes became bloodshot and watered within a second. He then covered his eyes in order to minimize the intensity of the stinging.

**SSSSSCCCCCRRRReeeeRRRREEEEErrrEEEEEEErrrreEEEEEEEEERRRRReeeeeCCCCH**

The boatmobile twirled through the street as the driver kept his hands off of the wheel.

SpongeBob's eyes widened and he covered his hands with his mouth. He watched the consequences of his action with horror. The unknown cause of the driver's repulsion of SpongeBob only made the scene occurring before him more traumatizing for the yellow square. The sponge suddenly thought that he had underestimated his 'ugliness'. By that point, the sponge almost completely believed that his 'ugliness' was the cause of the unpleasant overall situation.

**CRRRRRRAAASH**

The boatmobile crashed into a building and broke through a window.

Numerous glass pieces soared to the air and landed on the street like hail.

Several boatmobiles were driving through the street. The drivers in the vehicles did not notice the fallen glass pieces but did notice the crashed boatmoible.

**SCRRE-**

**P-POP**

**P-P-POP**

**P-P-POP**

The drivers were about to turn their vehicles around, drive in the opposite direction, and exit the street but accidentally drove their boatmobiles through the glass pieces. Some of the drivers were going to call 9-1-1 but needed to park at a safe place first. The glass pieces popped the tires of their vehicles. The drivers then looked at each other with worried facial expressions, they noticed the glass pieces on the street. They did not exit their vehicles since they did not want to get injured by the glass pieces.

The driver whose boatmobile got crashed into the building dove out of that boatmobile. He then leaned on the building as he waited for his eyesight to recover.

SpongeBob looked at the sidewalk again and his eyes moistened. He sincerely regretted asking the driver whose eyes got stung by the sun about his 'ugliness'. The sponge walked to an empty trash can and tossed the metal lid to the side. The yellow square then flipped the trash can upside-down and put it over his head. "I'm ugly..." He spoke in a quiet voice, he fully accepted the 'truth'; he no longer questions the facts and evidence that were before his eyes. SpongeBob wanted to help the young man whose boatmobile crashed by finding a nearby shell-phone and calling 9-1-1. However, he was so ashamed that he felt like he should not even try to assist the man. It was himself who caused the car accident after all. He then walked away from the scene of destruction.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and entered a deep state of thought. He was considering if guessing that SpongeBob being ugly as the cause of the situation was a good idea. He felt that telling SpongeBob that he was ugly was a foolish mistake due to SpongeBob's breakdown and the boatmobile accident before him. He also imagined what SpongeBob was going to be doing for the rest of the day as a reaction to the acceptance of his 'ugliness'. His throat then started to become heavy as regret took form. However, Patrick tried to control that emotion. He needed to think through what was occurring before him and past incidents and form a conclusion about them. The sea star walked away from the scene, he needed to find a quiet place so he can think without distractions.

The driver whose boatmobile crashed ran to a shell-phone booth once his eyesight recovered and...

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

...opened it. The young man then dialed 9-1-1 and put the shell-phone near his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was slowly walking back to his pineapple. The yellow square was depressed since his normal life was over; he predicted that sooner or later, he will lose his job, his friends, and will never get to see other people again. He might not even be able to go to an asylum or jail due to his 'ugliness'. Although the sponge would persevere to stay with his friends under normal circumstances, that case was different. Working at the Krusty Krab as a fry cook was nearly his life's purpose; he had a vast and burning passion for the job and if he were to lose it, depression would flood into his mind as fast, destructive, and cause as much long-lasting damage, as a tsunami. Although he did not lose his job yet, depression was already seizing control of his mind. If left unchecked, it could become an emotion that would be more powerful and far more severe than Squidward's angst.

Sandy was walking towards Goo Lagoon. She had decided that she was going to surf at the beach. Her working schedule was not absolutely certain unlike SpongeBob and Squidward's working schedules. On that Sunday, she had received an email from her science institute stating that there was no assignment to be done; that day was a free day. The squirrel saw SpongeBob with the trash can on his head and walked up to him. "Howdy, Sponge. What happened?" Sandy greeted her friend but then quickly became serious. She was concerned for SpongeBob's well-being since the sponge was looking at the ground as he wore the trash can and she also saw wet spots on SpongeBob's shirt where tears had dropped.

SpongeBob shook his head and resumed his walking towards the pineapple. "I'm ugly..." He spoke in a quiet voice, he thought that he should not be speaking to any of his friends. He was afraid that they would become horrified by his looks. The yellow square also did not want to make another foolish decision/mistake, he did not want his friends to get hurt like the driver with the crashed boatmobile did.

The odor was released from his mouth. The smell of the trash can made it slightly worse.

Sandy could smell the odor to some degree. She could not detect scents and smells as much when she was at underwater places due to her astronaut suit. The squirrel made a slight cringe in disgust and pressed a small green button on her suit.

The odor was filtered out of the suit's helmet. The astronaut suit had many features that would be nifty for exploring unknown environments.

"Did something really bad happened to you, Sponge?" Sandy asked what she felt to be an extremely important question. She could not bear to leave her friend in such an urgent and depressed state, he was the same person who convinced her to stay in Bikini Bottom.

"No. It happened because of me." SpongeBob was still talking in a quiet voice. He remembered the other car accident that he had caused and became more depressed by a small degree. The yellow square rightfully blamed himself as the cause of the two accidents.

Sandy widened her eyes after hearing those words come out of SpongeBob's mouth. It seemed that SpongeBob flipped completely around in terms of personality. The once optimistic and cheerful yellow sponge no longer existed. He was replaced by a depressed and quiet sponge. His yellow skin no longer fitted his personality, it would make more sense if his skin changed its color to blue. The squirrel also picked up slight senses of self-hatred and low self-esteem from the sponge. However, she quickly dismissed them as non-existent. Even when SpongeBob was sad, his very basic personality traits were the same. "How?" She gently spoke. The squirrel was completely willing to listen to what happened to the sponge and his situation.

SpongeBob shook his head and walked at a slightly faster pace. The yellow square needed to spend some time by himself. In order to express and burn out these temporary emotions properly, he felt that no one should be around to hear or watch him. His 'ugliness' could become even worse if he was crying.

Sandy became silent and watched SpongeBob briskly walk towards his pineapple. The squirrel decided to leave the sponge alone for now even though their conversation was brief. However, the squirrel was not going to give up. If she allowed what she thought was the kindest creature under the sea to be depressed and not do anything about it, her ego would diminish dramatically and her self-esteem would go with it. She would no longer be proud of herself if she were to be a jerk to her kindest friends. The squirrel turned around and walked towards the treedome. She needed to find a tranquil place in her home so she can come up with ideas for cheering SpongeBob up.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took the trash can off of his head and flipped it around. He put the trash can to one side of his lawn and slowly walked up to the front door.

**CRRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at Gary for a few seconds before walking through the open doorway of the kitchen. He did not want his 'ugliness' to disturb the snail. From his perspective, it would be best if he was isolated from everyone else so that they would not have to go through the suffering of looking at his 'grotesque' face. He was looking at the floor as he was walking. He had been frowning ever since he began to walk to his home.

Gary looked at SpongeBob but did not show any signs of repulsion. He was somewhat relieved that his owner was not talking. The odor can only be smelled if the sponge's mouth was opened. When the yellow square entered the pineapple, he had become worried about smelling the odor again. However, after looking at the sponge's facial expression, he knew that his owner was distressed. He was not sure if he should assist his owner with getting him out of his depression or to leave him alone. The snail did not want to make his owner anymore upset, either choice could lead to the furthering of SpongeBob's acute depression.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob continued to walk at the same pace. He eventually walked through the kitchen and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the staircase.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked around the set of stairs and walked through the dark hallway to the library. He did not care if the hallway was dark or not. His sadness over the eventual degradation of his life was far more powerful than his fear of the dark. The sponge eventually reached the library and stepped into the large room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to a certain bookshelf and took out his photo album book. The book was extremely large since he put all of his photos into it, even the ones that consisted of the most minutiae of everyday life. The yellow square took photos often, it was one of the ways that he kept his memories with him. The yellow sponge then stepped to the brown leather chair and sat in it. He opened the photo album book and skimmed through the pages of photos. The photos on the first pages of the book were the earliest ones, they were copies of photos taken by his parents or other family members. The photos in the book documented his life ever since he was a newborn, the book was a diary that consisted of photos instead of prose. SpongeBob was the one who gathered the thousands of words from the pictures; starting from his childhood photos; each photo was connected to a memory. He was currently gathering memories as he flipped through the pages of photos.

Tears ran down SpongeBob's cheeks. He could not imagine his eventual life of isolation once his 'ugliness' completely wrecks his everyday life. The photos in the book would eventually have no one else but himself and wild animals in them. The friends and family that he had developed relationships with would eventually be erased from future photos. After having several more thoughts, SpongeBob tossed the photo album book to the floor, covered his face with both of his hands, and bawled.

Tears fell to the floor like rain.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was siting on a rock in Jellyfish Fields. He was cross-legged and his eyes were closed. He ignored the jellyfish that were flying nearby. He was mediating on the long-term consequences of telling SpongeBob that 'ugliness' was the cause of the people's repulsion of him. The sea star took a deep breath as a major thought entered his mind. 'If people run away from SpongeBob, wouldn't SpongeBob become alone?' The sea star thought. A memory abruptly entered his consciousness after he finished mentally speaking.

_A seven year old Patrick was sitting in a desk. He was in a classroom with his classmates. The children sitting with him were around his age. He and the students were wearing a uniform that consisted of a blue shirt and khaki pants. The class was currently having a math lesson. They were first graders._

_The teacher, who was female, wrote '9 + 10' on the chalkboard with white chalk. "Patrick, what's nine plus ten?" She called out Patrick and pointed at him._

_Every other student in the classroom looked at Patrick._

_"Uhhhhhh... ummmm..." Patrick sweatdropped and tapped his hands on his desk in nervousness. He did not know the answer. The sea star had not been paying attention to the lesson being taught before his eyes. He had been daydreaming about himself and his friends playing in Jellyfish Fields instead. "Uhhh... twenty-one?" The sea star guessed._

_Every student in the class other than Patrick laughed at Patrick's stupidity, they all knew the correct answer. Their laughing was so loud that it could be heard from outside of the classroom and in the hallways. _

_The teacher resisted the urge to facepalm. "That's wrong, Patrick. The correct answer is nineteen." She corrected the sea star's mistake._

_Patrick put his face on his desk and covered the sides of his head with his arms. He was too embarrassed to make any eye contact with his teacher and classmates. However, the sea star did not have the urge to cry. His wildly varying intelligence had been the target of insults many times before. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Later during that day..._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_It was lunchtime._

_Patrick's class entered the cafeteria with other classes._

_Patrick and SpongeBob sat in the same table._

_"Look! It's the twenty-one guy!" A female classmate giggled and pointed at Patrick, she was from a different class. Rumours about Patrick's stupid guess during math class had spread to other classes like wildfire. Her friends giggled at the sight of Patrick._

_No one else was sitting with SpongeBob and Patrick. Most of the kids who were sitting in nearby tables laughed at the starfish. _

_Patrick put his face on the table and wrapped his head's sides with his arms again. He wanted that dreaded mass laughter to go away. He had predicted that the laughter would come back during lunchtime and that prediction became true. The other classes were different since the teachers commanded his classmates to be quiet. _

_"What's wrong, Pat?" SpongeBob looked at his best friend. He was facially expressing concern for the starfish. He was afraid of the possibility that Patrick was getting bullied by the other students since he was hearing their laughter at the starfish._

Patrick opened his eyes and stood up on the rock. He came to a conclusion after remembering that memory. The sea star had made a foolish decision when he mindlessly stated his guess about 'ugliness' being the cause of SpongeBob's problem. He also realized why SpongeBob initially denied 'ugliness' as the central cause of his problem; if that guess was true, the citizens of Bikini Bottom would be rejecting SpongeBob in a way since they were running away from the sponge due to the sponge's appearance. His classmates' rejection of himself was due to his own stupidity and he now understood SpongeBob's sadness. The sea star then walked towards his neighborhood with a heavy throat, he was fully expressing remorse for what he thought was a stupid action. He was not embarrassed like he was when he stated that dumb guess as a child since the situation that SpongeBob was in was serious.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was inside her treedome and was not wearing her astronaut suit. She was outside of the oak tree and was sitting in the wooden table. The squirrel was pondering about how she was going to cheer SpongeBob up. Her care for her friends was stronger than her excessively potent pride, she was being considerate for the yellow sponge. Since she had seen SpongeBob and Patrick play silly games and knew that they play those games often, she thought that doing something silly would cheer up SpongeBob by making the sponge laugh. The squirrel was familiar to a certain degree with the yellow square but was not as much connected to the sponge when compared to Patrick. She had only been friends with SpongeBob for three months.

Sandy quickly changed her mind; she considered doing a silly act in front of SpongeBob to not be a decent idea. The squirrel thought that SpongeBob was too depressed to laugh at what he normally found to be funny. The sponge covering his face with a trash can and his abnormal lack of enthusiasm indicated that some of his personality traits had changed.

Sandy continued to think critically about SpongeBob's current situation.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. The sea star had stayed at his rock and had watched TV to clear his mind. He had been thinking about what he was going to say to SpongeBob at the pineapple, he had needed to focus on something in order to get the best words out of his pool of thoughts. The starfish walked towards the pineapple door and raised one of his hands. He then gulped nervously, he was anxious since there was a chance that he will hurt SpongeBob's feelings even more by his attempts of help.

**DING DONG**

Patrick pressed the doorbell and made it ring in spite of his fear. He was willing to help his best friend in the face of doubt and anxiety.

A pause.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Gary opened the front door. "Meow." He greeted the sea star and slithered out of the way.

"Hey, Gary." Patrick greeted the snail back and stepped into the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Gary closed the front door. He then slithered back to the couch so he could watch more of his favorite TV show which was currently on air. The snail did not want to miss any more of the TV show, he wanted his eyes to be hooked to the screen until the show was over.

"Where's SpongeBob?" Patrick looked around the living room in search of his best friend. He did not know where the sponge was. Whenever he entered the pineapple, SpongeBob would usually be the one to open the front door or be nearby the front door in the same room or in another room.

"Meow meow." Gary tried to answer Patrick's question. His owner's depression returned to his consciousness once again and his indecisiveness soon returned with it. The snail still could not decide on his next course of action relating to SpongeBob due to his thoughtfulness.

Patrick silently nodded. Gary stated that SpongeBob was somewhere around or in the bedroom. The sea star walked through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the bedroom. "SpongeBob? Sponge? Are you there?" He looked and walked around the bedroom in search of his best friend while calling out for him. He thought that SpongeBob was in the bedroom like what Gary said.

A pause. No else was in the room.

Patrick realized that he was the only person in the room and then walked towards the left door. He was going to search through other nearby rooms for the yellow square.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Patrick opened the door and saw the massive library of the pineapple. He also saw a weeping SpongeBob sitting on the brown leather chair while covering his face with his hands. A photo album book was laying on the floor nearly half-opened. The sea star was witnessing the peak of SpongeBob's depression. He swallowed his saliva in order to lessen the heaviness of his throat; he was resisting the urge to cry. The severe consequences of that guess fully manifested through SpongeBob's depression. The sea star took a deep breath and slid down the slide. He had to stay calm before trying to mend the emotional damage to the sponge that he had caused, he would have a breakdown as well if he was nervous and tried to get SpongeBob out of his sadness. The sea star walked up to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stopped weeping and wiped all of the tears from his face. He was aware of another person being inside the room. He looked up and saw Patrick standing before him. "Go." The sponge made a solemn facial expression and shook his head, he had no desire to fool around with Patrick.

Patrick bit his lip after hearing that word come out of SpongeBob's mouth. The emotional damage must have been catastrophic if his best friend no longer wanted to seek advice, his friend would usually ask him for his viewpoint of a problematic situation that was troubling him.

"Run away like all the others. No one would want a friend as ugly as I am." SpongeBob looked at the floor and folded his arms. He thought that he was 'uglier' than before due to his long weeping. The sponge felt like he did not even deserve to be before his best friend due to his 'ugliness'. His self-esteem was so low that it was reaching an abyss.

Patrick sat before SpongeBob and folded his legs to make a cross-legged sitting position. The sea star did not want to leave. The sea star decided that he was going to help his best friend get over his depression even if it was against his best friend's will. SpongeBob had been loyal to him and he was going to return the favor like a true friend. "SpongeBob, before I try to cheer you up, I'm gonna tell you a little story." He made a neutral facial expression while he calmly said those words. His facial expression gave an air of confidence.

SpongeBob took a deep inhale and a deep exhale. He then nodded and made eye contact with Patrick. He was focusing on Patrick so he could pay attention to the sea star's story.

"It's called 'The Ugly Barnacle'." Patrick had mentally created the story while he had been watching TV at his rock. It was part of his plan to cheer up SpongeBob. "Once, there was a ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end." The starfish told the entire story to his best friend.

"That didn't help at all." SpongeBob frowned, looked at the floor again, and shook his head again. The short story that was told by Patrick did not enlighten him with any new information or a different viewpoint of his current situation.

"I only told the story to prove a point." Patrick stated the purpose of him telling SpongeBob that story. "Since everybody else died, wouldn't it make the ugly barnacle alone and sad?" The sea star revealed the symbolism of the story by asking a certain question.

SpongeBob's eyes widened and his jaw dropped somewhat, the sponge began to see the genius inside Patrick through the hidden meaning of the sea star's short story. The sponge could relate to the ugly barnacle even though such an event that happened to it had not happened to him yet. The sponge was depressed due to his eventual and inevitable loss of his friends, family, and job that would be caused by his 'ugliness'. "Y-yeah."

"Sponge, I've been in almost the same situation that you were in. Remember in first grade when I said that nine plus ten was twenty-one?" Patrick asked SpongeBob another question. A connection of sympathy and understanding was being formed between him and the yellow square.

SpongeBob nodded. "Almost all of our classmates laughed at you and left me and you alone at our table during lunch." The sponge could remember that day in his childhood as if it happened last month. Certain memories during his childhood were permanently burned into his mind.

"It's kinda like how people are running away from you because you're ugly. We have both been rejected by other people." Patrick connected that childhood memory to SpongeBob's current situation and stated how the two were related. In spite of the fact that he regretted guessing 'ugliness' as the cause of the people's repulsion, he could not find other plausible and possible causes for SpongeBob's situation. 'Ugliness' was the best guess that he could make. His mind was open to embracing a different cause to SpongeBob's situation if adequate evidence was provided.

SpongeBob slowly made a slight smile. His best friend understanding his situation made happiness return to his mind and face, he realized that he was not dealing with his situation alone.

"SpongeBob, you can't let people influence you like that. The people that were laughing at me in first grade were bullies and the people running away from you are judgmental. Don't let them decide your life for you, they don't who you truly are." Patrick's dramatic increase in intelligence became obvious through the thoughtfulness of his spoken words. The sea star still had a neutral facial expression.

SpongeBob made a wide smile. The sponge recovered to his former self, Patrick had given him a spark of hope. He thought that if he and Patrick tried hard enough, they could overcome his situation by making the citizens no longer judgmental or afraid of him. He knew that some people could change, he was trying to see the good in people.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy walked up to the pineapple and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the front door. She decided to help SpongeBob even if she did not have s specific direction to guide her, the squirrel felt like the sponge needed at least some sort of help in order for his mood to improve. However, she formed the first several words that she was going to say to SpongeBob in her head.

A pause.

**CRREEEEAAAAAK**

Gary opened the front door. "Meow."

"I'm here to see SpongeBob. I need to talk with him." Sandy looked down at Gary and spoke to him. She had a serious demeanor. The squirrel was showing through her body language that she was very serious about helping her yellow friend.

"Meow?" Gary did not expect more of his owner's friends to come to the pineapple to cheer the sponge up. He then slithered out of the way.

Sandy walked into the pineapple at a somewhat fast pace.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Gary closed the front door.

"You know where SpongeBob's at?" Sandy asked Gary. She did not see SpongeBob inside the living room. The squirrel wanted to talk with the yellow sponge as soon as possible. She thought that the sponge's depression was urgent.

"Meow." Gary pointed his eyes at the open doorway to the kitchen.

Sandy walked through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were both sitting in the brown leather chair. The photo album book was open and was laying on both of their laps. The sea star had suggested that they look through the photos in the book, he wanted to make SpongeBob become more happy by making him remember past events through photos.

SpongeBob had a sincere smile on his face. He pointed at a photo of him and Patrick, the two in that photo were eleven and twelve years old respectively. "Pat, you remember this one? It was our first day of middle school." He remembered the awkwardness of sixth grade.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy entered the bedroom. "SpongeBob, you there?" She called for her yellow friend. The squirrel then searched around the room for SpongeBob. She assumed that the sponge was hiding somewhere in the bedroom since he was depressed and did not want to talk with people.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick heard Sandy's voice. "Sponge, you heard that?" He looked up at the door to the bedroom and then looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. The sea star did not expect Sandy to be visiting the pineapple.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. "She's looking for me. Me and Sandy talked for a bit when I was walking back to here with that trash can on my head." He heard the words that Sandy said and knew why she was in the pineapple. He explained to Patrick how he could tell.

Patrick silently nodded. He understood what his best friend said.

"I'll open the door." SpongeBob put the photo book completely on Patrick's lap and stood up from the leather chair. He then walked to the slide and carefully climbed the slide, he did not want to slip and fall to the floor. He eventually reached the door and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...pulled the door open. "Hi, Sandy." He beamed and greeted the squirrel.

Sandy looked at SpongeBob and grinned at the sight of SpongeBob's facial expression. The sponge's face indicated that SpongeBob had already returned to his normal self, it showed no signs of a facade. "There you are." The squirrel became delighted.

"How did you get better so quickly?" Sandy asked a question that immediately surfaced inside her mind when she saw SpongeBob. However, the squirrel somewhat knew the answer. The yellow square was normally cheerful and enthusiastic so sadness or melancholy would not have much of an effect on him when compared to other people. She still asked the question out of curiosity.

"Pat helped me out." SpongeBob slid down the slide and pointed at Patrick. He spoke in his normal-pitched voice.

Patrick waved at Sandy. "Hi." He greeted the squirrel with a smile.

"Oh." Sandy's smile lessened but did not disappear. "I just came here to cheer you up, Sponge." She stated the purpose of her visit at the pineapple. The squirrel then slid down the slide and entered the library.

S-S-S-S-S

"Well... thanks anyway." SpongeBob appreciated Sandy's willingness to assist him in escaping his heavy sadness. His beam became more radiant. He was grateful that he had two friends who wanted to help him out during a tough situation such as the one he was currently in.

Patrick closed the photo album book. "So... whaddya wanna do now?" The sea star thought that the goal of looking through the photo book with SpongeBob had been accomplished since he saw SpongeBob's bigger smile. He knew that SpongeBob was happier. The starfish also had no idea about what he and the others should do next.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "How 'bout a movie?" He proposed an idea about an activity that he and his friends could do next. He thought that watching a movie could both kill a lot of time and be entertaining.

"You wanna watch it at a theater?" Sandy proposed an idea for the location of their watching of the movie. The large screens in the theater could give them a nice view of the movie. "I'll pay for the tickets if you want to go."

"Yep. Sounds nice." SpongeBob nodded. He did not care if there were going to be other people at the theater or not, they would run away at the sight of his 'ugliness' anyway. He was going to follow Patrick's advice by not allowing that factor to influence his decision. He would watch the movie at a theater as long as his friends were with him. In his opinion, watching a TV show or movie was far more entertaining if he watched it with friends since he could witness their reactions to what they were watching. "Let's go." He then walked towards the dark hallway with enthusiasm, his anticipation for the movie began to grow as he became closer and closer to the theater. He was not afraid of the darkness in the hallway since the nightlight near the exercise room was still there but currently turned off.

Patrick and Sandy followed SpongeBob. The two were also eager to watch a movie at the theater. Patrick wanted to watch a movie since he found watching most types of movies to be relaxing. Sandy wanted to watch a movie since she enjoyed being immersed into a fictional world, even if it was only for a few hours.

S-S-S-S-S

Seventeen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were walking through the main lobby of a theater, they were holding a ticket in one of their hands each. The walls of all of the rooms in the theater were covered by a dark green floral pattern. The floors were made out of dark wooden planks.

C-Crreeeaaak

S-slam

The three opened a double door and entered a room with a poster of an action movie adjacent to the double door. They thought that watching that genre of movies were going to make them pay attention to what was occuring on the large screen. Sandy did not want to waste her money by sleeping while watching a movie. SpongeBob and Patrick did not want to waste Sandy's money as well, they were considerate of the squirrel. Patrick was considerate due to him still having a high level of intelligence.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy quietky walked down a red rug that led to the large screen that was showing the movie. The movie's earliest scenes were being shown so the three friends did not speak at all so as to not disturb the audience's watching of the movie. The three entered the third row and sat in open seats that were next to each other. They then focused their attention on the on-going movie before them.

A pause.

SpongeBob noticed that there was a young blue man that was sitting behind him. He turned around and made eye contact with the young man. "Excuse me, sir. I hope my horrible ugliness won't be a distraction to you." He warned the man about his 'ugliness', he was being considerate for the other people inside the room. He knew that at least some of them were going to run away from him. He was beginning to accept the public's 'critical' view of him as normal.

The infamous odor was released from its oral prison.

"Not at all, boy." The young male shrugged. He assumed that SpongeBob was younger than him due to the sponge's appearance and did not know how the yellow square was ugly. In his opinion, the yellow sponge looked normal. His nose then caught SpongeBob's odor.

A pause.

The young man's eyes bugged out. His face then contorted into an expression of extreme disgust. **"DEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUEEEEEAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGH!" **He yelled in shock at the detection of the odor, he had not expected an odor to come out of SpongeBob's mouth. His eyes teared up due to the repulsiveness of the odor.

Everybody who was watching the movie turned to look at the young man who yelled.

SpongeBob turned around and looked at the floor. He frowned and put both of his hands on his face. The inevitable discovery of his 'ugliness' saddened him to a certain degree, the people's 'rejection' of him was going to begin again. Even though his hope for finding a stranger who was not judgmental and did not run away from him due to his 'ugliness' lingered, his joy could not be preserved. The pain of being 'rejected' could not be denied or erased.

Patrick glared at the young blue man and folded his arms. 'Jerk.' He thought that the young man was detestable due to his critical view of SpongeBob's 'appearance'. He then looked at SpongeBob and could tell by the sponge's body language that the sponge's feelings were hurt. The sea star patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about him, SpongeBob. He's just a..." He was consoling the sponge but became quiet when the sponge revealed his face.

SpongeBob looked up at Patrick. His eyes were about to flood with tears. He was fiercely fighting back the urge to cry.

Patrick facially expressed emotional intensity and tightened his fists, he was showing signs of fury.

Sandy's nose detected SpongeBob's nasty odor again. The squirrel thought that smelling the same odor from the sponge was strange since there was no trash can on top of the sponge's head. With her intelligence, the squirrel quickly came to a rational conclusion. "Pat, I don't think SpongeBob's looks is what is cau-" She was quickly stating her conclusion since she knew that Patrick was becoming angry at the man who reacted with disgust at the odor, she wanted Patrick to calm down and also wanted SpongeBob to realize the truth. However, she got interrupted by Patrick.

"Don't worry, Sandy. I'll handle them." Patrick had not been carefully listening to Sandy's words over the sounds of the movie. He assumed that the squirrel was going to begin a rant about the people who were 'rejecting' SpongeBob, his intense emotions were affecting his thoughts. The sea star stood up and picked up SpongeBob from his seat. He then stepped out of their row and walked up to the middle of the large screen.

A pause.

Patrick took a deep breath to prepare his voice for the screaming that he was about to make. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" He yelled a question at the audience. He was furious at the crowd due to them beginning to judge the sponge due to the sponge's 'ugliness'.

His extremely loud question echoed throughout the room.

The entire audience looked at Patrick, the sea star caught their attention.

"AFRAID TO LOOK AT UGLINESS IN THE FACE?!" Patrick held out SpongeBob before the audience and narrowed his eyes at them. He thought that the crowd was cowardly since they apparently judge people by looks instead of intelligence or personality. "LOOK AT IT!" He took a step forward so everybody course see SpongeBob. "HE'S UGLY, ISN'T HE?" He held out SpongeBob towards the young man who had yelled in disgust.

"H-hello." SpongeBob greeted the young man and waved. His eyes were no longer filled with tears and he had a neutral facial expression. He wanted to see if the young man and the people sitting in nearby seats were going to run away from him. He was trying to see if what he was hoping for was a reality. If he could find at least one person, he would become satisfied with his search.

The young man and the people sitting near him smelled the odor and cringed. They then stood up from their seats and walked towards the exit of the room.

Sandy stood up from her seat and walked up to Patrick. She thought that now was a good time to control the starfish before he does destructive behavior. The squirrel knew how far Patrick would go when enraged, she remembered the time when Patrick tried to capture SpongeBob as if the sponge was a jellyfish when the sponge decided to live in the wild. "Pat, I think you're taking things too far. These people are only reacting to-" She was trying to put rationality back into Patrick's head but the sea star interrupted her again.

"I got this, Sandy." Patrick made eye contact with Sandy and made a thumbs-up. He thought that Sandy was worried about his way of shaming the crowd for their critical view of SpongeBob's appearance. He did not listen to Sandy's words again. He then glared at the audience again. "LOOK AT IT!" He held out the yellow sponge towards the left side of the crowd.

"Hi." SpongeBob greeted and waved at that part of the audience.

The left side of the audience stood up from their seats and walked towards the room's exit after smelling SpongeBob's odor. They muttered about the unpleasantness of the odor as they walked towards the double door.

Sandy tightened her fists. In a situation such as the one that she was currently in, the squirrel was quickly losing her patience. She thought that Patrick was almost ignoring her as if her opinion or viewpoint was not important, her pride was being threatened. "PAT, STO-" The squirrel grabbed Patrick's shoulders and was saying something but got interrupted by Patrick for the third time.

"LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!" Patrick held out SpongeBob towards several different parts of the audience. He took a few more steps towards the crowd. "I WANT ALL OF YOU TO LOOK AT IT!" He wanted everybody in the room look at the 'ugly' sponge to see how they were going to react.

Every member of the audience except for SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy eventually exited that room of the theater. They could not handle the extremely unpleasant smell coming out of SpongeBob's mouth and a few people were even complaining to themselves about it out loud.

The room became almost entirely empty.

Sandy grabbed SpongeBob and pulled him out of Patrick's hands. "Have you calmed down now?" She glared at Patrick and put SpongeBob in a normal standing position next to her. The squirrel was irritated by the sea star's ignoring of her. She thought that an appropriate time to reveal the truth to the best friend duo came since nearly the entire audience left the room.

"Yep." Patrick nodded. He felt satisfied since he made the entire crowd look at SpongeBob and make their own judgments, he gave those 'cowardly' people a piece of his mind. However, he was still angry since they still 'rejected' the sponge due to the sponge's 'ugliness'.

"SpongeBob, I'm gonna tell you something. You gotta listen too, Patrick." Sandy took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts during the inhale and exhale. She then turned around and looked at SpongeBob. "Sponge, people are not running away from you because you're 'ugly'. They're running away from you because there's some odor coming out of your mouth." She stated her plausible conclusion with no signs of hesitation.

SpongeBob gasped and widened his eyes after hearing those words from Sandy's mouth. He did not expect the truth to be that different from what he thought was the truth, those truths had two completely different causes for SpongeBob's situation. "People aren't judging me?" He asked.

"Yep. They ain't judging you. They run or walk away from you because you smell really bad." Sandy verbally reinforced her statement about the truth by answering SpongeBob's question. "What did you eat that made your mouth get that odor anyway?" She asked the yellow square a question. She assumed that SpongeBob had brushed his teeth in the morning.

"I ate a sundae that I made at home for breakfast. It smelled really strange and Gary started to react abnormally to me after I ate it." SpongeBob specifically stated what he ate for breakfast. He also talked about Gary's behavior after he ate the sundae.

Sandy snapped her fingers and smiled. "There you go. We just found the true cause of your problem." She felt satisfaction with helping the sponge find the cause of his situation. She always seemed that type of satisfaction due to her caring nature.

SpongeBob slowly made a wide smile. He was relieved at the discovery of the truth. He then felt extremely grateful for Sandy's assistance, what the squirrel did prevented potentially many episodes of the sponge's depression as he got 'rejected' over and over again. The yellow square could not express his gratitude through words so he hugged the squirrel instead.

Sandy became surprised by SpongeBob's action but then hugged SpongeBob back, she blushed by a very slight degree as he hugged the sponge. She was glad that SpongeBob found a permanent way out of his acute depression and would remain as his normal self.

Patrick hugged both SpongeBob and Sandy at the same time; he joined in the hugging. "I'm sorry, Sponge." He apologized for his foolish behavior, he thought that SpongeBob had became embarrassed when he was held out before the crowd. He was also apologizing for making SpongeBob think that he was ugly.

"It's okay, Pat." SpongeBob quickly forgave his best friend. He no longer wanted to cling to the past since he found the cause of his problem and the solution to his problem as well. However, he had not became embarrassed when he was shown to the audience.

The three friends ended their group hug.

* * *

**Don't forget to review. :)**


	43. Your Shoe's Untied

**Chapter 43: Your Shoe's Untied**

* * *

Later on that day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was around 8:30 PM.

SpongeBob was sitting in the red chair and was watching TV. He was watching the television since it was relaxing and made it more easy for him to fall asleep as a result. The channel that he was watching was called UMTV (Underwater Music Television), a music video of a dancing sea anemone was currently being broadcasted. The people who made the music video had used special effects to make the anemone look like it was dancing.

SpongeBob's eyes widened by a small degree and he leaned towards the TV. The sea anemone intrigued the yellow sponge; the sponge was impressed by its dance moves. The special effects used to make the sea anemone 'dance' also impressed the sponge. The yellow square was also enjoying the music coming out of the TV, the pop tune being broadcasted was catchy. However, the dancing sea anemone combined with the catchy tune gave the music video a certain type of strangeness.

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**BURRP**

Gary burped. He just finished eating the snail chow that was on his bowl, that chow was his dinner. The snail then slithered towards the open doorway to the living room, he wanted to resume the receiving of his daily dose of TV.

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SpongeBob looked at his surroundings and noticed that his pet snail was slithering into the living room. He then abruptly realized something about the music video. "Gary!" He jumped in his chair in fright and grabbed the remote. The sponge rapidly pressed a small combination of numbers which was a channel number and pressed another button to change the channel to the one specified. He thought that the music video was too weird for him and Gary to watch together. The movements of the sea anemone were suggestive, the anemone faintly resembled a female body if it was looked at closely. The sponge was clueless about the suggestive nature of the video until Gary was slithering towards the room. He did not want the snail to think of his owner as a pervert.

The TV screen changed to show several professional fish athletes playing a game of American football.

Gary slithered into the living room and laid on the couch.

"Umm.. uhh..." SpongeBob sweatdropped. He was trying to gather some words for an excuse for watching that music video. "I was just looking for the sports channel, Gary." He smiled nervously.

Gary found SpongeBob's excuse to be plausible. He did not have any suspicion about his owner. He focused his attention on the professional American football game being broadcasted.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was walking towards SpongeBob's pineapple while holding a plastic bag in one of his hands. He had went to a shoe store several minutes ago and had bought a new pair of shoes. The sea star had a somewhat excessive amount of money given to him through mail by his parents so he had decided to spend some of it. The starfish did not want to waste the gift money, it was the only reason why he had a home. The sea star eventually stood before the pineapple's front door and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

...knocked on that door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the front door's knocking and stood up from the red chair. He then walked up to the door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened that door. He saw Patrick standing before the open doorway.

"Hey, SpongeBob, wanna see my new shoes?" Patrick had walked up to the pineapple so he can show his best friend the new shoes that he bought. The sea star dug into his bag and took out a shoe box.

SpongeBob smiled widely and nodded. He was curious.

Patrick put the plastic bag on the ground and opened the shoe box. The sea star then took out a pair of blue tennis shoes from the box and held them out before SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked at the new pair of shoes with wonder. "Wow! Those are great, Patrick! Let's see what they look like on your feet." He liked how the tennis shoes looked; the different shades of blue on the shoes made the footwear look great. He wanted to see how Patrick would look while wearing that footwear since the sea star almost never wears any footwear.

Patrick's intelligence had decreased as the Sunday went on. By that time in the evening, he was fairly stupid. "Wouldn't you rather see them on..." He put the blue shoes on his hands. "..my hands?" He proposed a surprisingly novel but dumb idea.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge then chuckled at that idea. "We can wear gloves on our feet..." He took off his shoes and took out a pair of gloves that he used for washing dishes. The yellow square then put the gloves on his feet. "...and hats on our captain's quarters too." He took out his Krusty Krab employee hat and put it on top of his rear. He was thinking that Patrick was trying to play a silly game.

Patrick took a deep breath. "Uh, actually... I have a confession to make." He spoke with honesty. The sea star shook the shoes off of his hands and held them. "I don't know how to tie my shoes." He whispered to one of SpongeBob's ears. He had forgotten the basic skill that he whispered about due to his decrease in intelligence. He had proposed that novel idea to SpongeBob so he would not have to properly wear the shoes and end up having to tie them.

SpongeBob laughed because Patrick's simple problem had a simple solution. He did not laugh at the sea star's stupidity. "Do you know how lucky you are to have a friend like me?" He indirectly stated that he knew the solution to Patrick's problem and was willing to help.

Patrick smiled slightly after hearing SpongeBob's words. He did not grin because he thought that his problem was somewhat embarrass. "Yes." The sea star nodded.

SpongeBob took the pair of tennis shoes from Patrick's hands and put them on the ground. "Look at this knot." He then pointed at the tied knot of one of the shoes. "Have you ever seen a more perfectly executed shoe-fastening bow?" He was indicating that knot since it was an example that Patrick should go by when he ties his shoes.

"Gosh... probably not." Patrick scratched his head. He was more impressed by the big words that his best friend said than the indicated knot. He did not know of or remembered any better-tied shoelace knots since he had not paid any attention to them when pedestrians walk down the street or when he sees SpongeBob.

"I learned when I was just a boy, Patrick, and I'm willing to pass on what I know." SpongeBob enthusiastically spoke, he was eager to teach Patrick about how to tie shoes. "Go sit over there," The yellow square pointed at the area of ground that was behind him. "and let an old pro show you how to do it." He was confident in his teaching skills and his ability to tie his shoes. "Pay close attention, Patrick." He then crouched before the tennis shoes and untied the laces. "You start by taking one lace per hand..." Each of his hands seized a shoelace. "...and then you... uh... you gotta... loop the... the..." The yellow square had not tied his shoes in a very long time, he had tied his shoes so well during his latest attempt to tie them that the shoelaces had maintained their positions in their knots for months. His latest attempt at tying his shoes happened before he got hired at the Krusty Krab. The sponge was struggling to remember the basics of knot-making, so many memories between the current attempt and the latest attempt clogged his mind.

"Are you sure you know how to do it?" Patrick raised his brow at the sight of SpongeBob not tying the tennis shoes and the sponge's uncertainty of the next step. He began to doubt the sponge's knowledge about thing shoes. His skepticism indicated that his intelligence increased t a degree.

"Patrick, please, shoe-tying requires peace and quiet." SpongeBob held out an index finger before his mouth, he was making a hand gesture that nonverbally told Patrick to be quiet. The sponge had to be in a distraction-free environment in order to remember how to tie shoes; if the sea star continued to interrupt him, he could become nervous and be unable to remember how to tie shoelaces as a consequence. "Okay, where was I?" The thought of becoming nervous made SpongeBob nervous; the sponge was nervous about becoming nervous. His nervousness made him forget about the last step in shoelace-tying that he was on.

"Your shoes are still untied." Patrick wanted to hear less talking and see more action. He was trying to learn by watching the 'professional' tie the pair of tennis shoes. He preferred learning through watching since he could mimic the physical movements made by the sponge when tying the shoes.

SpongeBob stood up and turned to face his pineapple. "I guess you don't want me to show you how to do it." He thought that the sea star was not interested in learning about how to tie shoes since he the starfish was not paying attention to his words. He did not intend his actions and spoken words to be an attempted threat.

"I'm sorry!" Patrick immediately apologized. He covered his mouth with one of his hands. "I won't interrupt anymore." He spoke while his mouth was covered. The sea star was being honest.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head, he remember a few important steps that shoe-tying consisted of. "I got it!" He smiled at his own little 'victory'. "The first rule of shoe-tying is always start with your right foot." He crouched before the pair of tennis shoes with his right leg facing the shoes. "Now the lesson will officially begin." He grabbed the untied laces of one shoe and tired to tie them. He eventually formed a knot and grinned at his success.

The knot quickly became undone, the shoelaces were not tied tightly enough. There were a few more important steps in the shoe-tying process that SpongeBob still could not remember.

SpongeBob grabbed the laces again and tried to tie them again. He formed another knot within a few seconds.

The knot became undone just like the previous one. It was still tied too loosely.

SpongeBob laughed nervously. His anxiety had became more and more severe as each knot he had made became untied by themselves. The worst-case scenario was becoming true; the yellow sponge was unintentionally showing more and more signs indicating that he could no longer tie shoes. He could not remember the other steps of the shoe-tying process at all.

Patrick glared at SpongeBob. Even though the sponge was his best friend, he began to think that the sponge had lied to him. However, he was not angry; he was simply irritated at how SpongeBob was not teaching him much about shoe-tying.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye and sweatdropped at the sight of Patrick's glaring. He then looked at the untied shoelaces that he tried to make a knot with. "That's... 'knot' right." He tried to lighten the mood by making a joke, he did not underestimate the sea star's unstable passion. "Get it? Knot... right..." He then became silent after indirectly saying that he made a pun. He knew by that point that Patrick was serious.

"No." Patrick shook his head and folded his arms. He did not want SpongeBob to fool around or waste time anymore, he wanted a lesson to be taught to him by the sponge.

"Okay, no more fooling around." SpongeBob narrowed his eyes at the shoelaces that he had tried to tie and grabbed them for the third time. He was determined to tie those shoelaces so Patrick can learn the skill that he was trying to show. He was not going to give up with teaching the lesson just yet. He then tied them within two seconds and moved his hands away from the knot in less than a second.

Just like the other knots, the knot of SpongeBob's third attempt loosened and untied itself.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He needed Patrick to leave him alone in order to have a chance at fully remembering the shoe-tying process; the sea star's demand for a lesson was making him too nervous to remember anything else. He knew that Patrick's intelligence was currently low and he was going to take advantage of that. "Patrick, aren't you late for something?" He asked a question; he was indirectly lying. The sponge did not like deceiving his friends but he had to do it in order to help his best friend later on. He would do another attempt to teach the lesson once he remembers how to tie his shoes again.

Patrick's eyes widened; he was easily deceived by SpongeBob's words. "Oh, poop deck, you're right!" He grabbed the pair of untied tennis shoes and put them into the shoebox. He then put the shoebox into the bag. "We'll have to do this lesson later! Bye, SpongeBob!" He then ran towards his rock. He assumed that he was late for some programs that were going to be broadcasted on TV.

SpongeBob stood up and walked towards his pineapple. He...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...opened the front door and entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"I can't believe I've forgotten how to tie my own shoes." SpongeBob walked into a hallway from the living room. He was speaking his thoughts out loud and to himself. "Well, I'll remember after a good night's sleep."

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

He opened a door and entered the bathroom. The sponge was going to brush his teeth. He thought that he will remember how to tie his shoes in the morning after getting sleep of decent quality.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

SpongeBob turned off the lights in the bedroom. "Good night, gar-bear." He watched Gary slither to the pile of newspapers. The sponge walked to his bed and laid down on it. He put the blanket over himself and pulled it up until it covered enough of his body area to be comfortable. He adjusted his pillow for maximum comfort. He was trying to make his sleeping environment ad comfortable as possible so he could get the highest quality sleep that was possible. He then closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

A pause.

"Good night." Gary meowed those words to his owner. He did that later than usual since he forgot to say it when he entered the bedroom.

The sponge and the snail eventually fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm blew off.

SpongeBob's shoes became untied.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and sat up. "Oh..." He noticed that his shoes were untied due to the blowing of the foghorn. "...no big deal," The sponge shrugged. "I'll remember sooner or later." He was still optimistic in fully remembering how to tie his shoes. He stood up from the bed and...

CLICK

...turned off the foghorn's alarm.

Gary woke up and yawned. "Good morning." He meowed a greeting his owner.

"Mornin', Gar-bear." SpongeBob greeted his snail and smiled. He then walked towards the right door and...

**CRREEEAAAAK**

...exited the bedroom through the right door. He was going to eat breakfast and then brush his teeth.

Gary followed the sponge and exited the room before the right door closed.

**SLAM**

The right door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple while wearing his Krusty Krab employee hat. He had eaten his breakfast and had brushed his teeth. After doing the former and latter, he watched TV with Gary until it was time to go to work. "I'M READY!" He loudly announced the beginning of his occasional "I'm ready" chant. He then began to run towards the Krusty Krab. "I'M READ-"

He tripped on an untied shoelace after taking several steps into his running.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground. "...y." He finished his sentence. He then jumped to his feet and tired to run again. "I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READ-"

**THUD**

He tripped on a shoelace again and fell to the ground. "...y." He then stood up and sprinted, he was trying to see if running super-fast was going to make his feet avoid the shoelaces and prevent him from tripping on them as a result. If he continued to trip on the shoelaces, he might become late for work since it would delay his running. "I'M READ-"

**THUD**

"...y." SpongeBob stood up and brushed some of the ground off of his clothes. 'I guess I can't run.' The sponge thought. He needed to walk in order to enter the Krusty Krab in time. He then walked at a normal pace towards his destination. "I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready." He continued to chant but did it in a lower voice.

**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki. He was in a good mood since SpongeBob and Patrick had not annoyed him yet, the neighborhood had been tranquil ever since the octopus woke up. The octopus then walked towards the Krusty Krab at a pace that was slower than SpongeBob's.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the front entrance of the Krusty Krab. He took out the key and unlocked the double door.

SpongeBob and Squidward walked up to the restaurant.

SpongeBob stopped chanting since he reached his destination. He then walked at a slower pace but was still careful to not trip on his shoelaces.

Squidward had become annoyed at SpongeBob's "I'm ready" chant and became glad when SpongeBob stopped chanting. If the yellow sponge did not annoy him for his entire time spent working at the Krusty Krab for the day, then the day of work might be bearable.

"Mornin', lads." Mr. Krabs greeted his employees and...

**C-CRRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the restaurant.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward entered the Krusty Krab as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took his employee hat from the rack and put it on. He then sat in the boat and waited for the first customer of the day. The octopus was not too enthusiastic to work in spite of SpongeBob not annoying him.

**CREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen. He was going to prepare the kitchen for the day of work.

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Ten minutes later...

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Patrick was sitting on the couch while watching TV when...

**GURRGLE**

...he heard his stomach gurgle. The sea star then felt the empty sensation coming from his stomach. He had been so focused on the television that he had been no longer aware of his body signals until now. He looked at a clock of hardened sand which was on one side of the living room and a light bulb lit up in his head. He realized that the time of the Krusty Krab's opening had passed. 'A Krabby Patty'll be nice.' He thought. The sea star stood up from the couch and climbed the wall.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the rock.

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Patrick walked towards the Krusty Krab.

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Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab. The sea star walked towards the boat.

SpongeBob peeked through the ordering window and saw an incoming Patrick.

"Hi, Squidward." Patrick greeted the octopus. "Hi, SpongeBob." He greeted his best friend and waved at him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gasped and lowered his head from the ordering window. "Oh no! I can't let Patrick see I still haven't tied my shoes." He did not want Patrick to see his untied shoes since the sea star would probably indicate the untied shoes and expect him to tie them. That potential situation would be embarrassing.

S-S-S-S-S

"I would like a Krabby Patty." Patrick stated his order before Squidward was going to ask him about what he wanted to order. He was confident in what he wanted, his memory did not fail him.

Squidward had opened his mouth to ask what Patrick wanted to order but closed it after hearing Patrick's order. He then jotted the order down on a sticky note and put it on the ordering window's wheel. "SpongeBob, one Krabby Patty." He droned Patrick's order.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up and smiled. "Gotcha." He then grabbed a patty from a plastic bag of cold patties and put it on the grill. He turned on the grill and took out his spatula. He flipped the patty when one side facing the surface of the grill was cooked to a certain degree.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put a freshly made Krabby Patty on a plate. He picked up the plate and then peeked through the ordering window to see if Patrick was still standing before the boat.

A pause.

The sponge saw Patrick sitting at a table. A light bulb then lit up in his head. He had an idea that he could put into action that would hide his untied shoes. The yellow square walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRRREEAAK**

...opened it. He then...

**BAM **

**BAM**

...stomped his feet on the wooden planks that the floor of the restaurant consisted of. He pushed the planks out of the nails and the other planks by stomping and made those stomped planks touch the foundation of the Krusty Krab. By doing that, his untied shoes became hidden. The sponge did not mindlessly break the floor planks into pieces since he could not easily repair them and he would also end up losing money from his paycheck in order to pay for the new wooden planks.

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

**BAM**

SpongeBob carefully stomped the floor planks to the foundation as he walked towards Patrick while holding what the sea star ordered. "Here you go." He eventually reached Patrick's table and set the plate on that table.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had unlocked his safe and was counting the amount of money inside of it when he heard loud stomping sounds coming from the dining room. "What in the world?' He stopped counting the money and...

**SLAM**

...closed the safe. He turned around and walked towards the door to the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hey, SpongeBob... you're shorter. Have you been dieting?" Patrick noticed that SpongeBob was smaller compared to the sponge's height when he last saw him. He became smarter after sleeping but was still stupid to a certain degree.

"Well, a sponge has to look his spongiest." SpongeBob said a white lie and tried to not show any signs of nervousness since that could indicate that he was lying. The sponge then turned around and walked in the path of the stomped tiles.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office and saw the trail of stomped planks that SpongeBob was walking through. He then scratched his head, he could not figure out the cause of the floor boards falling in such a specific trail. "What's going on here?" He asked.

Patrick shrugged. "SpongeBob's gotten smaller." The sea star pointed at his best friend. He did not know about how the floor planks fell to the foundation either, he had not paid attention to what the yellow square had did before the square exited the kitchen. He stated something that he noticed as a way of guessing.

Squidward was napping on the boat.

"Hmm..." Mr. Krabs entered a deep state of thought. 'The floor hasn't been repaired in a long time. The nails could've gotten loose.' He came to a conclusion in his mind. "Forget about it. Carry on." He turned around and...

**SLAM**

...entered his office. He did not find the fallen floor boards to be important, the restaurant was in a state of disrepair anyway. The crab had other important matters such as counting profits that he should focus on.

"Phew." SpongeBob a few drops of sweat from his brow. "You're a life-saver, Pat." He turned to look at his best friend and smiled. He appreciated Patrick's 'assistance' in coming up with an excuse for walking through a trail of fallen floorboards; he assumed that Mr. Krabs thought that Patrick's statement was true. He resumed his walking through the trail. The sponge eventually walked through the doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Spongebob tripped on the end of the stomped plank trail and fell face-first to the floor. He had not been watching where he was stepping. The yellow square shook back to his senses and lifted his head.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A young red man entered the Krusty Krab. He walked up to the boat and noticed that the cashier was napping. The man then stepped next to the octopus and poked the octopus' shoulder a few times. "Excuse me..." He was trying to be polite.

Squidward opened his eyes and sat up, he became ill-tempered since his nap got interrupted. He thought that today was going to be a boring workday since only one customer came within the first several minutes. The first customers usually come to the restaurant during that time period. "Sponge-" Squidward thought that his yellow co-worker woke him up but he quickly changed his mind and did not finish saying the sponge's first name when he saw the young man. The octopus was no longer grumpy and made a deadpan facial expression. He was trying to act casual. "Welcome to the Krusty Krab, how may I help you?" He droned.

"I want three triple Krabby Patty deluxes." The young red man stated his order. His order was excessive for one customer since he had saved his appetite for eating at the Krusty Krab.

Squidward jotted the order on a sticky note and stuck it to the metal wheel. "SpongeBob, three triple Krabby Patty deluxes." He told the order to SpongeBob in a somewhat loud voice. He knew by looking through the ordering window that the sponge wad laying on the floor for an unknown reason.

Patrick looked at the Krabby Patty on the plate and realized that he had not taken even one bite from it. He had been too distracted by what was happening before him. The sea star picked up the Krabby Patty and began to eat it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob tried to stand up from his location on the floor.

Plop!

Both of the sponge's shoes were stuck beneath the wooden planks that were not stomped on. That made the yellow square unable to stand up and he fell to the floor again as a result.

Many seconds passed by as SpongeBob continuously attempted to stand up. He was determined to reach the grill and continue to fulfill his duties as a fry cook.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked at his watch. He noticed that a minute had passed and SpongeBob had not finished making any of the burgers that the young man ordered. The octopus did not even hear the sounds of flipping patties on the grill as he waited for the co-worker to fulfill that order. He then turned around and looked through the ordering window again. He saw SpongeBob who was still laying in the same spot and position on the floor. "Those patties aren't going to cook themselves, SpongeBob." The octopus wanted SpongeBob to return to his senses and get back to work.

S-S-S-S-S

"Got... to make... Krabby Patties..." SpongeBob gritted his teeth after hearing Squidward's words. He was putting all the strength that he could muster into his arm muscles, he was trying to push himself out of the floor. In spite of the fact that Squidward's words were more of a complaint and were intended to be so, the sponge found those spoken words to be encouraging; his optimism became a driving force for his determination. Several drops of sweat ran down the yellow fry cook's brow as he tried to free himself from the prison go planks. After several long and excruciating seconds, he finally released himself from the planks' grasp. He tucked the loose shoelaces into his shoes and walked up to the grill.

Squidward turned around after seeing what SpongeBob did. He began to think about how the trail of fallen floorboards came to be. The octopus had heard the loud sounds of the floorboards getting stomped but did not take what he had heard seriously since he assumed that SpongeBob was up to some shenanigans and made those sounds in the process.

SpongeBob took out three patties from the plastic bag and tossed them to the grill.

S-S-S-S-S

About a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put three freshly made triple Krabby Patty deluxes on one large plate. The sponge picked up the plate and slowly walked the ordering window so he could prevent the accidental revelation of his untied shoes.

Squidward leaned his body through the ordering window and held out both of his hands so he can receive the large plate. He was going to serve the order to the young man.

SpongeBob became relieved once he saw what Squidward was doing. He had been anxious about exiting the kitchen and walking across the dining room in order to give the large order to the customer, the untucking of the shoelaces would be inevitable. If he was going to walk a long distance, he would have to constantly tuck his laces in so they don't slip out. However, the sponge could not do that since he was holding the large plate with both of his hands. The sponge gave the large plate to Squidward.

Squidward moved his head and upper body out of the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stepped out of the boat and walked up to the table that the young red man was sitting at.

The young red man slid the amount of money needed to pay for the order across the table.

The octopus set the plate on that table and caught the money being passed to him. He walked back to the boat, sat in the boat, and...

**CHA-CHING**

...opened the cash register's drawer. Squidward put the young man's money into the register in the proper places and closed the register's drawer.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Four customers entered the restaurant. They formed a line in single file and walked up to the boat to state their orders.

"I would like two Krabby Patties with no onions." A customer who was the first person in the line stated his order. He was a blue male in his late teens.

Squidward grabbed a sticky note and jotted the order down on that yellow paper. He then stuck it to the ordering window's wheel. He did not bother to state the order to the sponge since there were other customers waiting behind the adolescent male; he did not want to create a delay.

The teenage blue male stepped out of the way, walked to an empty table, and sat in it.

"A double Krabby Patty deluxe, please." A young lady who was the next person in line stated her order.

Squidward jotted the order down on a sticky note and stuck it to the wheel. He knew that he could not bring all of the plates with the orders to those four customers quickly enough if done by himself. More customers might enter the restaurant and that would make him too busy to serve the food.

The young lady sat in another empty table and the next person walked up to Squidward. "Can I get a Krabby Patty supreme?" A middle-aged man stated his order.

Squidward scribbled the order on a sticky note and stuck it to the window's wheel without turning around to look at where he was sticking it to. The octopus could feel an empty spot on the wheel as he stuck the sticky note to the wheel, he knew that he did not stick that note to another note. The octopus knew by the sudden influx in customers that today was going to be a busy day.

The middle-aged man sat in a table near one of the large windows in the dining room.

The last person in the line was a young woman who had just left adolescence and entered adulthood. "I want a cup of soda, a pack of french fries, and a Krabby Patty." She stated her moderately sized order.

Squidward wrote the order down on a sticky note and stuck that yellow paper to the window's wheel without turning to look at the wheel once again.

Patrick finished eating his Krabby Patty and stood up from his table while holding the plate in one of his hands. He walked up to a spot on the floor that was before the metal wall and was next to the boat. He placed his plate on that spot, he was aware of the plate piles that customers put near the metal wall so the employees could clean them later. The sea star then turned around and walked towards the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was almost halfway through his cooking of the customers' orders. He was working at a moderately fast pace but was still careful to not make his tucked shoelaces slipped out of their places inside his shoes.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put all of the customers' orders on four plates. Each plate had one customer's order.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A few more customers entered the Krusty Krab. They walked towards the boat to state their orders.

Squidward turned around and looked at SpongeBob through the ordering window. "SpongeBob, can you serve the orders by yourself? I'm kinda busy here." The octopus knew that his yellow co-worker can bring orders to customers far more quickly by himself than when he does it by himself. The octopus needed to jot down the orders for other customers, he had to make sure that business in the restaurant runs smoothly.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. One of the worst possible scenarios was currently happening. The sponge had to bring the food to the customers who ordered them and had to take the risk of his laces becoming untucked as a consequence. He could see a few customers walking towards the boat and knew that he could not slow the pace of his food delivery; he had to bring the orders quickly enough so he could be ready to serve the other customers once they all finish stating their orders. The sponge gulped nervously and was about to do an act of desperation. If his laces become untucked, he could trip while bringing an order and end up ruining that order once the food falls to the floor. He was in a catch-22 situation. "Hey, Squidward, I've got an idea. How about you take those people's orders and then serve the food for the other people who ordered before them?" He asked while smiling nervously and a drop of sweat ran down his brow.

"Oh, gee, SpongeBob, that's a great idea. And maybe I should cook the patties and do the dishes and wear square pants and live in a pineapple while you wait in the unemployment line!" Squidward spoke with sarcasm to indicate that what SpongeBob said was foolish. The sourness of his sarcasm could be 'tasted' by seeing the grumpy facial expression of the octopus and the tone that he said those words in.

SpongeBob gasped and shook his head. "No." He was passionate about his job and loved the restaurant that he worked in, being unemployed was one of the last things that he would think about.

"Then deliver the food!" Squidward spoke in a louder voice and then turned around. He began to jot down the order of the first customer in the line on a sticky note.

SpongeBob sighed. "Okay, Squid." He picked up two of the four plates, one plate was on each of his hands. What he was trying to prevent was inevitable. One plate had a Krabby Patty supreme while another had a double Krabby Patty deluxe. "Here I come." The sponge turned around and slowly walked towards the door, he was walking at such a slow pace that his feet looked like they were sliding. He was trying his best to not accidentally untuck his shoelaces. From his viewpoint, it was better to be slow but get the food to the customers eventually instead of risking the food. "I'm coming over."

Squidward eventually jotted down all of the orders on sticky notes and put them on the ordering window's wheel. He did not hear the opening of the kitchen door so he looked through the ordering window and saw a slowly walking SpongeBob. "Will you hurry up? I've got customers waiting!" The octopus was beginning to nag at the sponge, he was becoming irritated by SpongeBob's inactivity.

SpongeBob silently nodded. "I bet those customers are hungry..." He quietly spoke to himself. After hearing Squidward's words, he knew by that point that he could no longer afford to walk slowly anymore. He might hear complaints from customers if he continued to walk at a slow pace. The sponge quickened his walking pace.

The sponge accelerated too quickly.

The shoelaces became untucked.

One foot stepped on the shoelace of the other foot.

**THUD**

SpongeBob tripped and fell to the floors

The double Krabby Patty deluxe and the Krabby Patty supreme flew towards Squidward.

C-CLINK

The two plates landed on the floor. They did not break or received any type of damage, they fell at a slow-enough speed.

The octopus had not turned around. He was watching SpongeBob through the ordering window to make sure that the sponge was going to deliver the food quickly. "SpongeBob!" He yelled at his co-worker when he saw the sponge trip on one of his shoelaces and fall to the floor. However, when he saw the incoming burgers, his reflexes were not quick enough and it was too late. His mouth was slightly agape.

The burgers flew into Squidward's mouth.

SpongeBob looked up and tucked his shoelaces back into his shoes. He saw Squidward whose mouth was stuffed with the two burgers that were on the plates that he had held. "I'm sorry, Squid." The sponge sincerely apologized and stood up.

Squidward glared at SpongeBob as he chewed the burgers. He could no longer tolerate SpongeBob's foolish behavior. He eventually swallowed the Krabby Patties. "Why I oughta-" He was speaking in displeasure when he got interrupted by SpongeBob.

"I'll just make two more." SpongeBob bit his lip and took out two patties from the plastic bag. He hastily tossed them to the grill and flipped them when needed.

S-S-S-S-S

Half a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put a double Krabby Patty deluxe and a Krabby Patty supreme on two plates respectively. The sponge had rapidly cooked the burgers and not a single degree of quality had been sacrificed in the process. The speediness of his cooking of the burgers reminded him of the day when he got hired as the Krusty Krab's fry cook, he remembered the massive amount of anchovies that he had to feed. The fry cook ran towards the door to the dining room while holding the two plates with both of his hands.

The shoelaces became untucked and he tripped on one of them again.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor again.

C-clink

The two plates flew across the room and landed on the floor.

The Krabby Patties once again flew towards Squidward.

Squidward heard SpongeBob and the plates falling to the floor and turned around to see what had happened. His eyes bugged out at the sight of two more incoming burgers, he did not expect to see more of those burgers fly towards his location again and did not react quickly enough as a consequence.

The burgers flew into the octopus' mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob as he chewed the burgers.

The middle-aged man walked up to the octopus and poked him on the shoulder. He knew that his waiting for his order was taking up too much time, he had ate at the Krusty Krab a few times before. The middle-aged man was hungry and could not wait much longer.

Squidward turned around and made eye contact with the middle-aged man. He swallowed the two burgers and suddenly felt severe heartburn. After eating and swallowing four massive burgers, his stomach could not handle anymore food and struggled to digest the Krabby Patties. "I think my heart just stopped." The octopus thought that he ate too many Krabby Patties and made his heart stop beating, he also thought that the cessation of his heartbeat caused his heartburn since energy was apparently not being pumped throughout his body. His stomach apparently could not function properly without energy from blood. However, what he was thinking was not true at all. Squidward was very intelligent but was not a god of knowledge.

"What's the holdup?" The middle-aged man stated his complaint. He folded his arms.

Squidward glanced through the ordering window before turning his eyes back to the middle-aged man. "It's Sponge-"

**BUUUURRRRRP**

The octopus burped in the middle of his sentence. "...Bob's fault!" He finished his sentence and pointed at SpongeBob through the ordering window. He rightfully accused his co-worker as the cause of the delay.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up and sighed when he saw Squidward pointing at him. "I've failed." The sponge quietly spoke to himself with a frown. He looked at the floor as he took off his employee hat. "I'm sorry, hat." The yellow square squeezed the hat that was in his grip "I'm sorry, spatula." His eyes slightly moistened as he took out his spatula and looked at it. "I'm sorry, floor." He picked up the four plates that fell to the floor and put them on the metal bottom of the sink. The yellow square walked up to the Krabby Patties that he had cooked. "I am sorry, Krabby Patties." He apologized to the Krabby Patties before he leaned against one of the kitchen walls and sat on the floor. His eyes moistened even more but he was not on the verge of crying, his eyes were only expressing sadness.

SpongeBob underwent a sudden change in emotion after hearing the conversation between Squidward and the middle-aged man. He realized that by not trying to relearn how to tie his shoes, he caused the situation in the restaurant. The middle-aged man's complaint was only a wave in the eventual tsunami of complaints due to delays that would flood through the boat and into Squidward. The yellow square predicted that the Krusty Krab he knew and loved was going to have an awful business day. Squidward was going to be on the receiving end of numerous complaints while Mr. Krabs would end up panicking over the low profits of the day. The sponge knew that the business and his associates would suffer. His thoughtfulness and consideration for others was more powerful than his child-like nature and optimism.

The sponge took a deep breath and looked at his untied shoes with remorse. Guilt filled his heart since such a simple skill as tying shoes that was also easy to learn was what caused the unfavorable situation; his situation was easily preventable even though the negative outcome was not expected. The sponge had thought that his inability to do that skill would not have severe consequences once Patrick left the Krusty Krab.

A long pause.

Squidward pierced his head through the ordering window and glared at a sitting SpongeBob. To his dismay, several customers who wanted to state their orders had gathered in a single file line before the boat while customers who wanted to complain gathered around the boat. The sudden rise in the demands of the customers was too massive and too quick and broke Squidward's limit. "SPONGEBOB, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled a question at SpongeBob like a drill sergeant. Seeing the sponge's inactivity combined with the pressure from the customers made his irritation caused by SpongeBob to become full-blown anger.

SpongeBob was fighting the urge to cry. He understood why Squidward was angry since he was hearing the complaints of annoyed customers. The octopus' yelling only reinforced the fact that the sponge was completely responsible for the situation.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his desk in the office. He was leisurely working on a daily crossword puzzle that was on a newspaper. The crab could not figure out the words that fit the definitions shown next to the 'ACROSS' and 'DOWN' numbers so he simply put the word 'money' into the white spaces letter by letter. The crab looked through the definitions and saw one that caught his attention. "Let's see, a five-letter word for happiness." The crustacean smirked. "Money." He wrote down the word letter by letter into the column under the 'DOWN' number that the definition was next to.

S-S-S-S-S

"This is the worst service I've ever had!" The blue male who had ordered two Krabby Patties without onions banged his fist on the table he was sitting in and stood up. The young adolescent was outspoken. "I'm going to the Chum Bucket." He had not paid for his order yet so going to another restaurant was certainly an option. He stomped towards the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs fell to the floor and made his chair fall with him after overhearing the blue adolescent's words. He became so shocked by what that customer said that he acted as if a bullet got shot into his chest. The crab managed to take a few hasty inhales and release a few hasty exhales before standing up. The crab then ran towards the door to the dining room. He would be losing money if a customer exited the Krusty Krab without paying.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crab exited his office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Wait! Wait, don't go!" Mr. Krabs desperately yelled at the customer to make him stay.

The blue adolescent continued his stomping towards the double door. He ignored Mr. Krabs' words. He was not going to stay at a restaurant that does not even serve what he wants to pay for.

Mr. Krabs dove towards the blue adolescent and grabbed his ankles. He was doing another desperate attempt in making the young male stay at the restaurant. The crab wanted to persuade the adolescent to spend some of his money at the Krusty Krab and was going to persuade the young male by providing unique offers.

The blue adolescent glared at Mr. Krabs from the corner of his eye and shook his ankles out of the crab's grasp. He had heard from his friends that the boss/owner of the Krusty Krab was stingy and greedy. He somewhat expected the boss to react in the way that he was currently doing since he knew that the opinion that he stated out loud was going to make the crab react negatively.

**C-CRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The blue adolescent exited the Krusty Krab.

"That's me money walking out the door." Mr. Krabs sighed and spoke to himself as he watched the lost customer walk towards the Chum Bucket. The painful feeling of missing an opportunity filled his heart. The losing of money or opportunities to gain money had happened to the crab several times before. When he was young and inexperienced, he would react dramatically to such a tragic occurrence. Even to the present day, he was not immune to those negative emotions. After several more seconds, he stood up and turned around. He walked towards the boat and cautiously shoved complaining customers out of the day. He noticed the severity of the annoyance that the complaining customers had so he was careful with how he moved them out of his way. The crab eventually reached Squidward. "What's the meaning of this, Mr. Squidward?" He asked a question that was on his mind ever since he heard the words of the outspoken adolescent.

"It's SpongeBob's fault." Squidward pointed at SpongeBob through the ordering window again. "He didn't serve any food to nearly anybody." He stated why the sponge was responsible for the situation.

Mr. Krabs tightened his fists and his eyes narrowed. He had high expectations for the yellow employee and could not tolerate the sponge's sudden 'laziness'. The yellow sponge was one of the main reasons why his business was gaining large amounts of profits.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barges the door to the kitchen open. "SPONGEBOB, GET OUT HERE!" He yelled at SpongeBob in a stern voice. He wanted to know the reason for the sponge's 'laziness'. The 'laziness' had to be severe if a large amount of customers were complaining to Squidward about customer service.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up and stepped towards the door to the dining room. He did not want to walk up to and tell his boss the reason for not serving the food to the customers. In his opinion, that reason was embarrassing.

S-S-S-S-S

"More." Mr. Krabs gestured with one of his claws for SpongeBob to walk towards him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took several large steps towards the door to the dining room. He was near the open doorway. The sponge was trying to delay the revelation of his reason as much as possible.

S-S-S-S-S

"More." Mr. Krabs made the same hand gesture.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slowly took a single step towards the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

"All the way, boy!" Mr. Krabs became slightly annoyed by his employee's hesitance. He folded his arms and patiently waited for SpongeBob to exit the kitchen.

SpongeBob gulped nervously and stepped out of the kitchen. He then made eye contact with Mr. Krabs and sweatdropped. He dreaded the possibility of the complaining mob of customers laughing at him after revealing his reason for not serving them with the ordered food.

"What be the matter, SpongeBob? I ought to make you walk the plank for this." Mr. Krabs had a solemn facial expression. The crab was not willing to listen to or see anymore of SpongeBob's silly behavior. The crab made eye contact with SpongeBob and his eyes did not loosen their grip on the sponge.

"I'm sorry Mr. Krabs, it's just that I... I..." SpongeBob struggled to state the reason. He simply found that reason to be too embarrassing. His dread over the possibility of customers laughing at him intensified as he verbally became closer and closer to that reason.

"Yes?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow. He was losing his patience, he wanted SpongeBob to state the reason so he could get that out of the way and come up with a solution to SpongeBob's problem. For a situation such as the one currently happening, a solution was necessary in order for it to no longer cause a negative impact on the business.

"I... I... I... I... I... I..." SpongeBob continued to struggle. He was trying to form his reason into spoken words. It sounded like he was stuttering instead.

"Yes, yes, yes?" Mr. Krabs tapped his foot as he waited for his employee to state the reason.

"I... I... I... I... I..." SpongeBob was nearly unable to state the reason. He was acting as if his mouth was blocking the potential words from being released.

"Out with it, boy!" Mr. Krabs lost his patience. He could no longer wait through SpongeBob's stalling, he was losing money as customers continued to complain nearby. The quicker he figured out a solution, the quicker he could regain his customers and their money. "What is it?" The crab was trying to force the answer out of the yellow square's mouth.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "I forgot how to tie my shoes." He stated his reason in a quiet voice so no one else but Mr. Krabs can hear him. Only the crab being aware of his reason was the next best thing if he was forced to state the reason.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "That's all?" He no longer folded his arms and smirked. After hearing the sponge's words, he was no longer as serious as he was several seconds ago. The crab had expected a more urgent reason than that of not knowing a skill. "That's all?"

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. "Will you show me how?" He thought that Mr. Krabs could tie shoes since he was a retired pirate. He assumed that pirates could do a variety of skills.

Mr. Krabs pointed at his feet which consisted of red stubs. "I don't wear shoes." He stated an obvious fact. Unfortunately, he could not help the sponge.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and walked up to a customer who was waiting in a single file line and lightly poked his shoulder. The sponge was not going to give up yet, he was determined to learn how to tie his shoes so he could stay at his job. He thought that some of the customers in the restaurant knew how to tie shoes since some citizens in Bikini Bottom wear footwear.

The light blue male customer looked at SpongeBob. The yellow square had caught his attention.

"Could you show me how to tie my shoes?" SpongeBob asked. He crossed his fingers as he hoped for a nod or other positive response from the customer.

The male customer shook his head. "I don't wear shoes either." He pointed at his shoeless feet. He had overhead the conversation between SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs amidst the frenzy of the complaining customers.

SpongeBob took another deep breath and made a serious face. He was not discouraged by some people's lack of footwear. He walked down the line of waiting customers and stopped walking next to a female eel. "Could you show me how to tie my shoes?" He asked the same question to the eel.

"I would, but, sadly, I am only an eel." The female eel knew how to tie shoes but was not wearing any footwear due to the body type of her species. A shoe that she could use to demonstrate the skill of shoe-tying was not available to her. The eel wiggled her tail on the floor to indicate that she was not wearing a single piece of footwear.

SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Can I go out to find someone who could teach me about shoe-tying?" He asked his boss for permission. He would certainly find someone who could teach him such a simple but temporarily important skill if he took his search to the outside world.

Mr. Krabs thought deeply for several seconds. Since SpongeBob's inability to tie his shoes was the cause of the severe situation, he decided that it would be best if the sponge went outside in his search for an instructor. The sponge would cause only more of a delay if he continued to work with his untied shoes. He supposed that the yellow square was tripping on untied laces while bringing the food to the customers. "You may." He nodded. "But don't be out there for too long." He wanted his employee to learn how to tie shoes and come back to the Krusty Krab as quickly as possible. The profits for the day relied on SpongeBob's productivity.

SpongeBob briskly walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob wandered aimlessly as he searched for someone to teach him about shoe-tying. He could not find a citizen in the vicinity of the Krusty Krab so he thought that looking through random locations in Bikini Bottom would be best.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob wandered into Jellyfish Fields. He walked up a hill with rocks scattered across its surface and saw a group of three jellyfish. The sponge had seen jellyfish do remarkable acts out of survival, he knew that jellyfish could adapt to many environments and can learn many skills if they are necessary for survival. The yellow square walked up to the jellyfish. "Could any of you show me how to tie my laces?" He asked to see how the three jellyfish were going to respond. He did not know the full potential of the adaptive ability of the jellyfish. From his viewpoint, jellyfish understanding the language that he was speaking was possible.

The three jellyfish heard SpongeBob's voice and flew around the sponge. They were observing SpongeBob to see if he was a threat or not.

One jellyfish accidentally got too close to the yellow sponge. One of its stingers touched the sponge's skin.

**ZZZAP**

It unintentionally stung SpongeBob on the crown of his head.

The jellyfish continued to fly around SpongeBob before flying towards elsewhere. They did not perceive SpongeBob as a threat.

SpongeBob did not show any signs of a negative response, his determination was the fuel that was making him continue his search. From the corner of his eye, he saw a sea urchin hop towards a rock and slide into the rock's underside. Since the sea urchin had needles and could move through tight and small spaces, the sponge thought that the sea urchin could teach him how to tie his shoes. Many citizens were at work or were at restaurants for breakfast so animals were a viable option as instructors. He walked up to the rock and flipped it upside-down.

There were a few sea urchins on the underside of the rock. They were eating the moss that was on the rock.

"Could you show me how to tie a knot?" SpongeBob asked the sea urchins. He tried to make his request more simple by asking them to teach him how to tie a simple knot instead of a shoe. He supposed that sea urchins do not know how to tie shoes since they don't wear footwear.

The sea urchins are some more of the moss before hopping towards elsewhere. They hopped away from the sponge since they did not want to get accidentally crushed by the sponge; like any other non-intelligent animal, they based their actions on their instincts.

SpongeBob sighed and sat on the rock. Like the burning of fuel for a boatmobile or other machine, his determination diminished with each attempt until he began to think about giving up.

There was no other person in the expansive plain, the people who jellyfished on the weekends were currently at their jobs. Only the nearby roaming and flying animals kept the sponge from becoming lonely.

SpongeBob put his elbow on one of his thighs, he was about to make a 'thinker' pose. The yellow square was going to think critically about his urgent situation. However, his elbow felt something inside the pocket next to the thigh. The sponge became curious and dug into his pocket. He took out what was inside the pocket and noticed that it was the magical pages. 'Maybe these pages will help me out.' The sponge thought to himself. The pages surely had gathered energy from SpongeBob's intense emotions by that point.

The sponge took a deep breath and closed his eyes. As Patrick stated nearly two months ago, he had to break the dam. For his current situation, that dam was his inability to tie his shoes.

A long pause.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and took another deep breath. He was putting a large amount of concentration into the question that he was about to ask. He wanted the magical pages to respond to his request.

Another long pause.

"Doesn't anybody know how to tie a knot?" SpongeBob finally asked the question. He was asking to no one in particular.

The magical pages glowed. The pages projected the sponge's voice throughout Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

The Flying Dutchman was steering his ghostly vessel. The ship was sailing through the air and at a high altitude. In the daytime, it and the Flying Dutchman were almost invisible unless the captain made himself and the vessel visible. However, it and the captain glowed a bright green in the nighttime unless the captain made it and himself invisible.

The Flying Dutchman heard a magically projected question and smirked. He parked his ship by pressing into the wooden steering wheel. The ghost then flew out of his ship and towards the source of that voice, SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

**B-BOOOOMMMM**

**RRRUUMMMMBBBLLE**

A lightning bolt fell from the cloudless sky.

SpongeBob's face drained of color and he fell from the rock in fright.

**B-BOOOMMM**

**RRUUUUMMBBBLLEE**

Another lightning bolt fell from the sky.

Dark clouds came out of nowhere and gathered to form a murky sky.

The Flying Dutchman came out of the clouds and flew directly towards SpongeBob. He had thrown those lighting bolts and had formed those dark clouds to alert the yellow square of his presence. Once the ghost was near the ground, he stopped flying and floated before the sponge.

SpongeBob stood up, saw the green phantom before him, and gasped. "The Flying Dutchman..." He recognized the phantom. He remembered seeing the Flying Dutchman at the end of his pirate journey with Patrick and Mr. Krabs. He did not expect the ghost to answer his call, he knew that the magical pages were at least partially responsible for the summoning of the ghost.

_"Did somebody say knot?" _The Flying Dutchman looked down and made eye contact with SpongeBob while smirking. He was making sure if the projected voice that he had heard came from the sponge.

SpongeBob gulped nervously. "I did." He bravely spoke. The sponge did not know for sure about the captain's intentions.

_"So, you want to tie knots, do ya?" _The Flying Dutchman folded his arms. He repeated the question that he heard to see if that was what SpongeBob really asked.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob was mentally forming a response to the phantom's question.

_"Well, do ya?!" _The Flying Dutchman loudly asked the same question. He demanded a response from the yellow square.

"Yes, please, Mr. Flying Dutchman, sir." SpongeBob made a solemn facial expression and nodded. He was willing to learn about shoe-tying from anybody, even a ghost. He thought that shoe-tying was going to be part of the lesson that he was about to be taught.

_"Then you've come to the right flying ghost, kid. You're looking at someone who had been tying knots for his entire physical life." _The Flying Dutchman assured SpongeBob about his knowledge and ability in shoe-tying. He only wanted to help the sponge because he was bored. There were no nearby souls to put into his bag and he had sailed his vessel for more then an hour without finding any souls.

"Hooray!" SpongeBob grinned and jumped up and down in joy. He felt overjoyed since he finally found someone that can and was willing to teach him how to tie his shoes.

_"Now, stand back and watch me be knotty." _The Flying Dutchman laughed at the pun that he just said and then took out a piece of rope from his coat. _"Behold!" _The ghost nimbly tied the rope into the shape of a pretzel, he did it a somewhat slow pace so he can show each step. _"The pretzel knot." _He held out the knot towards SpongeBob.

"Ooooooh..." SpongeBob's eyes sparkled as he marveled at the knot made by the phantom. He had never seen that type of knot before. He had paid close attention to each step the phantom did to make that knot.

The Flying Dutchman untied the rope. He then slowly tied the rope into two diamond shapes connected by one stray untied part of the rope. _"The double diamond knot." _He was enjoying the lesson that he was giving to SpongeBob since it boosted his ego. He then untied the rope and tied it into a square-shape. _"The square knot." _He untied the rope and tied it into what looked like a braid. He wrapped the rope braid around SpongeBob's neck and squeezed the sponge. _"The constrictor." _He then released the sponge from the knot's grape and untied the rope.

SpongeBob smiled nervously and sweatdropped. His heart had skipped a beat when the knot was wrapped around him, he had thought for a second that the phantom was attacking him.

The Flying Dutchman tied the rope into what looked like intestines. _"The gut knot." _He untied the rope and tied it into the shape of a pillow. "The pillow knot." He gave the rope pillow to SpongeBob. He wanted the sponge to see how tightly the rope was tied by making the sponge rest his head on the 'pillow'. _"Lay down on it." _He commanded.

SpongeBob put the knot on the ground and laid down on the ground. He rested his head on the 'pillow' and became surprised by how resistant the 'pillow' was from getting squeezed, he felt like he was laying his head on a rock. "It's kinda rough." He observed. The rough texture of the rope also assisted in making it difficult to squeeze the knot. The sponge then stood up and gave the knot back to the Flying Dutchman.

The Flying Dutchman slowly untied the knot and tied the rope into another knot at the same pace. The newly-made knot was shaped like a butterfly. _"The butterfly knot." _He tossed the knot to the air, inhaled, and blew a large amount of air towards the knot.

The 'wings' of the knot made the knot hover in the air as if it was actually flying like the insect that it was shaped after. It was hovering against the air being blown by the phantom.

"Ooooh..." SpongeBob looked at the 'flying' knot with wonder. If he stood far enough from the 'flying' knot, it would look like a fluttering butterfly. The sponge had been closely watching the steps that the ghost had taken to make the knots so those steps could be stored into his long-term memory.

_"Wait,"_ The Flying Dutchman grabbed the knot and held out an index finger. _"There's more!"_ He untied the knot and tied the piece of rope into a twistable braid of three strands. _"The monkey chain." _He tied that knot into another knot. The newly-made knot was a ball with two loose and untied parts of the rope sticking out of it. _"The monkey's fist." _He then untied the knot completely and tied the rope into the shape of a monkey. _"The monkey." _He untied that knot and tied the rope into a loop with two pieces of untied rope at opposite ends. _"This one here's a loop knot, otherwise known as the 'poop loop'." _He made one of his hands glow and touched the knot with the glowing hand, he was giving magical properties to the rope. He then grabbed one lose end of the knot and pulled it.

**POOOOOOOP**

The knot made a sound that sounded like someone saying "poop" in a high-pitched voice.

SpongeBob laughed after hearing the knot's sound. "Those are great, Mr. Flying Dutchman, sir. Now can you show me how to tie my shoes?" He asked a crucial question. For the entire lesson, the sponge had secretly waited for the phantom to teach him how to tie his shoes.

_"I forgot how to tie me shoes."_ The Flying Dutchman made a frank reply. _"I haven't worn shows for over three-hundred years." _He pointed at the trail of spiritual energy that the lower portion of his body consisted of. The trail looked like a tail. _"I guess that ends the lesson." _The captain laughed and then flew towards his ship. He thought that his lesson had ended since there were no more knots to show SpongeBob how to tie.

**B-BOOOMMM**

**RRRRUUMMMBBLE**

**B-BOOOMMM**

**RRRRUUUMMMBBLE**

Two lighting bolts fell from the sky, thunder then followed. The Flying Dutchman had thrown two lighting bolts to the ground to indicate that he was leaving.

The dark clouds scattered and the sky became clear with a bright blue.

SpongeBob saw a jellyfish fly past him from the corner of his eye. That pink creature reminded him of one final hope that resided in his pineapple, that hope was an animal.

A pause.

The sponge sighed and walked towards his pineapple. The sponge had no other option left.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to his pineapple.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was laying on the couch and was watching TV.

SpongeBob slowly walked up to Gary. "Gary, do you know how to tie shoes?" He asked an important question to the snail. The sponge was aware of the fact that his pet had several weird talents and skills. He then crossed his fingers as he waited for an answer. He hoped that the snail could be a potential instructor.

"Yep." Gary nodded.

SpongeBob fell to his knees and clasped his hands together. "Can you teach me how to tie my shoes?" He was nearly begging for the snail to teach him about shoe-tying. "My untied shoes are making me unable to work." He stated his reason for asking that question. The sponge then bit his lip as he waited for his response, what the snail was about to say was going to decide the outcome of the day.

A pause.

Gary nodded. He thought that helping out his owner with a simple skill like shoe-tying was mundane but also a way to give back for the all of the care that he received from his owner.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" SpongeBob hugged Gary like a bear, he could not express his gratitude more than the two words "thank you". The snail had saved the sponge from the chaos caused by his inability to tie his shoes.

"It's simple." Gary meowed and slithered out of the couch. His lesson about shoe-tying was about to begin.

SpongeBob sat on the couch so Gary could easily indicate each step of the shoelace-tying process. He smiled and prepared his mind for the information that he was about to receive.

"Take a lace in each hand." Gary instructed his owner; he stated the first step of the show-tying process. He wanted to say the steps in the least amount of words possible so what he was saying could be easily understandable.

SpongeBob's left and right hand took hold of the left and right shoelace of one shoe.

"Make one of the laces go over the other." Gary continued to instruct SpongeBob once he saw him do the first step.

SpongeBob nodded and made one lace go across the other. The steps that the snail was saying sounded very familiar to the sponge, the yellow square still remembered some of the steps for tying shoes. However, he did not say a prediction for the next instruction that Gary was going to say, he was completely listening to the snail to prevent himself from making any mistakes with the shoelace-tying.

"Make the other lace go under the hole below both of them."

SpongeBob made the other lace that he was holding go under the small triangular hole that formed from the laces going across each other. He understood Gary's instructions with barely any difficulty. He was remembering more and more steps of the process as he did each step that the snail said.

"Make the laces go over and under again."

SpongeBob repeated the last two steps that Gary said before he said the latest step. The laces in his hands began to look like a knot.

"Put the aglets into the knot until they go through it."

SpongeBob carefully inserted the aglets into the knot until they pierced though the web of shoelaces. The knot now had bunny 'ears'.

"Pull the aglets until they are no longer piercing out of the knot."

SpongeBob gently pulled the aglets until they no longer stuck out of the knot. The bunny 'ears' became complete.

"You're done." Gary informed his owner that he just completed the process of shoe-tying. A feeling of satisfaction washed over him, he could tell that he helped SpongeBob since he saw the positive responses that the sponge made as he tied his shoes step by step.

"That's it?" SpongeBob looked at Gary in disbelief. He had expected Gary to say more instructions after doing the last step of shoelace-tying. He remembered the entire process of shoe-tying after doing the step before the next-to-last step. However, he still consulted the snail just in case if his memory was faulty.

Gary nodded.

SpongeBob quickly tied his other shoe and stood up. "I gotta go!" The sponge had a far more severe problem to attend to. He sprinted towards the front door and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

Gary resumed his watching of the TV. He did not became concerned for his owner since he knew that the sponge's formerly untied shoes had caused a problem at the Krusty Krab. He felt confident enough in his owner to believe that his owner could overcome any facing adversity when it came to work.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran as fast as he could towards the Krusty Krab, he huffed and puffed while doing so. He could not imagine the torment from the complaining customers that Squidward was going through.

* * *

**Any feedback is appreciated.**


	44. Big Pink Loser Part 1

**Since I don't want to take a large amount of time writing large chapters without updating, I'll just separate them into parts if it takes too long to write them.**

* * *

**Chapter 44: Big Pink Loser Part 1**

* * *

The Krusty Krab was suffering due to SpongeBob's absence. The delay was so severe that customers became angry since their complaints were not being answered by the serving of the food that they ordered. They were either leaving the restaurant or make it hell for Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

"Nooo! Come baaack!" Mr. Krabs stood before the Krusty Krab's front entrance and called out to the people that were walking away from the restaurant, the people that were leaving were former customers. The crab was becoming desperate as more money left his grasp through the leaving of the customers. A situation such as the one currently happening was extremely uncommon and was always an unpleasant experience for the greedy boss. "SpongeBob... come back..." He quietly spoke to himself, he yearned the return of his yellow employee since he could regain his profits with the sponge working in the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

An angry group of customers had lifted the boat that Squidward was sitting in and was shaking it furiously. The group consisted of customers who had waited to state their order and customers who had complained to the octopus. The customers could no longer tolerate the severe delay and had decided to take action by scaring the cashier into cooking and making their orders or go fetch SpongeBob, they were scaring Squidward by shaking the boat.

"AAAAAaaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAHHH!" Squidward screamed in terror as the boat rapidly went from side to side. He could not exit the trap that the customers had put him in. He began to hear complaints about him not leaving the boat in spite of the fact that the shaking trapped him into the boat. 'That's it!' He thought. Out of desperation, he dove through the ordering window and...

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

...landed on the floor of the kitchen.

Customers peeked through the ordering window and yelled at Squidward to make the food that they wanted. Each person stated a different order at nearly the same time.

Squidward could not single-out the orders that were told to him and start cooking, he did not know what the customers' orders were since they nearly said at the same time. "C-can you repeat that?" He nervously asked and sweatdropped. He was not sure about how the customers were going to respond to his question.

**SLAM**

The customers barged the door to the kitchen open and walked into the kitchen. They were going to force Squidward to cook the Krabby Patties if the octopus liked it or not. They no longer had the patience to wait for even a second longer or repeat what they said.

S-S-S-S-S

'I can't believe this is happening to me.' Plankton thought as he watched the blue male eat a chum burger while sitting in a table in the dining room. He was smiling since he was delighted to see a customer with a sincere intention to eat at the Chum Bucket. Customers such as the blue adolescent are rare and come to the restaurant between very large amounts of time.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A few more people opened the double door and entered the Chum Bucket. They were former customers of the Krusty Krab. They came to the restaurant for the same reason as the blue male's, the Krusty Krab had poor customer service.

Plankton made a bigger smile as he saw the customers enter his restaurant, the entering people could be sincere as well. He walked up to the customers. "Welcome to the Chum Bucket!" He spoke with enthusiasm. He then pointed at the ordering window which was on the right wall of the dining room. "You state your orders in front of that window." He then walked towards a nearby door and...

Creak

Slam

...entered the kitchen.

The customers formed a single file line before the ordering window.

Plankton hopped to the cash register and took out a tiny notepad and a pencil. He was ready to jot down the customers' orders. "You may state your orders." He announced his readiness to the customers before him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sprinted towards the Krusty Krab and...

**S-SLAM**

...barged the double door open. He then quickly entered the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs widened his eyes when he saw SpongeBob run past him, he did not expect the sponge to come to the restaurant so abruptly.

S-S-S-S-S

The customers stepped out of the kitchen and turned to look at SpongeBob. They then became surprised, they had thought that it was going to take hours before the yellow fry cook comes back to the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob ran towards the door to the kitchen and carefully shoved customers out of the way as he ran.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran through the open doorway and took out his spatula. He then turned on the grill and opened the plastic bag of cold patties. "Can you guys form a line?" He stood on his tip-toes and spoke through the ordering window, his words were aimed at the customers.

S-S-S-S-S

The customers formed a single file line. The customers who had complained were the ones that were in front of the others. Within a few minutes after SpongeBob's return, peace had been restored to the Krusty Krab.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the kitchen and sat in the boat. He jotted down orders on sticky notes as each customer stated his/her order and put those sticky notes on the wheel.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Once all of their orders had been written down and stuck to the metal wheel and all of the customers sat in the tables, Squidward watched SpongeBob cook and make the ordered food at a rapid pace. What happened a few minutes ago was another incident of SpongeBob saving him from a horrific outcome or rescuing him from an unpleasant situation. That recent incident reminded him of SpongeBob's first day as the Krusty Krab fry cook, the moment in that day when SpongeBob was rapidly feeding the anchovies was what the recent incident specifically reminded him of. The octopus slightly appreciated SpongeBob's assistance if he admitted it or not. Squidward had also been surprised by how SpongeBob came back to the Krusty Krab with tied shoes and fixed the problem that he caused. Squidward had thought that the sponge would not come back to the restaurant for the rest of the day after leaving in search of a shoe-tying instructor; he underestimated SpongeBob's determination.

'Maybe I should trust him a little bit more... but only at work.' He thought. Squidward began to view his co-worker as trustworthy when it came to tough situations at the Krusty Krab. He envied SpongeBob's determination and optimism before adversities since he usually gives in to obstacles whenever they face him. However, the octopus kept his old views of SpongeBob when it came to daily living at the neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob poked Squidward's shoulder. He had something to give to the octopus.

Squidward turned around and looked at SpongeBob. He had been waiting for the sponge to finish making the ordered food so he can serve them.

SpongeBob gave Squidward two plates that had a Krabby Patty on each of them. The sponge then silently pointed at the customers who ordered the Krabby Patties. "We got plenty to give out." The sponge indirectly told Squidward to serve the food quickly, he did not want to sound rude.

Squidward stood up from the boat while carrying the plates. He then walked towards the nearest customer who ordered one of the Krabby Patties on the plates.

S-S-S-S-S

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was Friday morning.

Patrick was sleeping peacefully on his bed, he was slightly drooling. He was not wearing pajamas and a blanket of hardened sand covered most of his body. Once the starfish was asleep, it was difficult for him to be woken up through external means.

S-S-S-S-S

A mailman walked up to Patrick's rock and...

**PLOP**

...drooped a box in the premises. He then walked elsewhere to deliver other things to addresses within his mail route.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick heard the dropping of the box and opened his eyes. He yawned, tossed the blanket to the side, stood up from the bed, wiped the saliva from his face, and walked towards the circular wall. He could not control his curiosity, he wanted to find the source of the sound that he just heard. The sea star reached the wall within a few seconds and climbed it. He then...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...lifted the rock and...

**SLAM**

...exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick saw a box before his rock. "That wasn't there before." He stated to himself what was obvious, he was not significantly intelligent when he had woken up. The sea star walked up to the box and opened it.

The contents of the box consisted of a golden trophy cup with two handles. A silver plaque on the pedestal of the trophy had text that said 'For Outstanding Achievement in Fry Cooking: SpongeBob SquarePants'.

"An award?" Patrick recognized what the trophy was, he knew that those objects were given to people as awards. The sea star did not notice the plaque on the trophy and held out the trophy before the rising sun. He was marveling at the shininess of the golden trophy. "I never got an award before." The starfish grinned at the award that he received, the pleasant surprise delighted him. Due to his stupidity, he never received an award in school. He never got a job for the same reason and never received any other award as a result. Patrick looked at his rock and held out the trophy towards it. "Look rock, I got an award." He thought that his home was an actual person, his intelligence suddenly decreased. He was informing 'people' about him receiving an award so he can be praised.

A jellyfish flew past Patrick.

Patrick held out the trophy towards the pink creature. "Jellyfish, I got an award." He informed the jellyfish about his award.

The jellyfish did not respond to Patrick's statement at all. It continued to fly in the same direction.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I gotta show SpongeBob." He stated his idea out loud. He briskly walked towards the pineapple and...

**KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the front door. He then jumped up and down in excitement, he was anticipating the showing of his award to SpongeBob. He knew that his best friend would definitely congratulate or praise him unlike the other 'people' that he showed it to. Another reason why he was informing others about his award was that he considered him receiving an award for the first time to be major news.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door. He was wearing his pajamas. He was not drowsy since the front door's knocking woke him up a few minutes before his normal waking time range. "Good morning, Pat." He smiled when he saw his best friend. "Why did you knock on my door?"

"Look, SpongeBob." Patrick held our the trophy before SpongeBob. "I got an award." He stated the fact with pride.

"That's great, Patrick." SpongeBob sincerely praised his best friend for his achievement. His normal smile became a beam that was as bright as the rising sun. The shininess of the trophy against the gradually strengthening sunlight distracted him from the silver plaque on the pedestal. "What's it for?" He wanted to know what achievement Patrick did that deserved such a award.

Patrick turned the trophy around and saw a plaque on it. He realized that there was text engraved on the plaque but he did not bother to read it, the morning sun's light made it difficult to read the text. "See for yourself." He gave the trophy to SpongeBob, he wanted his best friend to read it instead; he did not want to squint and end up hurting his eyes. The sea star had remnants of his formerly high intelligence.

SpongeBob held the trophy close to his face so he could read the engraved text on the silver plaque. "For outstanding achievement in... fry cooking... SpongeBob SquarePants?" He expected to see his best friend's name on the plaque and a different achievement being awarded for. He became skeptical of Patrick's claim, the trophy was certainty meant to be owned by himself.

"SpongeBob SquarePants?" Patrick scratched his head and looked at the trophy's plaque. He saw SpongeBob's full name. "That's a funny way to spell my name." His stupidity could not become more obvious; he could not recognize the difference between his and SpongeBob's names.

"Patrick, I think the award is for me. You must have got it by mistake." SpongeBob made a neutral facial expression and made eye contact with Patrick. After saying those words, he became worried about unintentionally damaging his best friend's feelings. He had seen the joy in Patrick's face and did not want to take that away.

"But... it's shiny." Patrick frowned and took hold of the trophy with both of his hands. He did not want 'his' award to be taken away from him. He comprehended what his best friend said but the beauty of the golden object made it extremely difficult for him to give it to his friend. He thought that it was too valuable to be given away even though he was not going to sell it.

"Yeah..." SpongeBob looked at the trophy and could tell by Patrick's response that the sea star will become upset if the award was taken away from him. In an attempt to make the retrieval of the trophy as painless as possible, he decided to stick to the positive. "You know what else is shiny?" He smiled again. The shiny object that he was thinking about was ice cream.

Patrick looked inside the trophy and marveled at the golden object's glowing inside. A light bulb lit up in his head. "Ice cream!" He exclaimed his thought with a smile, he made a lucky guess. He looked up from the trophy and at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob became suprised by Patrick's answer and then snapped his fingers. "Exactly!" He was impressed by Patrick's excellent guess.

"Is it in here?" Patrick pointed at the inside of the trophy. From his point of view, golden-colored ice cream camouflaging inside the trophy cup was possible. He thought that finding some ice cream, putting it on a come, and showcasing it inside his rock would be the closest thing to the trophy. With the proper lighting, the ice cream would rival that of the golden trophy in terms of shininess. However, shininess could not replace the sense of achievement felt by receiving an actual award. The sea star was aware of that fact and only wanted to use the ice cream as a replacement for the trophy.

SpongeBob peeked into the trophy cup and touched its inside to feel for any cream or liquid. He only felt the metal that the trophy mostly consisted of. "Nope."

Patrick's eyes moistened and he gave the trophy back to SpongeBob. The fact of him not being able to have a substitute or reminder of 'his' award saddened him. "I want an award..." The sea star began to desire for any physical object given to him as an award. However, what he secretly wanted was recognition. He covered his face with his hands and began to weep. The current situation was a reminder of his worthlessness in society, he was not recognized for any achievement other than his stupidity and his unemployment made him almost parasitic.

SpongeBob frowned somewhat, he became concerned for the starfish's well-being. "Aww, Patrick, don't cry." He patted his best friend in the shoulder and said comforting words as he consoled him. "You'll get an award one day." He was trying to spread his optimism to Patrick.

"I'm never gonna get an award because I haven't done anything productive." Patrick tried to be realistic, he was too sad to immediately accept SpongeBob's optimistic viewpoint. He searched through his memories and found very few moments in his past where he had done something productive or left an impact. What he said was a slight exaggeration.

"But you're Patrick..." SpongeBob tried to empower Patrick by trying to give the starfish more confidence in himself. "You can do anything you want." He wanted the sea star to believe that he had limitless potential. From his experiences, willpower was one of the key factors to success.

"That's easy for you to say. You're SpongeBob." Patrick sat on a rock, wiped the tears from his eyes, and moved his hands away from his face. Although deeply connected through social interaction, the sponge and the sea star's minds had different ways of thinking. He was aware of SpongeBob's excessive optimism.

"Patrick, if you wanna win an award, you have to believe in yourself and then try to do something." SpongeBob tried to help his friend in a different way. He decided to say practical advice instead of trying to change Patrick's way of thinking. He thought that the advice might encourage Patrick to try to achieve a goal and eventually get an award as a consequence. What he was saying reminded him of his first day as the Krusty Krab fry cook. "Remember the day I got hired at the Krusty Krab? You told me to try, and I did."

Patrick quickly and silently looked up at and made eye contact with SpongeBob.

_This isn't the SpongeBob I know! He would've tried and at least see some sunshine in the end._

The encouraging words that he had said to a hesitant yellow square before the Krusty Krab resonated in his mind.

"Hmmm..." Patrick mentally searched through various goals that he could accomplish, SpongeBob's advice and the words that he said in the past gave him the confidence to try to reach any goal, even ones that were ridiculous or fictitious. "I wanna defeat the giant monkey and save the ninth dimension!" He stood up and spoke with high amounts of energy. He had completely made up that goal from his imagination.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He did not expect that response from Patrick and considered his goal to be unrealistic. "Doesn't that sound a little hard? Why don't we start smaller?" He tried to make Patrick set a more realistic goal so the starfish would not get disappointed in the future.

"I wanna defeat the little monkeyman and save the eighth dimension!" Patrick stated a less difficult but still unrealistic goal. The confidence that he had gained from SpongeBob's advice began to make him believe that he had an infinite amount of potential.

"Smaller." SpongeBob raised his hand and then lowered it by several inches. He was going to use the height of his hand to indicate how realistic were Patrick's goals.

"Doctor?" Patrick shrugged. He tried to lessen his absurd goals into more realistic ones. He realized that SpongeBob wanted him to achieve easier goals since the goals he initially thought of achieving were far from achievable.

"Smaller." SpongeBob lowered his hand by several more inches. He thought that Patrick's goal would take too long and would be too difficult for him to achieve.

"Fireman?" Patrick said another goal that he thought of. He thought that becoming a fireman was a 'smaller' goal since he knew that firemen get paid less than doctors. The sea star also knew that he could become a fireman without going back to school since a high school diploma is only needed in terms of education. His intelligence increase by several degrees.

SpongeBob lowered his hand to his waist. "The smallest you can think of." The sponge realized that what were 'small' goals for Patrick were still too 'large' for him to handle and achieve. He decided that Patrick's 'smallest' goals would be the most ridiculous ones.

Patrick picked a 'smallest' goal that was off the top of his head. "A job at the Krusty Krab?" The image of the Krusty Krab entered his mind so he picked a job in that restaurant as his goal. He decided that if SpongeBob could land a job in that restaurant, then he could too.

SpongeBob stopped lowering his hand and made that hand return to its normal position. "Yeah!" He nodded and grinned. "That's a good one. I do things at work all the time, it's always nice to have a helping hand." The Krusty Krab only had two employees so another addition to its crew would most likely be welcomed. "I get Employee of the Month awards all the time from that place." He indirectly said a way to gain awards while working in the restaurant.

"Then let's go." Patrick walked towards the Krusty Krab, he was going to start his road to achieving his goal immediately. The sea star did not want to be idle since it would not help him get an award, he had been mostly idle at his home ever since he moved into the neighborhood and never actually received an award yet partly because of that.

"Wait." SpongeBob grabbed Patrick's shoulder. He wanted to inform his friend of an important fact.

"What is it?" Patrick turned around. He was ready to hear what SpongeBob had to say.

"The Krusty Krab didn't open yet. It opens at nine o'clock." SpongeBob stated an important fact. Too many tardies could lead to a loss in the amount of money given in a weekly paycheck. The sponge also did not want his friend to stand in front of the Krusty Krab for several hours while waiting for Mr. Krabs to come by and unlock the entrance.

"Oh." Patrick made a neutral facial expression. "What can we do now?" The sea star was not certain about what he should do next. He had been too mentally occupied with setting goals, achieving those goals, and getting an award.

"Wanna take a quick trip to Jellyfish Fields?" SpongeBob asked and then walked towards his pineapple to get Ol' Reliable. "I'll keep looking at my watch as we jellyfish and I'll tell you when to stop and go to the Krusty Krab." He stated how he and his best friend could jellyfish without becoming late to work.

Patrick considered that option for several seconds and then decided on what to do. "Alright." The sea star nodded. He wanted to have some fun before doing something as serious as achieving a goal and getting an award.

"You better get ready." SpongeBob looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye and smirked as he walked towards his home. "Last one there's a rotten clam." He wanted to play a game with Patrick before reaching the plain. The sponge did not want his friend to become too serious since that would make his life centered on work, the Krusty Krab was a key part of his own life but he had other activities, friends, and family to go along with it. He thought that jellyfishing and being playful were good ways to loosen Patrick up.

Patrick smirked as well but his eyes narrowed slightly, he was expressing seriousness. "I'll see 'bout that." He then ran towards his rock. The sea star was going to try his best to beat his best friend in that game.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

They both entered their homes at the same time.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He was holding his jellyfishing net. The sea star then dashed towards Jellyfish Fields. He was certainly going to win the game if SpongeBob did not catch up with him quickly enough.

**CRREAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple immediately after Patrick exited his rock. He then sprinted towards the sea star in an attempt to catch up with him. He was running at a faster speed than Patrick and got closer and closer to the starfish as he continued to run.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered their neighborhood. The two best friends knew that the Krusty Krab was going to open soon; the sponge had checked his watch and informed Patrick about the time.

"Can't believe you beat me in that race we had earlier." Patrick was having a conversation with SpongeBob as the two walked back to their homes. He had became relaxed after jellyfishing with his best friend.

"If you didn't notice, I was running faster than you." SpongeBob stated a not-so-obvious fact. "You just had a slight head start." The sponge had seen Patrick running ahead of him in the beginning of the race.

"True." Patrick nodded. He turned towards his rock and walked towards it. He needed to put his jellyfishing equipment away, he thought that he would not look presentable and would not impress the Krusty Krab's boss if he was holding a jellyfishing net while at the restaurant.

"See ya in a few minutes." SpongeBob waved at his best friend before walking towards his pineapple. He needed to change his uniform and store Ol' Reliable back into the treasure chest.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two best friends entered their homes at nearly the same time.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He did not hold any jellyfishing equipment or had any of them on his person.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He was wearing his employee hat. "C'mon, Pat." The sponge pointed in the direction of the Krusty Krab and merrily skipped towards the restaurant. He was looking forward to the day of work with his best friend.

Patrick smiled and followed SpongeBob. He crossed his fingers as he walked, he was hoping that the boss of the restaurant was going to hire him. The sea star was going to have his very first job interview and did not know what to expect.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the Krusty Krab.

Patrick was not sweating or showing any other signs of anxiety. He tried to be relaxed and alert at the same time, he did not want to make a carelessly stupid mistake during the interview with the boss. Jellyfishing with SpongeBob had not entirely removed his seriousness. He wore a smile and had been crossing his fingers since the beginning of his walk to the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs was not there.

"Just wait for a bit. Mr. Krabs will come soon." SpongeBob stood before the double door, turned around, and looked at the horizon; he was waiting for his boss to come and unlock the entrance. It felt strange since he usually came right around the time when Mr. Krabs was unlocking the double door.

"Who's Mr. Krabs?" Patrick scratched his head. He had heard SpongeBob say that name a few times while he was eating at the establishment but did not know who the sponge was referring to.

"You know that crab that sits inside that office?" SpongeBob pointed at the door to the office while standing before a large window. He was seeing if Patrick could at least recognize the office or the crab.

Patick nodded. "Mm-hmm." He recognized that office.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the duo. He noticed that they were having a conversation so he remained silent.

"He's the boss." SpongeBob informed Patrick about Mr. Krabs' position in the business. "It's kinda obvious since he likes money." The sponge also informed his friend about the crustacean's greed.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh.

Patrick jumped in fright and...

**THUD**

...fell to the ground. He did not see the crab until the crab laughed. The sea star then stood up and wiped off ground particles from his belly and pants, he wanted to look his best. He recognized the crab since he sometimes saw that crab enter and exit the office, he quickly concluded that the crab before him was Mr. Krabs.

"I didn't mean to scare ya, Patrick." Mr. Krabs looked at the starfish and spoke with sincerity. He recognized the sea star before him, he was the same sea star who played 'hooky' with SpongeBob and who had also been a member of the pirate crew that went on a journey to find the Flying Dutchman's Treasure. He also knew his name since SpongeBob kept calling the sea star "Patrick" or "Pat". The crab took out the key and unlocked the double door. "You're an early customer, aren't you?" He smirked, nothing could have been a better start for the business day than having customers coming to restaurant before it even opened.

Patrick took a deep breath and removed all thoughts related to anxiety from his mind. "I'm here for something else." He spoke with confidence and he expressed his seriousness through his face. He was only a few steps from reaching his goal.

"What would that be?" Mr. Krabs became interested in Patrick's reason for coming to the Krusty Krab. Almost all of the ordinary people that visited the restaurant only did it so they could eat the food served there.

SpongeBob beamed and made a thumbs-up. He tried to make Patrick not think negatively by expressing positive emotions. He was highly aware of the effects of negative thinking.

SpongeBob's positive expression gave Patrick even more confidence. The sea star stood in a straight posture and kept his arms on his sides. "I want to get a job at the Krusty Krab." He spoke with a solemn tone.

Mr. Krabs laughed until he teared up.

Patrick did not express any sign of confusion and maintained a deadpan face. He thought that physically expressing confusion or annoyance made him look arrogant or self-centered since it would imply that he does not like to be laughed at. The starfish controlled his temper because he knew that there was an award that was awaiting for him at the end of the road.

"You could not even tell west from east." Mr. Krabs smirked as he spoke, he did not take Patrick's words seriously at all. The crab struggled to control his laughter. He remembered when Patrick made his crew go off-course during their journey to find the Flying Dutchman's treasure by confusing the east and west directions on the compass. "There's no way you can handle the simplest of chores and tasks in me restaurant." He came to a plausible conclusion. "You even played with the hooks after I warned ya about them. How're you gonna be responsible for anything in the Krusty Krab if you can't obey a simple command?" Mr. Krabs was relentlessly criticizing Patrick's reason for coming to the Krusty Krab by that point. He wanted to bring the starfish back to reality since he had witnessed the potential of Patrick's stupidity a few times before.

Patrick frowned, looked at the ground, and his eyes moistened. What Mr. Krabs said was painfully true and he accepted those statements, there was no point in arguing with the boss if he was trying to get a job in his business. However, his acceptance did not make those facts more emotionally bearable. He could tell by the boss's words that he got rejected from the job.

SpongeBob made a serious facial expression. He walke around Mr. Krabs and stood before the crab. "If Pat doesn't know or isn't responsible, I'll teach and guide him." He was brave enough to take a stand against his boss to assist his friend. The sponge could not allow Patrick to fall just short of reaching his goal without feeling any guilt.

Mr. Krabs became surprised by SpongeBob's response to his words. He thought about a reply to his employee's words.

Patrick widened his eyes and looked up at SpongeBob whose back was facing and before him. The sea star had assumed that he failed to reach his goal and needed to find another one.

A pause.

"Do you want him to get the job?" Mr. Krabs asked a very important question. The sponge's spoken words and facial expression implied his support for the hiring of Patrick. The crab might change his mind if SpongeBob supported the sea star.

"Yep." SpongeBob confidently nodded. "Patrick's not stupid all the time. He sometimes gets bouts of smartness; his intelligence varies. If tried hard enough, I could teach Patrick how to do the basic chores of the Krusty Krab and he would be able to do them without fail." The sponge began his lecture. He was going to help Patrick in adjusting to the demands of being a Krusty Krab employee in return for the starfish's assistance during the time when he was unable to make Krabby Patties in the correct order. The sea star's advice lasted through the daunting trials that he faced. "He helped me when I forgot how to make Krabby Patties. He also learned from his mistakes as well. I had a really bad breath one time and people ran away from me 'cause of that. Patrick thought that people were running away from 'cause I was ugly and I believed what he said at first. I became depressed and it wasn't until a friend of mine told me the actual reason for my repulsiveness that I stopped being sad. Patrick then noticed the damage that he unintentionally done to me and apologized." The yellow square told his boss about an incident that strengthened the bond between him and Patrick. His sincerity was reflected through his lecture and his solemn facial expression.

Mr. Krabs could tell that SpongeBob was feeling an intense emotion because he did not see SpongeBob smile at all as he said the lecture. He deeply trusted his yellow employee due to his loyalty to him and his enthusiasm for work. "Hmm..." The boss thought critically. He was looking back on the frequency of incidents where SpongeBob messed up or failed to do something and ended up negatively affecting the business.

A long pause.

"Alright." Mr. Krabs took a deep breath and made eye contact with Patrick. "I'll give you a chance." If a trustworthy employee like SpongeBob believed in Patrick's potential, the sea star should deserve a chance at having a position in the Krusty crew. "Don't think you've been hired yet. I'm only putting you to the test." He clarified what he previously said.

Patrick wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes that were caused by his former sadness and smiled widely. He then looked at the restaurant and his eyes sparkled in wonder. He tried to imagine the chores he had to complete and the responsibilities he had to fulfill while working at the Krusty Krab. An immense sense of accomplishment washed over him, he finally reached his goal.

Mr. Krabs took out an employee hat and held it out towards Patrick. "Here you go." The hat was going to be a sign of the starfish's status as a temporary employee unless the sea star was fired (failed to pass the 'test').

Patrick's jaw dropped at the sight of the employee hat. He assumed that the hat was an award for being admitted into a trial of his capabilities as a Krusty Krab employee. The sea star slowly took the hat from Mr. Krabs' claw and put it on his head. He marveled at the employee hat as if he was seeing an extremely rare gem.

Squidward walked up to the scene. He noticed the employee hat that Patrick was wearing. His deadpan face became a frown, he initially thought that he had a decent start for the day since his two neighbors were not around to disturb him. However, judging by the sea star's uniform hat, he realized that the apparent decent start was actually an illusion. He sighed. "This can't be real..." He muttered. He was going to have to traverse through double the amount of hellfire that he normally received on a workday. If Patrick was to become an actual employee at the restaurant, he would have to deal with his annoying neighbors 24/7.

"Hi, Squid." Patrick greeted the octopus with a beam. He could not control his joy and it became glaring through his radiant beam. "Mr. Krabs is gonna test me to see if I can work here. If I pass, I'll get to work here almost everyday and we could all have fun." The sea star thought about how much he was going to enjoy every working day at the Krusty Krab with his two neighbors.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the double door and entered the Krusty Krab. He flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'.

"C'mon, Pat. Let's go in." SpongeBob stood before the double door and gestured with his hand for Patrick to walk up to him and enter the restaurant. The sponge was curious to how work in the Krusty Krab was going to be like with two other employees. Mr. Krabs needed to find a valuable role for the sea star.

Patrick and Squidward walked towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs realized that he had forgot to tell Patrick a few important pieces of information as he walked towards his office. The crab then turned around and walked up to Patrick. "Pat, you're gonna have the minimum hourly wage for now, which is ten bucks. You're gonna rotate roles with Squidward between security guard and cashier. You'll also be SpongeBob's fry cook assistant as well." The boss informed his pink employee about the money he will receive and what he was going to do while working in the restaurant.

"Security guard, fry cook assistant?" Squidward raised his brow. He knew immediately that Mr. Krabs made those two job positions up. However, he soon returned to his deadpan facial expression. Since security guards simply stand near an entrance to see if there are any suspicious people entering and make the place he/she worked at safe, the octopus thought that being a security guard meant less work for him. He would most likely only stand until his rotational shift as security guard was over, he would see his shifts as security guard to be breaks. The octopus then walked towards the boat and sat in it, he anticipated his 'break'.

Patrick walked up to the entrance and stood next to it with a serious facial expression and a straight posture. If he was going to be a security guard, he needed to act like one.

A pause.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob, a question was on his mind. "Is this hat an award?" He pointed at the employee hat that he was wearing. The sea star did not know for sure if he got an award and wanted to make sure he knew the facts so he would not possibly get disappointed after the eventual discovery of the truth.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head. "But, if you work hard enough, you'll get one eventually." The sponge pointed at the 'Employee of the Month' awards on the metal wall. Most of them still consisted of Squidward's name and photo but that fact will change over the years as SpongeBob continues his award streak. The sponge then walked towards the door to the kitchen.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Patrick walked back to the double door and stood next to it again. He returned to his solemn facial expression and his straight posture.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs stepped out of his office. "Alright, lads. Time to switch." He announced the rotation of Patrick and Squidward's roles and then...

**SLAM**

...returned to his office. He had planned a schedule for Patrick and Squidward's roles.

Squidward made a sincere smile and stood up from the boat. From his viewpoint, Mr. Krabs announced the beginning of his break. He walked up to where Patrick had stood and stood there without trying to be formal. The octopus then began to consider the idea of reading a newspaper while standing near the entrance.

Patrick walked towards the boat and sat in it. He then looked at the cash register and thought about its practicality, he thought that it would be faster and more efficient if the cashier collected money by putting it inside his/her pockets. The machine looked complicated and he thought that it slowed the process of money collecting because of that.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put a freshly cooked Krabby Patty deluxe on a plate and picked the plate up. He walked up to the ordering window and held out the plate so Patrick could deliver it to the customer. "Order up." He announced the completion of someone's order.

S-S-S-S-S

A pause.

Patrick did not respond to what SpongeBob said. He was deep in his thoughts as he pondered about the usefulness of a cash register. The sea star was unintentionally distracting himself from the duties he had to fulfill as a cashier.

SpongeBob poked Patrick on the shoulder.

Patrick turned around and saw SpongeBob peeking through the ordering window. "What?" He wanted to know what was so important that the sponge had to notify him about. He was not annoyed in the slightest.

"Just take this plate to that customer." SpongeBob pointed at the tray he was holding and then pointed at a young male who was sitting at a table that was close to the boat. He tried to make his command as simple as possible.

"Do I have to eat the patty?" Patrick looked at the plate and scratched his head. He had not paid attention to how Squidward delivered the ordered food. His intelligence decreased to the level of his average stupidity and he could no longer use common sense to answer his own question.

SpongeBob laughed at the silliness of Patrick's question. "No." He shook his head while giggling. "Don't worry. It's not that hard." The sponge tried to make the simple task feel less daunting for his pink co-worker.

Patrick took the plate from SpongeBob's hands, took the burger from the plate, and opened his mouth. He was about to take a bite from the plate. He thought that he was supposed to give the ordered food to the young male and spit broken pieces of the plate at the table that the male was sitting in since the plate was covered by several crumbs from the burger.

"Patrick, what're you doing?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He did not know what Patrick was doing, the sea star's open mouth could mean anything.

"I'm gonna eat the plate." Patrick said what he was doing with honesty.

"Don't do that." SpongeBob raised his index finger and shook his head. "Put the patty on the plate and give both of them to the customer." The yellow square stated the same command but reworded it to see if Patrick could understand what he was saying.

"Ohhhh..." Patrick nodded. He understood SpongeBob's words and knew exactly what to do. He put the Krabby Patty deluxe on the plate and stood up from the boat. He walked towards the young male who ordered the burger and gave the plate to that customer. The sea star then walked back to the boat and sat in it. "That's it?" He looked at SpongeBob again.

SpongeBob was cooking another Krabby Patty. "Yep." He nodded. "You'll deliver more once I finish cooking them." He did not want Patrick to think that he only had to deliver the food once.

"Okay." Patrick made a thumbs-up. He then turned around and smiled at his own victory. The sea star saw the awards on the wall from the corner of his eye and looked directly at them. The awards were 'Employee of the Month' awards but Patrick did not know when in a month are these types of awards given. His I. Q. then increased by ten points; he became smart enough to have average intelligence. "Umm... SpongeBob... do I get an award now?" He tried to avoid sounding dumb.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head. "You're gonna have to work here for a whole month if you want to become Employee of the Month." He continued to help his best friend by providing more information.

Patrick nodded and turned around again.

A pause.

Patrick noticed a shell-phone from the corner of his eye and it caught his attention. He looked at the shell-phone and scratched his head. He was pondering about the shell-phone's purpose since he concluded that a cashier's duties were only to collect money and serve food.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Patrick picked up the shell-phone and put it near his ear. The starfish was able to use common sense again.

_"Is this the Krusty Krab?" _A male electronic voice was heard. He was a customer.

Patrick thought that the customer on the other end was mistaking him for the restaurant he was working at. "No, this is Patrick." He answered the customer's question and put the phone down. The sea star assumed that the conversation came to an appropriate end.

A pause.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang again.

Patrick picked up the phone again and put it next to his ear. "Yes?" He said that word as a way of checking to see if someone else on the other end called the Krusty Krab by accident.

_"Is this the Krusty Krab?" _The person on the other end was the same customer. He had checked his phone book and knew for sure that the number he dialed and called was the number for the Krusty Krab.

Patrick became irritated. He assumed that the male customer was a 'prank caller' who was annoying him on purpose. "No! This is Patrick!" He spoke louder into the phone than before and put the shell-phone down. He spoke louder as a way of warning the 'prank caller' to stop calling the restaurant.

A long pause.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang for the third time.

Patrick gritted his teeth; he lost his temper. The starfish could no longer tolerate the continuous calling of the 'prank caller'. He grabbed the shell-phone and put it adjacent to his ear. He did not scream into the phone yet because there was a possibility that the 'prank caller' might say something different.

_"Is this the Krusty Krab?" _The customer had called the Krusty Krab again and asked the same question. He hoped that the person on the other end was another employee since he knew that he was unintentionally making the starfish angry.

"NO! THIS IS PATRICK!" Patrick yelled into the phone and...

**SLAM**

...slammed the shell-phone down. "I'm not the Krusty Krab." He folded his arms. He became as grumpy as Squidward during a typical morning. He was taking the 'insults' to heart.

SpongeBob and Squidward looked at Patrick after hearing his yelling. The two employees did not expect their new co-worker to swing between emotions so wildly.

An awkward pause.

"Uhh, Patrick... that guy was referring to the restaurant... not you." SpongeBob smiled in slight nervousness. He had heard the electronic voice coming out of the shell-phone. He knew the actual intentions of the caller.

"Fish paste!" Patrick cursed and banged his fist on the cash register. He became frustrated at his inability to do even the simplest of tasks in the Krusty Krab, what was happening was just like what Mr. Krabs said earlier. The sea star had to rely on his rapid changes in intelligence in order to work to the best of his ability.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob peeked through the ordering window on his tip-toes and noticed that there was a nearby table that was dirty and empty. "It looks a little dusty around table three." He observed and then grabbed a broom that was leaning on a wall in the kitchen. The sponge walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEAAK**

...opened it. He stepped out of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"How about you sweep it out?" SpongeBob held out the broom towards Patrick. He wanted to see what skills Patrick was good at so he can know what skills the starfish needed to improve on. Making him do some basic chores around the restaurant was also a good way to adjust to his new environment, the starfish might spend the majority of his day and most of the days of the week in the restaurant after all.

Patrick's frustration blinded him from seeing his potential. "What's the point? I can't do anything right." He was looking at the bottom of the boat. SpongeBob's assistance in persuading Mr. Krabs to hire him had not affected the validity of the facts that Mr. Krabs stated. Unless he became smarter, the sea star could not fight his ineptitude.

"You'll do fine." SpongeBob patted Patrick on the shoulder. He wanted his best friend to at least try sweeping.

'You never know.' Patrick thought. He remembered saying intelligent advice and making intelligent choices so he concluded that there was no harm in trying to broom, he would most likely learn from his mistakes anyway. He was no longer frustrated and took the brook from SpongeBob's hand. He stepped out of the boat and flipped the broom upside-down. The sea star then began to sweep the floor with the wooden tip of the broom, he forgot how to correctly sweep with a broom.

A male customer who was drinking a cup of soda saw what Patrick was doing and chuckled. "Hey pal. You just blown in from Stupidtown?" He tried to make a joke that was also an insult against Patrick's stupidity. He concealed his chuckling by smirking.

SpongeBob ignored the customer, there was no point in being just as scornful to the young man since it would lead to an argument and would also breach the motto: 'the customer is always right'. He focused on his best friend instead. "Just flip it around, Pat. Keep trying." He gave a hint to the sea star and said encouraging words. He did not want his friend to give up just because someone said a few mean words to him.

A pause.

SpongeBob remembered an important fact that he forgot to inform Patrick about. "By the way, table three's over there." He pointed at table three.

Patrick walked up to table three and flipped the broom around. He then sweeped the top surface of the table with the end of the broom that had the twigs. However, he was pressing into the table as he sweeped it since he thought that he could remove more dust from the table by doing that. The table eventually leaned to one side due to the force of Patrick's pressing and...

**CRRAAASSSH**

...fell to the floor. The chairs that surrounded it fell to the floor as well.

"Why can't I do anything right?!" Patrick yelled a question in frustration and threw the broom to the floor. His gradually strengthening desire to get an award made him become more frustrated than before. The sea star was close to no longer being able to bear another embarrassing failure.

The broom landed on the floor.

A dust cloud formed out of the materials and particles that had been gathered into the twig end of the broom. A few nearby customers coughed after inhaling the dust cloud, stood up from their seats, and stepped out of the vicinity of the dust cloud.

The dust cloud dissipated within several several seconds.

The customers sat back into their seats.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob bit his lip at the sight of Patrick's failure to sweep table three, he thought that Patrick might prematurely quit the trial due to seeing the frustration that the starfish was expressing. He then looked around the kitchen for something that Patrick could successfully do and build upon so he could eventually do other chores and perform other skills. The sponge saw an empty jar that wad closed and a light bulb lit up in his head. He ran towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked around Patrick and then stood before the sea star. He pushed his best friend towards the door to the kitchen and...

**CRRREAAAK**

...opened that door along the way. He eventually pushed Patrick into the kitchen and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

'What's SpongeBob gonna make me do now? I'll probably fail at the task he's gonna tell me to do anyway.' Patrick was thinking pessimistically. The frustration that developed out of his will to get an award only separated him more and more from his ultimate goal. He only wanted to join the Krusty crew so he could get an award.

"Pat, if you think that you mess up with every chore or task you do, don't give up just yet." SpongeBob walked up to the empty jar and took hold of it. "This time I've got something I know you can do." The yellow fry cook held out the jar towards the pink star. He assumed that opening a jar would be easy enough for Patrick to successfully do. The sponge was continuing to lower his standards for tasks as Patrick failed to do each one successfully or made a mistake. "You're gonna open a jar." He stated the task. The sponge then put the jar back to the table that it stood on. His best friend was going to do the whole process of opening a jar so he could truly learn it, become hopeful, and become confident in his abilities. "First get a jar." He stated the first step so Patrick could figure out the other steps.

Patrick's memory did not serve him well, he had forgotten what a jar was. He saw a pickle that was laying on the same table with the jar and picked it up, he assumed that the vegetable was a jar. The sea star then held out the 'jar' towards SpongeBob. The first step was easy from his perspective.

"That's a pickle, Pat." SpongeBob looked at the pickle that Patrick was holding and stated the obvious. "You need a jar." He repeated the first step of opening a jar.

Patrick put the pickle back on the table and took out SponeBob's spatula from one of the pockets of the sponge's pants. He still did not know what a jar was, he could not recognize the jar that was on the table as a jar.

"No," SpongeBob shook his head. "That's a spatula." He then took the spatula from Patrick's hand and put it back into his pocket. The thought of giving another hint to his best friend entered his mind.

Patrick grabbed SpongeBob's pants and tried to lift them up. He quickly assumed that the sponge's pants was what the sponge was referring to as a jar. The pants was openable and closable after all.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head and gently took Patrick's hands off of his pants. The sponge began to think that helping his best friend with finding the jar would be the best option. At the rate that Patrick was going, it could take an excessive amount of time for him to find the jar.

Patrick ran out of ideas and shrugged. He had to solely rely on SpongeBob for finding the illusive jar. That first step proved to be surprisingly challenging for the sea star. However, the starfish wanted to move on to the next steps to see if he could do them with barely any of SpongeBob's help.

SpongeBob decided that helping his best friend was necessary by that point. "This is a jar." He took hold of the jar that was on the table and held it out towards Patrick so Patrick could remember what a jar looked like.

"Ohhh..." The sea star nodded. After seeing what an actual jar looked like, Patrick remembered what jars looked like. He had seen jars many times throughout his life as any ordinary person would. He then took the jar from SpongeBob's hand.

"Now take the lid off the jar." SpongeBob said the next step in the process of opening a jar. From his viewpoint, the step was simple and did not require any further explanation. He thought that Patrick was certainly going to complete that step on his first try.

Patrick opened his mouth and put the lid of the jar between his teeth. He was going to pull the lid off of the jar by using his teeth and jaws. SpongeBob had said the step too vaguely for the sea star to do it correctly on the first attempt.

SpongeBob assumed that Patrick put the lid into his mouth because he was nervous. "Just relax." The sponge tried to calm his best friend down. He knew that Patrick did radical actions when feeling intense emotions.

Patrick took the jar's lid off of his mouth. By the tone of SpongeBob's voice, the sea star supposed that SpongeBob said a form of "no". He was not nervous or anxious in the slightest.

An awkward pause.

"Lift your hand." SpongeBob stated a command. He decided that stating in-depth instructions for the step he had said would be best. He concluded that it would take an extremely long time for Patrick to open the jar since the starfish was struggling to figure out how to do the steps by himself.

Patrick lifted his hand. The instruction from the yellow square was simple enough to be done with almost no effort.

"Great!" SpongeBob made a thumbs-up and said a positive comment as a way of encouraging Patrick to continue and not give up. "We're almost there. Now put it on the lid." He said another simple instruction.

Patrick put his hand that he had held out on the bottom of the jar. He had forgotten what a lid was.

"The lid." SpongeBob reminded Patrick of where to put his hand. The sponge predicted that the starfish would quickly figure out where the lid was and put his hand on it.

Patrick put his hand on the table.

"The lid." SpongeBob began a series of continuously repeating the place on the jar where Patrick was supposed to put his hand on.

Patrick put his hand on one side of the circular jar.

"The lid."

Patrick put his hand on the floor.

"The lid."

Patrick ran to a wall and put his hand on it.

"The lid."

Patrick briskly walked back to SpongeBob and put his hand on another side of the circular jar, his hand was several inches away from the lid.

"Freeze!" SpongeBob held out his hand towards Patrick. He thought that Patrick put his hand on the closest place to the lid and was as close to the lid as he would go without telling in-depth instructions to him.

Patrick did not move his hand that was on the jar and made eye contact with SpongeBob. He was waiting for the next instruction from the yellow sponge.

"You're super close. Now head for the lid." SpongeBob commented on how close Patrick's hand was to the lid and then stated a simple instruction. He was thinking optimistically so he thought that Patrick was bound to make his hand touch the lid.

Patrick randomly slid his hand towards the bottom of the jar. He forgot what the phrasal verb 'head for' meant so guessed by sliding his hand in a random direction.

'I'm gonna have to play 'hot and cold' with him.' SpongeBob thought. He considered playing the game 'hot and cold' to be an ideal method to solve the problem of Patrick's forgetfulness since it was like using a metal detector to find buried treasure, the sea star would know which direction to make his hand slide in. "Cold." The yellow square began the game.

Patrick stopped moving his hand towards the bottom. He knew what the 'hot and cold' game was. The starfish then slid his hand slightly towards the jar's lid. 'I hope I get warmer.' The sea star thought. The lesson was more like an embarrassing ordeal due to the simplicity of the skill being taught and his stupidity and forgetfulness. He wanted to complete the lesson as quickly as possible so he would not have to suffer anymore.

"Warmer." SpongeBob slowly made a thumbs-up. He was using the 'hot and cold' game as a way of positively reinforcing Patrick to move his hand towards the lid. The opportunity for reinforcement given by the game was another reason why the sponge decided to play the game with Patrick.

Patrick slid his hand towards the lid by several more inches. He did not know where SpongeBob wanted his hand to go to so he did not move his hand too much just in case if he became 'cold' again.

"Warmer." SpongeBob smiled widely and nodded.

Patrick slowly slid his hand towards the lid by an inch. He was being very careful with where his hand was going and how fast his hand was going.

"You're hot." SpongeBob began to jump and down in excitement. He was becoming excited over the fact that Patrick was about to touch the lid and open the jar after struggling for so long. The yellow square enjoyed helping his best friend.

Patrick slid his hand up the jar until his hand was directly touching the lid.

"You're on fire!" SpongeBob grinned and pointed at Patrick's hand. The sea star's hand was exactly on the location on the jar that he desired. There was one more step left before the process of opening a jar becomes complete.

Patrick winced and rapidly looked at his surroundings. "W-where's the fire?" The sea star took SpongeBob's words literally. The sponge's yelling made him forget that he was playing a 'hot and cold' game with the sponge. The yelling also scared him a little bit and made him not think critically due to him being shocked.

"Okay, okay. Wait, wait." SpongeBob held out both of his hands and tried to calm down Patrick. "Do exactly as I do." He took another jar that was on the same table and held it out before his best friend. "Exactly as I do." The sponge then repeatedly opened and closed the jar by taking out the lid and putting it back into the jar. "Exactly... exactly... exactly..." He repeated the same word as if he was chanting. He was saying those words so he could keep Patrick's attention on what he was doing.

Patrick's intelligence dropped by a degree. "Exactly as you do." He repeated what SpongeBob had said. The sea star was acting like a robot getting its A. I. updated to the latest version by a program. He closely watched how SpongeBob opened and closed the jar in his hand. The starfish then opened his own jar, he mirrored the slight and precise movements that SpongeBob's hand made as it opened the sponge's jar. The sea star mirrored those movements by slightly twisting the lid of his own jar before taking it off.

A pause.

Patrick's eyes bugged out and his face drained of color. "I... I... b-broke it..." The sea star struggled to speak due to being extremely shocked by what he was seeing. 'I'm gonna get fired...' He thought. The looseness of the lid had surprised him and had made him forget what he was doing. The starfish had continued to take off the lid anyway since he was mindlessly mirroring what SpongeBob did.

SpongeBob giggled at Patrick's silliness. "You didn't break it, Pat. You did it!" The sponge put the jar back to the table and then held out his hand. He expected him and Patrick to do a high-five. He was delighted since he taught Patrick a skill (regardless if it was basic or not) and made the sea star successfully perform that skill.

Patrick gasped and beamed. "Touchdown!" He threw the jar to the floor as if he scored a touchdown in an American football game.

**CLANK**

The jar landed on the floor unscathed, it was made out of a durable type of glass.

"I'm a jar-master!" Patrick gave himself a title that he made up, it significantly boosted his ego. Just like the moment when he reached his goal of getting a job at the Krusty Krab, he felt victorious. It felt like an appropriate time to receive an award.

"That was great, Patrick! You really got the hang of it." SpongeBob commented on Patrick's performance. He was impressed by how Patrick exactly mimicked how he took the lid off of the jar down to the slightest of movements.

Patrick took several seconds to reflect upon what had happened in the last few minutes. "I learned how to do it because you showed me how you did it." He said his conclusion to the sponge and then looked at the jar that he was holding. "I'm never gonna forget this." He thought about his future as an employee of the Krusty Krab. He knew that by learning basic skills like opening jars, he would build up from those skills and learn more advanced skills until he achieved greatness and fame. He now understood why SpongeBob dreamed of working at the Krusty Krab when the sponge was a child and why SpongeBob was put on a pedestal above Squidward by Mr. Krabs. The yellow square was determined and willing to improve, he subconsciously formed those two traits as he struggled to learn how to open jars. SpongeBob's personality had influenced him, the same thing happens to SpongeBob when he gives advice to the sponge.

A pause.

"Patrick, you do exactly what I do and you'll have an award in no time." SpongeBob gave Patrick some advice about reaching his goal of receiving an award. He wanted the sea star to have all of his good habits since those habits will polish him into an efficient worker.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. He took what SpongeBob said literally and came up with a reason for exactly following the sponge's advice. Since his yellow co-worker was a hard worker, an excellent fry cook, and received monthly awards; he thought that mimicking him all the way down to appearance would logically make him end up receiving awards like the sponge.

An awkward pause. Patrick was deep in his thoughts. He was silently contemplating about how he was going to put his idea into action.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers to catch Patrick's attention. He noticed that his best friend was staring at nothing in particular.

Patrick made eye contact with SpongeBob and silently nodded. He considered nodding to be a good way to end the conversation since they were going to work at the Krusty Krab for several more hours, it also showed that he understood the sponge's words. Saying "goodbye or "see ya later" to the yellow fry cook would sound awkward since he would be nearby while working. He walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick sat in the boat and continued to ponder about how he was going to execute his idea. After the idea entered his head, the sea star could not resist its allure. He thought that the execution of his idea was the key to getting an award from the Krusty Krab. The sea star was aware of the fact that the awards were only given monthly but also knew that he could gain fame if he mimicked SpongeBob. Not getting an award immediately would still probably be a favorable situation since people would recognize him as a productive member of society.

A wide smile slowly formed on Patrick's face as his train of thought passed through several railroads. His eyes looked at the horizon beyond the Krusty Krab as a plan formed in his head. The starfish's intelligence increased by many degrees as he continued to heavily use his brain.

S-S-S-S-S

About seven hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM

A red claw flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

**C-CRREEEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the double door and exited the Krusty Krab. The key swung from side to side as he held it with his other claw.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the kitchen. They had washed the dishes and had thrown the garbage bags to the dumpster respectively.

"Is the work day over?" Patrick looked at the dining room and did not see a single customer sitting in a table or walking around. He also noticed that the sign on the double door had been flipped from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. He asked that question since he did not know the meaning of the term 'closing time', it was a term that Mr. Krabs has said right before 6:00 PM. From his viewpoint, the term was too vague to have a self-explanatory meaning.

"Yep." SpongeBob replied and nodded. He said a simple answer to a simple question. "F. Y. I., the Krusty Krab almost always closes at six PM." He informed Patrick about the closing time of the restaurant.

"What happens if it doesn't close at six?" Patrick asked another question. When SpongeBob said "almost always", he immediately realized that there could be multiple situations that could change the closing time of the restaurant.

"Then we work overtime. It happens when there's a lot of customers coming past or close to six. It only happened once to me. Me and Squid had to work for an extra forty minutes at that time." SpongeBob answered Patrick's question and also talked about his own experience where his answer was a reality. His answer to the starfish's question was also a reason for why he had said "almost always" as part of the information that he had told to his pink co-worker.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the kitchen. He had washed the tables and had entered the kitchen to empty the bucket of its water and to put the bucket away. The octopus walked past his two neighbors and towards the double door with a smile on his face, the switching between guard duty and cashier duty made his work day at the Krusty Krab far more pleasant. He had spent almost his entire total time as security guard reading newspapers, magazines, and novels. The octopus had also constantly looked at the double door while reading during his security guard shifts so Mr. Krabs would not become suspicious. Another reason for why he was smiling was that SpongeBob was focusing his attention on Patrick instead of him, he had not been annoyed by SpongeBob for the entire workday.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards the double door as well.

FLICK

Squidward turned off the lights along the way.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The three employees exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs locked the double door and then made eye contact with Patrick. "Well, Patrick, you've performed pretty well today so I'll hire ya. However, don't think you can now slip under the radar. I've been a captain for many years so I'll know when me crew is up to something. If you do anything stupid, I'll be the first person to see and know about it." The crab informed the sea star about his promotion to a Krusty Krab employee and warned him about getting too comfortable and end up being idiotic while on the job.

"Understood, sir." Patrick nodded and made a military salute. He was showing respect to his boss. He assumed that the crab was the one that was going to give the award to him by the end of the month.

"Anyways, good night, lads." Mr. Krabs put the key into one of his pockets and walked towards the horizon. He was heading for his anchor.

The three employees walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

From the rooftop of the Chum Bucket, Plankton was watching Patrick by looking through a small telescope that he was holding with ease. The telescope was specifically made for his size. "Heh. Another new employee. He's even dumber than the last one." The plankton stopped looking through the telescope and smirked. He had occasionally watched Patrick working at the Krusty Krab throughout the day. 'That starfish is the perfect victim.' He thought and giggled evilly. He decided that Patrick was going to be the victim of one of his schemes.

Creeaaak

Plankton opened a hatch and climbed down the ladder. 'I better do an investigation before I come up with a plan.' The plankton did not want to take too many risks. He needed to gather information about the sea star so he can make up a scheme that specifically targeted Patrick's weaknesses. He certainly knew one way to gather information about someone.

Slam

The hatch closed.


	45. Big Pink Loser Part 2

**I know I took a longer time than usual to post this. This part almost entirely consists of extra scenes and concepts except for one implemented concept from the actual episode. This took longer to write since it is the firsts of its kind and I did not have direct source material to write from as a consequence.**

* * *

**Chapter 45: Big Pink Loser Part 2**

* * *

Plankton walked down a set of stairs and entered the laboratory. He walked up to a remote that was on a table and picked it up. The plankton then pressed a green button on the remote that had text saying 'ON' on it.

The eyes of a robot that looked like a fly glowed; it was turned on.

Plankton walked towards the double door and...

Creak

...opened one side of the door. He held that side so the robot could fly through the opening.

The fly robot levitated and then flew through the opening that was being held for him by Plankton.

Slam

Plankton closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked towards the front door of the Chum Bucket.

The robot was flying several inches away from him, it was following its master.

Creak

Slam

Plankton opened one side of the double door and exited the Chum Bucket.

The robot quickly flew through the opening right before the double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton aimed his remote at Patrick who was walking towards his neighborhood with his coworkers. He then pressed a yellow button on the remote that had text on it saying 'TARGET'.

The remote emitted a harmless and invisible wave of electricity towards Patrick. That wave eventually touched the sea star and enveloped his skin, it was some sort of digital marker.

Patrick did not feel any tickle or other strange sensation after the electric wave hit him.

The fly robot flew towards Patrick and then soared by several feet. It soared so it would maximize the chances of it not getting caught, Plankton programmed its A. I. that way since its main purpose was to spy on someone. It kept its eyes on the sea star as it followed the starfish by flying.

Plankton made a malicious grin and..

Creak

Slam

...entered the Chum Bucket by opening and closing one side of the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked through the dining room and...

Creak

Slam

...entered the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked towards Karen and leaped to the keyboard. "Karen, show the camera." He stated the command in a solemn voice. He had a very strong desire for his eventual plan to succeed. The plankton did not want the scheme that he was going to create to end up like the first scheme where SpongeBob was the victim. The bitter ruining of the scheme by that same sea star right before he was successful in gaining the formula gave him the fuel to drive down the path towards the success of his latest scheme.

Karen's screen changed to show the fly robot's overhead view of Patrick.

Plankton watched Patrick and his neighbors through the computer screen for several seconds before stating another command. "Split the screen."

Karen split the computer screen into two halves. The left half showed the camera screen of the fly robot while the right half was blank.

"Open journal." Plankton continued to state commands. He continued to watch Patrick and his neighbors walking towards their homes. The fly robot was also recording the sounds that it was 'hearing' and that audio could be heard from the computer as the robot's screen was shown. The plankton was carefully considering a few ideas for his plan as he heard the three neighbors' conversation, he was trying to gain information about Patrick by figuring out the topics that the three coworkers were talking about.

A list of journal entries appeared on the right half of the computer screen.

"New entry." Plankton droned. His attention was on the conversation that he was seeing and hearing.

A blank journal entry appeared on the right half of the screen.

Plankton hopped from key to key as he wrote about his potential latest scheme. The plan that he was typing into the blank journal entry was based on the information about Patrick that he had picked up in the three neighbors' conversation.

S-S-S-S-S

"Does working in the Krusty Krab get boring?" Patrick was looking at SpongeBob as he asked that question. He and SpongeBob were walking at the same pace. The question he asked had randomly popped up in his mind.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose after hearing Patrick's question. In his opinion, the starfish's question was silly enough to be considered humorous. Patrick's question was silly from his viewpoint because the answer to that question was obvious from his perspective.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head while beaming. "It's never boring for me. I love my job." He spoke sincerely. His enthusiasm for his job was undeniable and obvious anyway.

"It's not boring for me either," Patrick answered his own question. He only had asked that question to his best friend so he can know his opinion. "that's only 'cause I'll get an award later on." He stated the reason why he viewed his job as not boring. The starfish only saw his job as a gateway to recognition, he could care less about the commitment he had to make to the restaurant and Mr. Krabs.

"Do you want me to teach you more stuff tomorrow?" SpongeBob asked Patrick an important question. He had initially thought that Patrick could figure out how to do the other work-related skills once he was successful with opening the jar. The idea that he said by asking Patrick that question had recently appeared in his mind. That idea made him doubt the assumption that Patrick could figure out everything about the Krusty Krab by himself.

'I'll still be just like Sponge at the end of the day.' Patrick thought. He could not see any possible way that SpongeBob's tutoring could interfere with his plan to become identical to SpongeBob. The tutoring might assist him in becoming even more like the sponge. "Sure." He nodded.

"Don't worry, Pat. I'll help you all the way until you get an award." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He once again verbally expressed his loyalty to his best friend by stating that promise.

Patrick smiled widely. He felt glad for two different reasons, one was selfish while the other was out of gratitude. The selfish reason was that SpongeBob was pushing him down the road towards his goal; the sponge was a stepping stone on that road that Patrick must fully exploit in order to cover as much distance as possible without moving his own feet. The other, grateful reason was that the sea star appreciated SpongeBob's willingness to assist him in the adjustment to working at the Krusty Krab. However, those two conflicting views/reasons could not be contained in one mind forever. One of them had to be dominant over the other and weed that weaker reason/view out of Patrick's mind.

A pause.

Patrick's eyes widened very slightly and his smile dropped to show a nearly deadpan face. He considered the development of these two conflicting reasons for his gladness to be alarming. If he fully exploited SpongeBob's kindness to the point of becoming SpongeBob's detriment, he would be selfish and not a true friend. 'No. I'm not gonna do that. That would be mean and make me a bad friend.' He thought and focused on the grateful reason for being happy in an attempt to remove the selfish reason out of his mind.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye and noticed a change in Patrick's facial expression. "You okay, Pat?" He felt somewhat concerned for his friend. The sponge thought thaf Patrick's facial change from a smile to a deadpan face was strange.

"Yeah." Patrick looked at SpongeBob and smiled. The smile that he was making wad not a facade, he was successful in getting that selfish reason out of his thoughts and pushing it into a deeper level of his consciousness.

SpongeBob nodded and looked at the horizon. The sea star had assured him of his decent well-being. He noticed that the three homes of the neighborhood could be seen rising slightly above the horizon. It will not be long before the three neighbors reach their homes.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward entered the neighborhood.

Squidward walked towards his tiki and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it. He was thinking about writing in his journal to express the positive feelings that he was feeling due to SpongeBob not annoying him during work. Even during the conversation between SpongeBob and Patrick that he had listened to, the sponge scarcely asked him about his opinion on a certain topic or told something directly to him.

SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple. He felt satisfied with the chain of events that occurred today since he put his best friend on the road to success. Very few activities or actions felt more good than helping a stranger, an acquaintance, or a friend.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered his pineapple.

Patrick walked towards his rock.

**CRREEAAAK**

The starfish opened the rock and slid through the opening.

The fly robot flew through the opening that Patrick made before...

**SLAM**

...the rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to a drawer of hardened sand and opened it. He took out a Waller and put it into one of his pockets. With the wallet in his pocket, the preparation for his plan began. He walked towards the circular wall and climbed it. The starfish then lifted the rock...

**CRREEAAAAK**

...and squeezed through the opening he made.

The fly robot flew almost as fast as a bullet through the opening before...

**SLAM**

...the rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked in a certain direction and eventually exited the neighborhood. He was heading for the downtown area of Bikini Bottom.

The fly robot silently followed him from behind.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked at the left half of the screen and saw what was happening. "Interesting..." He commented and looked at the screen's left half for a minute before looking back at the screen's right half and resuming his typing of the journal entry. Due to Patrick's unexpected actions, the idea that spoken words and actions were not enough to uncover some of the hidden facts about the sea star sprouted in Plankton's mind. However, the plankton knew a solution to the problem that entered his mind. 'One of the prototypes I have could be put to some good use. It is kind of risky but it should be able to read the starfish's basic thoughts. This whole scheme will be worth it anyway, almost nothing is more better than someone helping me out and choosing to do that out of their free will, it would be even better if they get the secret formula for me.' He mentally spoke and wandered in several thoughts. He looked from the corner of his eye at a somewhat large machine that was laying on a table with other machines.

_"Plankton, are you sure that this scheme will work out? If that starfish got hired at the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs probably informed him about you."_ Karen wanted her husband to carefully plan the scheme. She knew about Patrick since her husband had talked to her about him while typing the journal entry.

"That sea star made quite a fool of himself while he worked," Plankton commented on Patrick's performance during his first day of working at the Krusty Krab. He knew that the sea star was not bright enough to light up the night sky. "he struggled to do some of the most basic tasks. Imbeciles like him can be easily manipulated to help me in the accomplishment of my goals. However, he occasionally has bouts of intelligence but I do not think that fact is a cause for concern. He would probably get fooled enough to believe what I say with or without his intelligence anyway," His slightly underestimated Patrick's potential in terms of intelligence. "I had not seen the starfish enter Mr. Krabs' office at all so it would be safe to assume that he is uninformed about me." He assured Karen about the success of his plan.

_"I see." _Karen understood what Plankton said.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked on a sidewalk as he walked through downtown Bikini Bottom with other pedestrians. He was searching for a shop that sold a wide variety of clothes.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick eventually saw a shop that was the type that he was looking for and it immediately caught his attention. He walked towards that shop and...

**C-CRRREAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered that shop by opening and closing the double door.

The fly robot entered the shop right before the double door was going to become completely shut.

S-S-S-S-S

"This is... odd..." Plankton tilted his head and narrowed his eye in confusion. He could not figure out the reason or intention for the sea star's shopping. "Further research will be definitely needed." He spoke one of his thoughts out loud. The plankton had to use the prototype mind-reading machine on Patrick in order for his scheme to be successful.

_"His actions might be related to his goal of achieving an award." _Karen stated a possible explanation for Patrick's actions. She was aware of what was being shown on both halves of the screen.

Plankton closely observed Patrick through the computer screen as the sea star shopped for clothes. "It's possible." He commented on what his wife said. Karen's statement about Patrick's intentions was plausible.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A pile of brown pants caught Patrick's attention.

"Finally..." Patrick whispered to himself, the pants pile that he was seeing had the color that he was looking for. He walked up to the pants pile and took a pair of pants from that pile

The pair of pants that he took from the pile and was holding in one hand was a pair of brown squarepants. If a belt was properly wrapped around it, it would be identical to SpongeBob's squarepants.

Patrick inspected the squarepants. "It's too small." The sea star quietly observed. He wanted a pair of pants that could fit him at a comfortable or perfect level. He put the pair of pants back on the pile of brown squarepants and looked at his surroundings for other piles of pants that had the exact same color as the pile of squarepants before him.

A pause.

Patrick eventually spotted a pants pile that had the exact same color and walked up to it. He picked up a pair of brown pants and inspected it.

The pants was approximately the ideal size for Patrick's lower body.

Patrick put on the pants to make sure that it will fit him, the fitting will assure Patrick if the pants fit or not.

The pants went a bit above his waist after it was put on. If fit him by a decent degree.

Patrick took off the pants and smiled. "This'll do." He put the pants over his shoulder as if it was a traveling sack. The starfish walked up to a rack where white shirts were hanging. By that point, it was glaring that the sea star was trying to copy SpongeBob's normal attire. He sifted through the white shirts hanging on the rack until he found one that was his size. His memory was decent enough for him to remember somewhat basic and mundane things like his shoe size or shirt size.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was trying his hardest to pay attention to what he was watching. Watching someone shopping was not the most exciting activity in the world. His attention span was standing against the test of time; his eye did not become heavy out of drowsiness. The plankton was determined to completely observe what Patrick was doing so he could prepare and execute his scheme without any problems.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

With a white shirt and brown pants on one shoulder, Patrick walked up to a rack of ties. He glanced through each tie on the rack in search of a red tie. He then snatched the first red tie he saw and put it on his shoulder. The sea star walked away from the rack of ties and towards a rack of belts that was nearby. He sifted through the belts until he found a black belt with a simple buckle that looked like it could completely wrap around his waist. He took that belt, wrapped it around his waist, and buckled it.

The belt fitted him almost perfectly.

Patrick smiled even more at his easy victory and unbuckled the belt. He then unwrapped the belt and put it on his shoulder with the rest of the clothes that he took. The sea star walked towards the counter where there was several people waiting in a line. He grabbed a shoebox that had a pair of black shoes inside of it that was his shoe size along the way, there was no need to do a fitting for them since his feet were pointy and the shoes were his size. The sea star also grabbed a pair of socks with red and white lines that were in a tiny plastic bag since it was nearby. He then stepped into the end of the line and waited for his turn to pay for the clothing, the belt, and the shoes that he took.

A long pause.

He took a few steps forward as one person at the front of the line exited the line.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stepped up to the counter. It was his turn to pay for the things he had taken. The sea star gave the clothing, the belt, and the shoebox to the cashier. The sea star then took out his wallet from one of his pockets.

The cashier scanned the price tags of the clothing and the belt with a small gun.

The cash register added up the prices. It was superior to the one used at the Krusty Krab since it was electronic.

He took a quick glance at the price sum being shown on the screen of the register before looking at Patrick. "That'll be $39.41." The cashier stated the price sum that was being shown on the cash register's screen.

Patrick took out one $20 bill, one $10 bill, one $5 bill, four $1 bills, a quarter, a dime, a nickel; and a penny from his wallet. He then gave that amount of money to the cashier. As he was shopping in the shop, his intelligence had increased since he was looking for clothes that looked like SpongeBob's usual attire.

The cashier put the money into the register and took out a brown bag from a stack of brown bags. He put the clothing, the belt, and the shoebox into the bag and then gave it to Patrick.

Patrick walked towards the exit with a bag in one of his hands. He had a satisfied smile on his face, he predicted that nothing will go wrong with the preparation of his plan.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick opened the double door and exited the shop.

The fly robot exited the shop as well through the closing opening of the doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered his rock.

The fly robot flew through the opening of the rock right before it closed completely.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the brown bag on the couch and took out the clothing, the belt, and the shoebox from the bag. 'I better start wearing them now.' He thought. He wanted his plan to be fully executed by tomorrow morning. He opened the shoebox and took out the black shoes. He opened the tiny plastic bag and took out the socks. He then took off his pants and began to put on his clothes.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton turned around so his back faced the computer screen. Patrick's nakedness was an unpleasant sight and he did not need to see it, the plankton knew his limits.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked at the left half of the computer screen from the corner of his eye and noticed that Patrick was fully dressed in SpongeBob's attire. "What's the point of him wearing the sponge's normal clothing?" The plankton scratched his head in confusion. "How is it related to receiving an award?" He could not figure out the connection between Patrick's actions and Patrick's goal.

_"SpongeBob is an excellent fry cook. The starfish is copying his clothing so he can be like that sponge. SpongeBob gets an Employee of the Month award every month so it would make sense for the starfish to mimic his usual attire. The sea star might get more recognition as a consequence and that would increase his chances of getting an award." _Karen stated the connection between the sea star's goal and actions. Her A. I. was always reliable and helpful when Plankton could not figure something out or solve a problem.

Plankton nodded, he agreed with what Karen said. "He'll get an award alright." He made a sinister smile and rubbed his hands together in deep thought. What Karen said gave him an idea that would dramatically increase the chances for his plan to succeed. He quickly hopped from key to key as he edited the journal entry.

S-S-S-S-S

"Done." Patrick looked down at the clothing he was wearing. He became more confident in his ability to work at the Krusty Krab as he became more and more like SpongeBob. The sea star tossed the brown bag to the side and began to change the shape of that piece of sand furniture.

S-S-S-S-S

Once Plankton finished his edit of the journal entry, he leaped from the keys of the keyboard and looked at the left half of the computer screen. He saw what Patrick was doing to his living room. "It seems that the starfish is now changing the rooms of his home to make them look like the rooms of SpongeBob's home." He observed.

_"That further supports my theory."_ Karen commented.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Phew." Patrick wiped some sweat from his brow. He then grinned at the fruit of his labor.

The rock's living room looked identical to the pineapple's living room except for the fact that the rock's living room was made out of hardened sand. The bed had been moved to the farthest side of the room and the floor and walls near the bed was made to look like the pineapple's bedroom, the bed was enclosed by sand walls and the homemade room was closed by a handmade sand door. The kitchen and the bathroom only had a few changes since they already looked very similar to the pineapple's kitchen and bathroom prior to Patrick's reshaping of the rock's rooms.

Patrick saw an alarm clock that was laying on the floor and a light bulb lit up in his head. He had made a foghorn in the bedroom but did not know how he was going to put an alarm into it until now. The sea star picked up the alarm clock, walked towards the bedroom, and opened the sand door.

The sand door did not make any sounds since it was not made out of metal, wood, or any other durable material.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the alarm clock into the sand foghorn with ease. "There we go." He smiled at his own success and then exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to a sand chair that looked like the red chair in the pineapple's living room and sat in it. He picked up a remote that was laying on the floor and turned on the TV.

S-S-S-S-S

"Cover the screen with the journal." Plankton commanded. He believed that he saw all of the important activities that Patrick did. He exactly knew how he was going to execute the plan after adjusting the plan to Patrick's situation.

The left half of the screen disappeared and the screen only showed the journal entry.

"Show journal list." Plankton stated another command. He wanted to read past journal entries to see if he could add more ideas to his scheme.

The list of journal entries was shown on the computer screen.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

FLICK

Patrick turned off the lights in the rock's rooms by flicking a light switch to 'OFF'. He walked towards the bedroom, opened the sand door, and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick laid down on the sand bed and put the sand blanket over himself. He adjusted the sand pillow to make it more comfortable. The sea star then closed his eyes and breathed slowly.

A pause.

Patrick eventually fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton just finished reading a journal entry before asking a question to Karen. "What time is it?" He was aware of the fact that time flew quickly from his perspective when he read for long periods of time.

_"It is seven minutes past nine o'clock." _Karen monotonously stated the time.

"Show the robot's camera screen." Plankton said another command. He wanted to see what Patrick was currently doing.

The computer screen changed to show the camera screen of the fly robot. The living room of the rock had its lights off and Patrick was nowhere to be seen inside the room.

_"The starfish seems to be sleeping." _Karen stated her inference.

"Very well." Plankton made an evil smile and leaped to the floor. He jogged to the jetpack which was leaning on the wall and put it on. He walked to the prototype mind-reading machine and strapped it to the jetpack; the machine had a somewhat long strap that could be stuck together to be put around someone's shoulder or could be stuck to something else, the strap made it easier to carry the machine. He then walked to a table and took a few microchips. 'I'll need these as well.' He thought. The usage of the microchips were an important part of the scheme. The plankton then turned on his jetpack.

Flames came out of the jetpack's rocket boosters.

Plankton flew out of the laboratory at a high speed.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton flew through the dining room within a second.

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Plankton exited the Chum Bucket and flew towards Patrick's rock. He knew the location of the rock since he had closely watched Patrick walk towards his home through the camera screen of the fly robot.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton landed before Patrick's rock and turned off his jetpack. The rock looked like a mountain from his perspective. He walked up to the rock and immediately realized that the rock was an obstacle. It was impossible for him to open the rock. The plankton thought about a possible solution to the problem for a second before looking down at the ground. A light bulb then lit up in his head. He dug a hole through the ground below him.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton eventually dug the hole through the circular wall of the living room, he had made a turn while digging below the ground. The plankton then dove to the floor and safely landed on his feet. He then sprinted towards the bedroom, he ran at that pace since he knew that the sea star would not hear his nearly nonexistent footsteps. He then stopped before the sand door and dug a passageway under the door, the passageway was not underground. Plankton squeezes through the passageway and entered the bedroom.

The fly robot was aware of Plankton's presence in Patrick's home. It flew towards Plankton and flew through the passageway that its creator had made under the sand door. It had been programmed to protect Plankton whenever it and Plankton were close to each other and were in an unfamiliar location, watching someone or something was not its only function.

S-S-S-S-S

"Finally..." Plankton whispered to himself and made an evil smile. He could already feel the sense of accomplishment from successfully receiving the Krabby Patty secret formula from the sea star. He was confident in the success of his scheme sinice he carefully created it and based it around Patrick's situation. He walked towards Patrick and climbed one leg of the bed until he reached the surface of the mattress where Patrick was laying on. The plankton then put the microchips on Patrick's feet and ankles. He then tip-toed toward Patrick's head and set his jetpack next to the starfish's head. He unstrapped the mind-reading machine and pressed a green button that was on the machine. He wanted to use the mind-reading machine to confirm Karen's theory about Patrick's motivation for his actions.

The mind-reading machine turned on.

Plankton put on a set of headphones that were connected to the mind-reading machine. He grabbed an electric pad that was also connected to the machine and carefully set it over Patrick's forehead. There was also a knob switch and a small screen above it; the left-most part of the screen had text saying 'LOW FREQUENCY', the right-most part of the screen had text saying 'HIGH FREQUENCY'. The plankton adjusted the switch until he could hear Patrick's mental voice. The machine was in its prototype stage since not all of the features that Plankton had planned for it was implemented into it and some of the functions that were already in the machine needed improvements.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton eventually heard Patrick's mental voice after adjusting the knob switch by a centimeter, it was difficult to adjust the knob to a person's mental voice because the machine was in its prototype stage. He then paid attention to the mental voice to the best of his ability. He could not hear the voice completely but certainly heard some words.

_"I... final... ...ward... Everybody... .o..k... I... ...N AWARD... THI... IS... ...T... DA... ...Y LIFE! ...Spong... ...am...h... ...yee of th...onth... ...I...m... fa...s... now! He... Squi...t an award! I... g..na-" _The mental voice being heard through the headphones suddenly became silent.

A pause.

Patrick had slowly moved to another side of the bed while Plankton was listening to his mental voice through the headphones. The electric pad fell off of Patrick's head and landed on the mattress.

Another pause.

"Well... that confirms Karen's theory alright." Plankton whispered to himself and made an even bigger evil smile due to his success in confirming his wife's theory. He put the electric pad and the headphones on the mind-reading machine and strapped the machine to the jetpack. The plankton pressed a red button that was on the mind-reading machine.

The mind-reading machine turned off.

Plankton put on the jetpack and jumped to the floor. The plankton walked up to the nearby fly robot. "Do not follow me, watch him." He whispered a command to the robot and pointed at Patrick.

The fly robot nodded to express its understanding of its creator's command.

Plankton squeezed himself through the passageway under the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton climbed the circular wall until he reached the small hole through the wall that he made not too long ago. He squeezed himself into the hole and eventually exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton turned on the jetpack and flew with high acceleration towards the Chum Bucket. A trail of flames followed him as the rocket boosters made Plankton and the rest of the jetpack push through the air.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

8:45 AM.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He was about to do his "I'm ready" chant and skip towards the Krusty Krab when he saw Patrick's rock and realized something. He had not heard from Patrick or seen him for the whole morning so far. 'Maybe Patrick's sleeping.' He thought. The sponge walked towards the rock and..

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the door. He felt obligated to help his best friend with skills or tasks related to the Krusty Krab even if it was outside the restaurant, before work, or after work.

**CRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened. Patrick was sticking to the ceiling. "Hey, Sponge. What's up?" He greeted his best friend. He then noticed that SpongeBob was wearing the Krusty Krab employee hat. "Is it time to work?" He asked an important question, he was aware of the consequences of being tardy. He had to learn that lesson the hard way during elementary school.

"Yep. I was just gonna remind... you..." SpongeBob noticed the attire that Patrick was wearing and looked down at the living room and noticed something else. He realized that Patrick was wearing the same clothes as him and the rock's rooms looked similar to the rooms of his own pineapple. He then looked up and made eye contact with Patrick. "Why're you wearing the same clothes as me? Why does your place look like mine?" He asked two questions that appeared after his realization. "I don't wanna be rude." He tried to be polite, he did not intend to insult his friend by asking those two questions.

"Since you're really good at your job and get an award every month, I thought that wearing the same clothes as you and having a similar house would make me more successful." Patrick stated his reason for wearing his current attire and changing the rock's rooms to their current state. He did not see any flaw in his thinking.

SpongeBob giggled since he thought that Patrick's way of thinking was silly. "Pat, did you remember what I said yesterday? If you wanna get an award, you've go to BELIEVE in yourself and then DO something." He repeated the advice that he said yesterday and put emphasis on certain words.

Patrick nodded. "Wearing your clothes and having a similar home makes me believe in myself. Shopping for clothes and changing the rooms of my house were definitely things I've done." He applied SpongeBob's advice to his situation but did it in a way that was not intended.

A pause.

SpongeBob shrugged. "As long as it works for you." He smiled widely. He no longer saw a flaw in Patrick's thinking since he considered the sea star's stated connection between his actions and his own advice to be plausible.

PLOP

Patrick jumped to the outside ground.

The fly robot quickly exited the rock.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

"C'mon, buddy. Let's go to work!" Patrick jogged towards the Krusty Krab. He was in a good mood since the idea of waking up in the morning while having a job to go to delighted him. The starfish felt like he was meaningfully contributing to society.

SpongeBob skipped at a quick pace with him. He knew why Patrick was in a good mood because he had felt and was currently feeling the same joy.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the Krusty Krab. Squidward soon caught up with them, the octopus had exited his tiki to go to work a minute after SpongeBob and Patrick began their walk to the restaurant.

Patrick grabbed the handles of the double door and tried to open it.

The double door would not budge, it was locked.

"Don't worry, Pat. It'll be just like yesterday. Mr. Krabs usually comes to the Krusty Krab at exactly nine o'clock." SpongeBob infomed Patrick about the normal time that their boss reaches the restaurant so Patrick would know what to expect every morning of a workday.

Patrick sat down on a windowsill and patiently waited for Mr. Krabs to walk up to the Krusty Krab and unlock the double door. He took out his employee hat and put it on. He was going to work his hardest today since his attire heavily brightened his self-image. He thought that working hard would increase the chances of him getting an award even more.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the Krusty Krab. He took out the key and unlocked the double door. "Mornin', boys." He greeted his employees before..

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entering the restaurant. He flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'.

Patrick stood up from the windowsill. He and the other two employees...

**C-CRREEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the Krusty Krab.

Plankton was standing before the entrance of the Chum Bucket, his back was facing the double door. He was holding a remote with one of his hands and was smiling in a sinister manner. "That sea star will not know what hit him." He spoke to himself and looked down at the remote. He then giggled evilly and...

Creak

Slam

...entered the Chum Bucket. He could not wait to execute his plan.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton wiped some sweat from his brow. He turned off the flamethrower that he was using and pushed it to the side. He then marveled at his creation that he formed out of metal.

It was a certificate made out of steel. Engraved on it was text saying 'FOR HELPING PLANKTON IN GETTING THE KRABBY PATTY SECRET FORMULA: PATRICK STAR'.

Plankton knew Patrick's full name since he had asked Karen for basic information about that sea star. The computer could secretly search through several databases on the internet for private information. The plankton walked up to his computer wife, another question was on his mind. "What time is it?"

_"It's thirty-seven minutes past twelve o'clock." _Karen droned the current time.

Plankton walked towards another table and took the remote that he had held earlier from that table. "Now would be a good time to execute my scheme." He stated what he was going to do, he wanted Karen to be informed of his actions. He then walked towards the laboratory's exit.

Creak

Slam

Plankton opened one side of the double door and exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked across the dining room while holding the remote.

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Slam

Plankton exited the Chum Bucket. He then quickened the pace of his walking and walked towards the Krusty Krab. He eventually reached the restaurant and leaped to a windowsill. The plankton looked through the window before him to see what Patrick was doing.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting on the other side of the windowsill and was reading a magazine. He was currently in his security guard shift.

Patrick was holding a large plate of ten Krabby Pattties and was walking towards a family that was sitting at a table. The table he was heading for was near a window.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made an evil laugh and put his hand over an orange button on the remote that had text saying 'START'. The perfect opportunity to begin his scheme had knocked on his door.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stopped walking before the table where the family was sitting at. He was about to serve the food to the family.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the orange button.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick felt an immense tickling sensation on his ankles and feet. He laughed and dropped the plate. The tickling sensation was so strong that he could no longer control his laughter and the movement of his muscles.

**CRASH**

The plate fell to the floor and broke into pieces. The Krabby Patties touched the floor and became ruined.

**THUD**

Patrick collapsed to the floor while still laughing. He was laughing so hard that tears formed in his eyes.

SpongeBob was watching Patrick through the ordering window with wide eyes. His pink co-worker's sudden laughter was bizarre from his viewpoint. The sponge knew that something was wrong since Patrick was very serious about his job so far and was trying his best.

Squidward watched Patrick was a raised brow. He could not figure out the reason for the sea star's laughter. The octopus found his pink co-worker's laughter to be annoying since it interrupted his reading of the magazine.

The two young children who were siting at the table with their parents began to cry.

"Jerk." The father of the family muttered and stood up from the table. He thought that Patrick was laughing at them and dropped the plate on purpose. He stomped towards the boat and noticed that no one was sitting at the boat. However, he saw SpongeBob looking at Patrick through the ordering window. "I want a refund." The father said a demand to the yellow sponge and folded his arms. He and the mother had paid for their order before SpongeBob cooked the food for that order.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door to the dining room open and exited his office. "What happened?!" He jogged up to the father. He had heard the father say "refund" and became alarmed. From his perspective, the customers demanding refunds was one of the worst situations to occur in the restaurant. He knew that something was wrong.

"Your employee over there," The father pointed at a continuously laughing Patrick and glared at the sea star for several seconds before looking at Mr. Krabs again. "had laughed at us and dropped the plate to the floor. My kids are crying 'cause of that jerk." He complained to the crustacean.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes at Patrick and walked up to him. "Patrick, what is the meaning of this?" He folded his arms and asked in a stern voice.

"I... can't... stop... laughing..." Patrick struggled to speak while he was laughing. Several tears had ran down his cheeks due to his laughter. The tickling sensation prevented him from standing up. "...something... is... wrong... with... my... feet..." He pointed at where the powerful tickling sensation was coming from.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was laughing evilly as he watched Patrick laugh due to the microchips and cause a disturbance as a consequence. He then pressed a green button on the remote that had text on it saying 'STOP'. He wanted to stop the microchips from tickling Patrick so he could cause more disorder later. He was going to cause more disorder by activating the microchips' tickling sensation again at a later time. His action was not out of mercy.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick no longer felt the tickling sensation. He stopped laughing and leaped to his feet. The sea star opened his mouth to say something but Mr. Krabs interrupted him.

"Don't do that ever again. If I see you do that one more time, YOU. WILL. BE. FIRED." Mr. Krabs kept a firm glare at the starfish and threatened him in a solemn voice. There would be no disadvantage for the business if Patrick got fired not too long after getting hired. A reason for the early firing of the starfish leaving the business unscathed was that pay day had not came yet, Patrick would have to work for a whole week before receiving his first paycheck. Having an extra employee would not matter if that same employee plunged the profits due to poor customer service. The crab turned around to walk back to his office.

Patrick sweatdropped and made a military salute. "Sir, can I tell you something?" He tried to be polite. He had never been rowdy near his boss and always treated his boss with respect since his first hour of working at the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs turned around and made eye contact with Patrick. His face was no longer serious but he was not smiling. "It better be important." He was not in a good mood due to Patrick's sudden disorderly behavior.

"My feet were tickling out of the blue, I dunno what tickled me. I did not laugh on purpose and I was not trying to be a jerk to anybody." Patrick spoke with complete sincerity. His face expressed concern and he glanced at the family that he had tried to serve food to. The starfish felt like apologizing to the family since he wanted to be as professional as possible, he had to be professional since he was a Krusty Krab employee. He also kind of felt like a jerk since he made the children cry. Like being loyal to his best friend, Patrick quickly learned that he had an obligation to provide the best service possible to the customers. By trying to be the ideal employee, Patrick would certainly receive an award at the end of the road.

"Patrick, I'm not falling for those baloney slices." Mr. Krabs pointed at Patrick. He thought that Patrick had said a glaring lie. However, he inferred that the sea star's 'lying' was caused by his forgetfulness. He and the starfish did not develop a connection of trust yet. The crab turned around again and walked towards his office.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

Patrick turned to look at the family sitting at the table before him. He rightfully believed that the information he told Mr. Krabs was the truth. "I'm sorry for what I did." He sincerely apologized to the family. He picked up the ruined Krabby Pattties and the broken pieces of the plate from the floor. "I didn't mean it." The starfish did not unintentionally show any signs of lying while he said those words. The sea star walked towards the kitchen and walked past the father.

The father had overheard the conversation between Patrick and Mr. Krabs. The father believed the information that Patrick told Mr. Krabs to be true since Patrick facially expressed concern while saying that information. He was no longer angry at the starfish and forgave him because the starfish apologized to his family.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had also overheard the conversation between Patrick and Mr. Krabs. He made eye contact with Patrick while cooking a few patties. "Pat, I don't think what you said was a lie. I seen you deliver that plate to that family and you suddenly started laughing." He had witnessed the incident from the beginning to the end. The connection of trust between him and Patrick was also a reason for his belief in the truth of the information that his best friend said to Mr. Krabs.

"I know, right? It's as if something invisible is tickling me." Patrick said a random guess for the cause of the tickling sensation that had been felt on his feet and ankles. He walked up to the sink, turned the faucet on, and began to wash the broken plate pieces. He put the ten ruined Krabby Patties on the table so he can throw them away later.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick finished washing the broken plate pieces and threw them into a trash bin. He walked to the table and picked up the ten ruined Krabby Patties. The sea star then stepped to the trash bin and tossed the burgers into that bin.

SpongeBob frowned as he watched Patrick tossed the burgers away. It always saddened him a little bit when a Krabby Patty becomes wasted. It meant less money for the business and less joy in the customers who eat Krabby Patties.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was organizing the items and objects in the kitchen. He was currently organizing an upper shelf that had boxes on it.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton saw what Patrick was doing by looking through the ordering window through a telescope. He had taken a quick trip to the Chum Bucket to get the telescope. The plankton eventually stopped looking through the telescope and thought that it was an opportune time to tickle Patrick again since the sea star was doing some manual work. He pressed the orange button on the remote.

S-S-S-S-S

The tickling sensation returned to Patrick's feet and ankles.

Patrick collapsed to the floor in laughter while he let go of a box that he had grabbed.

The box leaned over the edge of the shelf and...

**SLAM**

...fell to the floor. The box had moved other boxes while it had been leaning.

**S-S-SLAM**

**S-SLAM**

The other boxes fell to the floor as well. Their lids became opened and their contents were released to the floor. Their contents consisted of fryer baskets for the deep fryer in the kitchen and a few spare spatulas.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door to his office open and stepped into the kitchen. He glared at Patrick so viciously that the sea star could have been burned by the crab's eyes.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton laughed evilly again and pressed the green button. He wanted to stop the tickling sensation at the right time to make Patrick look like he had fooled around in the kitchen by laughing and throwing things to the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

"I've had enough of this!" Mr. Krabs walked up to Patrick and snatched the employee hat from Patrick's head. "Patrick, you're fired." He spoke in a stern voice and put the employee hat into one of his pockets. The crab wanted to make the firing of the starfish as simple as possible. Only a few words were needed so Patrick could understand the message. He stomped through the open doorway and...

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered his office.

Patrick put his hands over his face and bawled. "I will never get an award..." He spoke while tears ran down his face. The sea star thought that working in the Krusty Krab was the only way and opportunity that he could receive an award. A heavy amount of despair filled his heart. The effort that he put into working at Krusty Krab and being like SpongeBob had been wasted.

SpongeBob made a slight smile and walked up to Patrick. His prevailing optimism was what was making him smile. The yellow square knew several other ways that Patrick can go through to get an award. He leaned next to Patrick and patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Don't cry, Pat. There're quite a few other ways to get an award." He tried to cheer his friend up.

Patrick stood up and stopped covering his face with his hands. However, tears were still running down his cheeks. "Sponge... I need to spend... some time... alone..." He struggled to speak as he wept. He stated one of the thoughts in his mind. The starfish needed to calm down and stop crying before he could walk through another route towards the destination of receiving an award. Even though the tickling sensation and subsequent laughter was not his fault, there was no use in arguing with Mr. Krabs. The starfish had decided to not try to get his position as Krusty Krab employee back. His wise decision was a sign of an increase in his intelligence. He walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

SpongeBob resumed his cooking of the patties. However, his face expressed his concern for his best friend. He was afraid of the possibility that Patrick was going to give up his goal of receiving an award. He was loyal enough to his friend to assist him in the worst of situations.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made a wide evil smile at his success, all he needed to do now was to lure Patrick with the steel award. The plankton ran towards the Chum Bucket. He was going to put the telescope and the remote away so he would not look suspicious from Patrick's viewpoint.

Creak

Slam

Plankton entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton tossed the remote and the telescope to the far side of the dining room. He turned around and...

Creak

Slam

...exited the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick exited the Krusty Krab. He was looking at the ground and tears were still running across his cheeks.

Plankton made a normal smile and walked up to Patrick. "Hey there! You want an award?" The plankton spoke directly to the point. There was no benefit or advantage in slowly introducing his offer like any normal person would when offering something.

Patrick became wide-eyed and he made a beam that lit up his face. His sadness had been washed away from his face like how sand on the shore gets washed away by the waves. "Boy, would I!" He jumped up and down in excitement. A miraculous opportunity had knocked on his door. His despair had been emptied from his heart.

"Then just do this little favor for me. Go into the Krusty Krab, get the Krabby Patty secret formula, and give it to me. Alright?" Plankton stated what Patrick needed to do in order to receive an award. He was aware of Patrick's emotional situation and was using that situation to manipulate Patrick into doing his dirty work.

Patrick glanced at the Krusty Krab and then made eye contact with Plankton. "Gotcha." He made a thumbs-up and nodded. He knew that stealing something from the Krusty Krab would make him a traitor but he did not care. The starfish thought that being viewed as despicable by the Krusty crew while getting an award and becoming recognized was a fair bargain. However, he was going to steal the formula as a last resort. He was going to try the easiest and least confrontational way of getting the formula first. No matter what means of getting the formula become successful, the award from Plankton would make his and SpongeBob's labor in reaching his goal bear some fruit. The starfish turned around and walked towards the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRREEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick entered the Krusty Krab.

Plankton walked backwards towards the Chum Bucket and stood before the entrance with his back facing the entrance. It was only a matter of time before the Krabby Patty secret formula was finally going to be in his hands. The receiving of the formula would also mark the beginning of the Chum Bucket as a successful business.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked across the dining room and towards the door to the kitchen. He inferred that his best friend would certainly help him in his search for the Krabby Pattty secret formula. He had heard Mr. Krabs talking about it a few times yesterday so he also assumed that the employees also knew what or where the formula was.

Squidward was sitting in the boat and was putting money into the cash register's drawer. Shortly after the firing of Patrick, Mr. Krabs had told him that he will resume his normal duty as the cashier.

**CRRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick opened the door and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick noticed that SpongeBob was cooking several Krabby Patties. He walked up to his best friend and poked his best friend on the shoulder to grab his attention.

SpongeBob saw Patrick from the corner of his eye and made eye contact with the sea star. "Feeling better, Pat?" He was still concerned for his best friend's well-being. Some of his thoughts were about Patrick as he had cooked the Krabby Patties and served them.

"Yep, but I wanna ask you something." Patrick sincerely nodded and said what he was about to say. He did not want to seem too upfront since he did not want to sound suspicious and unintentionally start an argument.

"Yeah?" SpongeBob was ready to listen to and answer Patrick's question. Most of his attention was on the sea star while the rest was on cooking and flipping the patties. For high-quality fry cooks like SpongeBob, jogging between talking to someone else while cooking was only slightly difficult. The quality of his cooking did not lessen at all.

"Do you know where the Krabby Patty secret formula is? If not, can you tell me the ingredients?" Patrick spoke with a calm demeanor. His intelligence had decreased when he exited the Krusty Krab while crying. He thought that anybody could learn what the secret formula was. He had forgotten Mr. Krabs' warning to him about revealing the formula to anybody without the boss' permission. Mr. Krabs had not told him what the ingredients for the secret formula were during his time working at the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob frowned and shook his head. "Sorry, Pat. I can't tell you. You don't work here anymore." He stated what he assumed was not so obvious to his best friend. He sincerely wished that he could help Patrick.

A pause.

SpongeBob could not figure out the reason for why Patrick wanted to know what the formula was or where it was. "Why would you want to know about it anyway?" He asked while tilting his head to the side. The sponge could not see the usefulness of knowing the formula from Patrick's perspective.

"A tiny man on the street told me that he would give me an award if I gave him the secret formula." Patrick told SpongeBob the reason why he asked those two questions about the Krabby Patty secret formula. He was not nervous in the slightest after seeing the message that SpongeBob was making through his body and hearing the sponge's question.

SpongeBob raised his brow. "Is he green and has antennae sticking out of his head?" He asked about the physical appearance of the tiny man that Patrick talked about. The tiny man sounded familiar to him due to what he requested Patrick to do according to Patrick's words.

Patrick reflected on the past encounter with the Plankton. "Now that you think about it... yeah. He was kinda green and had a pair of antennae on his head. He also looked weird 'cause he had only one eye." The sea star remembered and said more physical traits about the tiny man than what SpongeBob asked for.

SpongeBob became wide-eyed and gasped. "Patrick, that little man who talked to you is called Plankton. He owns the Chum Bucket which is right across the street from the Krusty Krab and is the arch-nemesis of Mr. Krabs. He tries to steal the secret formula from us very often and would do anything to get his hands on it. He was also the same guy who used mind control on me and made me walk to the Chum Bucket, remember?" The sponge informed Patrick about Plankfon and tried to make Patrick remember the despicable act that the plankton did to him.

Patrick searched through the large archive of memories in his mind. He eventually remembered what Plankton did to SpongeBob but his desire for an award prevented him from becoming angry. "That's in the past now. SpongeBob, I can't miss this opportunity to get an award. All of the hard work me and you put into making me reach my goal would pay off. When I get that award, I'm gonna be recognized by somebody and be considered special." The sea star was resolute in his decision to not abandon the achievement of his goal.

A pause. SpongeBob thought deeply until he realized something.

"Wouldn't that make you a traitor and a bad friend? I work here after all and you might have to deal with me, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs if you want to get the formula. I'm not trying to threaten you or sound mean. I'm just stating the facts" SpongeBob spoke with total honesty and was trying to deter Patrick from trying to get the secret formula. He did not want Patrick to walk down the same path of evil that Plankton was walking through. "If you steal the formula, you could get caught by the authorities."

Patrick widened his eyes and began to have doubts about getting the formula. He thought that he should not even try to get the secret formula since he would have to betray his friend who had helped him many times and would also have to deal with the police if he stole it. However, if he did not bring the secret formula to Plankton, he will not get the award and would have to continue being a nobody instead of a somebody. "U-ummm..." He sweatdropped and nervously looked at his surroundings. The sea star could not pick an option out of the two options given to him. "I need some more time to think about this." He indirectly said the situation he was in.

SpongeBob nodded. "Come back to me when you've decided." The sponge thought that Patrick would certainly choose the option of not stealing the formula. He was aware of Patrick's loyalty to him and also thought that the starfish would never betray him since he provided major assistance for the starfish throughout the journey to receiving an award. He was not worried at all about the sea star choosing the other option.

Patrick turned to face the door to the dining room.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked across the dining room and...

**C-CRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick sat on a rock that was within the vicinity of the Krusty Krab and made a thinker pose. He then thought very deeply about his situation. He wanted to see which option had more advantages or disadvantages. His intelligence increased a little bit as he made his brain work to the best of its ability.

Plankton saw what Patrick was doing and immediately knew that the sea star was having doubts due to the sea star's facial expression. He turned around and...

Creak

Slam

...entered the Chum Bucket. He was going to show an incentive to Patrick in an attempt to encourage Patrick to get or steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

Creak

Slam

Plankton exited the Chum Bucket while carrying the steel award. He walked up to Patrick and put the steel award on the ground in front of Patrick. "This is the award that I am going to give you if you bring back the Krabby Patty secret formula. If you are considering the option to not get the formula, please keep the award in mind." The plankton was trying to manipulate the starfish.

Patrick raveled at the slight shininess of the award and his engraved name on the award. He could not believe that someone put hard work and effort into making an award for him. The sea star almost could not resist the temptation being given to him by Plankton.

A memory suddenly appeared in Patrick's mind.

_"He's gonna hurt my buddy!? I don't know who Plankton is but if he messes with SpongeBob he's messing with me too! Where did SpongeBob go?!" Patrick became enraged, his voice sounded like he was nearly commanding Squidward to answer the question._

He remembered the moment when he became angry at Plankton for mind-controlling his best friend. Another memory entered his consciousness as well.

_**SLAM**_

_The double doors were barged open._

_An angry Patrick stomped into the laboratory. Squidward was following him._

_"Patrick? Squidward?" SpongeBob's eyes widened in shock._

_"Step aside, SpongeBob. I'm here to teach whoever hurt you a lesson... IN PAIN!" Patrick palmed his fist._

He remembered when he bravely entered the Chum Bucket's laboratory to save his best friend from Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

There were no more customers waiting to state their order or get their order. They were all sitting at the tables and were eating the food that they ordered.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood on his tip-toes and looked through the ordering window. He thought that now was an excellent time to see how Patrick was doing. He looked through the large windows in the dining room from the ordering window and saw Patrick and Plankton conversing. His suspicions were correct. He stood normally and then walked towards the door to the dining room.

**CRREEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the dining room while he continued to watch Patrick and Plankton.

**C-CRREEEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the double door and exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick realized that Plankton was trying to manipulate him by using the award as an incentive for him to do Plankton's dirty work. If he did what Plankton told him to do, he would get in trouble with the police and the friendship between him and SpongeBob would be threatened due to his own disloyalty. With that realization, he immediately knew that not getting the formula would be a much better option. The cons of getting/stealing the formula severely outweighed the pros. He glared at Plankton and stood up. "I don't need this piece of junk!" He grabbed the award and threw it to the side. "You were trying to use me!" He yelled at the plankton and pointed at him.

Plankton gritted his teeth and stomped the ground with one of his feet in anger. The patience and effort that he had put into the scheme bore no fruit. The two major flaws in the scheme that he overlooked were Patrick's intelligence and the strength of Patrick and SpongeBob's friendship. "BARNA-" He was cursing when a certain sea star interrupted him.

Patrick grabbed Plankton. "Go back to where you belong, tiny meanie!" He name-called the plankton and then lifted his arm. He was preparing to throw the plankton.

"W-wait, I-I-" Plankton desperately tried to escape Patrick's grasp but it was too late.

Patrick flung Plankton towards the Chum Bucket.

"AAAAAaaaaAAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Plankton shrieked as he flew towards the Chum Bucket. He was rapidly twirling in the air.

**SLAM**

Plankton hit the double door of the Chum Bucket.

Plop

Plankton fell to the ground. He became unconscious.

SpongeBob had been silently watching the entire scene. He walked up to Patrick. "You're not gonna try to get the secret formula, are you?" He asked a very important question. After seeing what Patrick did, he believed that Patrick had decided on an option.

Patrick turned around to face SpongeBob. He was no longer angry and made a neutral facial expression. "Nope," He shook his head. "getting an award wouldn't be worth it if you're gonna be hated for what you were awarded for. Sponge, you've helped me so much that I can't betray you. I wouldn't betray you even if I was given an award for doing the opposite." The sea star frankly said the thoughts that were in his mind. "If I want an award and also get praised for getting one, I gotta be myself as well, not just believing in myself." He added to the advice that SpongeBob said yesterday. He learned that he also had to follow his ideals and morals in order to get an award he should be proud of, he was focusing more on the achievement than the award.

SpongeBob widened his eyes very slightly. He was completely surprised by what Patrick just told him. He then made a wide smile, what Patrick said was proof that the sea star had learned something meaningful during his time at the Krusty Krab as an employee and dealing with the loss of his job. "You wanna become hired again?" SpongeBob pointed at the Krusty Krab. His experiences at the Krusty Krab were enriched when Patrick was working with him.

"Nah." Patrick shook his head. "I'll get an award some other time." The starfish wanted to go back to his home and relax. Today and yesterday were too eventful for his taste. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. "I gotta change to my normal clothes too." He stated one of his thoughts in a somewhat quiet voice. "See ya later, Sponge." He then walked towards his home.

"Bye, Pat!" SpongeBob waved at his best friend and then walked towards the Krusty Krab. He still had a day of work ahead of him. He could not celebrate Patrick's increase in knowledge for much longer.

**C-CRRREEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the Krusty Krab.

* * *

**For a chapter like this, any feedback would be nice.**


	46. Wormy

**Chapter 46: Wormy**

* * *

Two days later…

S-S-S-S-S

It was Sunday morning.

SpongeBob walked through the hallway and entered the living room. He had eaten breakfast and had brushed his teeth. He sat on the couch and grabbed the remote. He wanted to watch TV while thinking about the first outdoor activity that he should do for the day. He could not decide between jellyfishing with Patrick, 'playing' a 'friendly' game with Squidward, or watching several episodes of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy with Patrick. The last option seemed tempting since it was the most convenient to do but he resisted that temptation. He wanted to consider the three activities in his mind equally. The sponge pressed the 'POWER' button on the remote.

The TV turned on.

Gary slithered up to the couch and laid next to SpongeBob. The snail wanted to watch the local news channel so he could catch up with what was going on in Bikini Bottom. Watching the news became a habit for him.

SpongeBob changed the channel several times while still holding the fame of until he reached the local news channel. Coincidentally, that channel was on both the sponge and the snail's minds. The sponge often watches the local news channel as well but not to the extent of Gary's watching of it. He then closed himself from the rest of the world and entered the realm of his thoughts. However, he wanted to explore the realm at a hasty pace. He was eager to go outside and properly start his morning; he did not want to spend the whole Sunday thinking about what to do, he had too much energy and enthusiasm to control himself.

A pause.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

SpongeBob exited the realm of his thoughts and stood up. He walked towards the shell-phone and picked it up. He then put it near his ear. "Hello?"

_"Howdy, Sponge. I'm going to to some outdoor research for my job and it's gonna be outside of Bikini Bottom so can you come over to my place?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

SpongeBob quickly nodded and smiled. "I'll be there ASAP." He spoke into the shell-phone to assure Sandy and put the shell-phone down. He assumed that Sandy wanted him to visit her treedome so he could help her with preparing the treedome for her absence. The sponge decided that visiting Sandy's treedome and helping Sandy out would not take too much time. He walked towards the front door.

**CRREEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jogged in the direction of Sandy's treedome. He was one who abided by his words.

**CRRREAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock and briskly walked up to SpongeBob. Once he caught up with the sponge, he poked him on the shoulder. The sea star had heard some information from someone on his shell-phone and wanted to ask SpongeBob a question to confirm if the heard information was true.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick. "Hey, Pat. What is it?" He wanted to know why Patrick poked him on the shoulder. Patrick had poked him enough times before for him to know that the sea star wanted to ask a question or wanted to request something whenever he did that.

"Sandy called me and said that she was gonna leave the treedome for a while. She also said that she called you earlier and you're gonna visit her house. Is that true?" Patrick stated what happened to him and asked a question of confirmation. Sandy had called him right after she finished her phone conversation with SpongeBob. He had woken up with a low level of intelligence and an extra amount of skepticism. One area of intelligence decreased while another intelligence area increased.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. "She wanted you to come to her house?" The sponge asked a question to the starfish. He asked that question since there was an ambiguity with what Patrick said and became curious as a result.

"Mm-hmm." Patrick nodded. He was smart enough to answer simple questions. The sea star then mentally formed a question.

An awkward pause.

"Why would she want me to come to her dome?" Patrick scratched his while he asked that question. He was a little bit too dumb to infer or assume why Sandy wanted someone to visit her home after Sandy told him about her eventual and temporary absence from her treedome. After Sandy told him on the phone about her abscene and asked him to come to her home, he had put his shell-phone down to ask SpongeBob.

"She probably needs some help with preparation and stuff like that. There's animals that live inside her glass dome." SpongeBob stated his assumption and an important fact that supported his assumption. He took care of a pet of his own so he could see why Sandy needed help with taking care of the treedome by caring for the animals.

Patrick remembered seeing some animals roaming inside the treedome during his visits to Sandy's treedome. "Oh yeah..." He snapped his fingers right after he remembered that fact. "You wanna jellyfish?" He wanted to talk about another topic. He wanted to have a usual beginning for his Sunday, that beginning was jellyfishing with his best friend.

After hearing Patrick's words, SpongeBob decided on what he was going to do for his first fun activity for his Sunday. His first outdoor activity was certainly going to consist of visiting Sandy's treedome. "Yeah.. but I wanna visit Sandy first." The sponge put assisting/helping his friends on a higher priority than fun activities.

"'kay. I'll just come with ya." Patrick wanted to follow and do what SpongeBob was doing. He decided to do that since waiting would become boring for him. Boredom was the last thing he wanted to happen on a Sunday since he and SpongeBob could play for the whole day. Such decent opportunities with his best friend almost never arose from Monday to Saturday.

The two best friends walked at the same pace towards Sandy's treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the front door of Sandy's treedome

**DING DONG **

SpongeBob pressed the doorbell. The doorbell was a red button that was on the left side of the doorway's rim.

A pause.

_"Hello?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"It's us. SpongeBob and Patrick." SpongeBob replied. He said those words with a smile.

_"Oh... come in." _Sandy did not expect to hear Patrick's name. He thought that only SpongeBob was visiting her since Patrick put down his shell-phone without any response after she said her first words in her phone call to Patrick.

The front door became unlocked.

SpongeBob stepped up to the front door and...

**CRRREEAAAAAK**

...opened the door. He walked into the hallway.

Patrick stepped into the hallway and...

**SLAM**

...closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick put on the fish bowls that were on the metal floor.

The water in the glass hallway was drained until the hallway was completely dry.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Sandy opened the door that was before them. She then signaled with her hand for the two to step into the inside of the treedome.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked into the inside of the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hey, Sandy." SpongeBob greeted Sandy with a wide smile and a wave. "I'm here as promised." He stated the sincerity of the assurance that he had said during his phone conversation with Sandy.

"I want you two to do some pet-sitting while I'm gone, it's the reason why I wanted ya to come here." Sandy spoke to SpongeBob and Patrick and then pointed at the animals that were roaming around the inside of her treedome. She needed a few people to take care of her pets since her absence would make her unable to properly take care of them.

"Pet-sitting?" Patrick raised his brow and scratched his head. He was dumb enough to take Sandy's words literally. "Won't that hurt them?" He thought that what Sandy wanted him and SpongeBob to do was contradictory to her intention. He had plausibly inferred that Sandy needed someone to take care of her animals since SpongeBob had said something about those animals several minutes earlier.

Sandy giggled. "You won't be sitting on my pets, Pat. You're just taking care of them." She said what she meant by saying the term 'pet-sitting'. She found Patrick's stupidity to be quite humorous at times. She was also aware of Patrick's bouts of intelligence.

"Oh." Patrick nodded and bit his lip. He suddenly realized his own stupidity.

"Follow me." Sandy signaled with one of her hands for SpongeBob and Patrick to follow her. She then walked towards a bird cage that was hanging from a tall wooden stick whose bottom was stuck into the ground. "I'll show and teach you how to take care of my pets." She said what she was going to do.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to her and looked at the bird cage.

The bird cage housed a small blue bird.

The blue bird tweeted at SpongeBob and Patrick.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The sea star realized that the bird's tweeting sounded like whistling. He then whistled back to the blue bird to see if the bird was going to respond. He thought that if he was going to take care of the animals, he had to learn how to communicate with them in order to exactly know their needs.

The blue bird tweeted back to Patrick.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick with wonder. "Gee, Patrick. I didn't know you spoke bird." He was impressed by Patrick's ability to communicate with the blue bird. He had not expected the starfish to do that at all, he had thought that his talents lied elsewhere.

"No," Patrick shook his head. "that's Italian, SpongeBob." He had confused the official language of Italy and the language of tweeting birds. His ability to speak tweeting bird could not hide or get rid of his stupidity. His full potential in speaking the language could only be realized if his intelligence increased significantly.

Sandy grabbed a medium-size sack that was next to tall stick and put it in front of SpongeBob and Patrick. It had two weeks worth of bird food inside of it. "Okay boys, this here is Birdy's food. Feed him twice a day." She told the two the instructions for feeding Birdy.

"That whole sack?" SpongeBob pointed at the sack before him and Patrick. He asked that question due to an ambiguity in Sandy's instructions. He wanted to make sure that he knew exactly how to properly care for the animals, he wanted to be a trustworthy and reliable friend.

"Nope. Just take half a cup of food from that sack every time you feed him." Sandy pointed at that sack. She then walked towards a nearby cricket that was hopping across the ground. She wanted to show every type of animal in the treedome to SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed Sandy.

The cricket stopped hopping when he saw Sandy.

Sandy, SpongeBob, and Patrick stood before the cricket.

"This here's my cricket." Sandy pointed at the cricket and smiled. She found the insect to be quite adorable. She had a strange taste in what animals or things she found to be cute.

**CLITTER CLITTER**

The cricket chirped.

"He's saying hello to you. AIn't he cute?" Sandy giggled. She had studied crickets and similar types of insects for a long enough time to understand their language, Unlike Patrick who can speak tweeting bird and not understand what the birds are saying to him, Sandy could not chirp back to the crickets.

**CLITTER CLITTER CLITTER**

The cricket chirped again.

SpongeBob scratched his head. He did not understand what the cricket was saying when he chirped for a second time, "I don't speak cricket." He spoke frankly. However, he wanted to learn the cricket's language.

"Don't worry, Sponge. You don't need to understand him. You don't even really need to take care of him. There's plenty of food on the ground for him to eat." Sandy told SpongeBob a few important facts so the sponge would not become worried about the cricket. He knew that the sponge's anxiety could potentially make the sponge unintentionally destructive.

Patrick nodded to show that he understood what Sandy said.

Sandy walked up to a medium-sized snake that was slithering on the ground. She then picked him up and held him out towards SpongeBob and Patrick. "This here's Snakey." She said the name that she gave to the snake.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to Sandy and looked at the snake.

SpongeBob noticed that there was a lump protruding from the snake's belly. He then became curious. He had rarely seen that snake in the treedome before. "What's that lump in its belly?" He pointed at the snake's lump.

"Well, that's his breakfast." Sandy pointed at the lump on the snake's belly. "I fed it a mouse about twenty minutes ago." She said what the snake's breakfast consisted of. She said that so SpongeBob and Patrick would not freak out when they touch the snake's lump since they would know what the snake had ate.

SpongeBob inched his index finger towards the snake's lump and poked it.

The lump moved somewhat.

Patrick cringed. He could not imagine how the mouse was surviving inside the snake's stomach. He thought that the mouse was going through unimaginable pain. However, he also thought that the lump moved possibly due to the snake's stomach reacting to SpongeBob's poke.

Sandy put Snakey on the ground and picked up a green caterpillar that was crawling through the grass. "This guy"s called Wormy."

SpongeBob and Patrick looked closely at the caterpillar.

"It looks like a worm." Patrick observed. He could see why the caterpillar was named Wormy.

"He just eats the leaves and grass so you don't have to take care of him too much. Just bring a pile of leaves to him if he's really hungry." Sandy instructed how to take care of Wormy to SpongeBob and Patrick. The squirrel tried to make her instructions as simple as possible by telling the two friends the most important information.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"...and that's pretty much it." Sandy finished showing all of the types of animals being housed in her treedome. "I gotta go." She gave instructions for most of the animal types she shown after showing Wormy. The squirrel then walked towards the oak tree and...

**CRRREEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the oak tree. She was going to change into her astronaut suit in preparation for her leaving.

SpongeBob looked down at the ground as he thought deeply. "How're the next days going to be like... without Sandy?" He asked Patrick a question that was also directed at himself. He had been with Sandy so many times that he had trouble with imagining a day without Sandy even though he did not visit Sandy on some days. The squirrel had became a good friend of him just like Patrick, he shared so many moments with her that losing her would be like losing Patrick, a fragment of his life would be taken away and would break his soul as a result. His current situation also reminded him of the time when he managed to make Sandy stay in Bikini Bottom. However, she was leaving Bikini Bottom out of an obligation and it was also temporary, it was not out of sadness.

Patrick shrugged. "Like any normal day." He unintentionally and indirectly reminded SpongeBob of the fact that he had not visited Sandy on quite a number of days. The sea star was only saying his opinion of the near future without the squirrel.

A pause.

After reflecting on the words that Patrick just said, SpongeBob was also reminded of the fact that Sandy was born from the surface world and had only came to the seafloor out of her free will. At any time, Sandy could leave Bikini Bottom and never come back. Even though she said that she will never leave, the future was always predictable and unpredictable. The thought of spending more time with Sandy and appreciating her company more entered his mind, he thought that he needed to be with Sandy to the fullest before her possible permanent and final leave.

Patrick snapped his fingers. He had noticed that SpongeBob was staring into space and wanted him to think clearly. The two had animals to take care of and get to know.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked up and made eye contact with Patrick. "W-what happened?" The snapping of Patrick's fingers had surprised the sponge. He had been deeply immersed into his thoughts.

"I just wanna make you think on your feet. We gotta take care of the treedome, y'know." Patrick's intelligence had increased by a few levels. He was now responsible and can apply his knowledge to situations more easily. The sea star was highly aware of his obligation to Sandy.

"True." SpongeBob nodded and smiled. With many different types of animals living inside the treedome, the sponge could not afford to be idle and submerged into his thoughts. Once Sandy leaves the treedome, he had to take action immediately in order to fulfill the obligation Sandy gave to him and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy exited the oak tree. She was wearing her astronaut suit and was holding two suitcases with both of her hands. She walked towards the metal door that led to the glass hallway. "See you guys in a couple of days." She said a farewell to her two friends and then made one of her hands hold both of the suitcases. She then waved at her friends with the freed hand.

"Bye, Sandy!" SpongeBob and Patrick said a farewell and waved at the squirrel in unison.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy opened the metal door and entered the glass hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

The glass hallway became filled with seawater.

**CRREEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy opened the front door and exited the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy made both of her hands hold both of the suitcases again and walked towards the nearest bus stop. The area where she was going to study the wildlife was near Ukelele Bottom. Most of what was inside the two suitcases consisted of tools that were going to be used to examine and study the wildlife.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob felt a tickling sensation on his right shin. He looked down and saw Wormy crawling up his leg, the caterpillar was currently crawling across his shin. He smiled widely and giggled. "Hey, little fella." He spoke to the caterpillar in a high-pitched voice and picked up Wormy. He then held out the green caterpillar towards Patrick.

"Kitchie-kitchie koo koo." Patrick tried to tickle Wormy. He thought that the caterpillar was cute and treated it like a baby as a consequence. He had his own taste for cute things and he knew that the caterpillar would not become annoyed over his behavior.

"Awww... look, isn't he just precious?" SpongeBob looked at Wormy with a beam and put the caterpillar on the ground. He found the bug to be cute as well.

Wormy pushed a pebble out of the way as he walked across the ground. He was looking for a few bits of food, a tiny fragment of his appetite was left and he wanted to satisfy it.

SpongeBob saw what Wormy did and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Let's take him out to play!" He picked up the caterpillar again. He then playfully and repeatedly tossed him to the air and caught him at a moderate pace, he was careful with his tosses and catches so he would not accidentally hurt Wormy.

Wormy swayed in the air for a second every time he reached the apex of his flying.

Patrick could not help himself and smiled at the sight of Wormy's swaying. Wormy's cuteness when he swayed made him irresistible. The sea star then scratched his head at the thought of playing with Wormy. "What games are we gonna play with him?" He asked an important question to his best friend. The sponge had not told him the specific game that the three were going to play.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick and began to think of an answer.

Wormy flew to the ground and safely landed on a blade of grass. It then crawled to the dirt and crawled across the ground while being nearly submerged by the somewhat small blades of grass.

SpongeBob noticed that Wormy had not landed on either of his hands. He looked down at the ground and did not see Wormy crawling nearby. "Wormy, you there?" He crouched to the ground and dug his hands through the blades of grass in an attempt to search and find Wormy through physical touch. He eventually felt a tickling sensation on one of his index fingers and lightly took hold of what was tickling his index finger. He then picked it up and lifted it to his face.

It was a snake who had eaten the mouse. He silently flicked his tongue.

SpongeBob's heart skipped a beat and winced. He dropped the snake to the ground. He had been slightly frightened by the snake, he had expected the thing that had been tickling his finger to be Wormy. "Heheh… sorry, buddy. Didn't mean to hurt ya." He spoke to the snake right after he dropped him to the ground. He was trying to avoid making the snake hostile, several facts were what completely consisted of his limited information about snakes. Due to the snake's physical appearance, he was fearing the worst.

The snake slithered away from SpongeBob as if nothing happened.

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow in relief.

Patrick felt a tickling sensation on his ankle. He looked down and saw Wormy crawling around his ankle. "Sponge, I think I found him." He smirked and picked up Wormy. He then dropped Wormy into his other hand and held out the caterpillar towards SpongeBob.

"There you are." SpongeBob walked up to Wormy and took hold of him from Patrick's hand. "Were you trying to hide from me?" He was speaking to the caterpillar as if he was a pet. He almost always used that same tone of voice when speaking to Gary.

The caterpillar crawled around his palm.

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Patrick, I know what we can do!" He turned his head slightly to look at Patrick. "Let's play hide-and-seek!" He wanted to play that childish game with Wormy since it would be the easiest to prepare for. It was very easy for the caterpillar to become hidden so the game could easily accommodate to the caterpillar's abilities.

Patrick made a thumbs-up. "Nice one!" He approved SpongeBob's choice for the game that they were about to play. "Soo…. are we going to start now?" He then jumped up and down in excitement, he was anticipating the game of hide-and-seek.

SpongeBob put Wormy on the ground. "Since he's kinda slow, I'll count to a thousand to give him a fair chance." He stated how he was going to begin the game. He was aware of the speed of the caterpillar's crawling. "You'll be hiding as well." He pointed at Patrick. Two people looking for one slow person would not be fair.

"Gotcha." Patrick nodded.

SpongeBob closed his eyes and covered the area of the fish bowl near his face with both of his hands. He then turned around and made his back face Patrick. "One.. two… three… four… five…" He began the countdown to the beginning of the hide-and-seek game.

Patrick sprinted to a wooden table and dove towards it. He then fell to the ground and crawled into towards the table until he was completely under it.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S-

"Nine-hundred and ninety-eight… nine-hundred and ninety-nine… one thousand!" SpongeBob finished his countdown, took his hands off the exterior area of the fish bowl near his face, and opened his eyes. The sponge then turned around and walked across the interior area of the treedome. "Ready or not, here I come!" He announced the beginning of his hunt for Patrick and Wormy. After walking a moderate amount of steps, he saw from the corner of his eye a pink blob that was under the wooden table. He smirked at what he assumed to be an immediate victory and walked up to the table. He then crouched before the wooden table and saw what was below the table.

Patrick was sitting on the ground under the table and was trying to hide from SpongeBob.

SpongeBob poked one of Patrick's shoulders.

Patrick darted a look at SpongeBob and gasped. "You found me!" The sea star stated the obvious. He crawled out of the table and stood up, he accepted his loss. The starfish did not care about winning, he was only trying to have fun. The only way that one could win in hide-and-seek was by making the hunter give up his/her search for his/her prey.

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy was crawling across a branch of the oak tree. He eventually spotted a leaf that suited his tastes and crawled towards it. The caterpillar then laid on the leaf and began to eat it.

A pause.

The caterpillar's weight was too much for the leaf to handle. The leaf fell from the oak tree and landed on the ground, it took Wormy with it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick saw a falling leaf that landed on the ground before them. They then crouched to the ground and looked closely at the leaf in hopes of finding Wormy. The two knew who was the last person that needed to be found.

Wormy crawled out of the leaf.

"Aha!" SpongeBob smiled widely and picked up Wormy. "Nice try." He then chuckled at the caterpillar's apparent silliness. "You would've fooled us if you stayed at that tree." He commented on Wormy's performance in his hiding.

"The game's over already?" Patrick made a neutral facial expression, he was slightly disappointed. The game would have been more enjoyable and exciting if it had lasted longer. The anticipation of where the hunter was going to find him was what made the childish game fun.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. "Wanna play again?" The sponge felt like and had enough energy to play another hide-and-seek game. However, he had an idea for the rules of the next game.

"Boy, would I!" Patrick jumped up and down in excitement again. He could not wait to play another game of hide-and-seek. He was hoping that the next game would last longer than the previous one.

"Wormy's gonna be looking for us while we are going to be the ones hiding." SpongeBob pointed at Wormy who was laying on his palm and then pointed at himself and Patrick. "I'm gonna count to twenty before he can find us." He informed Patrick about a countdown that was accommodated to Wormy's abilities.

"Okee-dokee." Patrick made a thumbs-up.

SpongeBob put Wormy on the ground and ran towards the back of the oak tree. "C'mon, Pat!" He signaled with his hand as he ran towards the tree for Patrick to follow him. He mentally counted down to the 'beginning' of the hunt.

Patrick dove towards the back of the oak tree.

SpongeBob made himself lean towards the three and gently landed on the ground before the oak tree's back. '...seven… eight…. nine…. ten….' He focused on his mental countdown and blocked all nearby distractions from his mind as a consequence. He started into space as he mentally counted down.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and became puzzled. He could not figure out the reason for SpongeBob's blank expression. "Sponge, you okay?" He snapped his fingers in an attempt to catch SpongeBob's attention, he was making sure that his friend was okay.

SpongeBob held up an index finger, it was a signal for Patrick to wait.

Patrick stopped snapping his fingers and waited to see what SpongeBob was going to do.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

'TWENTY!' SpongeBob finished his mental countdown. He then made a slight smile and made eye contact with Patrick to indicate that he was not dazed. "Be quiet." He whispered to Patrick. He did not want himself or Patrick to unintentionally give any hints of their location to Wormy.

Patrick silently nodded.

A long pause.

Wormy was roaming around the inside of the treedome. It had noticed that SpongeBob and Patrick were no longer nearby.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy crawled around the oak tree in search of a temporary shelter to nap at. He eventually saw SpongeBob and Patrick sitting at the back of the oak tree once he reached the other side of the tree.

"He found us!" SpongeBob and Patrick became delighted. They spoke in unison and then laughed since the caterpillar did something they did not expect. They thought that the caterpillar was somewhat intelligent since it directly crawled around the oak tree towards their location. Apparently, Wormy was searching for the two friends.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head and his intelligence decreased by two degrees. "We should show Wormy to Squidward!" He enthusiastically said his idea to SpongeBob and then quickly picked up Wormy. He immediately put his idea into action. The starfish then stood up and ran towards the metal door. "Squid's a good neighbor of ours." He informed the caterpillar about Squidward as he ran.

"Pat, wait!" SpongeBob jumped to his feet and sprinted towards Patrick. He then grabbed both of Patrick's shoulders with both of his own hands. He was aware of a crucial fact. and needed to tell that fact to Patrick in order to protect Wormy's safety.

"What?" Patrick turned around and looked at SpongeBob. He could not see a reason for SpongeBob's abrupt actions. The sea star was not aware of a fact that will make his introduction of Squidward to Wormy a failure. However, he knew that he had acted on impulse.

"Wormy's an air-breather like Sandy. He can't survive underwater." SpongeBob informed Patrick about the fact he was aware of. He then walked towards the circular glass wall of the treedome and poked it. He was reminding Patrick of the fact that the nearby area outside of the treedome was under the sea surface,

"Oh." Patrick stopped smiling. He remembered the fact that SpongeBob told him but did not become aware of his stupidity. He ran out of ideas for possibly fun activities that he could do with Wormy and SpongeBob.

An awkward pause.

"What're we gonna do now?" Patrick asked SpongeBob. He hoped that the sponge had ideas that the two could implement into their playing with Wormy.

SpongeBob smiled widely and put Wormy into one of his pockets so both of his hands would be free. He took out a small bottle of soap and a bubble wand from the other pocket. "We could always blow some bubbles." He had thought of an equal replacement to the introduction of Squidward to Wormy. From his viewpoint, bubble blowing was so fun that there was several ways that he and Patrick could play the game with the caterpillar.

Patrick grinned and took out his soap bottle and bubble wand. He was eager to join SpongeBob in the bubble blowing game.

SpongeBob opened the soap bottle and dipped his bubble wand into the bottle. He then took out Wormy from his pocket and held him before the bubble wand. The sponge then took a deep inhale and blew into the bubble wand.

A medium-sized bubble came out of the bubble wand's hole and swallowed the green caterpillar. The bubble then gently flew through the treddome's air with Wormy inside of it.

Patrick looked at the bubble with wonder. He then opened his soap bottle and dipped his bubble wand into it. He then inhaled and blew into his bubble wand.

A small bubble came out of his bubble wand's hole. The bubble flew towards the larger bubble and combined to form an even larger bubble.

Wormy crawled inside the larger bubble as if he was walking on a treadmill.

SpongeBob and Patrick giggled at the sight of what Wormy was doing inside the bubble. The unlikelihood of what was occurring before them was what made it humorous from their viewpoint. They then dipped their bubble wands into their soap bottles and took deep inhales. The two friends then quickly blew into their bubble wands.

Several moderately large bubbles came out of their bubble wands' holes. The sponge and the sea star blew those bubbles to see how Wormy was going to react while being inside a giant bubble.

The bubbles flew into the large bubble and fused with that bubble to become a giant bubble.

Wormy quickly crawled in circles inside the giant bubble as if he was running through a track field.

Patrick's stomach gurgled. The sea star was hungry since he did not eat breakfast yet. "I'm hungry." He stated the obvious. The starfish thought about leaving the treedome and staying outside for a short while so he could eat some food at his rock. "You wanna go out with me?" The sea star made eye contact with the sponge. He did not know if SpongeBob was hungry or not.

"Nope. I already ate." SpongeBob shook his head. He then dipped his bubble wand into his soap bottle. 'More fun for me, I guess.' He thought. The sponge could blow bubbles and have more fun with Wormy during Patrick's absence.

"See you soon, Sponge." Patrick said a farewell to SpongeBob and walked towards the metal door. He then grabbed the door's handle.

The seawater inside the glass hallway became completely drained from the hallway very quickly. It was a response to Patrick's grabbing of the metal door's handle.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

SLAM

Patrick exited the treedome's inside and entered the glass hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick took off the fish bowl that he was wearing and put it on the metal floor.

The glass hallway became filled with seawater once again.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

Patrick exited the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took the deepest inhale he could possibly do and then blew into the bubble wand in many short bursts. He wanted to create more than one bubble.

Numerous bubbles came out of his bubble wand's hole. The large group of bubbles then flew around the giant bubble as if they were planets and the giant bubble was the sun.

Wormy began to quickly crawl around all the sides of the giant bubble's inside including the giant bubble's ceiling. He was crawling as if he was walking inside a glass ball in outer space.

"Wow…" SpongeBob marveled at what Wormy was doing. He inferred that the caterpillar could do that due to his very light weight. When he thought about attempting to do what Wormy was doing, an idea suddenly entered his mind. That idea consisted of a possibility that he and Patrick might end up playing with the green caterpillar for the whole Sunday. The sponge then looked down at his belly. 'I might be eating soon too. This day will fly by quickly before I know it.' He stated two possible facts in his mind. Hunger may come abruptly for him since he was focused on playing with Wormy. The yellow square did not mind spending his whole Sunday playing with Wormy and Patrick, he had not had that much fun in a while.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

Patrick entered the treedome's inside again. He was wearing a fish bowl full of seawater. He looked up and saw the smaller bubbles orbiting the giant bubble. The sea star then marveled at that sight. "Sponge… you did that?"

"Mm-hmm." SpongeBob smiled widely and nodded.

"I could make it even better!" Patrick became eager to bubble blow with SpongeBob. He was confident in his ability to bubble blow. He took out his soap bottle and opened it. The sea star then nimbly took out his bubble wand and dipped the wand into the small bottle. Patrick took a deep inhale and blew into the bubble wand.

A large bubble came out of the starfish's wand's hole. The large bubble dodged the smaller bubbles as it orbited around the giant bubble.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve hours and thirty minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

8:00 PM.

The sky was a dark blue. The sun had set.

SpongeBob was sitting on the ground and finished putting his finishing touches on a tiny ribbon made out of flower petals. The sponge then held it out before him and nodded, he apporved of ribbon's final look.

Patrick was laying on the ground while holding out his limbs, he was relaxing after the long and enery-filled day of play. His body was in a position as if he was about to make a snow angel on the blades of grass. "Gee, SpongeBob. I don't want today to end ever." The sea star had so much fun that he futilely tried to deny the fact that the day was over. If he could, he would tell the sun to stay in the sky for all eternity. Days of bliss like the current Sunday must be enjoyed to the fullest.

"I know Patrick," SpongeBob nodded. He understood what Patrick was feeling. "days like today come rarely during the year. Savor every moment." The sponge told his best friend a tiny piece of advice. "And it's all thanks to Wormy." The yellow square looked at the green caterpillar. He acknowledged Wormy for his crucial role in making the current Sunday reach its current form. The yellow sponge then put the tiny ribbon on top of Wormy's head. "Our new friend." SpongeBob picked up Wormy and walked to a glass jar on the ground that had the tape label 'WORMY" stuck to it. He and Patrick had discovered that jar during their extensive playing with Wormy. The two had assumed that Wormy was put into that jar during the end of each day. The sponge took off the lid and put his hand holding Wormy into the jar.

Wormy crawled across SpongeBob's hand and into the jar.

There was a small twig, many leaves, and several blades of grass inside that jar. They were put into that jar to simulate Wormy's natural environment.

SpongeBob crouched before the jar and looked at Wormy. "Until tomorrow, new friend… Don't be sad, little buddy. We'll be back first thing in the morning for frolic and fun." The sponge spoke to Wormy as if the green caterpillar could feel emotions. The caterpillar had been slightyl personified by SpongeBob and Patrick.

"Why must the sun set on this perfect day?" Patrick looked up to the sky. He demanded an answer from the stars that were watching a night-covered Bikini Bottom. His eyes then moistened to a certain degree and he frowned, the ending of his day of play saddened him. The Sunday bliss had been taken away from him by the sun. "Sleep well, Wormy." The sea star slowly walked towards the metal door while looking at the ground. He yearned to play with Wormy again.

"Aww, don't be sad, Patrick." SpongeBob patted Patrick on the shoulder. He was a little bit sad as well but his optimism prevailed. "It's only until tomorrow." He tried to spread his bright optimism to his best friend.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "You're right." He nodded. The sea star found the sponge's words to be true. The ending of the current Sunday could not stop him from having more fun and joyful moments with Wormy during futue days.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAAAAK**

"Bye, Wormy." Patrick glanced at Wormy for a final time and said a farewell to the caterpillar. His eyes were no longer moistened and his frown became a neutral facial expression. He was still saddened by what was occurring before him but simply hid his feelings from being expressed through his face.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the treedome's inside.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick took off their fish bowls and put them on the floor.

The glass hallway became filled with seawater.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later…

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the right door and stepped into the bedroom. He had changed into his pajamas.

Gary slithered into the bedroom. He was drowsy and eager to sleep. He hoped that he would get a full night of sleep without it getting interrupted by the foghorn's alarm. There was a small chance that he might wake up before the alarm and thus not get drowsy. Any interruption to his nap or sleep almost always made him drowsy.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the door. "Good night, Gary." He said a farewell to his pet snail before departing to the realm of dreams. He put his hand over the light switch.

Gary slithered to his pile of newspapers and laid down on it. He closed his eyes.

**FLICK**

SpongeBob turned off the lights. He walked up to his bed and laid down on it. He put the blanket over himself and slowed his breathing. He took deep inhales and exhales. The sponge then closed his eyes and drifted into the void.

A very, very long pause.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside SpongeBob's mind…

S-S-S-S-S

A bright light pierced through the darkness.

SpongeBob felt like nothing and was almost nothing. He was currently an observer of the events that was occurring before him. His senses were reacting to the bright light but he could not respond by speaking or moving. He was like a ghost who could not speak or move, he physically existed but no one could detect him in any way. His internality was shut off from the exterior world.

The bright light shot a ray above itself and shot a ray below itself. The two rays created a slit in the dark void and that slit halved the darkness.

A pause.

SpongeBob tried to move away from the bright light. He did not have eyelids to protect him for the blinding light. His transparent eyes had to endure the warm rays of the light.

The slit began to make the halves of darkness move away from each other. The slit made the darkness look like a door. After several seconds, the rays of light and their source lessened in brightness. They eventually became light blue lights that were not as punishing to SpongeBob's transparent eyes.

SpongeBob became locked in place. The invisible and external forces that surrounded him prevented him from moving. Whenever the sponge moved, something that felt like an invisible wall pushed the limb that moved or his head back to their original position.

The halves of darkness eventually became so far away from each other that the light blue rays of light were the only things left. The rays of light converged to form a light blue sky and surrounded SpongeBob. However, the sky was without a sun.

The invisible forces stopped locking SpongeBob into his place.

A large gust howled.

The invisible forces were pushed away from SpongeBob by an even stronger invisible force.

A bright spot of light appeared inside the light blue sky. It shone numerous white rays at the invisible forces that were being pushed.

The white rays made physical contact with the invisible forces and fused with them. The invisible forces then began to take physical form. They started out as balls of white light but then became fluffed into what looked like ovals of wool. The stronger invisible force then made another gust howl as they made the wool ovals have a more gaseous form.

The invisible forces became clouds in the sky.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBLLLLLLLEEEEEEEE**

A barren land made out of rocks and dirt formed below SpongeBob.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground. He suddenly had a physical form. He looked like his normal self; a yellow square wearing brown squarepants and a white shirt with a red tie.

The white light spot in the sky became orange and yellow. It then enlarged until it was a sun.

Blades of grass then grew out of the ground at an extremely fast pace. It covered the land through all sides of the horizon.

A wind current pushed through the air nearby SpongeBob and made the blades of grass sway.

The buzzes of Jellyfish were heard.

SpongeBob quickly looked at his surroundings in search of the jellyfish buzzes. He assumed that sources of those buzzes were the pink creatures themselves.

That assumption was correct. Jellyfish came out of nowhere and flew around the plain. They flew and gathered in lines and numerous types of shapes.

A blade of grass began to move in a way that was completely different from the other grass blades. It wiggled until it crawled on the ground and towards SpongeBob. The grass blade had became a green caterpillar.

"Wormy…" SpongeBob made a beam that was as radiant as the sun above him and picked up Wormy. He cupped the green caterpillar and frolicked around the plain with the jellyfish.

The current Sunday refused to die inside SpongeBob's mind. His mind carried the torch of Sunday's bliss after the actual one died.

S-S-S-S-S

Outside of SpongeBob's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sleeping on his couch. He was drooling as he slept.

The TV was currently turned on. The channel that it was currently on was broadcasting a documentary about golf. The sea star had reached the channel by accident and tried to watch the documentary as a way of challenging himself. He obviously failed that challenge. The documentary was too boring for him and overwhelmed his attention span.

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy crawled up the underside of the twig while still being inside the jar. Once he reached the tip of the twig, he secreted silk and slowly weaved it around his body.

The ribbon fell off of him and landed on the bottom of the jar.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy had weaved his secreted silk into a chrysalis and was inside the chrysalis. He then released the enzymes in his stomach and began to digest himself once he finished weaving the chrysalis. The painful yet rewarding process of metamorphoses had begun.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

The chrysalis was transparent. Orange and black wings could be seen inside the chrysalis.

A pause.

The weak surface of the chrysalis broke and opened. A monarch butterfly released himself from his prison. Wormy had underwent a complete transformation overnight. He looked nothing like the physical form he had before he had confined himself into the chrysalis. 'Wormy' was no longer a proper name for the insect, he did not even have the slightest resemblance to a worm. His orange and black wings were like washed clothes being hanged on a line to dry, they had been soaked by his digestive enzymes.

Another pause. Wormy looked at his surroundings so he could get used to them again and easily adapt to any changes in those surroudings if there were any.

The butterfly shook his wings until they were completely free and were in their normal shapes. Wormy then flew towards the lid.

S-S-S-S-S

Plop

The lid fell to the ground.

Wormy flew out of the jar. He was successful in his first flight and was now free to roam both the ground and air of the treedome's inside.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were briskly walking towards Sandy's treedome. The friend duo were eager and enthusiastic to play with Wormy again.

"...and then we're gonna play tag and then we're gonna color and then we're gonna build a house of cards!" Patrick was telling SpongeBob what games he wanted to play with Wormy. He was aware of the fact that today was a working day for SpongeBob, he and the sponge only had three hours to play together before the sponge goes to work. However, he was not aware of Wormy's striking overnight transformation.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the treedome's front door. The two best friends had not locked the front door before they exited the treedome yesterday since they knew that they would quickly come back during the morning. The sponge then stepped into the glass hallway.

Patrick walked into the hallway and…

**SLAM**

...closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick put on the fish bowls that were on the flloor.

The seawater inside the glass hallway became completely drained.

**CREAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob and Patrick nearly barged the door in front of them open and jumped into the treedome's inside.

S-S-S-S-S

"WE'RE BACK, WORMY!" SpongeBob and Patrick enthusiastically announced their entrance into the treedome in unison. They then walked towards the 'WORMY' jar. The two best friends expected Wormy to be inside the glass jar.

SpongeBob and Patrick suddenly noticed that Wormy was not inside the jar.

"Wormy?" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke the same word at the same time and rapidly looked at their surroundings in search of the green caterpillar. "Wormy!" The sponge and the sea star called out their caterpillar friend's name in unison.

Patrick held up the jar to see if Wormy was crawling under the jar. Since he had not seen Wormy for nearly a whole night, he assumed that the caterpillar could be crawling anywhere. From his perspective, the caterpillar was acting as if he was the prey in a hide-and-seek game. "I know you're here somewhere…" He smirked and put the jar down. The starfish truly thought that Wormy was playing a hide-and-seek game with him and SpongeBob.

The butterfly was flying in place above SpongeBob and Patrick. It recognized the sponge and the starfish and was watching them to see if they were dangerous.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip. He became worried since the possibility of Wormy becoming missing became a thought in his mind. "He's gotta be in here…" The yellow square picked up the jar and opened it. He tossed the lid to the side and looked inside the jar, he knew for certain that the two had left and last seen the caterpillar inside the jar.

A pause.

The yellow square noticed that the flower pedal ribbon that he had made for and put on Wormy was laying on the bottom of the jar's inside. "I think something bad happened to Wormy." Due to his and Patrick's personification of the caterpillar, he thought that the caterpillar was a loyal friend and would never abandon the ribbon. The sight of the fallen ribbon was certainly a strange sight from his viewpoint.

Patrick looked up and saw the flying butterfly. "What's that thing?" He pointed at the monarch butterfly. He could not recognize the insect. The sea star could not remember having heard about the insect before either.

"Huh?" SpongeBob looked up and saw the monarch butterfly. He then tilted his head to the side as he tried to recognize what type of insect that it was. The sponge's knowledge contained information about air creatures but did not reach more than the surface of that type of information.

Patrick looked at the jar that SpongeBob was holding and widened his eyes at the sight of the fallen ribbon. "He left his ribbon behind!" The sea star stated the obvious. He currently had an average level of intelligence.

The monarch butterfly flew towards SpongeBob and landed on the fish bowl that the sponge was wearing.

SpongeBob's face drained of color and his eyes widened in horror. The face of the butterfly (especially his kaleidoscopic eyes) was hideous and sent chills down his spine, the butterfly's vibrating and pointy mouth only made the sight worse. If he was a human male, he would have peed his pants in fright. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"** He screamed in sudden fear and sprinted away from the butterfly. His heart pace quickened to a rapid pace.

The butterfly flew towards Patrick.

"What's so sca-" Patrick was asking a question to SpongeBob but the monarch butterfly landed on the fish bowl that he was wearing. The starfish then looked at the butterfly and saw his gruesome face. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" **He shrieked in terror and ran away from Wormy. Seeing the butterfly's face already became one of the scariest moments of his life. He thought that the butterfly was an alien due to his face and his own ignorance about butterflies.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door to the oak tree open and dove to a table.

Patrick ran as fast as he could towards the oak tree and…

**SLAM**

….closed the wooden door.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick crawled to the table and hid under it with SpongeBob. The two best friends were trying to hide from the 'monster' outside.

"That thing must've eaten Wormy…" SpongeBob whispered a thought in his mind to Patrick. The sponge had seen the hatched chrysalis inside the jar so he concluded that it was Wormy's eaten corpse. He did not know anything about metamorphoses so he assumed that the butterfly and Wormy were two different people. The butterfly and the caterpillar were too physically different to be the same person according to SpongeBob's perspective.

Patrick's pupils became smaller and he looked at the floor.

A long pause.

SpongeBob simply watched Patrick. He knew for certain that he and Patrick were not okay.

Patrick put his hands over his face and began to weep. From his viewpoint, the bliss that he, SpongeBob, and Wormy shared with each other has been robbed from all three of them by the butterfly. The butterfly had apparently made Wormy alive only in his thoughts and memories. Such a sudden loss made it difficult for the sea star to accept. He would react in a similar manner if his home was taken away from him, if that happened, his time for relaxation would be taken away from him along with the home. The sea star would then spiral down into madness once all the pressures of the real world squeezed his attention. For the current situation, the sea star was spiraling down into unreasonable terror instead of madness due to his ignorance about butterflies, the face he had seen only began and strengthened his fear.

SpongeBob frowned and gently patted Patrick on the back. He almost completely shared the grief that Patrick was having. The overnight loss of Wormy also sparked a grief inside of him, that grief manifested through a heaviness in his throat.

The two best friends were in the living room.

A pause.

S-S-S-S-S

The butterfly flew towards one of the oak tree's two windows. That window was the one at the oak tree's living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at the window from the corner of his eye and saw Wormy. His eyes then bugged out and fear gripped his heart again, his grief was nothing compared to his irrational fear. The thought of getting eaten by the 'monster' like how Wormy got 'eaten' absolutely terrified him. "Quick, Patrick!" The sponge quickly crawled out of the table and jumped to his feet. "We need to make a run for the door!" The yellow square almost immediately made a critical decision. His fear quickened his thinking process to a much faster pace. The sponge could care less about the consequences of his actions, he only wanted to ensure his and Patrick's immediate safety. He also wanted to ensure other people's safety if he could.

Patrick dove out of the table and stood up. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and the remaining tears on his face quickly became replaced by sweatdrops. His fear was also more powerful than his grief.

SpongeBob sprinted towards the front door and…

**SLAM**

...barged it open. He then exited the oak tree while running.

Patrick followed him at almost the same pace.

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy noticed how fast the sponge and the sea star were running and decided to follow them. He thought that they could lead him to a source of food since the two were running fast. From his viewpoint, someone or something who ran fast must have eaten highly energizing food.

SpongeBob and Patrick's eyes were locked-on to the metal door before them. The door came closer and closer to their view as they continued to run. Sweat ran down in rivulets on both of their foreheads and backs as their adrenaline went to work and swam across their bloodstreams.

The butterfly flew over SpongeBob and Patrick and flew in place in front of the metal door. He assumed that the source of food was near the metal door since the sponge and the starfish were running towards that door.

SpongeBob's bugged out and he gasped. "Noo!" His shriek announced the worsening of his fear. "Patrick, he's blocking our only exit!" The sponge turned around and ran towards the oak tree at an athlete's pace. All of his muscles improved in strength due to the adrenaline being pumped through his blood.

Patrick turned around and ran towards the oak tree at the same pace as SpongeBob's. He and SpongeBob were equally afraid of the butterfly.

Wormy became confused. He could not tell where the source of food was since SpongeBob and Patrick were now running in the opposite direction. He knew for certain that one source of food could not be at two places at the same time.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran through the oak tree's open doorway.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the wooden door.

S-S-S-S-S

"Now what? We're trapped in here with that… that 'friend eater'!" Patrick gave a name to the butterfly. The name gave away his obvious opinion of the butterfly. The sea star concluded that he and the sponge were stuck inside the treedome since the butterfly was at the metal door. He thought that the butterfly was going to eat him and SpongeBob if the two got too close to the insect.

A pause.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and tried to relax. After hearing Patrick's words, he realized that being anxious will not assist him in escaping the treedome. Being anxious would only make them struggle in their own efforts or even hamper them. "Let's not panic. We just have to stick together." The sponge made a slight smile. With the lessening of his fear, his optimism was returning. "Remember, it's two against one. Right, Patrick?"

Crrreeeaak

Slam

Patrick silently exited the oak tree. He was going to make another attempt at escaping the treedome. His anxiety was overwhelming his mind and decision-making skills.

SpongeBob noticed that Patrick was not in front of him. He then looked at his surroundings. "Patrick?" He called for his best friend. The sponge was clueless about the whereabouts of his best friend.

Another pause.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door and looked at the outside part of the treedome's inside. The sponge assumed that Patrick was outside.

A long pause.

He did not see Patrick or any sign of the sea star but saw the butterfly flying around the enclosed air and ground instead. "He's eaten Patrick!" The sponge came to a rapid conclusion out of panic. The sponge could not fight his fear.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square dashed out of the oak tree and dove into an open box that was laying on the ground. Sandy had left that open box on the ground since she did not have a lot of time to prepare for her leaving. The sponge entered that box without making any noticeable sounds since he carefully landed on his feet. SpongeBob was trying to avoid catching Wormy's attention as much as possible.

"Hi, Sponge…" Patrick greeted SpongeBob with a whisper. He was sitting inside the opened box. When he had gotten close to the butterfly, he had became too scared to run any further and dove into the box to prevent himself from getting caught by the 'ravenous' insect.

"Patrick, you're alive!" SpongeBob smiled widely and yelled with joy. He was overjoyed by the fact that his best friend had not been eaten by Wormy. The sponge had begun his spiral into the darkness of depression and anxiety when he had came to the conclusion of Patriclk's death but that descent ceased at the sight of the alive pink starfish.

An awkward pause.

Patrick's fear had decreased his intelligence significantly. Primitive instincts took the reins of his brain instead of rationality and intelligence. "I am?" The sea star forgot what the adjective 'alive' meant. However, his instincts did not made him blind to life and death. He clearly know what actually being alive was, he just lost the term to his sea of locked knowledge.

SpongeBob thought critically about the situation. The box hid him and Patrick from the 'dangers' of the monarch butterfly and gave him an opportune time to think rationally as a consequence. The sponge focused on how the butterfly was going to affect the nearby creatures.

A pause.

"Patrick, we can't leave this horrible monster in Sandy's house. It might eat Sandy's other pets." SpongeBob told Patrick about the possible consequences of escaping the treedome while leaving the butterfly inside the treedome. The sponge was being considerate for the other animals that lived inside the dome. He said his thought in a way that was understandable to the starfish. If he told his idea in its rawest form, Patrick would become confused.

Patrick tried to make a meaningful contribution to the conversation. 'Great minds think alike.' He thought. He had managed to retrieve something out of his tangled mess of memories. "Or worse, it might eat Sandy's pets." He tried to say something that added to the meaning of what SpongeBob had said. However, he ended up saying an even simpler version of the sponge's words. His instincts still prevented him from having much forethought or capacity in critical thinking.

"No!" SpongeBob shook his head. He had a different worst-case scenario in his head. "It might eat Sandy or other people!" He loudly whispered. He was still aware of the butterfly's location. The yellow square then slowly stood up. "We got to get it out of here!" SpongeBob wanted to put his idea into action. He thought that by successfully completing the idea/plan in his head, it would be a win-win result. The two friends would successfully escape any harm from Wormy while the animals would also be safe from Wormy. He then stepped out of the box and ran towards the oak tree.

Patrick leaped out of the open box and followed SpongeBob. He mostly did that action out of instinct. Since the sponge sounded smart, his instincts told him that the yellow square would lead him to safety.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the oak tree.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the refrigerator in the kitchen. The plan had been fully fleshed out in his head. He then opened the fridge and took out an apple.

Patrick's intelligence increased by a degree. "So… what's the plan?" The sea star asked SpongeBob an important question. He knew that he and SpongeBob will never get the butterfly out of the treedome through random attempts.

SpongeBob closed the refrigerator and walked up to a telephone made out of wood and acorns. He unplugged the phone and picked it up. "I'll show ya." The sponge that showing instead of telling would be the best way to explain the plan.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were crouching behind a wooden table. The two best friends were locking their eyes at the acorn phone that SpongeBob picked up earlier. That phone had been put into a jar that was placed in the center of a spread out picnic blanket that was on the ground. The sponge had dialed a phone number less than a minute ago and the two were waiting for the phone to ring. The two were hoping that the phone would distract Wormy.

The acorn phone's plug was connected to the plug inside the oak tree by several white extension cords that the sponge found inside the oak tree.

Wormy saw SpongeBob and Patrick and flew towards them. He was still looking for a source of food.

"C'mon… c'mon… c'mon…" Patrick crossed his fingers and sweated profusely in anxiety. His only chance of escaping the butterfly's 'deadly' clutches was placed on that acorn phone. His heartbeat became faster and faster as the butterfly approached him and SpongeBob.

SpongeBob had a deadpan face and sweatdropped. He was trying to hide his fear as a way of trying to not attract Wormy's attention to himself and Patrick.

A long, brutal pause.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The acorn phone shook as it rang. It destroyed SpongeBob and Patrick's fears into pieces of memories.

SpongeBob and Patrick sat down in relief and smiled. They immediately assumed that the butterfly was going to get distracted by the ringing acorn phone. Their preparation for the plan's execution and their long wait finally paid off.

"It's for you!" Patrick spoke in a raised voice to Wormy. He nearly forgot to say those words, saying that line was part of the plan. The tone of his voice was relaxed instead of panicky, it reflected his currently chilled emotions.

The butterfly heard the acorn phone's ringing and flew towards the acorn phone. SpongeBob's plan was smoothly going as the sponge planned. Once the insect got near the phone, he flew around the jar to see if the object was dangerous. Inspecting the source of the ringing was not worth the risk if the jar could cause potential harm.

"It's working. He's gonna answer it…" SpongeBob smiled out of anticipation and stood on his knees. He nearly banged his fists on the table and his knees were moving up and down in excitement. If the butterfly became trapped inside the jar, the success of Wormy's removal from the treedome would become ensured.

Wormy slowed the flapping of his wings and inched towards the jar as he flew in deceleration.

SpongeBob and Patrick held their breaths. What was about to happen was going to determine the outcome of the plan's execution.

A long pause.

The butterfly flew away from the jar. He simply thought that touching the jar would be too risky. The vibration of the acorn phone as it rang made the jar look dangerous from the butterfly's perspective.

"Tartar sauce!" Patrick cursed and banged one of his fists on the ground in frustration.

"Looks like we're gonna have to go with plan B." SpongeBob whispered to Patrick and took out the apple that he had taken out from the refrigerator earlier. The plan consisted of two parts, A and B. If A failed to bring a successful outcome, than B would be executed to see if it would be successful.

Patrick gulped nervously at the sight of the apple. SpongeBob had showed him earlier how he was going to be a direct part of plan B. He had been dreading the failure of plan A since it meant that the execution of plan B was necessary.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was doing an all-fours position on the picnic blanket as if he had four legs. An apple was being held by his mouth and a napkin was put near him while being on the picnic blanket as well. A plate was also next to the starfish and was set on the blanket. It looked like the perfect meal for Wormy from SpongeBob and Patrick's points view.

SpongeBob was crouching behind the wooden table and was making eye contact with Patrick. "You look pretty appetizing, Patrick. Now just stay here and wait for the monster. I'll go get the net." He repeated the instructions to Patrick just to make sure that the sea star understood and remembered them. He was aware of Patrick's forgetfulness. He then walked towards the oak tree to get the net. He knew that butterflies could easily get trapped into nets due to the structures of nets and their attraction to those surfaces. The sponge wanted to catch the butterfly when the insect least expected it.

The butterfly saw Patrick and flew towards him. He was focused on the apple being held in Patrick's mouth. He finally found something to eat. He was not interested in Patrick's flesh at all.

Patrick sweatdropped and his face became pallid. He then spat out the apple in order to speak. "SpongeBob, hurry up with that net!" He did not want to become devoured by the butterfly before the butterfly gets caught by SpongeBob.

"Hold on, Patrick." SpongeBob reached the oak tree's front door.

**CRREEEEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the oak tree.

The butterfly got close to the sea star. He flew around the starfish and eventually decided that the starfish's back was a safe place to land. Wormy then landed on Patrick's back.

"I really don't taste that good, Mr. Monster." Patrick's body shook in anxiety abd he spoke some words that he thought would delay his early death. By that point, he thought that the insect was certainly going to eat him if SpongeBob did not catch the insect yet.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grabbed a net that he had put on the floor. It had a somewhat long handle and resembled a jellyfishing net to a certain degree. The sponge then ran towards the oak tree's front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Wormy crawled across Patrick's back and reached the sea star's fish bowl. He then crawled up the fish bowl until he was in front of Patrick's face. Patrick's face was upside down from his perspective. The two were still separated by the fish bowl's glass surface as they looked at each other.

Patrick once again saw the butterfly's monstrous face and became terrified. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" **He screamed and jumped to his feet. The sea star then ran away from the butterfly as fast as he could. He could not longer control his irrational fears.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the oak tree's front door open and exited the tree while holding the net. "I'm coming, Patrick!" He then ran towards the butterfly.

The two best friends were running in opposite directions.

**S-SLAM**

The sponge and the sea star bumped into each other.

**CRACK**

Patrick had ran faster than SpongeBob and broke the net as a consequence.

The net fell to the floor in wooden pieces. The actual net fell to the floor like a cloth.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick fell to the ground in opposite directions.

The butterfly flew towards SpongeBob and Patrick. He was searching for the apple. He then flew towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked up and saw Wormy. His eyes then bugged out in sudden fear. "No, Mr. Monster, please don't eat me! No, no, no! Spare me, I don't taste good, no! No, no, please!" He stood up and backed away from the butterfly as the butterfly flew directly towards him. The sponge was desperately trying to make the butterfly stop following him by blurting out words of discouragement. His back eventually reached the oak tree and the sponge became backed to a corner as a result.

His soap bottle and bubble wand fell to the ground.

"Wait a second…" SpongeBob saw the wand and the bottle and a light bulb lit up in his head. He then picked up the bottle and the wand. He opened the soap bottle and dipped the bubble wand into the bottle. He inhaled and then blew into the bubble wand.

A somewhat large bubble came out of the wand's hole.

The bubble swallowed Wormy.

"Yes!" SpongeBob grinned and fist pumped at the success of his idea. He and Patrick now had a chance to get the butterfly out of the treedome without harming the insect. He assumed that the butterfly being inside a bubble made it unable to 'harm' any other animal inside the treedome.

Patrick's intelligence suddenly increased when the sea star saw the bubble swallowing the butterfly. The sea star stood up and ran towards the metal door. He knew what he had to do in order to get the butterfly out of the treedome.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Patrick opened the metal door.

The butterfly flew through the open doorway and into the hallway.

Patrick gulped nervously and stepped into the glass hallway.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the metal door.

SpongeBob crossed his fingers as he hoped that Patrick would stay alive after freeing the butterfly from the treedome. He thought that the butterfly could eat Patrick if the sea star got too close. By that point, the torch had been passed to Patrick. The sea star was now the person to determine the outcome of plan B.

S-S-S-S-S

The glass hallway became filled with seawater.

The butterfly looked at Patrick and flew towards the starfish since he assumed that Patrick was still holding the apple somewhere around or on his body.

Patrick clung to one side of the hallway as the butterfly flew towards him. He then closed his eyes to lessen his fear and sprinted towards the front door. If he could not see the butterfly's hideous appearance, he would become less afraid of the butterfly. He was still scared since he knew that the flying insect was still there.

**CRRREEEEEEAAAAAK**

Patrick opened the front door.

Wormy flew through the open doorway and entered the outside world. The air inside the bubble gave him a steady supply oxygen. Oxygen from the seawater filtered through the bubble's thin and delicate surface and preserved the supply of air inside the bubble.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the front door with a large amount of force from his right arm's muscles. He then grinned and leaped nearly up to the ceiling of the glass hallway as a way of expressing his sense of victoriousness. "WE DID IT!" He joyfully stated the obvious.

The seawater inside the glass hallway became drained until the hallway became dry again.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the metal door behind Patrick open and skipped to the sea star with a radiant beam that lightened the hallway. Spoken words could not convey his happiness. The sponge looked through one side of the glass hallway to see where the butterfly was going.

S-S-S-S-S

The butterfly was flying aimlessly across and above the seafloor. He was adjusting to his new environment. He was aware of the fact that he was underwater due to how his surroundings looked like. The biggest change in his surroundings from his viewpoint was the darker blue tint of the sky and the small and scattered flowers 'flying' through it.

S-S-S-S-S

"I guess it's time to go home." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow in relief. The terrifying and arduous effort of getting the butterfly out of the treedome finally rewarded him and Patrick. He wanted to go home and relax for an hour before going to work.

"Already?" Patrick turned around and looked through the open doorway before him at the treedome's inside. Several ways that he could play with his best friend without Wormy was in his mind. "Could we at least play for a bit?" The sea star wanted to relax by playing with SpongeBob.

SpongeBob immediately knew an answer to Patrick's question. "Let's do that at home. We shouldn't mess up Sandy's place anymore." He looked at the treedome's inside from the corner of his eye and giggled nervously. He was aware of the damage that he and Patrick had done as they had tried to capture/trap the butterfly and make it leave the home.

Patrick closely looked at the treedome's inside and saw the damage. "True. We should fix it later." His intelligence made give an important contribution to the conversation. The two friends caused the damage and it was their responsibility to clean it up as a consequence.

SpongeBob nodded. "We'll do it before Sandy gets back." The sponge was focusing more on relaxing than cleaning up his mess. He knew that undoing the damage was an obligation and he was certainly going to do that later on in the day.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the metal door that was behind him.

The gllas hallway became filled to the ceiling with seawater.

SpongeBob and Patrick took off the fish bowls that they had been wearing.

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The two best friends opened the front door and exited the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than three hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was wearing his employee hat and was strolling towards the Krusty Krab with his best friend. Patrick was walking along with him since the two were conversing. The time to leave for work had came during the middle of SpongeBob and Patrick's playing. The two were preserving the playing that they were doing by having a conversation.

"...can't believe that you can make a game that complicated. I always get confused when you say the rules." Patrick spoke frankly and scratched his head. The two had played an advanced form of chess that his yellow best friend made up. Rocks and sticks were involved instead of actual chess pieces.

"But figuring the stuff out is what makes it fun." SpongeBob pointed out an important fact. He and Patrick shared mutual laughs when either of them messes up the game due to accidentally breaking the the game for yourself was what made the game truly enjoyable. The sponge stating all of the rules before starting the chess game would have made the game session boring.

S-S-S-S-S

The butterfly detected the smell of nearby food. He turned towards the direction that the smell was coming from and flew in that direction. He was hungry again. All of that flying took away a major chunk of the energy stored in his body.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick saw the Krusty Krab and walked up to it.

The double door was unlocked. Squidward and Mr. Krabs had already entered the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the double door.

The butterfly flew through the open doorway and entered the Krusty Krab. He found the source of that food smell.

SpongeBob gasped and his face drained of color. He then became speechless, the sudden and total sense of shock paralyzed his mouth. He then looked at Squidward who was sitting at the boat and then looked at the door to Mr. Krabs' office. By that point, he knew who the next two 'victims' of Wormy were going to be.

"**IT ENTERED THE KRUSTY KRAB!" **Patrick screamed the obvious while being gripped by terror, stating the obvious was the only way that he could express his fear. He then impulsively ran towards Squidward. He wanted to save the octopus from getting eaten by the butterfly.

SpongeBob saw a pink flash pass by him, the sea star's body blurred due to the speed of his running. He then sprinted towards Squidward as a way of taking action. His mind returned to a normal pace after seeing Patrick's sudden decision and action. He was sprinting faster than Patrick's running.

Squidward looked up and saw the butterfly fluttering inside the dining room while also being encapsulated by a bubble. "What the-" The octopus could not immediately figure out the reason for the butterfly's presence in the underwater restaurant. He then became interrupted by two yellow and pink bodies that tackled him to the boat's bottom.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick had jumped towards the boat and landed on Squidward. The two friends thought that they were protecting their neighbor from the 'dangerous' insect by making sure that the octopus was laying inside the boat.

Squidward grabbed SpongeBob and Patrick's stomachs and tried to push them off of his body with all of his might. "WILL…. YOU…. GET… **OFF**... **ME?!**" The octopus struggled to yell at his two neighbors. He was being crushed almost completely by Patrick's weight. He was extremely pissed off by the sponge and the starfish's abrupt and unwanted tackle.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up and sat down in the boat.

"There's a monster on the loose!" SpongeBob loudly whispered to Squidward and pointed at the butterfly that was fluttering inside the dining room. "He's inside this very restaurant and he's gonna eat you if you don't hide. Me and Pat got really close to getting eaten by that monster at Sandy's … thing ate a good friend of ours." He loudly whispered an explanation for his and Patrick's sudden actions to the octopus. He hoped that his co-worker would easily understand what he was saying and would accept it.

Squidward looked at the butterfly and raised his brow. "Are you two crazy?! That insect looks harmless." The octopus recognized the insect. He knew that the fluttering 'monster' inside the dining room was a monarch butterfly and he knew a lot more about those types of creatures than SpongeBob and Patrick. He knew that almost all species of butterflies were not carnivores.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office and stepped into the dining room. He had heard SpongeBob and Patrick's loud tackle against Squidward. "What's going on here?" He folded his arms and looked at SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward who were sitting in the boat. The crab was confident in the assumption that one of the three caused the loud sound.

"GET DOWN!" SpongeBob yelled at Mr. Krabs and leaped out of the boat. He then grabbed his boss and pushed the crustacean into the boat with as much strength as he could muster into his arms and legs.

Mr. Krabs fell into the boat.

SpongeBob hopped back into the boat.

"What's the meaning of this, SpongeBob?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow at SpongeBob. From his perspective, SpongeBob's irrational behavior looked made SpongeBob's actions look even more questionable was the fact that the sponge entered the Krusty Krab after he and Squidward had entered it.

The butterfly flew in circles near the boat.

"T-to put it simply… there's a-a-a monster out there." SpongeBob struggled to speak out of panic. He saw the butterfly fluttering close to the boat and that worsened his fear into panic. His potent fear was telling him to leave the restaurant with his coworkers and neighbors.

Mr. Krabs looked at the butterfly and smiled. The greedy boss simply saw the insect as another opportunity to earn money. "Is he a paying customer?" He had seen some particularly small customers enter and eat at the restaurant.

SpongeBob shook his head. "Oh no, Mr. Krabs. It doesn't want to eat Krabby Patties. It wants to eat YOU!" The sponge pointed at the boss. He was speaking to the crustacean in a dire tone.

Patrick's eyes moistened and he looked at the bottom of the boat. "Just like how it ate Wormy…" What SpongeBob said reminded him of Wormy's death. The sea star tried his best to hold back the tears and his throat became heavy.

"Um… Wormy?" Squidward gave SpongeBob and Patrick a funny look. He thought that Wormy was a weird name for a normal person. In his opinion, 'Wormy' sounded more like a pet's name.

SpongeBob and Patrick began to weep. They were not able to fully express their grief for their 'lost' friend when the butterfly terrorized them at the treedome. Their sadness had been temporarily lessened by their extreme fear of the fluttering insect.

"Why? Why? He was so young…" SpongeBob put his hands over his face and several tears ran down his cheeks. He gasped a few times as he cried. His grief became fully unleashed, his formerly locked emotion only needed a trigger.

"I'll… never forget you, Wormy..." Patrick gasped right after the beginning of his sentence and streams of more tears ran down his cheeks. Just like SpongeBob, he was uncontrollably gasping as he cried.

Squidward took a deep breath. "Well, if Moron Theater's over, I'm just going to take a look at this monster." From his point of view, SpongeBob and Patrick were freaking out over something that was harmless. The octopus had learned his lesson about being overly afraid of something when Mr. Krabs had went to the hospital and he had promoted SpongeBob to both cashier and fry cook. Ever since that day, he became less paranoid and tried to maintain that emotional state. He knew that such excessive fear over someone or something only led to self-destruction. Squidward stood up and walked out of the boat. He then walked towards the fluttering butterfly and looked up at the insect.

A pause.

Squidward folded his arms and looked at SpongeBob and Patrick from the corner of his eye in a critical manner. By that point, he was the most rational person inside the restaurant. He could not see any monstrous qualities or traits being shown by the butterfly.

"Pretty scary, huh?" SpongeBob looked at Squidward and thought that his opinion of the insect was confirmed. He assumed that Squidward was thinking the same thoughts as him. He and the octopus were both normal people after all and would react with terror if they saw an actual monster.

"A living nightmare!" Patrick wiped the tears on his cheeks and said his opinion of the 'monster'. He and SpongeBob made the same assumption.

"I should have known." Squidward was extremely skeptical of SpongeBob and Patrick's claims. "Well, that's it. I'm getting off the Looney Express." He shook his head and walked towards the boat. His opinion of the butterfly became confirmed after he took a glance at the insect.

"Now just 'cause you swabs haven't seen a creature like this doesn't mean it's dangerous." Mr. Krabs looked at the butterfly and smiled. Like Squidward, he was also thinking rationally. The crab liked how the insect's wings looked. Monarch butterflies were known for their physical appearance that some people found to be beautiful.

"We tried to warn them…" SpongeBob frowned and looked at the bottom of the boat. He predicted that Squidward and Mr. Krabs were going to get eaten by the 'monster' soon due to their lack of fear over the butterfly. "I can't watch…" The sponge covered his eyes with both of his hands.

Squidward smirked and turned around. He looked at the monarch butterfly again. "Get a load of the scary monster." He made eye contact with Mr. Krabs and then pointed at the fluttering insect. He wanted his boss to look at the 'ravenous monster'. He then laughed by honking his nose. "Monster." He laughed at the ridiculousness of SpongeBob and Patrick's irrational claims.

Mr. Krabs stood up and stepped out of the boat. The crab then walked up to the butterfly and looked up at it. "Aww, it looks harmless." A close look at the insect confirmed his opinion of it. He had encountered many deadly sea creatures during his pirate days and that butterfly certainly did not look like any of them. He did not see any sharp teeth or fangs, those two traits were usually gave away the deadliness of a sea creature.

Squidward walked until he was next to Mr. Krabs and took another close look at the butterfly. "It's kinda cute." He formed a positive opinion about Wormy. He liked the butterfly's wings due to the colors on them. The octopus could not understand how anybody would be scared of such an insect unless they had a phobia.

Mr. Krabs smiled widely after hearing Squidward's opinion. "It reminds me of money." The beauty of the butterfly's wings reminded him of the 'beauty' of a dollar's green physical appearance. The crab had came to love how money looked like. It was simply his opinion and it was only loosely related to his greed.

"Monster." By that point, Squidward was openly mocking SpongeBob and Patrick's claims.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs then laughed. They found SpongeBob and Patrick's irrational fear to be hilarious.

A pause.

The butterfly fluttered towards Squidward's head and landed on it. Wormy then closely looked at the octopus. He was trying to see if the octopus was dangerous or not.

Squidward saw the horrifying face of the butterfly and his face became pallid. He stopped laughing and made a neutral facial expression. His eyes widened until his pupils became small. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" **Terror strangled him and he sprinted towards the double door as if his life depended on it.

"Huh?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow at the sprinting octopus. He could not immediately figure out Squidward's reason for running away from the butterfly and screaming.

The butterfly fluttered towards the boss' face and landed on it. He then took a close look at the crab for the same reason why he closely looked at Squidward.

Mr. Krabs saw Wormy's grisly face and reacted just like Squidward. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" **He had never seen a sea creature more gruesome then what he just saw. With a pallid face, he ran towards the double door.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward and Mr. Krabs rapidly exited the restaurant.

SpongeBob and Patrick had not been paying attention to Squidward and Mr. Krabs' reaction. They were conversing to each other about the horrors of the 'monster'.

A pause.

No one else was inside the dining room.

"Squidward?" SpongeBob noticed that Squidward was not inside the living room. He looked at his surroudnings in search of the octopus.

"Mr. Krabs?" Patrick noticed that Mr. Krabs was not inside the room and took glances at several areas of the dining room for any sign of the crab.

SpongeBob gasped when he saw Squidward's employee hat and Mr. Krabs' wallet. The octopus and the crab had unintentionally dropped them to the floor due to the speed of their running. "It ate them!" He quickly jumped to a conclusion.

The butterfly fluttered towards the double door.

Creak

Slam

The insect pushed one part of the door and exited the restaurant.

"And there it goes!" SpongeBob pointed at the exiting butterfly. "First, Wormy," SpongeBob held out his index finger. "then, Squidward," The yellow square held out his middle finger (the front side of the finger was not facing Patrick). "then, Mr. Krabs!" The sponge held out his ring finger. "That flying monster has eaten three friends too many. We must warn the citizens! Evil has surfaced." The sponge was figuratively leaping to conclusions as if he was a rabbit. "The fate of Bikini Bottom is in our hands, Patrick. Now, let's roll." He could no longer be saved by rationality. It would have to take a failure in the plan that he was making up in order for him to have a chance at thinking rationally again.

"Aye-aye, captain." Patrick nodded and made a military salute.

The two best friends stepped out of the boat and walked towards the double door. SpongeBob picked up Mr. Krabs' wallet and Squidward's hat along the way.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the Krusty Krab. Their self-assigned mission was to warn the residents of Bikini Bottom about the 'monster' that was lurking in the town.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were running towards the Bikini Bottom public library. They were heading for that building for a very specific reason. It was their destination ever since they left the Krusty Krab.

**C-CREAK**

S-SLAM

SpongeBob and Patrick hastily entered the library. The two friends felt like the news they wanted to spread to other citizens was highly dire.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick briskly waked to the main desk and quickly showed their library cards.

The librarian saw the two cards and nodded to indicate that she saw them.

SpongeBob and Patrick hastily put their library cards away and ran through the main room of the library. Their feet thundered as they ran. The two eventually reached the computer section of the room and sat down in front of two computers that were adjacent to each other. They then turned on the computers. They were going to do something that they had not done ever since college, that activity was making a poster. Both of them knew how to make one using computers.

The 'direness' of the situation made Patrick's intelligence dramatically increase. He was now capable of using a computer, specifically a document editor program, without SpongeBob's help. He remembered what SpongeBob had taught him during their research about Texas, his memory became boosted as well. The adrenaline being pumped into his veins was what was causing the sudden improvement in brain power.

A pause.

The computers turned on.

At an extremely fast speed and in nearly the same time, SpongeBob and Patrick clicked on the internet browser icon.

Google popped up on their computer screens as the home website.

SpongeBob and Patrick signed in to their Google accounts and opened up Google Drive. They had used those two accounts during their time at high school and college. They then opened Google Docs. The two friends were very familiar with using Google apps, the apps were convenient for them during their time at school due to Google Drive's ability to allow users to collaborate over the internet and to be accessed almost anywhere that had an internet connection.

"I'll email it to you. We'll work on it together." SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick and pointed at Patrick's computer screen. The sponge was thinking critically and quickly. He knew that the two could make posters faster and spread the information faster as a consequence if they worked on one poster instead of a poster made by each.

Patrick nodded.

SpongeBob named the blank document on his screen as 'Poster' and then opened a new tab. He typed the web address of Gmail on the blank space before the tab marker.

Gmail popped up on SpongeBob's computer screen.

SpongeBob hastily composed an email invitation and typed Patrick's email address as the address that the email was being sent to. He attached the 'Poster' document to the email and then clicked on the red 'SEND' button on Gmail's interface.

A pause.

Patrick opened a new tab and typed Gmail's web address on the web browser. He pressed 'enter' on his computer's keyboard and the computer opened up the website. He saw SpongeBob's email invitation on his inbox and opened it by clicking on it. He then clicked on the document attachment.

Google Docs opened automatically and put the blank 'Poster' document into view.

SpongeBob and Patrick began to hastily work on the poster simultaneously.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick quickly stood up from their seats, they had no time to waste if they were going to spread their dire news to Bikini Bottom citizens. They finished making the poster that they wanted to make. The two friends briskly walked up to the main desk.

SpongeBob took out his wallet. He needed to print many copies of the poster so he could post it around Bikini Bottom and an enormous amount of printing paper was needed to complete that task. He was aware of the maximum amount of printing paper that could be used in the library before it would cost money. "I need to print alota copies." The sponge spoke simply and frankly.

"How many stacks?" The librarian asked an important question. The price depended on the amount of printing paper stacks that were used.

SpongeBob picked up five red packages of printing paper and put them on the main desk. Each package contained a stack of printing paper. He then picked up five packages and brought them to the desk three more times until there were twenty printing paper stacks on the desk. The sponge had quickly made an estimate for the amount of printing paper needed for the posters to be posted on most of the streets of Bikini Bottom.

"Dear Neptune…" The librarian widened her eyes. She rarely had anyone come to the library to use such a ridiculous amount of printing paper. "What are you gonna do with all of this paper?" The old lady asked SpongeBob an important question. The amount of printing paper that SpongeBob and Patrick wanted to use was certainly questionable.

"We want to put some posters throughout town." Patrick stated his and SpongeBob's reason for desiring such a large amount of printing paper. His ability to answer the librarian's question was a major sign of his increased intelligence.

"Oh." The old lady made a neutral facial expression. She decided that Patrick's reason was plausible. "That'll be $162." She stated the price for the amount of printing paper.

Patrick's eyes bugged out after he heard the price. The sea star then looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and sweatdropped. He became concerned for his best friend since he doubted that his best friend could pay the price with money out of his wallet.

SpongeBob took out an amount of money from his wallet that was exactly worth $162. He had a large amount of money inside his wallet since he was skilled at saving money. He passed the $162 to the librarian. There was still plenty of money left in his wallet.

The librarian put the $162 into the cash register on the main desk. "You can take the stacks now." She allowed SpongeBob and Patrick to take the twenty packages of printing paper.

SpongeBob and Patrick took ten printing paper packages each. They walked towards the printer and set the packages next to the printer.

Patrick opened a package and put the stack of printing paper into the printer's empty slot.

SpongeBob ran towards his computer and pressed the printer icon on the Google Docs interface. He typed '10000' into the space for the number of pages that were need to be printed.

The printer began to print copies of the poster that SpongeBob and Patrick made.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later…

S-S-S-S-S

All of the printing paper that SpongeBob bought and two large ink cartridges were completely used up. Library users could use up to two ink cartridges for free. They would have to pay money if they used anymore.

A giant stack of paper copies of the friend duo's poster was in front of the printer.

SpongeBob took the upper half of the stack while Patrick took the lower half of the stack. The two friends then briskly walked towards the library's exit. They were careful with their walking pace since they could make the papers fall to the floor if they walked too fast or ran.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM **

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the library.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob licked the blank half of the last poster that he held. The sponge then stuck that poster to the wall of a building. He had stuck the posters to his surroundings by using his saliva as a glue. He had carefully looked at his surroundings as he had stuck the posters since he was heavily afraid of the butterfly. The worst-case scenario was him walking into an 'ambush' by Wormy.

The poster had red text saying 'MONSTER ON' in the top and 'THE LOOSE' in the bottom. A stock photo of a monarch butterfly was in the middle.

Patrick stuck his last poster to a fence. He used his saliva as a glue as well. The sea star found sticking the poster copies to areas in Bikini Bottom to be relaxing. Many thoughts currently swam through his mind but he was still aware of the 'dangers' of the 'monster'.

SpongeBob and Patrick completed their task of sticking the posters to most of the neighborhoods and streets in Bikini Bottom. They had been careful when sticking posters in the ghetto area of Bikini Bottom due to the area's high crime rate. The two friends had another daunting task ahead of them, that task was verbally informing as many citizens as possible about the 'monster'.

Patrick made eye contact with SpongeBob. He decided that one thought in his mind was worth telling the yellow square about. "Whatever happened to Squidward and your boss?" He said his thought in the form of a question.

SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly. "Yeah... " The sea star's question provoked some thinking within the sponge. "I don't know..." He shrugged. The yellow square then made a solemn face. "...but we don't have any time to check up on them. We got more important things to do." SpongeBob pointed at the posted posters and then pointed at nearby pedestrians.

Patrick made a serious facial expression and nodded. "Right." He approved of SpongeBob's opinion.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was inside the music room of his tiki. He had covered all of the windows in his home with wooden planks that he had nailed to the windowsills.

The lights were on inside the room since the tiki would have been dark without the sunlight from the windows.

The octopus was sitting on a chair and was writing in his journal about his horrifying encounter with the monarch butterfly. The octopus knew about butterflies, especially their physical appearance, but had never seen one up-close until that encounter. Writing in his journal lessened his fear of the butterfly but his fear was still there. The octopus was going to make sure that he would never see a butterfly's face up-close ever again.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had covered the windows in his anchor with several layers of old newspapers. He was sitting in his couch and was watching the Bikini Bottom News channel on an extremely old TV to make himself more relaxed. He was paranoid of the butterfly, the sea creatures that he had seen in his pirate travels were nothing compared to the terrifying 'monster' that he recently saw. He certainly knew that his old pirate crewmates would have also become terrified by the fluttering insect. If the captain could not handle something, his/her crew would be unable to either.

S-S-S-S-S

"So… how're we gonna tell them about the monster?" Patrick had correctly guessed what he and SpongeBob were about to do and asked SpongeBob. The sea star was being careful with his actions since he did not want to give people the wrong message. The worst-case scenario would be the citizens labeling them as lunatics or nutjobs.

"Yell at everybody about the monster and point at the posters. The posters are gonna be evidence for our reason for screaming so people wouldn't think us as crazy." SpongeBob explained what he and Patrick were about to do to inform more people about the monster. "Treat what we're about to do with great care and sensitivity. Remember, we'll be screaming to all kinds of people." The sponge said some advice to his best friend so his best friend would not do something stupid and mess up their plan about informing the populace.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs-up. He fully understood what SpongeBob said.

A pause.

The two best friends turned to face the nearby pedestrians.

Another pause.

The butterfly entered their range of sight. It was fluttering above the street that the two were in front of.

SpongeBob and Patrick then immediately took action to warn everybody about the 'monster'.

"**RUN, EVERYBODY, RUN!" **SpongeBob yelled at the nearby citizens walking past him. He sweatdropped as he yelled, it was a sign of his anxiety. The sponge had seen the butterfly and that made him yell louder than he expected. The sponge also pointed at a nearby poster as he yelled.

"**MONSTER ON THE LOOSE!" **Patrick jumped up and down as he screamed and pointed at a nearby poster. The loudness of his voice and his jumping were completely intended and were done so he could catch the attention of more people.

All of the nearby pedestrians saw the posters and then looked up and saw the fluttering butterfly. They had never seen a creature like the butterfly before and a fear of the unknown gripped their hearts.

The butterfly fluttered closer to the street.

**:MOOONSTEEERR!" **SpongeBob pointed at the butterfly and screamed to nearly the maximum potential of his voice. He alerted everybody about the 'monster' being nearby.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" **The nearby pedestrians ran away from the butterfly like a stampede and shrieked in terror. Some of them had pallid faces while others were sweating profusely.

The butterfly followed them due to the loud sounds that they were making. He was doing that out of curiosity.

Eventually, the entire neighborhood that SpongeBob and Patrick were in was completely empty save for a few boatmobiles driving down the road.

SpongeBob and Patrick made eye contact with each other and grinned simultaneously. They then raised their right hands and made a high-five. They were happy since they thought that they had just saved many lives by making the pedestrians afraid of the 'monster'.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick had alerted several groups of citizens about the butterfly and made them run away from the insect in terror. The two thought that they themselves were heroes since they were informing the citizens about a major danger. The best friend duo were walking towards Squidward's tiki. They needed something from the octopus for their next attempt at informing the people about the 'monster', the attempt was going to be over-the-top.

SpongeBob and Patrick reached the tiki's front door.

**DING DONG**

Patrick pressed the doorbell and it rung.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAAAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door. He then narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob and Patrick. He was expecting anybody other than his two neighbors. "What do you want?" He droned, his voice showed signs of annoyance.

"Can we use your megaphone? We're informing everybody about the 'monster'." SpongeBob told the octopus his and Patrick's reason for coming to the tiki. He simpered so he could look innocent.

Squidward silently nodded. He did not want to see that monarch butterfly up-close ever again and he decided to help SpongeBob and Patrick for that reason. "Wait right here." The octopus turned around and walked towards the closet. He opened the closet and took out the megaphone. He then walked back to his two neighbors and gave the megaphone to the yellow square. "You better BRING it back to me when you're done, okay?" Squidward folded his arms and made a serious face. He was aware of SpongeBob and Patrick's destructive potential when it came to them damaging his property.

SpongeBob and Patrick made equally serious faces and they both did a military salute simultaneously. "Aye, aye, sir!' They spoke the same words at the same time.

Squidward nodded and...

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAAK  
**

**SLAM**

...closed the front door.

With the megaphone in SpongeBob's hand, the best friend duo walked towards the downtown area of Bikini Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking through a sidewalk. The two were in the downtown area.

SpongeBob turned to face Patrick and held out his hand. He felt like the spot that he and Patrick were standing on was a good place to begin their attempt. "We should start here." He proposed to Patrick what the both of them should do.

"'kay." Patrick nodded and took out his bubble wand and soap bottle. The sponge had told him what the two were going to do as they had walked towards the downtown area.

SpongeBob gave Patrick the megaphone and took out his own soap bottle and bubble wand. He took a poster from a wall and stuck it to his chest. He wanted to show people what the butterfly looked like as Patrick alerted them about the 'monster'.

Patrick put the megaphone on the ground and opened his soap bottle. He then dipped the bubble wand into the bottle and took a deep inhale. The sea star then blew into the bubble wand and a large bubble almost completely came out of the wand's hole. He closed the soap bottle and put it away as he began to slowly soar by holding on to the wand. The sea star picked up the megaphone.

SpongeBob quickly opened his own soap bottle and dipped his own bubble wand into the bottle. He took a deep inhale and blew into the bubble wand. A bubble that was equally as large as Patrick's came more than halfway but not completely out of the wand's hole. He held on to the wand and slowly soared at the same speed as Patrick's soaring.

SpongeBob and Patrick gently flew above and across the crowded area that they were currently in.

Patrick raised the megaphone until it was in front of his mouth. He cleared his throat as a way or properly preparing his voice for what he was about to do. _**"Attention, Bikini Bottom! There's a flying monster that's going to eat you!" **_The sea star spoke in a solemn and somewhat loud voice into the megaphone. He spoke in a loud voice so the megaphone could project his voice to a wider area than when spoken with a normal voice into the megaphone. The message had to be sent and spread to as many Bikini Bottomites as possible.

SpongeBob pointed with both of his hands at the poster that was stuck to his chest. He wanted the nearby citizens to know what the 'monster' looked like so they could avoid it when they see it.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" **Numerous Bikini Bottomites screamed in terror and ran in several directions as desperate attempts to escape the clutches of the 'monster'. Al of the citizens that were informed by SpongeBob and Patrick became afraid due to mysteriousness of the 'monster'. The majority of them did not know what a butterfly was and their ignorance was the cause of their intense fear.

SpongeBob and Patrick intentionally released the violent and powerful beast called mass hysteria unto Bikini Bottom.

A pause.

Many streets in the downtown area of Bikini Bottom became cleared of all citizens. The frightened sea creatures either fled to other areas of the town or locked themselves into their homes.

SpongeBob and Patrick smiled at what they had accomplished. The people that had screamed and ran were more lives saved from their perspective. The two pulled the wands that they were holding.

The two best friends made the bubbles fly towards the ground. Once they became close enough to the ground, they pushed their bubble wands into the bubbles.

**P-POP**

The two bubbles popped.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the ground. The two friends then hopped to their feet and walked towards another area of Bikini Bottom. They had a will fueled by a powerful and uncontrollable fear of the butterfly to spread the news to all areas in Bikini Bottom. In their heads, the possibly destructive path of the butterfly rewinded constantly. The image in their heads was the form of fuel that their fear took form in.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later…

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV inside the pineapple's living room. He was currently watching the Bikini Bottom News channel. Inside the fruit that his owner called a home, he was completely unaware of the mass hysteria that was wrecking havoc throughout Bikini Bottom. He did not even hear the screams of the citizens since the TV was on a high volume. The snail preferred the TV to be on such a volume.

Through the TV screen, Johnny Erain was currently reading a news report in his signature voice. However, another paper report was abruptly handed to him from the side of the screen by one of the camera crew. That member of the crew was not shown on the screen at all save for the arm that put the paper report into view.

Johnny Erain finished reading the news report that he was reading and put it to the side of the table that he was sitting in.

A pause.

Johnny Erain switched to the paper report that was handed to him and gasped as he read the title of the report. _" Attention, attention! This just in!"_ He alerted his viewers about the news report that he received.

What was being shown on the TV screen switched to stock footage of a monarch butterfly. The camera crew had prepared that footage beforehand. The crew had received the news report an hour ago (right after the beginning of the news show).

"_A monster is attacking Bikini Bottom!" _Fear crept into Johnny Erain's voice as he said the summary of the news report. However, he kept a certain air of calmness so his viewers could clearly hear what he was saying.

Gary widened his eyes in shock when he saw the stock footage. That was the first time he ever saw a butterfly. Concern for the state of his owner who was outside filled his heart.

S-S-S-S-S

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were sitting in one of the living rooms of the retirement home that they resided in. The two senior superheroes were sitting on a green sofa and were currently watching TV, the TV was showing the Bikini Bottom News channel. The elderly men laughed as they watched the news report about the butterfly. The insect being shown on the TV screen was nothing compared to the supervillains that they had faced in the past. The two decided not to help the terrified citizens since they predicted that the butterfly would flutter out of Bikini Bottom soon. In their reasoning, something as harmless as a monarch butterfly would eventually leave the town in search of food.

Nearby elderly citizens were hiding behind beds, chairs, couches, sofas; and anything else that they could hide behind. They were also gripped by the terror of the mysterious 'monster'.

S-S-S-S-S

Even the manager was a victim to the irrational fear of the butterfly that the local news was only worsening. He was crouching behind the main desk as a way of hiding from the 'monster'.

S-S-S-S-S

Five hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

8:00 PM.

The sky was covered by the indigo shroud of night.

Bikini Bottom was desolate. Barely any soul walked outside of the bustling buildings, the souls that were walking were well-educated people such as scientists or people who knew enough information about butterflies to know that almost all of them are harmless. The bustling buildings were full of terrified citizens who believed that hiding in their homes was the only way to escape the clutches of the 'monster'. Some citizens were so scared by the butterfly that they evacuated from Bikini Bottom in search of shelter that was far away from the fluttering 'monster'.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were inside a building that was home to a five member family. They were informing the father, mother, and their children about the 'monster' that was lurking outside the building. The two friends had finished informing citizens block-by-block about the butterfly and were now informing people house-by-house so more people would be aware of the insect.

The mother and father's two sons and one daughter were sitting to the edge of the couch as they heard SpongeBob and Patrick's words. They became gripped by the terror of the butterfly far more quickly than their parents due to their innocence and gullibility.

S-S-S-S-S

**SCCCRRREEEEEee**eeecccch

A bus slowly stopped in front of a bus stop. The bus stop was near the building that SpongeBob and Patrick were currently at.

Sandy opened the bus' door and stepped out of the bus. She had finished her field research at Ukulele Bottom much more earlier than expected by her bosses. She was certainly aware of her potential to finish field studies quickly, she had achieved such accomplishments before. When she had received the assignment that she had recently completed, her pride fueled her confidence in her working speed. She knew since the beginning that taking a few days to do a field study would be too slow for her working pace. She was holding two suitcases and a bag full of specimens was being carried over one of her shoulders.

The squirrel walked towards her treedome. She noticed the emptiness of her hometown. 'Where is everybody?' She mentally asked herself as she walked. Theories for the absence of pedestrians began to form in her mind.

Wormy was fluttering aimlessly around Bikini Bottom. He eventually saw Sandy and recognized her. The butterfly then fluttered towards his owner to see if the squirrel was still friendly or not.

Sandy saw a fluttering butterfly being encapsulated in a bubble from the corners of her eyes. She then looked up and immediately recognized the insect. She was aware of the fact that she was the only person in Bikini Bottom who owned a caterpillar. "Hey there, Wormy." She greeted the insect with a smile as if he was an old friend.

The butterfly fluttered in place before Sandy.

Sandy knew that caterpillars usually stayed in chrysalises from three days up to three weeks. 'Wow, now this is rare.' She thought. Caterpillars very rarely took only one day to develop into a butterfly. "You weren't supposed to change 'til at least a few days passed." She informed the butterfly about the unusualness of his overnight transformation, she was speaking to the insect as if he was a normal person. The squirrel then set her suitcases and her bag down. 'Better not let him roam around.' She thought about the safety of her pet. She opened one suitcase and took out an empty jar. She walked up to Wormy and then opened the jar. The squirrel swiftly moved the jar towards Wormy so he went through the jar's opening. She then put the lid on the opening and closed the jar. "That oughta hold ya, little guy." She smiled widely and resumed her walking towards her home.

**S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-SLAM**

The entrances to the nearby buildings were barged open by their residents.

The nearby citizens had seen what Sandy had done by looking through their homes' windows. They had watched Sandy since they thought that she was in grave danger due to directly encountering the 'monster'.

"Dear Neptune!"

"She captured the monster…"

"We're saved!"

"No way…"

Words of simultaneous joy and disbelief were spoken out of the nearby residents' mouths. They then grinned and yelled at Sandy in immense joy. The citizens ran towards Sandy and lifted the squirrel to the air and made her rest on the sea of their palms. They then cheered for Sandy as if they had won a professional sports game as a whole team.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick barged open the entrance to the building that they were in and exited the building. They wanted to find the source or cause of the cheering and loud sounds of moving feet.

A pause.

The two best friends saw the 'monster' fluttering while being inside a closed jar. That jar was being held by a certain squirrel that was swimming in the sea of the palms of overjoyed people.

"Sandy caught the monster!" SpongeBob grinned from ear to ear, pointed at Sandy, and stated the obvious. He sprinted towards the squirrel.

Patrick rapidly followed him. A wide smile was also on his face.

The family that lived in the building quickly exited their home and ran towards the squirrel. Joy over Sandy's capture of the 'monster' had also filled their hearts.

Sandy's pride had just found gold and was quickly consuming the precious ore that it found. With a smile on her face, Sandy basked in the bliss of her 'victory'. Her pride became enhanced to the point of showing her a mental image of a golden statue of her being put on a diamond pedestal. "I didn't know I'd be missed so much. Golly, maybe I should go out of town more often." She was completely unaware of the reason for the citizens' massive joy and she honestly did not care about knowing the truth for the current moment.

Many more citizens gathered around the crowd that was holding Sandy.

"Three cheers for Sandy!" SpongeBob began a massive cheer for the squirrel. He did that as a way of expressing his appreciation for Sandy's capturing of the butterfly. "Hip, hip!"

"**HOORAY!" **The crowd yelled a cheer in unison.

The cheering was music to Sandy's ears. Her pride became more potent with each word of praise.

* * *

**I can't believe that this is the longest fic in the SpongeBob section of the website. Time flies. I still remember my first writing session for this fic in June 1, 2014.**


	47. Grandma's Kisses

**Chapter 47: Grandma's Kisses**

* * *

More than a week later…

S-S-S-S-S

Tuesday morning.

6:30 AM.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down while grinning. He had received a phone call from an old family member and it had brought a smile to his face. He had told that family member through the phone that he was going to visit her. The sponge was smiling throughout the morning but that phone call made him reach the apex of his happiness. The sponge was unable to visit that family member's house ever since graduating college due to his odd job working schedule and his current schedule at the Krusty Krab. If he was going to visit that family member's house, he would need a few hours. Such an opportunity had knocked on his door.

Gary was watching TV. He was focused on the screen since a morning special of Wild West was being broadcasted.

"See ya later, Gary. I'm visiting Grandma." SpongeBob said a farewell to his pet and told the snail what he was going to do. He then walked towards the front door and…

**CRRREEEEAAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob skipped towards his grandma's house with enthusiasm. Very few things made a start to his day more perfect than visiting a family member. The sponge was so happy that he hummed as he skipped.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across a hill and eventually reached its top. "There it is…" The yellow square's eyes sparkled as he saw the house that was behind the hill. Nostalgia filled his mind and heart. "...Grandma's house! What wonders await for me today?" The sponge was speaking to himself and his enthusiasm increased with each word. The childhood memories of his grandmother's house filled his mind. "Fresh baked cookies? Story time? A sweater with love in every stitch?" He stated the memories in his mind and those things that his grandmother did for him became even more delightful when spoken about. "Aw, what am I waiting for?" The sponge noticed that he was jumping up and down in excitement. He sprinted down the hill and towards his grandmother's house. "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma!" He chanted his grandmother's honorary name as he ran.

The sponge eventually reached the front door of the house. He pressed the doorbell and…

**DING DONG**

...it rung.

A pause.

SpongeBob could not contain his excitement. He was smiling widely and was crossing his fingers in an attempt to control the powerful emotion.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

His grandmother opened the front door. She was an old orange sponge with white hair. She was wearing glasses and a green dress. "SpongeBob!" She stated her grandson's name with delight.

"Hi, Grandma!" SpongeBob greeted his grandmother with an equal level of delight. He then held out his arms.

The two sponges related by blood hugged.

SpongeBob felt like an actual child again in spite of the fact that he had the mindset of a child. The house that his grandmother lived in had a nostalgic power that was highly potent.

"Come in and sit for a while." SpongeBob's grandmother stepped out of the way so SpongeBob could enter her home. She wanted to treasure these moments with her grandson since it was a long time since his grandson last visited her.

SpongeBob walked through the open doorway. He could not stop smiling widely, his happiness was almost too much for his face to handle.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob's grandmother closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

The two sponges were in the kitchen.

On the wooden table was a plate of recently baked cookies and a cup of milk. SpongeBob's grandmother had prepared the meal in anticipation of her grandson's visit after having a conversation over the phone with him.

"Have a cookie, SpongeBob." SpongeBob's grandmother also could not remove the smile that was on her face; she was also overjoyed. Many memories about her grandson filled her mind, her memories about her grandson went all the way back to his infancy up to a few years ago. The old sponge pointed at the plate of cookies that was on the table.

"Grandma, you make the best cookies in the deep blue sea." SpongeBob commented about his grandmother's cookies before even eating them. The sponge had eaten his grandmother's cookies many times in the past and loved their flavor. He walked up to the table and took a cookie from the plate. He then opened his mouth to eat the cookie.

A pause. The yellow sponge felt like there was something missing.

SpongeBob noticed the cup of milk and remembered something. "Oh yeah…" He dipped the cookie into the cup of milk and then ate the cookie.

Chocolatey sweetness melted into his mouth.

'Grandma's cookies...' SpongeBob thought with an almost drunken smile as he tried to savor the temporary euphoria that was being caused by the cookie's flavor. The euphoria was so potent that his pupils became chocolate-chip cookies. SpongeBob always enjoyed eating the cookies that his grandmother cooked.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked towards the sink and picked up a large white spoon that was covered in dough. She had used that spoon when mixing the cookie dough. "Now, who wants to lick the spoon?" She held out the spoon towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped when he saw the dough-covered spoon. From his point of view, he could tread further into the depths of the sweet cookie heaven in his mouth by tasting the dough. He raised his hand. "Me, me me!" He walked briskly towards his grandmother.

SpongeBob's grandmother gave the spoon to SpongeBob. She could not resist since she found her grandson's reaction to be too adorable.

SpongeBob began to lick the spoon. He enjoyed the sweet flavor of the dough almost as much as the chocolate chip cookies. The taste was missing something since the dough was not mixed with all of the ingredients and was uncooked but the yellow square did not mind.

Grandma walked towards an open doorway. That doorway led to the living room. When she was right in front of the doorway, she turned around and looked at SpongeBob. "You want me to tell you a story?" She proposed the idea of telling a story to SpongeBob, she had done it many times when the yellow sponge was a child.

SpongeBob made eye contact with his grandmother and smiled. He nodded and walked towards his grandmother.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked through the open doorway.

SpongeBob followed her and walked through the open doorway as well.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's grandfather was sitting on a couch and was watching TV. He was an old yellow square who wore glasses and wore green squarepants, A wooden cane which belonged to him was leaning on the couch and was next to him. In terms of physical appearance, he looked very smililar to SpongeBob. He looked to the side and saw his grandson and his wife entering the living room. "Hey there, Sponge." He greeted SpongeBob and smiled.

"Hiya, Grandpa." SpongeBob smiled widely and greeted his grandfather. He admired his grandfather since the old man had a lot of wisdom and knowledge stored in his head. His grandfather was a former scientist after all.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked up to a wooden shelf and took a large blue book from the shelf. "Honey, could you make the TV less loud? It's storytime." She looked at her husband and then pointed with her thumb at her grandson.

"Gotcha." SpongeBobs' grandfather nodded and picked up the remote on the couch. He then lowered the TV's volume until only he could hear it. The old yellow sponge was quite animated in spite of his age, there are several signs of his former youth within him.

Grandma walked towards a couch chair and sat in it. She then opened the book and looked through the stories that were written in it. She was the one who made and written the entire book. The large book was also like a scrapbook since there were many photos inside it.

SpongeBob sat in a couch chair that was adjacent to the one that his grandmother was sitting at. He was excited to hear another story from his grandmother since some of the stories that she had told him were surprising.

"Do you want me to read a story when you were a baby?" The grandmother stumbled on an entry that was dated during SpongeBob's infancy. She then looked at SpongeBob to see if he would approve of her reading of the story.

"Yep." SpongeBob leaned towards the book to see its contents. He nodded with an enthusiastic grin.

The grandmother leaned back on her couch chair and began to read the tale out loud.

SpongeBob leaned back on his couch chair. He completely felt like a child again, some of his best and most clear memories were when his grandmother told him stories when he was a young boy.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's grandmother had read several stories to his grandson that were dated during the yellow sponge's infancy or early childhood.

From SpongeBob's point of view, time flew since he paid all of his attention to the stories that his grandmother was reading. He enjoyed letting the stories unfold through his grandmother's voice.

"...and then we drove all the way home with all the windows down in the freezing cold." SpongeBob's grandmother read the last written line of the story out loud. She then moved her vision from the pages of the book to SpongeBob. She expected her grandson to say his opinion about the story since her grandson had commented on every story that was finished during his current stay. When SpongeBob was a child, he always demanded his grandmother to read another story without commenting at all.

SpongeBob thought that he could be completely satisfied by listening to one more story. "Can you tell me another story about when I was a baby?" He put his hands together and nearly begged. "I really like the one you just read to me." The sponge commented on the recently read story.

SpongeBob's grandmother giggled since her grandson was reacting almost just like when he was a child whenever she finished reading a story. She then looked up at the cuckoo clock inside the living room and noticed that 9:00 AM was fifteen minutes away. She had many phone conversations with her grandson so she knew a lot about her grandson's daily life. "Aren't you going to work?" She made eye contact with SpongeBob as she asked.

SpongeBob gasped and became heavily surprised. He hopped from the couch chair that he sat on. "I need to get to work!" His situation was urgent if he wanted to get to work on time. It was going to take a longer time to get to the Krusty Krab since his grandmother's house was somewhat far away from the Krusty Krab; he could have got to the Krusty Krab at a shorter time if his starting point was his pineapple. SpongeBob briskly walked towards the open doorway that led to the kitchen. He took out his employee hat and put it on along the way.

"Work hard, Sponge." SpongeBob's grandfather looked at SpongeBob and made a thumbs-up. He was encouraging his grandson to work to the best of his ability today. He was trying to support his grandson in the best way that he could do, encouragement and advice.

A light bulb lit up in the grandmother's head. "Hop in my car, I'll drop you off." She followed the yellow sponge. Her motherly instincts did not fail her, she knew that one could get to a place faster by boatmobile than by foot under most circumstances.

SpongeBob smiled and looked at his grandmother from the corner of his eye. He then nodded. The sponge appreciated his grandmother's willingness to assist him and his grandfather's attempt at supporting him.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost fifteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

The grandmother's boatmobile parked in front of the Krusty Krab.

"Thanks, Grandma!" With a wide smile, SpongeBob opened the boatmobile's door and exited the vehicle. He looked forward to the day of work ahead of him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several customers were inside the dining room, they were waiting in a line. They had came very early so they expected an employee or two to enter the restaurant a few minutes later.

Squidward was sitting in the boat. He noticed the boatmobile that parked in front of the Krusty Krab and saw SpongeBob exiting the vehicle. He wondered why SpongeBob came to the Krusty Krab by boatmobile instead of on foot like he usually does.

A few of the customers turned around and noticed the parked boatmobile as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"SpongeBob, you forgot your kissy-kissy!" By that point, the grandmother was certainly treating her grandson like a child. Like her husband, he tried to support her grandson but she did it in her own way. Her way was by treating SpongeBob as if he was her own son.

SpongeBob widened his eyes a bit after hearing his grandmother's words. Whenever he said a type of farewell to his grandmother, she would give him a kiss. The sponge almost never forgot to allow his grandmother to give him a kiss. "I sure did." With a slight smile at his realization, he turned around and stepped towards his grandmother.

SpongeBob's grandmother kissed her grandson on the forehead.

A pink lip print was left on SpongeBob's forehead.

"Bye, Grandma. Thanks for the ride." SpongeBob once again said his appreciation for his grandmother's assistance through spoken words. He then turned around and then happily skipped towards the Krusty Krab in anticipation for his work day.

S-S-S-S-S

The customers inside the dining room began to laugh. They were all young men and they thought that getting kissed by an older female relative in front of the public was unmanly.

Squidward smirked. He had his own views on manliness. He thought that SpongeBob getting kissed by his grandmother was funny since in his opinion, getting kissed by older relatives in front of the public was embarrassing in general instead of it being unmanly. The octopus could not control his laughter and ended up laughing with the young men by honking his nose. Since SpongeBob made him laugh instead of getting annoyed, he felt grateful. The octopus then decided to return the favor. Squidward stood up from the boat and stepped out of it. He then walked towards the double door and…

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

...opened one side of the door for SpongeBob.

"Thank you, Squidward." SpongeBob verbally expressed his appreciation for Squidward's sudden kindness. He walked through the open doorway and saw and heard a group of young men laughing at him. The sponge then correctly assumed that they were customers.

Some of the customers even pointed at him as they laughed, that was a clear indication that they were laughing at him instead of with him.

SpongeBob ignored their pointing. The customers had not told him what they were laughing at yet so he leaned on his optimism. He assumed that the customers were laughing at something that was near him. "Isn't this great?" The yellow square walked across the dining room with a brightened mood. "Everybody's in a good mood today." The sponge was vulnerable to catching good moods or what he perceived to be good moods.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door to the kitchen. He was about to enter the kitchen when he saw Squidward walk up to him from the corner of his eye and lean towards him. The sponge then stopped walking to listen to his coworker's words.

"I love bursting your bubble, SpongeBob, but they're laughing at you, not with you." Squidward twisted a figure of speech and revealed that he nearly read SpongeBob's mind through whispering to the sponge's ear. The octopus had been with the yellow square for a long-enough time to know how SpongeBob would normally think and act to a certain degree.

SpongeBob turned to face Squidward and scratched his head in confusion. "Did I do something funny?" The sponge unintentionally revealed his obliviousness to the focal point of laughter from the customers.

Squidward did not even attempt to subtly or gently reveal the truth to the naive sponge. The sponge's reaction would be even funnier for everybody else if it was one of shock by an abrupt realization. The octopus was not concerned about the consequences of his actions. If SpongeBob's feelings got hurt by his revelation and subsequent laughter, he knew with certainty that the sponge had a web of people that will heal the sponge back to happiness. "Your forehead." Two words was all that Squidward needed. He pointed at the sponge's forehead where the lip print was there for all to see.

"My forehead is funny?" SpongeBob leaned his head to the side. Like Squidward, he had his own views on manliness that were unorthodox.

SpongeBob's bubble did not completely pop.

"Hey! Hey, Grandma's boy!" A young man within the group of customers called out SpongeBob with an insulting name and pointed at the yellow sponge. He had a weird accent. His opportunity to make fun of the 'unmanly' sponge finally knocked on his door. "Kissy-kissy-kissy!" He pursed his lips to imitate SpongeBob's grandmother's kiss. He ascertained the popping of SpongeBob's bubble and laughter from the crowd.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose and the young men laughed with him.

SpongeBob widened his eyes at the realization of what his coworker and his customers were laughing at. The sponge then laughed and looked at the floor in embarrassment. He was embarrassed since he was being laughed at, not because of the grandmother's kiss which was the source of the crowd's laughter. Heaviness began to develop in his throat.

A pause. The crowd continued to laugh.

SpongeBob gathered enough courage to look at Squidward and the customers again. Arguments against the joke that was yelled at him had developed in his mind. With a solemn face that expressed hints of passion, he said in a loud voice: "No, you're wrong!" The sponge pointed at the young man who spoke in a strange accent. "There's nothing wrong with getting kisses from your grandma." The yellow square folded his arms to express his determination in proving his point.

The young man with the strange accent smirked. "No, especially if you're a big baby who wears diapers!" He viciously retorted SpongeBob's announcement of his firm opinion by saying another insult.

The crowd laughed even harder. Some of them were struggling to breathe due to their laughing.

"And sucks his thumb, and plays with dolls, and carries his… um…." The young man was saying insults out of impulse. He abruptly ran out of ideas for insults and became silent. During the silence, he futilely tried to gather more ideas for jokes in his head.

The crowd of young men including Squidward became silent and turned to look at the young man who was saying the insults. The young man had became the leader for the crowd's laughter at the kiss mark on SpongeBob's forehead.

An awkward pause.

The crowd turned to look at SpongeBob. They lost interest in the young man's insults since he had ran out of ideas.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. The octopus then made a sinister smile. He knew that once he says the insult in his head to SpongeBob, the sponge will break down into tears. He was going to accept full responsibility for what he was about to do. "Cheer up, SpongeBob. I know someone who still likes you." Squidward suppressed his giggling as he said those words. The unleashing of his giggling would reveal the sarcasm that was hidden inside his spoken words.

"Really?" SpongeBob's eyes sparkled as the yellow fry cook looked at Squidward. He immediately made an inference. "You do, Squidward?" The sponge asked that question with a wide smile of hope. However, he was about to fall into an abyss of despair instead.

Squidward made an almost evil smile. "Yeah, your grandma!" His words were like a cobra's bite to SpongeBob's emotional threshold, the venom from the 'cobra' was certainly going to cause a negative reaction.

All of the young men including Squidward laughed harder than before. More than half of them struggled to breathe as they laughed.

SpongeBob frowned and his eyes moistened. The dam that was holding back the tears was rapidly breaking down. He desperately rubbed his hand on the kiss mark in an attempt to get it off his forehead. In order for the customers and his coworker to stop laughing, he had to eliminate the source. To his dismay. the lip mark refused to fade. The lipstick that his grandmother had put on her lips was quite sticky. The sponge then did another desperate attempt to make the laughter stop. He was having conflicting emotions of upsetness and embarrassment. Letting the tears flow from his eyes would only make the situation more embarrassing. "STOP IT!" He yelled in a voice that almost did not belong to him at all, it sounded broken by the heaviness in his throat.

The two words that SpongeBob yelled brought what Squidward put into the back of his head all the way up to his mind's surface. The octopus reached his limit, if he continued to laugh after reaching that limit, guilt would follow and that would ruin the whole humorous experience for him. Squidward stopped laughing. He knew that he reached his limit since he began to feel like a bully. Dealing with bullies in school was part of his most unpleasant memories.

The young men realized what they were doing and stopped laughing as well. They also felt like bullies.

However, the ending of the crowd's laughter did not patch up the breaking dam behind SpongeBob's eyes. The sponge covered his face with his hands and wept with loud gasps. His upsetness and embarrassment fused into one negative emotion, he nearly felt like he had been tortured by Squidward and the customers. He ran towards the double door and…

**C-CREAK**

S-SLAM

….exited the Krusty Krab. Crying in front of the public was embarrassing from his viewpoint since he was allowing insults to emotionally injure him. That thought made him cry louder and with more tears.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran towards his pineapple. He thought that his home would be the best place where he could recover back to his normal self. The yellow square could not abandon his obligations as a Krusty Krab fry cook.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had heard the laughter coming from the dining room but had decided to ignore it since he assumed that it was about something mundane. He was counting yesterday's profits while sitting in his desk. However, when he heard crying from a familiar voice and a rapid exiting, he became suspicious that an unpleasant incident was occurring inside the dining room. He stood up from his desk and put the coins that was in his claws to that desk. He walked towards the door to the dining room.

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had already left the Krusty Krab.

With narrowed eyes, Mr. Krabs looked at the dining room with high suspicion. From his perspective, the huddled group of young men looked especially suspicious. After ten seconds of looking, he walked up to the ordering window and looked through it.

SpongeBob was not inside the kitchen.

Mr. Krabs raised his brow at the sight of SpongeBob's absence. He then turned to look at Squidward. "What happened here?" He crossed his arms and asked with a serious facial expression.

Squidward took a deep breath. After hearing Mr. Krabs' question, he firmly believed that punishment from his boss would soon follow his explanation of the incident. "SpongeBob's grandma kissed SpongeBob and that left on a kiss mark on his forehead. It was funny since we thought that it was embarrassing. I had to tell Sponge what was funny since he was clueless about why we were laughing. Some guy then made fun of him and SpongeBob tried to talk back. I then tried to make a joke myself and then SpongeBob began to cry. He told us to stop and we stopped. He then left the Krusty Krab, he's probably heading back to his house." The octopus summarized what had happened inside the dining room with a serious tone of voice. He remembered the jokes that had been told to SpongeBob but they were no longer funny since he might get in trouble because of them.

"Who's 'we'?" Mr. Krabs asked another question. He found an ambiguity in what his employee said. The crab wanted to know the most important details of the situation.

"All the other customers." Squidward pointed at the group of young men which all of the customers in the restaurant consisted of. He spoke about and pointed at them merely out of honesty instead of revenge.

Some of the young men began to whistle so they could look innocent. The ones who were whistling were afraid of getting in trouble with the boss of the Krusty Krab. A few of the young men knew that Mr. Krabs was a retired pirate.

"Well…" Mr. Krabs looked at the customers and thought deeply. He was considering the best decision that satisfied the interests of his yellow money-maker and the daily success of his business. "Money is money so I guess you can stay here." The crustacean pointed at the customers.

A few of them took deep breaths or wiped some sweat from their brows in relief.

"However…" Mr. Krabs turned to face Squidward. "You're gonna fetch me money-maker and bring it back here." Since Squidward was an employee and was partially responsible for making the upset SpongeBob leave the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs decided that Squidward was qualified to get the employee back. The current situation reminded him of another incident that occurred a month ago, on April Fools day.

Squidward nodded. His nodding showed that he took responsibility for what he had done. The octopus had predicted that SpongeBob would cry or would become upset but he did not expect the sponge to leave the Krusty Krab. The octopus walked towards the double door and…

**C-CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Many complicated thoughts were going through Squidward's mind. Like Mr. Krabs, the current situation reminded him of April Fools day. However, he also remembered feeling a faint sign of friendship on that day. As a matter of fact, over the current week and the past week, SpongeBob had not done too many annoying things to him. After those recent memories swam through his mind, he realized that he treated SpongeBob unfairly and like a jerk. Squidward then realized something else. When he insulted SpongeBob, he was clinging to the past in some sort of way. The memories of SpongeBob annoying him fueled his anger and that was what caused him to insult the sponge, the insult was not caused by the sudden idea for the joke.

If he and SpongeBob were to become friends, if there was even a slight chance, the two would have to overcome many obstacles. For SpongeBob, he would only have to leap across a few obstacles. For Squidward, he would have to manage his way through a whole track of obstacles. Squidward's hatred against SpongeBob was deeply ingrained and would be the cause for his massive amount of obstacles preventing him from forming a friendship with SpongeBob.

Squidward walked as all of these thoughts swam in circles in his head. He had a neutral facial expression as he walked. His walking pace was somewhat slow since his attention was focused on his thoughts. He did not care if he was walking slow since he knew that he would find SpongeBob eventually.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing before his home, his back was facing the rock. He was doing absolutely nothing, typical behavior for the starfish on a typical day.

SpongeBob entered the neighborhood and was walking directly towards his pineapple. He was looking at the ground and was frowning as he walked. The sponge had stopped crying and wiped his tears during his walk back to his home. However, his throat continued to be heavy; he was still upset.

Patrick noticed his best friend and saw the yellow square's facial expression. He immediately knew that something bad must have happened to SpongeBob. Instead of greeting his best friend, he walked up to the sponge with a concerned face and put his hand on SpongeBob's shoulder. "What's wrong?" He asked in a solemn tone.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and turned to face Patrick. He did not make eye contact with the pink star. "I got a kiss from my grandma before I came to work. Once I got to the Krusty Krab, almost everybody laughed at me and made fun of me because of the kiss mark on my head." He pointed at the lip mark on his forehead as he spoke.

Patrick's intelligence suddenly increased. He then considered what he was going to say to his friend that would be appropriate for the sponge's situation. "I'm sorry that happened to you, SpongeBob." He decided on a sentence that perfectly conveyed his sympathy. "You're one of the most mature people I know." He decided on another sentence that was a compliment to a trait that SpongeBob had from his perspective. He was still stupid to a certain degree.

"Thanks, Patrick." SpongeBob made a warm smile and made eye contact with Patrick. He felt grateful for his best friend's willingness to help him with his situation. Situations like the one he was currently in was what made him feel grateful for having people such as friends who would support him.

Patrick thought critically about SpongeBob's situation.

A pause.

Patrick mentally found a solution to SpongeBob's 'problem'. "You know how grandmas are, they love babies. You just can't act like a baby around her." The solution that he said certainly would fix several troubling aspects of SpongeBob's situation. However, it did not fit all of them. The sea star did not know that Squidward was partially responsible for making SpongeBob upset and could have prevented the mocking and laughing from escalating to such a level that would and did made SpongeBob cry.

SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly in shock. "You're… right, Patrick." The sponge smiled after thinking about his best friend's false solution. He was highly aware of his childish nature and behavior. The solution gave him a sense of hope that his current situation could be fixed.

"Have I ever not been right?" Patrick indirectly revealed that he currently had a horribly poor memory. "You're a man now, SpongeBob, and it's time you start acting like one." The sea star had an unorthodox view of manliness like SpongeBob's and Squidward's. Making SpongeBob his ideal view of manliness was how his false solution was going to be put into action.

"Yeah!" With a grin, SpongeBob yelled with enthusiasm and raised his fist to the air.

A pause.

After reflecting on Patrick's spoken words, SpongeBob lowered his fist and made a deadpan facial expression. "I'm not sure about how we're gonna do it." The sponge wanted Patrick to give a more in-depth explanation of his solution and the application of that solution.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Patrick smiled slightly. He was confident in the application and outcome of his solution. "First, puff your chest." He quickly divided his solution's application into steps to make it easier for his best friend to learn.

SpongeBob puffed out his chest until he looked like he had decent chest muscles.

Patrick thought of some fancy and big vocabulary that SpongeBob could say and two words popped up in his mind. "Now say, 'tax exemption'." He said the next step.

"Tax exemption." SpongeBob nearly repeated what Patrick told him. The step was simple enough for him to do it with ease. He kept his chest puffed out as he said those two 'big' words.

Patrick walked towards his rock. "Come to my place for the next step." He spoke to his best friend without looking at him. He needed to bring SpongeBob to his house since there was no record player outside.

SpongeBob followed Patrick.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAAAK**

Patrick opened the rock.

SpongeBob jumped to the floor of the rock's living room.

Patrick slide through the opening and landed on the living room floor as well.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stood up and walked up to a stack of vinyl record pouches. "Now, you must acquire a taste for free-form jazz." All of the vinyl records in his home were music of the free-form jazz genre. Free-form jazz was his favorite type of music. He took a pouch that was on top of the pouch stack and took a vinyl record out of that pouch. Some of the pouches had more than one vinyl record inside them. The sea star then walked up to an old-school record player made out of hardened sand and put the vinyl record that he was holding into the record player. He made sure that the record player's needle was on the vinyl record. He then flicked a switch that was on the record player from 'OFF' to "ON'.

The record player turned on. It began to play the free-form jazz music that was stored into the vinyl record.

"Have a seat." Patrick pointed at the sand couch in the living room.

SpongeBob sat in the couch and tried to enjoy the music that was coming from the record player.

Patrick walked up to the couch and sat next to him. "Kick back and enjoy the tunes." The sea star laid back and closed his eyes as he listened to the free-form jazz. He found the music to be most enjoyable if it was only heard instead of hearing it while being accompanied by sight.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

The record player stopped playing free-form jazz music and became silent. It had a played all of the tracks that were in the vinyl record.

SpongeBob had been humming to the music when they had been played by the recorder. He had came to enjoy that music since it sounded pleasant and relaxing.

Patrick hopped to his feet from the couch. He had heard what SpongeBob had did when the recorder had been playing music. "Okay, SpongeBob. You're ready." The sea star looked at his best friend, grinned, and made a thumbs-up. He considered the yellow sponge to be ready for the next step in 'becoming a man'. "Just show me the way to your grandma's house and then I'll tell ya the next step." He walked towards the circular wall.

SpongeBob stood up and walked towards the wall at the same pace as Patrick's walking.

Patrick climbed the circular wall and…

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAK**

...opened the rock.

SpongeBob climbed through the opening.

Patrick lifted himself to the outside ground and slid through the opening.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his office and had resumed the counting of yesterday's profits. However, the incident that Squidward told him had been occupying his mind like a blindingly light object moving in a circular path around him. Almost his entire consciousness had been submerged into his thoughts about the incident, a tiny part was focused on the sense and the physical world itself; he was still aware of his surroundings, a slightly bigger part of his consciousness was focused on counting the money; that was why he was able to still correctly count the money before him without losing track due to his thoughts.

The crab did not see anything wrong with getting a kiss from a grandmother or any family relative in general, even if that kiss left a mark. However, his view on family relative kisses was not based on his views on manliness. Ironically, he had a fairly traditional view of who a 'man' should be. His view on family kisses was based on his experience as a pirate. He had lost many crewmates to the almighty clutches of death during his many pirate adventures, nearly all of them were good friends with Mr. Krabs. He appreciated the bonds that he had forged with his surviving crewmates and such an appreciation grew stronger with each unfortunate death of a crewmate. He viewed a kiss from a family relative as a reminder that there was someone or some people who could support him during troubling times. With the knowledge and wisdom that he gathered over the years, he knew that many people took family or friends for granted until they begin to lose some of them.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. He began to consider the idea about telling Squidward about why he had the view he had about kisses from family members.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the neighborhood.

SpongeBob and Patrick were nowhere to be seen.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick finished their ascension of the hill and stood on top of it to look at the house of SpongeBob's grandparents.

SpongeBob was waiting for Patrick to say the next step. Patrick had gave the sponge a lecture about manliness as he and the sea star walked toward the house. The two also had went to a shop along the way to buy a certain pair of fake hair since Patrick thought that they looked 'manly' if worn.

"This is it." Patrick spoke with a solemn face while looking at the house. "What're you gonna tell Grandma?" The sea star asked that question so he could see what SpongeBob learned from the lecture that he had told him.

SpongeBob stood straight and puffed up his chest. He made a very serious facial expression. "I'm a grownup." He spoke in a voice that was equally as serious as Patrick's. The sponge was trying to look like and speak like a 'man'.

"No ifrs, ands, or buts about it." Patrick told the sponge an excerpt from his lecture to remind the sponge about the most important parts of the lecture. He wanted his lecture to stick into SpongeBob's head so SpongeBob could be as 'manly' as possible.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." SpongeBob repeated an excerpt from Patrick's lecture that stuck out to him when compared to the rest of the lecture. He did that repetition to show that he understood Patrick's lecture.

Patrick suddenly had a brain fart. "And then you get behind her and I'll push." He pointed at his best friend and the pointed at himself as he spoke. He forgot the rest of the plan and so unintentionally made up a step.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick and raised his brow. "Patrick, you didn't say that at all." The sponge inferred that what Patrick just said was not an intended part of the plan since the step that the pink star said seemed out-of-place.

Patrick quickly remembered the rest of his plan, what SpongeBob just said jogged his memory. "Oh yeah, right." He nodded.

"All we need now is the icing on the maturity cake." SpongeBob pointed at a small box that was inside one of Patrick's pockets. He was certainly aware of what he and Patrick had bought recently and anticipated putting what they bought on.

Patrick took out the box and opened it before SpongeBob. He decided that now would be a good time to put them on.

There were two pairs of fake sideburns inside the box.

SpongeBob and Patrick took a pair respectively. They then put on the sideburns at almost the same time. "Sideburns." They stated the name of what they were wearing with smiles that showed a sudden increase in confidence. They thought that they themselves looked cooler when wearing sideburns, they were looking at each other.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked down the hill and walked up to the house. They then stood before the front door.

SpongeBob pressed the doorbell.

**DING DONG**

The doorbell rang.

Another pause.

**CRRREEEAAAAAK**

SpongeBob's grandmother opened the front door. She noticed that her grandson and a sea star were standing before him. :Oh, hello, SpongeBob. What a nice surprise. Come here and give your granny her kissy-kissy." She became surprised and then delighted to see her grandson again. She felt like feeling such a delight made her grandson deserve another kiss. She leaned towards SpongeBob to give him a kiss.

With a solemn face that did not show any change in emotion, SpongeBob held out his hand before his grandmother. He resisted the temptation with ease. After getting harassed at the Krusty Krab, he 'knew better'. "Sorry, Grandmother, but the kissing has to stop." He spoke in a highly formal manner in an attempt to sound more like an 'adult'.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "Tell her like it is, SpongeBob. No more baby stuff." He spoke some advice to his best friend in a low voice, he did not want SpongeBob's grandmother to hear the advice so the old lady could take her grandson seriously.

SpongeBob revealed Patrick's advice instead of basing his words off of them. "He is right, Grandmother. Kisses are for babies, which I am no longer. I have grown up, it is nature's way." The sponge sounded like a different person entirely. By removing his childish nature, he removed a major component of his personality. He spoke with elegance instead of silliness.

"Oh…" SpongeBob's grandmother widened her eyes in shock but she then made a neutral facial expression. "...you are absolutely right." She did not find any fault in what her grandson said and even agreed with him.

"I am?" SpongeBob raised his brow with a smirk. "I mean, of course I am." He tried to act cocky since he thought that acting that way makes him sound and look more 'adult-like'. It revealed his ignorance about who adults truly were, he viewed the words through childish and optimistic lenses after all.

"You will definitely not be treated like a baby around here anymore ever again." SpongeBob's grandmother tried to do what was best for her grandson by no longer treating him like a child. The yellow square successfully convinced her that he was a responsible and polished adult.

"I am glad you see it my way, mother." SpongeBob knew that his conversation with his grandmother was wrapping up. He put on his employee hat once again in preparation for his return to the Krusty Krab.

"Well, I'm glad that's settled." SpongeBob's grandmother also knew that the conversation was coming to an end. She then stepped back into the kitchen and looked at a tray of cookies that was on the wooden table. "But what am I going to do with all these fresh baked cookies?" She had baked those chocolate-chip cookies in anticipation for SpongeBob's return to her home after work.

Patrick's mouth watered at the sight of the cookies, he had not eaten in a while. The sweet smell invaded Patrick's tiny nose. Within a few seconds of seeing those cookies, Patrick succumbed to the temptation of eating them. He walked through the doorway and licked his lips.

SpongeBob chuckled. "Sorry, Grandmother. We adults don't partake in the consumption of sweets, right, Pat…" The sponge looked at where he expected Patrick to be and noticed that he was not there. "...trick?" He looked through the open doorway and saw Patrick eating the freshly baked cookies that were on the tray.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked up to the sea star. "You must be SpongeBob's best friend, right?" The grandmother made a guess after listening to how his grandson talked to the starfish.

Patrick made eye contact with SpongeBob's grandmother with a slight smile. "How did you know? Could you read minds?" He asked a question and jumped to a conclusion. He informed the old lady of his conclusion by asking the second question. His intelligence decreased by several degrees.

SpongeBob's grandmother giggled at the silliness of Patrick's second question. "My grandson told me about you a few times before. I can't read minds though." She kindly answered both of Patrick's questions.

The sea star was eating the cookies at a rapid pace, he quickened the pace when he was close to eating half of the cookies. "Keep 'em coming, Granny." He spoke while his mouth was full of cookies. He wanted more baked chocolate-chip cookies.

SpongeBob frowned as he watched Patrick eat the cookies. "So much for no more baby stuff." The nostalgia caused by the childhood memories of his grandparents' house began to conquer his rationality and reasoning. When he saw Patrick eating the cookies instead of himself eating the cookies, he began to long for those cookies. What made SpongeBob feel even worse was the fact that he was the one who was preventing himself from enjoying those delicious sweets.

"And don't forget the cookie-eating hat." SpongeBob's grandmother took out a red hat. The red hat had two springs sticking out of it and each spring had a yellow smiley face attached to its end. She then put the hat on Patrick's head as the starfish continued to eat the cookies.

SpongeBob frowned when he saw his grandmother put that red hat on Patrick. Whenever he had eaten his grandmother's cookies as a child, his grandmother would make him put on that hat. His grandmother had made him wear that hat when he was eating cookies as a child since he liked that hat. He found an abandoned hat before his grandparents' house one day when he was a young child and wore the hat to see how he looked. As a child, he tried to wear it several times and he grew a fondness for that hat. "Hey, that's my cookie-eating hat!" SpongeBob whispered loudly. His feelings were a mix of irritation and nostalgia. The red hat contained so much nostalgic power that SpongeBob felt like Patrick robbed the hat from him by wearing it.

A pause.

"I mean… it was when I was a baby." SpongeBob whispered to himself. A good chunk of his rationality took control of his thoughts and spoken words for several seconds. Abruptly, the sponge realized that Patrick was not doing what he instructed the sponge to do; Patrick was not being a 'man'. With a serious face that gave away the sponge's will to rebuke Patrick's actions, SpongeBob stepped into the kitchen.

The grandmother walked to a warm milk gallon that was on the wooden table.. She opened the gallon and filled a glass cup that was also on the table with milk. She then passed the cup of warm milk to Patrick.

SpongeBob's grandmother smiled widely when she saw her 'grown-up' grandson inside the kitchen. "Well, look who's here. It's my big old adult grandson." She verbally expressed her surprise to see her grandson inside the house. What she said could be and was also meant to be interpreted as a complement for SpongeBob's maturity.

"Grandmother, I need to have a mature conversation with Mr. Patrick." SpongeBob made eye contact with his grandmother and spoke formally before looking at Patrick. He even gave Patrick a formal address to make his 'maturity' sound more convincing. The yellow square then walked up to Patrick. "Patrick, what do you think you're doing?" He whispered loudly to the sea star, in a nearly scolding manner. "Cookies? Warm milk? The cookie-eating hat?" The sponge whispered loudly to the starfish. He pointed at what Patrick was wearing and what Patrick was doing in an attempt to reveal the sea star's hypocrisy. "We are supposed to be adults." He spoke in his normal; non-formal voice and banged his fist on the table to catch Patrick's attention.

"Oh, oh," SpongeBob's grandmother raised her index finger and shook it. "No roughhousing with a full tummy." She thought that Patrick was the person who banged his fist on the table. She walked up to Patrick and tickled him. "Who's the baby?" She had picked SpongeBob's best friend as the new 'child' to be showered with love.

"I'm the baby, I'm the baby, I'm the baby!" Patrick nearly chanted his role in his relationship with SpongeBob's grandmother in an attempt to increase his chances in getting more cookies. "Being a grown-up is boring. I love being a baby. Besides, I don't get jazz." He stated outright lies to even further increase his chances of getting more of the grandmother's cookies. The sea star was only deceiving himself.

SpongeBob chuckled after hearing Patrick's foolish words. "Poor Patrick. I almost feel sorry for you." He implemented sarcasm and sincerity into the words that he said. The sponge was aware of Squidward's often usage of sarcasm and thought that implementing it would make his criticism of Patrick's behavior more more obvious that something was, the more likely Patrick was to understand it. "Trapped in the awkward phase of diaper days, never to know the rich rewards of being a grownup." He once again blurred the line between sarcasm and sincerity. He spoke those words with a fake smirk.

SpongeBob's grandmother looked at the oven and noticed that it had been turned off. She had inputted a set time on the oven for the baking of another batch of cookies. Once the set time reaches 0, the oven would turn off to indicate that the set time was over. She walked up to the oven and opened the large door. She put on oven mitts and then took out a hot tray of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies from the oven. "Here's a fresh batch of cookies." The grandmother put the tray on the wooden table.

"Alright!" Patrick grinned and pumped his fist. He then quickly ate the super-hot cookies. He was eating them quickly since they could burn his mouth if he left them inside his mouth for too long. "Are there... any rewards... for being... an adult?" He asked while eating the cookies. He continued his self-deception in order to act more like a baby. His babyish behavior increased as his desire for the cookies grew.

SpongeBob thought critically. "Well, yeah, there's…" He searched through his mental library of knowledge for any 'rewards' for being 'mature'. The term 'adult' was too general and that was what caused the sponge's inability to find in his mind a reward for being 'grown-up'.

Patrick continued to eat the freshly baked cookies.

"Well, let's see, the.." SpongeBob's mental library refused to cooperate with him and he was unable to say a possible reward for being an adult as a consequence.

Patrick tossed a cookie towards the ceiling and then ate it as it flew down towards him.

"We went over the jazz…" SpongeBob thought that a memory could assist him in finding the specific 'reward' that Patrick asked him to find. To his dismay, that memory was still not enough to come up with a 'reward'. The sponge had to be 'mature' for a very long period of time in order to be able to see any 'reward' for being an 'adult'.

Patrick finished eating the batch of cookies. "Oh, Grandma, I'm full." He tapped his enlarged belly with both of his hands. The sea star was beginning to realize the consequences of eating too many cookies by feeling indigestion.

SpongeBob's grandmother realized that there was another batch of cookies inside the oven. She suddenly remembered that she had put two trays of cookies into the oven to be baked. She walked to the oven and opened it. She then took out the tray of baked cookies and put it on the table. "More cookies!" She announced with delight.

Patrick grinned and licked his lips. He made himself have another appetite so he could eat more of the cookies. The sea star then ate the cookies at a ridiculously fast pace.

SpongeBob glanced at the open doorway. He reflected on the current situation that he was in and decided that it was not worth spending any more time on, he needed to go back to work. The yellow square quickly came up with an 'adult-like' excuse for leaving his grandparents' premises. However, when he looked at the cookies that Patrick was eating, he realized that the excuse he was about to say could also cover eating a cookie from that batch. The sponge then looked at his watch to make himself look like he was realizing what time it was. "It appears to be my brunch hour. Grownups have to eat to." He looked at the tray of cookies. "I guess this will have to do." He picked up a cookie from the tray and opened his mouth so he could eat it.

"Oh," SpongeBob's grandmother took the cookie away from SpongeBob. "you don't want this baby food. How about a big piece of steamed coral?" The old lady was thinking of a different food for SpongeBob to eat. She walked up to the oven/stove and picked up a covered pot. She had recently cooked coral so she and her husband could eat it for lunch and dinner. She then set the pot on the table and opened it.

Smoke came out of the opened pot. The coral had been cooked to a nearly perfect light purple. A decently cooked coral piece was always light purple.

SpongeBob's grandmother took out a plate from a drawer and put it on the table. She grabbed a large fork from a drawer and put a few pieces of the steamed coral on the plate. She took a smaller fork from the same drawer and put it on the plate.

"Oh yeah, uh… great." SpongeBob continued to make a solemn face. He had anticipated eating another of her grandmother's cookies and became disappointed when such a privilege was taken away from him. He took the fork and ate a few chunks of one steamed coral piece with that fork. The coral tasted a bit salty. "Nutritious." The sponge tried to complement his grandmother's cooking even if the food was something he did not really like.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked through the open doorway. A light bulb had lit up in her head and she was going to put that idea into action.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's grandmother walked up to the shelf and took out a large story book from the shelf. "Storytime!" She announced loudly towards Patrick. The old lady wanted to do another activity with her 'baby'.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick heard SpongeBob's grandmother's announcement. "Oh boy!" He had forgotten what the term 'storytime' meant so he became excited as a consequence. The sea star thought that 'storytime' was an activity that he had never tried before. He stood up from his seat and briskly walked through the open doorway.

"Storytime?" SpongeBob turned to look at his grandmother and Patrick. The longing caused by the heavy nostalgia became so powerful that it became obvious by the slight moisture in SpongeBob's eyes. The sponge no longer had the appearance of an 'adult', he now looked like a child whose toys had been taken away from him. The sponge was on the verge of losing his solemn air entirely.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's grandfather saw Patrick from the corner of his eye. "Who's that young whipper-snapper?" He did not who the pink star was and did not recognize him at all.

"He's one of SpongeBob's friends." SpongeBob's grandmother quickly answered her husband's question. She then opened the storybook and sat in a couch chair.

SpongeBob's grandfather glanced at Patrick and then resumed his watching of the TV. He did not notice anything suspicious about the sea star's looks or personality.

Patrick sat in a couch chair that was adjacent to the one that SpongeBob's grandmother was sitting at. He was eager to listen to the story that the grandmother was about to read out loud.

The grandmother reflected on Patrick's personality and how he acted. The old lady was thinking of a story in the book that suited Patrick's tastes. She then decided on a story and flipped to a certain page that was the beginning to a certain story. "You'll enjoy this one. It's a wonderful story about a magical sea leprechaun."

Patrick nearly shook in his seat in excitement. Possible explanations for the mystery of 'storytime' filled into his thoughts.

S-S-S-S-S

The nostalgic power of storytime was too strong for SpongeBob to fight back. The yellow square stepped into the living room. He wanted to hear the story even though he had heard it many times as a child, his longing for the past overrode his rationality.

S-S-S-S-S

The grandmother looked up at SpongeBob. "Oh, SpongeBob, you wouldn't be interested in this baby book." She assumed that her grandson wanted to hear or read the fairy tale that she was about to read out loud. The old lady only wanted to serve the yellow sponge's best interests. She grabbed a doorstopper-length book from the shelf and then stood up. "Here's the technical manual on routine active maintenance." She gave the book to SpongeBob and then sat back in her couch seat.

"Oh, uh… great. Yeah." SpongeBob put the book on the floor and opened it. He flipped to a random page and tried to read the dull and challenging text. He thought that reading the book while listening to the fairy tale would not make her grandmother suspicious of him. He also thought that since the book was given to him, he might as well read it anyway.

Numerous words were compacted into each large page. The tiny font of the text only increased the difficulty of reading the book.

"Fascinating. No pictures, just the way I like it." SpongeBob was stating his own self-deceit out loud in an attempt to sound more like an adult who was liking the book that he was reading. He sounded more like a child discovering something new and strange instead.

S-S-S-S-S

More than ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's grandmother finished reading the fairy tale. She closed the book and saw something from the corner of her eye. She then looked at that object and noticed that it was a purple box that was closed by a red bowtie. Inside that box was a present that was meant for SpongeBob. She had made that gift so she could give it to SpongeBob when he came to visit her house for the first time in several years, that gift was made a long time ago. The old lady had forgotten to give that present to SpongeBob when he came to her house earlier in the morning. However, she knew that the gift inside the box was childish and assumed that her grandson would not like it. She then made eye contact with Patrick and a light bulb lit up in her head. "How about I give you a present." She picked up the box and held it out towards Patrick.

"Oh, boy! I hope it's cookies!" Patrick made a wild guess that was fueled by his desire for the grandmother's cookies. He then grabbed the box, took off the red bowtie, and then flung the box's lid to the floor.

A homemade knitted zipperless sweater was inside the box.

Patrick could not recognize the piece of clothing inside the box. His stupidity had worsened as he had listened to the fairy tale that the grandmother had read out loud. The sea star picked up the sweater and grinned. "Alright, another hat." He put the sweater on. He made a wild guess about what the piece of clothing was.

SpongeBob's grandmother and grandfather chuckled at Patrick's silliness.

"No, Patrick," SpongeBob's grandmother shook her head with a smile. "it's a sweater," She stated what the gift that Patrick was wearing was. "with love in every stitch." She also said the amount of effort that she put into making that sweater.

"No…" SpongeBob's eyes moistened. He correctly assumed that the sweater was meant for him. His grandmother had always given him a gift whenever he visits her after a long gap after the last visit. His throat became as heavy as a stone. The tears were destined to fall, they signaled the end of the sponge's temporary 'manhood'. He then shook his head in a futile attempt to dry his eyes and walked up to his grandmother. "Don't I get a present, Grandma?" He wanted a gift that would compensate for the sweater.

SpongeBob's grandmother immediately came up with an idea after hearing SpongeBob's words. "Wait right here." She stood up and walked up to a closet. The old sponge opened the closet and took out a moderate amount of old office tools that she had used during her younger days. She was going to use them as a substitute gift for her grandson. "Here's some office supplies. I didn't wrap them. I hope you don't mind." She handed the office tools to SpongeBob.

A pause.

SpongeBob's grandmother suddenly remembered something. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" She asked her grandson a very important question. The old sponge did not want the young yellow sponge to miss out on working hours.

"Uh, I don't need to leave yet. I can miss work for a bit more." SpongeBob smiled nervously. In his mind, he was thinking of ways to persuade his grandmother to give him something or do something childish/babyish for him so he could satisfy his nostalgia and childish nature. However, the grandmother may become an unintentional threat if she continued to ask questions since she might find out that him being an 'adult' was merely a facade.

Patrick yawned due to the warmness of the sweater that he was wearing. The sweater, the fairy tale that had been read out loud to him, and the sounds of the TV made him drowsy.

"I'll bet you'd fancy a nap." SpongeBob's grandmother glanced at Patrick and smiled slightly. She suggested the best activity that Patrick should do next. Her motherly instincts made her juggle her attention between SpongeBob and Patrick.

Patrick stood up and walked to the sofa where SpongeBob's grandfather was sitting. He then laid down on the other side of that sofa without touching the old man.

"Can't believe how some of you whipper-snappers sleep so much." SpongeBob's grandfather chuckled as he commented on the amount of time that youth sleep. He no longer understood why some youth took naps or slept until the noon since he was an old man and did not need much sleep as a consequence.

SpongeBob's grandmother walked up to the closet again and took out a dark blue blanket. She then walked towards Patrick with the blanket and put it over the sea star.

Patrick closed his eyes. The state of comfort that the blanket caused eventually made him fall asleep.

SpongeBob's grandmother noticed something yellow from the corner of her eye and looked up. She noticed that her grandson was still inside the living room of her house. "You still here, SpongeBob? I don't think you should do that. It wouldn't be the adult thing to do." She advised her grandson about the best course of action that he should take.

SpongeBob sighed, his disappointment became glaring. "Alright, I guess I'll be going. I've, uh, got a lot of adult-type business to take care of so, uh, I'll see ya later." He tried to make a valid excuse for leaving and then walked backwards towards the front door of the house. The nostalgic power of the house made him resist from immediately leaving the house, he wanted to absorb the last few glimpses of the house since he will not see the house until the evening.

"Okay, thanks for stopping by, SpongeBob." With a wide smile, the grandmother said a farewell to her grandson. She was completely unaware of her grandson's current emotional state.

"Yep, that is it. Here I go." SpongeBob slowly turned around and took hold of the front door's handle. Leaving the house was extremely painful since he did not get any gift or was showered with nostalgic love.

"Come again if you get the chance." SpongeBob's grandmother added something to her farewell. She hoped to see her grandson again in another visit to her own house even if he was an 'adult'.

**CRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAK **

SpongeBob slowly opened the front door. "Out into the cold, grown-up world alone without a sweater." He said one of his thoughts out loud. He still wanted to look 'tough' since being 'tough' was part of what he thought to be an ideal man.

"Toodleloo." SpongeBob's grandmother could not help herself and said another farewell.

"I don't know when I'll be back." SpongeBob was futilely dragging on the conversation. He desperately wanted a childish present or to get treated like a baby. As his eyes moistened and his throat became more sore, the falseness and flaws of Patrick's solution became unintentionally revealed.

"I know how busy you are." SpongeBob's grandmother became aware of what her grandson was doing. She said that sentence to express her sympathy for him.

"So, uh… that's it." SpongeBob could not come up with anything else to talk about that could drag on the conversation. He stepped through the doorway and turned to look at his grandmother who was now a small orange sponge who was looking over a sofa.

"Shh, he's asleep." SpongeBob's grandmother shushed her grandson. She knew that Patrick was napping and that she and her grandson could wake him up by accident if they continued to talk.

S-S-S-S-S

"So long…" With a frown, SpongeBob slowly closed the front door. HIs sadness caused by his dissatisfied nostalgia was becoming very obvious through his facial expression.

The front door eventually became shut.

A pause.

SpongeBob could no longer control his emotions or himself. Tears ran down his cheeks and he gasped repeatedly as he cried. He flew back decades until he was a child again in terms of maturity. The facade was too much of a burden for the sponge. He realized that Patrick's solution was not going to work since the nostalgic power of the house was too immense. In extreme desperation, he grabbed the handle of the front door and…

**SLAM**

...barged the front door open.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick woke up with wide eyes and sat up in the couch. He then rapidly looked at his surroundings for the source of the loud sound that he just heard.

SpongeBob's grandparents looked at the suddenly opened doorway. They no longer saw a young adult who had responsibilities to fulfill, they saw a child who had lost something precious to him.

SpongeBob's sideburns fell to the floor.

"**I DON"T WANNA GROW UP!" **SpongeBob yelled to nearly the limit of his voice. His crying made it sound broken in the process. The yell completely revealed SpongeBob's emotions to his grandparents and Patrick. "I want cookies!" The sponge ran into the kitchen and held out to his grandparents a cookie jar that was on the table. "And milky!" He opened the refrigerator and held out a milk gallon. He put the gallon back into the fridge and ran towards Patrick. "I want a sweater with love in the stitches!" He grabbed the sweater and held it out towards his grandparents while Patrick was still wearing it. He then released the sweater from his grasp and fell to the floor face-first before his grandmother. "I wanna wear diapies! I wanna ride in my wagon! I wanna cuddle-wuddle with Mr. Snuffykins! I wanna rocky-rock in my seahorsey! And I wanta kissy-kissy on my boo-boo!" He repeatedly slammed his fists on the floor as he repeatedly whined. He was crying loudly as he said those numerous demands. He was referencing toys that he had played with when he was a child, he was unintentionally asking his grandparents to fulfill his nostalgic needs.

Patrick was looking at his best friend with his jaw agape. The sponge's sudden change in emotion had completely shocked him. He certainly knew that SpongeBob had been acting more 'manly' than him but he was now reminded that the sponge was a faker just like him.

SpongeBob's grandfather made eye contact with his wife. "Yeah, maybe you should relent now. SpongeBob's always been a kid after all." The old sponge spoke those supporting words with a nervous smile. He deeply cared for his grandson, he was following his fatherly instincts.

A pause.

"Take it easy, SpongeBob." SpongeBob's grandmother gently took hold of her grandson's arms and pulled him up to his feet. She was trying to console the young yellow square.

SpongeBob continued to cry loudly. His eyes were closed as he cried so he did not notice his grandmother. His longing for his grandmother's past treatment was unrelenting in making him crying; it was the fuel for his sobbing.

"SpongeBob? SpongeBob?" SpongeBob's grandmother grabbed SpongeBob's shoulders and shook the yellow sponge. She was trying to shake the sponge back to his senses since he continued to bawl. She was heavily concerned for her grandson.

An awkward pause. SpongeBob did not stop bawling and making tears fall to the floor.

SpongeBob's grandmother quickly closed SpongeBob's lips with one of her hands, she decided that doing that was the only way to make her grandson be quiet.

SpongeBob opened his eyes and made eye contact with his grandmother. He was still frowning and he continued to gasp through a closed mouth as tears ran down his cheeks in rivulets.

"You don't have to be a baby to get ol' Grandma's love." SpongeBob's grandmother verbally expressed her enduring love and concern for her family members. She understood why her grandson was crying; he was longing for all of the nostalgic things that he did with her. The old lady was heavily acquainted with nostalgia since she had experienced it many times throughout her life, the collection of memories in her head was vast. Once SpongeBob became quiet, she released her grasp from the sponge's mouth.

"I don't?" SpongeBob asked while slightly expressing shock. He had genuinely believed that his grandmother would no longer shower him with love and concern since he had told her that he was an 'adult' and she believed him.

"Of course not. No matter how grown-up you get, you'll always be my little baby boo." SpongeBob's grandmother assured SpongeBob of any doubts about her maternal love for him and kissed SpongeBob on the forehead again. "And remember, you can kiss your grandma and still be an adult." She also wanted to share a tiny portion of her wisdom to the yellow square.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and smiled widely. "Thanks, Grandma." Two words were the only words that he could use to verbally express his gratitude to his grandmother. He stepped back and picked up the sideburns. What was in the back of his mind ever since he started crying came to the surface, he had to tell his grandparents the truth. He walked back to his grandparents with a somewhat nervous facial expression. "Grandma, Grandpa, I need to tell you something." He spoke in a serious tone. He was afraid of the possibility that what he was about to say might hurt his grandparents' feelings.

"Go ahead." SpongeBob's grandmother nodded with a smile. She did not mind at all.

"You got the green light." SpongeBob's grandfather turned to look at his grandson and made a thumbs-up. He did not mind as well.

SpongeBob gulped nervously. "I've been lying to you. When I came here, I was only trying to act like an adult." The sponge turned to look at his grandmother. "I told you to stop treating me like a baby because some bullies at my workplace made fun of me because of the kiss you gave me on the forehead." He confessed with dried eyes. "Telling you that I'm an 'adult' was Patrick's idea anyway." The yellow square pointed at his best friend, he did not want to blame him for what happened however. "I got carried away when you started treating my friend like a baby though."

"They made fun of you 'cause of a kiss?!" SpongeBob's grandfather raised his brow and stood up from the couch. "You shouldn't pay any attention to them, they have no lives. Kids like them probably won't respect anybody." The grandfather offered some advice to his grandson in an attempt to support him.

"You should confront them and be assertive. I bet you'll scare them off very quickly." SpongeBob's grandmother offered some advice as well and tried to encourage her grandson to meet with the bullies face-to-face. She would not tolerate people like those bullies that harassed SpongeBob.

Patrick stood up from the couch and walked up to SpongeBob. His intelligence increased somewhat. "They're right. We should go to the Krusty Krab right now." He wanted to follow SpongeBob's grandparents' advice immediately. "I'm gonna make those bullies learn a lesson.' He thought.

"Umm…. o-okay." SpongeBob slowly nodded with hesitancy. He then turned around and walked towards the front door. He was being hesitant since he wanted to think critically about the consequences of his actions before making any decision about the bullies. He did not want to worsen his already troubling situation.

Patrick followed him.

**CRRREEEEAAAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the house.

S-S-S-S-S

"Pat," SpongeBob turned to make eye contact with Patrick. "I wanna go back to our neighborhood. I wanna think some things through before meeting the bullies." The yellow square made a wise decision by telling his best friend about what he was going to do. The sea star was more likely to get misguided than him.

Patrick thought for several seconds before saying, "Okay." He nodded. Since the current severe situation was only affecting his best friend, he respected his best friend's decision. He knew that at the end, they were going to confront the bullies anyway.

The best friend duo walked towards the neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was desperately searching throughout SpongeBob's pineapple for any signs of the yellow square. He did not want to get fired or get his paycheck reduced. The octopus remembered the threat that Mr. Krabs told him on April Fools day, he was very aware of the fact that the crab could fire him at any moment, especially for making him lose one of his employees. He was becoming more and more nervous about the state of his job as he continued to find no signs of SpongeBob.

Gary was watching Squidward as the octopus re-checked the living room for the fifth time.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered their neighborhood. The two had waited until they reached that place so they could begin their conversation.

SpongeBob had reflected deeply as he had walked. "Patrick, I didn't tell you this before but Squidward was one of the bullies who made fun of me. I think he could've prevented the whole thing from happening." He said an unrevealed fact to the starfish and also said one of the thoughts in his mind.

"Squidward?" Patrick raised his brow in utter disbelief. After several seconds, his brows furrowed in a building of anger. He thought that Squidward betrayed SpongeBob and also betrayed him as a consequence, the sea star almost always desired to reprimand any of SpongeBob's enemies due to his loyalty."Scum like them and Squidward don't deserve families." He stated his thought out loud and shook his fists while he said those words. Like Mr. Krabs, something happened to him that made him appreciate his family more. "SpongeBob, did you remember when I told you about my sister?" He spoke in a very serious tone.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. "I remembered seeing her a few times when we were all kids." He remembered Patrick's sister. However, the most recent memory of her was dated such a long time ago that he could not remember her name. The yellow square then suddenly made a crucial realization. "What happened to her?" He asked with a solemn face. "Did she move out?" He stated an inference that was a possible answer to his own question.

Patrick shook his head. "My family lost her in a really bad storm." He answered SpongeBob's question with a frown and closed eyes. Every mental recurrence of that unpleasant memory of his last moment with his sister always made him react with a cringe or drop a bit towards sadness. "Don't you remember that storm?" His memory did not fail him during that moment.

"Y-yeah." SpongeBob immediately answered Patrick's question. "Wasn't it an underwater typhoon?" He was not certain with the name of the storm. That catastrophic storm had occurred thirteen years ago, when he was ten years old. He had slight trouble in remembering his childhood since he had felt many emotions today.

"The winds were too strong…" Patrick tried to go more in-depth into the memory in an attempt to get rid of the memory's cringe-worthiness but it was too painful for him to explain any further. He stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. However, there was something in the back of his mind; he knew that his sister was alive.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside Patrick's mind…

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick had seen a large sand cloud after he had seen his sister land on the ground from far away, the gusts of the typhoon had pushed her by a very far distance. He had then seen a moving silhouette once that cloud had dissipated.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob understood what Patrick was feeling, he could tell what Patrick was feeling by the expression on the sea star's face. He had a glimpse into such a feeling of loss when he had been rejected of nostalgic activities by his grandmother. "Maybe you should talk about it some other time." He tried to save his best friend from the pain of explaining that memory in detail. He also realized that he and Patrick had went completely off-topic during their conversation.

S-S-S-S-S

As Squidward dug through the couch, a light bulb lit up in his head. He then stood up and ran towards the double door. There was the possibility that SpongeBob was currently inside his tiki and was waiting for the octopus to return to his home after work for emotional support. Squidward was so desperate by that point that any idea in his head was an opportunity for him.

**CREAK**

SLAM

Squidward quickly exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick immediately entered Squidward's vision.


	48. Imitation Krabs

**Chapter 48: Imitation Krabs**

* * *

"Finally!" Squidward exclaimed as he felt a sense of triumph. He ran towards SpongeBob and then pointed towards the Krusty Krab which could not be seen in the horizon. "C'mon, let's go back to work." With a slight smile, he dragged SpongeBob by shoulder as he walked towards the Krusty Krab. He did not care about how sudden his introduction and dragging of the sponge was, he was glad that the torture of searching for the sponge had ended.

SpongeBob adjusted his employee hat so it could stay on his head. "Well, Pat, I don't think I need to think any longer. I think we've just found the solution." The sponge spoke to his pink best friend and then pointed at Squidward. He had immediately inferred that Mr. Krabs had made Squidward search for him. He also assumed that Mr. Krabs will deal with the bullies if he cared so much that he wanted him back at the Krusty Krab.

Patrick nodded and made a thumbs-up. He was happy that his best friend found a solution to his situation.

SpongeBob freed himself from Squidward's grasp and skipped at a fast pace towards the restaurant. He was enthusiastic to return to his working duties.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward disappeared from the horizon as they headed for the Krusty Krab.

A light bulb suddenly lit up in Patrick's head after he reflected on what had happened at SpongeBob's grandparents' house. He had totally forgotten about his plan when he began to get spoiled by SpongeBob's grandmother. He realized that his solution was ineffective since SpongeBob had a childish nature and probably treated his grandparents' house with heavy nostalgic value.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward walked up to the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two employees entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

With a deadpan face, Squidward walked up to the boat and sat in it. Working at the Krusty Krab was only a more gentle form of torture, thinking of whether to search for SpongeBob or to work as a cashier was like thinking which one was the lesser of two evils. 'Another workday, more of my life wasted.' He thought pessimistically.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob turned on the grill and took out his spatula with a wide smile. He was ready to tackle the amount of orders that he was about to receive.

S-S-S-S-S

Several customers had entered the restaurant while others had left. Most of the young men from before stayed in the restaurant since they were active and loyal customers. All of the remaining customers had been sitting in tables as they patiently waited for the return of the fry cook and the cashier. When they saw SpongeBob enter the kitchen, they stood up and formed a single-file line before the cash register.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on top of an empty table. 'Once he done with those orders, I'm gonna have a little talk with him.' The crab thought. He was waiting for the most appropriate moment to have a conversation with Squidward about what happened earlier.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

All of the customers were sitting at tables and were eating the food that they ordered. SpongeBob had cooked the food quickly while Squidward had served the food at a decent pace, the octopus had served the food faster than his usual pace since he was directly under the watch of Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs stood up from the empty table and walked up to Squidward with a solemn face. He thought that now was a good time to talk to Squidward since the octopus was not doing anything with the cash register. "Mr. Squidward, come into me office, we're going to have a talk." He spoke with folded arms.

Squidward did not change his deadpan face, he did not know what to expect during his talk with his boss. He stood up from the boat.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the door to his office.

**CRRREEEAAAAAK**

The boss opened the door.

Squidward walked through the open doorway.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs stepped into his office and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the ordering window out of curiosity and had seen and heard what Mr. Krabs and Squidward did. "Uh oh." He spoke to himself. He was concerned for his coworker. 'Is Squidward in trouble for making fun of me earlier?' He mentally asked. The yellow square then stopped standing on his tip-toes and walked to the door to Mr. Krabs' office that was inside the kitchen.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAAK**

SpongeBob slowly opened the door and stepped into the office. He did not want to be rude by interrupting Squidward and Mr. Krabs' conversation.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward and Mr. Krabs had just sit in their seats when SpongeBob opened the door.

"There's no need for you to be in it, SpongeBob." Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob and then looked at Squidward. "This talk just for me and Mr. Squidward." He wanted the conversation to be private.

SpongeBob nodded. "Aye, aye sir." He respected his boss' command. He was still concerned for Squidward but did not want to end up getting in trouble as well.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the door to the kitchen that was inside the office.

"Squidward," Mr. Krabs sat up in his seat that was in his desk. "why did you join the customers in their harassment of SpongeBob?" He asked a crucial question. He wanted to cut to the chase.

Squidward took a deep breath. He thought that there was no point in speaking with dishonesty. "Honestly, I did that because I find kisses from relatives in front of public to be embarrassing. I knew that he was gonna cry but I didn't expect him to leave the Krusty Krab." He spoke frankly. "I don't like SpongeBob that much anyway, he annoys me all the time at home."

"Mr. Squidward, me money maker has a child's heart. I bet he could easily get his feelings hurt by the most petty insults. If you keep doing things like this to him, I'll be riskin' losing him as an employee. It'll be just like before January if SpongeBob leaves this place and doesn't come back. I also want to tell you something else, Squidward. I don't see what's so funny about kisses from relatives. When you become as old as me, you'll truly understand why. I've lost quite a few crewmates when I was a pirate and I appreciated my family and friends more as a consequence. Young men like you don't understand older people like me unless you get into our shoes." Mr. Krabs spoke with sincerity and solemnity. The lecture that he did was chastising Squidward for harassing SpongeBob, it indicated how Squidward had some sort of disregard for his family by laughing at SpongeBob's kiss mark.

Squidward nodded. He understood what his boss had said. He learned something from Mr. Krabs' lecture but it was not merely for avoiding trouble with his boss. He learned something on an emotional level as well. The octopus even began to feel slightly guilty for harassing SpongeBob since he loved his parents and other remaining family members. He did not care if the harassment harmed SpongeBob since he did not consider the sponge to be a friend yet.

An awkward pause.

"I think this talk has came to an end, I know it's kinda early though." Mr. Krabs stood up from his desk and pointed at the door to the dining room. "You're dismissed." He then walked towards the safe and was about to uncover the input panel.

Squidward stood up from his seat and walked towards the door.

**CRREEAAAAK**

SLAM

Squidward exited the office and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton screwed the final nail into his latest robot. The robot was going to assist him in his latest attempt to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. The plankton had written his plan into his electronic journal yesterday and had started building the robot at 5:00 AM in the morning. 'It's finally complete.' Plankton thought and made an evil smile. He then stepped back to marvel at what he had built.

The robot looked like the average male citizen of Bikini Bottom. The robot had green skin and was wearing a purple shirt and brown pants. It was also wearing a hat and a fake mustache that Plankton had bought from a store so it could look even more realistic. The robot was the perfect disguise for someone small enough to fit into it.

Plankton grabbed a remote that had been laying on another table and pressed the big red button on it. Black text saying 'ON/OFF" was on the red button.

The robot's green eyes glowed and it sat up. Its neck opened to reveal a control compartment inside its head.

Plankton repeatedly hopped across the robot's surface and entered its control compartment.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton sat in a seat. Before him was a microphone, a few joysticks, and a keyboard of differently colored buttons. 'With this disguise, that formula is as good as mine.' The plankton optimistically thought about the possible outcome of his plan and then made an evil plankton pressed the light green button.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot's neck closed. Under the control of Plankton, it stood up from the table and walked across the laboratory. It was walking smoothly since Plankton had practiced using the control compartments controls.

**C-CREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The robot opened the double door with a swift motion of both of its hands and walked into the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot walked across the dining room without a falter in its steps. Its facial expression and the movement of its hands made it act virtually just like a normal adult male that was walking.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

S-SLAM

The robot exited the Chum Bucket with ease.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot turned to face the Krusty Krab. The slight narrowing of its eyes as it locked-on to the restaurant showed Plankton's determination to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula. Through the superb vision of the robot's eyes, Plankton noticed that SpongeBob was standing behind the ordering window and Squidward was walking towards the bathroom door. The robot then walked towards the restaurant at a brisk pace, no one became suspicious of the robot since there was not a single outdoor person near the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRREEAAK**

S-SLAM

The robot eventually entered the Krusty Krab. It did not slow the pace of its walking when it entered the restaurant since it saw an absence of a line in front of the cash register.

S-S-S-S-S

By that point, Squidward had entered the bathroom.

The robot quickly walked up to the boat and made eye contact with SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton grabbed the microphone and leaned it towards his mouth. He was ready to speak to SpongeBob through the robot.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood on his tip-toes so he could get a better view of the 'customer'. He then smiled widely and opened his mouth to ask what order the 'customer' wanted but got interrupted by the 'customer'.

"_Are you SpongeBob SquarePants?" _The robot spoke in a slightly altered and electronic version of Plankton's voice. It was trying to act like a normal person. The microphone had been built to change Plankton's voice when it brought that voice's sound waves to the robot's mouth's speakers so Plankton could avoid detection through his normal voice.

SpongeBob gave the robot a funny look while still smiling. He very, very rarely met a customer who asked who he was. The sponge then shrugged, the robot did not look suspicious at all anyway. "Why, yes-yes, I am." He nodded with a normal smile.

The robot took out a folded fake paper check from one of its pockets. It then unfolded the fake paper check and held it out before SpongeBob. $1,000,000 had been written into the check. _"Then you've just one won one million dollars!" _It passionately spoke with a wide smile as if it was an announcer of a sweepstakes.

SpongeBob gasped and covered his mouth with both of his hands. He could not hide his smile since he was overflowing with joy. Today was one of those days that was least expected for extremely pleasant surprises to occur on. His gullibility made him completely fall for the outright lie that the robot told him, he did not notice some signs on the check that indicated its fraudulence.

"_You just have to answer one question." _The robot continued to speak and held out one of its index fingers.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was shaking in excitement as he sat in his seat. His plan was extremely close to being successful. He took out a notepad and a pencil. If SpongeBob answered the question that he was about to ask, his plan would be a success.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob rapidly nodded with a smile that stretched to his ears. He would answer almost any question given to him so he could receive his pleasant surprise. He was not nodding out of greed but out of the seizing of an opportunity.

"_What is the Krabby Patty secret formula?" _The robot asked the question with a wide smile. Plankton was so excited that he unintentionally used the controls in a certain way that made the robot's face express his excitement.

A pause.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "The Krabby Patty formula is the sole property of the Krusty Krab and the Krabs family and is only to be discussed in part or in whole with its creators, Mr. Krabs and his relatives. Duplication of the formula is punishable by law." He tried to speak to the 'customer' in the most polite and formal way as possible as if he was reading a legal document out loud. He spoke in a such a manner in an attempt to discourage the 'customer' from attempting to find out what the secret formula consisted of and to show how serious he was about protecting the secret formula. During his work at the Krusty Krab, he had learned from Mr. Krabs that even if Plankton stole the formula, he would get arrested for robbery and copyright infringement.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton widened his eye and gritted his teeth in rage. The fact that he was just short from succeeding made his failure to get the formula the most sour.

**CLANG**

He pushed the microphone towards the metal wall of the robot's head's inside. He stood up from his seat and leaped with all of his leg's might towards the speakers/teeth of the robot.

S-S-S-S-S

**CCRRRACK**

The glass of the teeth/speakers of the robot fell from the mouth and landed on the floor in shards and apparatus pieces.

Plankton landed on SpongeBob's nose. "THAT'S IT?!" He loudly asked. The plankton then stomped up the sponge's nose and glared at SpongeBob by directly looking at the sponge's eyes. "YOU'D BETTER COUGH UP THE FORMULA OR ELSE!" The plankton grumpily threatened the employee. His robot had a few weapons built into it.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs jumped to his feet from his desk when he heard a very familiar voice. He then dashed across the office and towards the door to the dining room.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door open and entered the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

"PLANKTON!" Mr. Krabs yelled at his arch-enemy, folded his arms, and glared at the plankton. He yelled at the plankton in an attempt to scare him away. He was big enough to crush Plankton after all.

"KRABS!" Plankton turned to yell and glare at the boss. His anger made him brave enough to not back down and flee the Krusty Krab. His ego made him think that getting kicked out of the restaurant was better than fleeing the restaurant like a coward.

"PLANKTON!" Mr. Krabs exclaimed his enemy's name in another attempt to scare him away.

"KRABS!" The stubborn plankton still refused to flee.

The two looked and sounded silly when they had exclaimed their names at each other. Their actions made their hatred of each other glaring.

SpongeBob was the first to realize the comicalness of what Mr. Krabs and Plankton were doing. "SpongeBob." He stated his first name to make the two enemies realized the silliness of their pointless exclaiming. He did not want his boss and the plankton to fight for too long since it might already worsen the current situation.

Mr. Krabs grabbed a straw that was on the floor and then stepped up to Plankton within a second. He grabbed the plankton and stuffed him into the straw. Plankton had made himself completely vulnerable to an attack from the crustacean. The crab was not going to let such an opportunity go to waste.

Plankton realized the mistake that he had made. "You can't do this to me, Krabs!" He shook inside the straw and whined like a spoiled brat due to his grumpiness.

Mr. Krabs aimed the straw towards the restaurant's double door and blew into the straw with all of the air that was inside his lungs. He ignored what his enemy said.

"I went to college!" Plankton yelled as he rapidly flew through the air like a bullet. He pointed out that he took a higher form of education than Mr. Krabs. Mr. Krabs had went down the path of a pirate after graduating high school while Plankton went to a university after his high school graduation. To the plankton's dismay, he had not been able to get a job after getting his Master's degree.

**S-SLAM**

Plankton flew through the double door and out of the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton flew towards the Chum Bucket.

Slam

Plankton hit the double door of the Chum Bucket and…

Thud

...fell to the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs turned to make eye contact with SpongeBob. "Plankton is a clever beast. You've got to keep a sharp eye out for him, SpongeBob. You must continue to fulfill your duties as one of me employees. The future of the Krusty Krab depends on it." The crab wanted the yellow fry cook to be highly alert of any suspicious signs that could indicate that Plankton was inside the restaurant. "You'll become better at fighting Plankton over time."

"Don't worry, Mr. Krabs. As long as these pants are square and this sponge is Bob," He made a fist with one of his hands and lifted it up towards the ceiling. He stopped smiling and furrowed his brows. "I will not let you down!" He expressed his loyalty to his boss through words. As long as he maintained his integrity, he will not let Plankton slip past his radar.

A pause.

"SpongeBob, could you throw out that robot?" Mr. Krabs pointed at the disguise robot that had broken/speakers. "Throw those shards and pieces to the trash." He made another command.

"Aye, aye sir." SpongeBob nodded to show his obedience. He picked up the robot with ease, the robot was lightweight. He then walked towards the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

S-SLAM

SpongeBob exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob threw the robot across the street.

Plankton ran out of the way.

SLAM

The robot landed on the ground before the Chum Bucket.

SpongeBob wiped his hands and,,,

**C-CREEAK**

**S-SLAM**

...returned to the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the shards and pieces of the robot's teeth/speakers. He then leaned towards them and began to pick them up so he could throw them to the trash.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked at the fallen robot and a giant light bulb lit up in his head. He then slowly made a wide evil smile, he was going to make another attempt to steal the secret formula with the same plan but with a few slight changes to that plan. He giggled evilly and…

Creak

Slam

...entered the Chum Bucket. Preparations for his plan were going to begin immediately.

S-S-S-S-S

Two and a half hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

It was currently the afternoon at Bikini Bottom. The sun's ray were shining at their brightest through the windows of the Krusty Krab's dining room.

A thirty year old man was sitting at a table and just finished eating his very first Krabby Patty. He was also visiting the Krusty Krab for the very first time. He came from New Kelp City and only came to the restaurant to try out its famous specialty, the Krabby Patty. After eating the burger, he loved its flavor. "Man, this patty is delicious. I wonder what's in that secret formula." He also heard rumors about the Krabby Patty secret formula, they were usually from conspiracy theories on the internet.

SpongeBob just set a plate of packs that were full of french fries on a table when he heard what the customer said. He then gasped as he jumped to a wild assumption and pointed at the customer so everybody could know who the thirty year old man 'was'. "Your disguises can't fool me this time, Plankton!" He walked up to the man, pinched the man's face, and tried to pull it off.

The man's face did not came off at all. It was his normal face.

The man slapped SpongeBob's hand off of his face. "What gives?" He raised his brow. "I'm not whoever this Plankton guy is." He became irritated at the yellow square.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. He had heard what was going on inside the dining room. The crustacean walked up to the yellow sponge. "SpongeBob, you're scaring away me money!" He scolded his yellow employee for his irrational behavior.

SpongeBob bit his lip. "Sorry, Mr. Krabs. I was just trying to protect the secret formula." He was only trying to do his job to the best of his ability.

"That's no reason to try to rip other people's heads off, boy! Just remember this important rule!" Mr. Krabs wanted to give some advice to SpongeBob so an incident such as the one that just occurred would never happen again.

"No free napkins?' SpongeBob made a good guess about what Mr. Krabs was about to say. He tried to show that he was a responsible employee by knowing the rule before Mr. Krabs even said it.

Mr. Krabs shook his head. "The important rule is to only discuss the formula with me or my family." He corrected SpongeBob.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers after he heard Mr. Krabs' words. He remembered the rule that the crab just told him since the crab said that rule to him before. "Oh yeahh…" He smiled widely.

"As long as you follow that rule, the secret is safe." Mr. Krabs said the positive consequences that followed the abiding of the rule. He was encouraging the yellow fry cook to abide by that rule when it came to protecting the secret formula.

SpongeBob nodded.

Mr. Krabs glanced at Squidward and the ordering window for several seconds and a light bulb lit up in his head. "SpongeBob, can you be both cashier and fry cook for a bit? I want Squidward to do a chore for me." He informed the yellow square about what he was about to command Squidward to do.

SpongeBob gasped and then grinned. "Roger that, sir." He became overjoyed since he had thought that he would never have both duties ever again after Squidward had been temporarily the boss of the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs walked up to Squidward. "Mr. Squidward, follow me. I want you to do something for me." He then walked towards the kitchen door.

Squidward stood up and followed his boss. His face was still deadpan.

**CRRREEEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward and Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen.

SpongeBob sat in the boat. He could not hide his extreme happiness.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs pointed at all of the things that were stored inside the kitchen. "I want you to take inventory of everything in here, every last pickle and patty must be accounted for." He said a command and took out a notepad and a pencil and gave them to Squidward.

Squidward groaned and then silently nodded. One of the worst aspects of his job was that he had to do tedious tasks such as the one he was about to do on a daily basis.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office that was inside the kitchen and entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A robot that looked very similar to Mr. Krabs exited the Chum Bucket. Just like the other robot, its movements were smooth and they looked realistic as a result. Plankton had tried to make the robot imitate Mr. Krabs as much as possible.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was sitting inside the control compartment of the robot. Like the other robot, the compartment was inside the crab robot's head. The plankton had a wide evil smile on his face as he controlled the robot. He thought that his newer version of his plan would almost ascertain success.

S-S-S-S-S

The red robot walked towards the Krusty Krab, it walked at a normal pace.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The robot eventually entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was currently filling out orders on sticky notes so he did not see the incoming robot. Once he was finished with filling out those orders, he stepped out of the boat and…

**CRREEAAK**

SLAM

...entered the kitchen.

The crab robot walked up to the kitchen door.

**CRRREEAAAK  
**

**SLAM**

The robot entered the kitchen as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hi, Squid." SpongeBob greeted Squidward and then took out his spatula. He took out a few patties from a plastic bag near the grill and put the patties on the grill. He saw the crab robot from the corner of his eye but ignored it, he thought that the robot was Mr. Krabs because of the robot's looks.

Except for the plastic bag full of patties and other bags of ingredients that SpongeBob was using, the octopus was counting the stored ingredients inside the kitchen. "Two boxes of buns. Three pounds of patties." Squidward whispered what he was writing into the notepad so he would not make a mistake when writing into the notepad.

The robot walked up to Squidward.

Squidward made eye contact with the robot. Like SpongeBob, he thought that the robot was Mr. Krabs due to the robot's physical appearance.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton leaned the microphone towards himself. Like the previous robot's microphone, it altered any voice that was spoken into it.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Mr. Squidward…" _The robot spoke. It was saying something but became silent. Plankton was thinking of something to say that Mr. Krabs would probably say to his employees.

"What now, Mr. Krabs?" Squidward wanted to get his current chore over with. He found the chore to be too tedious for his tastes.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton shrugged his shoulders, he could not come up with anything realistic. He sacrificed realism for efficiency. By that point, he no longer cared about his spoken sentences sounding like something Mr. Krabs would say. As long as he got the secret formula, nothing else would matter.

S-S-S-S-S

"_That's right, I am Krabs." _The robot spoke._ "Your boss, your ruler, your master!"_ The robot then made an evil laugh. What it was saying sounded more like Plankton than Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was laughing evilly into the microphone.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob could not hear what Squidward and the robot were saying. The sounds of the grill blocked out the robot's voice.

Squidward noticed that 'Mr. Krabs' was not laughing like Mr .Krabs at all. He also noticed that the robot said something that Mr. Krabs would never say to his employees. He then glared at the crab robot. "You're not Mr. Krabs." He stated the obvious. He began to suspect that the robot was Plankton in disguise.

A light bulb lit up in Plankton's head. _"Hey, why don't you take the rest of the day off?" _The robot spoke, Plankton put his idea into action immediately. The plankton did not want any suspicious people to get in his way.

Squidward beamed. "Well... whatever you say, 'Mr. Krabs'." He then laughed by honking his nose due to his happiness. What the robot just said gave him a valid excuse to leave the restaurant for the rest of the day. If questioned by his actual boss, he will simply say that he mistaken the robot for the real Mr. Krabs. He dropped the pencil and notepad and walked towards the door to the dining room.

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Squidward exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked across the dining room.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus walked towards his tiki. He decided to spend the rest of his day in relaxation.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob flipped the patties and made them all land on his spatula. He then walked towards the table and flipped them to the table so he can make the actual burgers. "Hi, Mr. Krabs." He glanced at and greeted his 'boss'.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton narrowed his eye and made a sinister smirk. He was going to take advantage of SpongeBob's obliviousness to the truth. He pushed the microphone away so he could talk to himself. "Oh, sweet domination. This is it!" He was very close to reaching his goal, all he had to do was to carefully manipulate the yellow fry cook in a certain way. He then pulled the microphone towards himself.

S-S-S-S-S

"No sign of Plankton yet." SpongeBob gave his 'boss' a status report about Plankton's whereabouts. Keeping Mr. Krabs up to date about the latest information about Plankton was the next best thing he could do when it came to protecting the formula. He then looked at Mr. Krabs again and raised his brow. He noticed something odd about the 'crab's' physical appearance. "Gosh, Mr. Krabs. You don't look so good." He could not pinpoint what was odd about the crab. He poked the cold metal surface of the robot and a chill ran down his spine due to the coldness of the surface. "Ooh, you're so cold." He stated the obvious.

"_That's just my metal suit. I made it to protect the formula." _The robot spoke in a neutral tone. Plankton kind of baloney sliced in coming up with a reason for "Mr. Krabs'" odd appearance, SpongeBob would still get fooled by the reason anyway.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was looking around the dining room with extreme caution. He was scanning the large room for any signs of his tiny arch-nemesis. He then stepped on something and tripped on it.

**THUD**

He fell to the floor back-first.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs stood up and noticed that he tripped on a trash bag. SpongeBob had forgotten to throw that trash bag out of the restaurant yesterday. He then walked towards the kitchen door.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot saw the incoming Mr. Krabs through the ordering window from the corner of its eye.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton gritted his teeth and pushed the microphone away from himself. "It's that thick-headed Krabs! He'll ruin everything!" He stated the obvious angrily. The sight of the crab immediately made him lose his temper, his grudge against the crustacean was extremely potent. He then pulled the microphone towards himself.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab robot pointed at a non-existent object inside the kitchen. _"Look, a jellyfish." _It tried to distract SpongeBob. It needed to find a hiding spot without making SpongeBob suspicious of it.

"Where?!" SpongeBob rapidly looked at his surroundings. He had seen jellyfish that had appear out of nowhere before and believed what the robot said as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a large yellow button on the keyboard.

S-S-S-S-S

The red robot rapidly folded itself into what looked like a normal toaster. It was built with an ability to disguise itself, that feature was certainly useful for situations such as the current one.

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen. "SpongeBob!" He tried to grab the sponge's attention since he was seeing the sponge running around the kitchen in search of something that was non-existent. He had a chore in his mind that he thought that SpongeBob should do. He then noticed a toaster that was on the floor but ignored it, he left it there so the sponge could take it out of the Krusty Krab later.

SpongeBob turned to look at Mr. Krabs. "Hey… Mr. Krabs, what happened to your metal pants?" He noticed that Mr. Krabs sounded and looked different. "You sound different too." He was confused by the conflicting voices and appearances of the crab. He was mostly confused between the two voices since both the crab's and the robot's mouths looked exactly alike. The robot had been built with a realistic and moving mouth so it could be more like Mr. Krabs.

"Don't get all loopy on me, boy." Mr. Krabs thought that SpongeBob was acting crazy to a certain degree. "I need you to take something out for me." He then noticed that Squidward was not inside the kitchen. "Where in the high seas is Squidward?" He could not figure out a reason for Squidward's sudden disappearance.

"You gave him the day off." SpongeBob frankly spoke with a neutral facial expression. He did not know how to exactly react to his actual boss' question since he thought that the boss was aware of 'his' actions. "Don't you remember?"

"DAY** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFF?!**" Mr. Krabs asked with an extremely high volume. His face became more crimson than his already dark red skin. He was enraged by the sponge's words, he suddenly concluded that Squidward left the Krusty Krab for no valid reason. He was angry since Squidward's absence meant less profits for his business. "I don't know the meaning of them horrible words!" He said an exaggeration as another verbal expression of his anger. "Now quit your laying around and take out that garbage!" He opened the door to the dining room and pointed at a trash bag that was inside the dining room. The crab's anger faded to an ill-temper.

SpongeBob nodded and briskly walked towards the trash bag. He exited the kitchen.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs exited the kitchen and entered the dining room. He resumed his hawk-like watching of the dining room for any signs of Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the same yellow button again.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab robot unfolded back to its normal physical form.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob picked up the trash bag and walked through the open doorway. He re-entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw 'Mr. Krabs' and smiled slightly. He did not notice the leaving of his actual boss from the kitchen. "Hey, Mr. Krabs. Just taking out the garbage." He gave a status report to his boss, he did not want to look suspicious.

"_Never mind that." _The robot snatched the trash bag from SpongeBob's hands. It was acting like it had said the words that the actual Mr. Krabs had said. Plankton had paid almost all of his attention to the conversation that the sponge and the actual crab had. _"I need to talk to you." _He tossed the trash bag to the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a red button that was somewhat far away from the keyboard.

S-S-S-S-S

**Z-ZZZAAAAAP**

Two fiery hot red lasers came out of the crab robot's eyes. The lasers burned the trash bag to almost invisible ashes. The robot removed the obstacle that prevented it from properly conversing with SpongeBob

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and his pupils shrunk. His jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He was completely paralyzed by shock. He could not believe what he had just seen.

An awkward pause.

"I must be seeing things." SpongeBob shook his head in an attempt to get that shocking sight out of his mind. He concluded that what he just saw was a hallucination since it was too mind-boggling to be true. He sank into the depths of denial.

'Mr. Krabs' made eye contact with SpongeBob, he wanted to cut right into the chase. _"I need you to tell me-" _He was saying something but got interrupted by a familiar voice.

"SPONGEBOB!" Mr. Krabs' yelling was heard.

SpongeBob looked towards the source of the voice and scratched his head in confusion. He found two alternate voice sources and the voices of the crab to be illogical. The sponge thought that something wrong was going on inside his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton widened his eye in fear. He did not want to accidentally reveal that the robot was an imitation of the actual Mr. Krabs. He pressed the yellow button.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab robot turned back into a toaster.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs had seen a large line of waiting customers form in front of an empty boat. He did not want to lose profits due to an absent employee and called for SpongeBob because of that.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs facially expressed his irritation. He was impatient due to his bad mood. He stomped towards the kitchen door and…

**SLAM**

...barged it open. "SpongeBob, I'm not paying you to stand around." He pointed at the grill as he glared at his yellow fry cook. "Get back to work!" He barked an order. The crab wanted business to go smoothly.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side in extreme confusion. He jumped to another wild conclusion, his boss was having a severe case of elderly forgetfulness.

An awkward pause.

"But I thought you wanted to ask me a question." SpongeBob continued the recent conversation he had with 'Mr. Krabs' in an attempt to jog the actual crab's 'memory' about what 'he' said.

Mr. Krabs raised his brow but then made a deadpan face. He used what SpongeBob said to him as an opportunity to gain insight about his yellow employee's strange behavior. "Why aren't you working harder?" He asked an important question.

SpongeBob shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Mr. Krabs… things have been weird lately." His working pace had slowed down dramatically due to the strange events that were occurring before him. His rationalizing of the events also took up precious working time.

S-S-S-S-S

The control compartment barely fitted inside the toaster. The toaster was larger than a normal one anyway to accommodate for the compartment's size.

Plankton pushed the microphone away. " I'll never get that formula with that pest Krabs popping in and out like that." He muttered to himself.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in his head. "I've got it!" He took out a penny that was inside a holder, the compartment had a few holders so useful things could be stored in it. The penny was slightly larger than him. Plankton had brought that penny into the compartment in case if he needed to buy something or act 'cheap' like the actual Mr. Krabs. "I've been saving this for a rainy day." He smirked as he looked at the penny. "That fool Krabs is too greedy to ignore you, my little pretty." The plankton spoke to the piece of currency and then laughed evilly. He inserted the penny into one of the two slits that was above him, those slits were the toaster's slits if they were seen from the outside.

S-S-S-S-S

**CHING**

The penny popped out of one of the toaster's slits and landed on the floor. It then rolled across the floor and eventually entered the dining room.

"That sound," Mr. Krabs widened his eyes as he heard the familiar sound of a rolling coin. "That sounds like… the pitter-patter of…" He turned around and looked down. The crab saw a penny that was rolling across the dining room's floor. "...money!" He smiled widely and scrambled out of the kitchen and towards the rolling penny. "Hey, where you going, beautiful?" From his greedy eyes, the penny was as shiny as a diamond. That penny could be extra money for his wallet.

S-S-S-S-S

"Stop! Please!" Mr. Krabs was struggling to catch up with the penny. The coin was rolling too fast. He reached towards the penny with both of his claws but could not touch it at all. "Wait!"

The penny rolled towards the double door and eventually rolled through the slit between the two parts of that door.

SpongeBob stepped out of the kitchen and watched Mr. Krabs chase the penny. He was waiting for his boss to get the penny so they could continue their conversation.

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the double door open and exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the yellow button. He had waited until SpongeBob was not looking so he could unfold the robot without revealing the robot's true identity.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab robot unfolded back to its normal form. It then turned around and walked towards the back exit of the kitchen.

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

The robot opened the door and exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The penny was rolling around the perimeter of the restaurant. It was reaching the midway point of the perimeter, the restaurant's backside.

The crab robot to look to its left and saw the incoming penny. Mr. Krabs soon entered its vision as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed a blue button.

S-S-S-S-S

One of the robot's claws retracted and a taser popped out in that claw's place.

Mr. Krabs dove towards the penny and caught it with both of his claws as he landed on the ground. "Finally…" He grinned at his victory and stood up. The crab then looked away from the penny and saw the crab robot. He immediately realized why SpongeBob was acting so strange, Plankton had made a disguise that looked almost just like the crustacean. "Pla-" He opened his mouth and spoke a syllable but got quickly interrupted by the robot.

**ZZZZZZZAAAAAAP**

The robot stabbed its taser at Mr. Krabs and electrified the crab.

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs fell to the ground and became unconscious.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the blue button again.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot's taser retracted and the metal claw popped out in its place.

"_Nothing stands between me and that secret formula now." _The robot stated the obvious. It then picked up Mr. Krabs and tossed him into the dumpster. It covered the crab with the trash bags that were inside the dumpster so the actual crab could stay hidden from SpongeBob's sight. It then walked towards the back door of the restaurant.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

The crab robot entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was rapidly serving orders that he had quickly cooked. Within several seconds, he finished serving all of the current orders to the customers sitting at the tables. He then briskly walked into the kitchen's open doorway and…

**SLAM**

...closed the door to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stopped walking. 'Mr. Krabs' was right in front of him. "Hey, Mr. Krabs." He greeted his 'boss' again, he usually treated his actual boss with such friendliness.

"_Hello, SpongeBob. It is me, Mr. Krabs." _The crab robot continued to deceive the gullible sponge. _"In the flesh. Standing right in front of you. With no one else around." _It was stating obvious facts as Plankton thought of how he was going to talk with SpongeBob about the secret formula. Plankton wanted to be careful since he knew that SpongeBob was very capable of thinking critically.

"I can see that, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob nodded with a slight smile. He was aware of the obviousness of the robot's statements.

"_I thought we might discuss the Krabby Patty secret formula." _The robot spoke. Plankton could not come up with any good ideas so he decided to cut to the chase again.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton took out the pencil and the notepad. He had given himself another opportunity to find out what the Krabby Patty secret formula was.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob suddenly remembered that he had to do one of several security measures in case if he, Mr. Krabs, or Squidward were impostors. His actual boss had told him that he and Squidward had to do one of these measures with him if they were going to talk about the formula, the three had to maintain the formula's secrecy anyway. The crab had forgotten to do this when he told SpongeBob what the secret formula was and a few other times when he talked with the sponge or Squidward about the formula, his aged mind could not remember everything. "Let's do the secret handshake." SpongeBob chose a security measure.

"_Oh yes." _The crab robot nodded. _"Here, let's shake." _It held out one of its metal claws. Plankton did not know any of the security measures so he made an educated guess about the secret handshake.

SpongeBob chuckled. He thought that 'Mr. Krabs' became forgetful again. "We don't shake our hands, remember?" He tried to jog the 'crab's' memory out of kindness.

"_Uhh, right. Why don't you start?" _The crab robot asked. Plankton wanted to watch what SpongeBob was about to do so he could mimic it through the robot. he once again took advantage of SpongeBob's kindness.

"We stand on one foot." SpongeBob lifted one foot towards his back while standing on another foot.

The robot emulated what SpongeBob did.

"We then balance a jar on our heads." SpongeBob grabbed a glass jar from a table and put it on top of his head.

The crab robot grabbed another glass jar and put it on top of its head.

"Now we sing the Bikini Bottom Anthem." SpongeBob said the next step in the secret handshake. He then cleared his throat so he could be prepared to sing.

A pause.

"_O, Bikini Bottom, we pledge our hearts to you. As faithful, as deep, as true, as blue. O, Bikini Bottom, we love you!"_

The robot and the sponge sang the Bikini Bottom Anthem. Both of them precisely remembered the song. All people that lived in Bikini Bottom were taught that short song when they were children.

Another pause.

"_Formula time?" _The crab robot asked. Plankton assumed that he and SpongeBob finished the secret handshake. He made that assumption since he thought that a song would be a proper ending to a secret handshake.

"Almost." SpongeBob shook his head. "We gotta sing the Spaghetti Song. Once we finish doing that, we're done." He informed 'Mr. Krabs' about the last step of the secret handshake.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pushed the microphone away. "Thank Neptune." He said in relief. He had been afraid of the possibility that the secret handshake would consist of increasingly harder steps. The Spaghetti Song was another childhood song that he remembered. The plankton then pulled the microphone towards himself.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Meatball. Meatball. Spaghetti underneath. Ravioli. Ravioli. Great barrier reef."_

SpongeBob and the crab robot sang the spaghetti song. The song was short and easy to remember, just like the Bikini Bottom Anthem.

"_Okay, now let's hear that formula." _The red robot demanded to know what the Krabby Patty secret formula was. Plankton was becoming impatient, his hopes had been continuously put down by SpongeBob for too long. The plankton's desire for the formula grew stronger with each delay.

SpongeBob grinned and made a thumbs-up. "Okee-dokee." He then walked towards the door to the office that was inside the kitchen. He thought that the secret handshake between him and 'Mr. Krabs' was valid.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton made wide smile and the hand that was holding the pencil shook rapidly. He could not contain his excitement, all of the torture that he underwent over many years was finally going to pay off.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs opened his eyes. Plankton had not made the robot electrocute the actual crustacean intensely enough for the crustacean to stay unconscious for a long period of time. He noticed that he was covered in trash and tossed the trash bags that was blocking his view to the side. 'I gotta stop Plankton before it's too late.' He thought. Mr. Krabs leaped out of the dumpster and brushed off the trash that was sticking to his clothes. He then dashed towards the Krusty Krab's back door.

**CRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs rapidly entered the Krusty Krab. He knew that the secret formula's secrecy was in danger.

S-S-S-S-S

"The first ingredient is-" SpongeBob was saying something but suddenly became silent when he saw a familiar crab enter the kitchen. He then slowly widened his eyes in shock.

Before him were 'two' Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs gasped. He was also choked by shock.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton's eye bugged out. His jaw then dropped and his face drained of color. He needed to make a hasty decision or his plan would be a total failure.

"How could you do this, SpongeBob? Telling me secret formula to this impostor!" Mr. Krabs pointed at the crab robot with widened eyes, he almost doubted what he had heard and what he was seeing. He assumed that SpongeBob knew that the robot was not the actual Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton shook back to his senses. He decided on what he was going to do. He grabbed the microphone and pulled it towards himself.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Don't listen to him, SpongeBob. Remember: Ravioli, ravioli, give me the formuoli." _The crab robot said what it remembered of the Spaghetti Song. It wanted to make itself look like it fully knew the secret handshake so the actual Mr. Krabs would like an impostor as a consequence.

""SpongeBob, no!" Mr. Krabs shook his head and looked at SpongeBob with rivulets of sweat running down his brow. If SpongeBob concludes that he is the impostor, the future of the Krusty Krab would be doomed. "Don't listen to him. I'm the REAL Mr. Krabs." He stated the truth in a desperate attempt to bring SpongeBob's view into his favor.

"_Don't listen to him." _The crab robot pointed at Mr. Krabs._ "He's obviously a robot." _Plankton tried to bend the truth towards his favor. He and Mr. Krabs were playing a tug of war, the rope they were using was SpongeBob's mind.

"Well, if I was a robot, which I'm not, at least I'm well put together." Mr. Krabs tried to make a comparison to show that the crab robot was the impostor. He was trying to make SpongeBob carefully analyze both his and the robot's appearances. "Not some rusted-out, steam-driven piece of junk!" He insulted the robot to make the robot further look like an impostor.

S-S-S-S-S-

Plankton gritted his teeth and shook his fist. He took Mr. Krabs' insult about his robot personally since he had recently went through intense bouts of excitement, his extreme emotions shifted into anger.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Who are you calling steam-driven?" _The crab robot folded its arms and glared at Mr. Krabs. It was expressing Plankton's anger.

SpongeBob's mind had been shrouded by the darkness of confusion. The darkness came from Mr. Krabs and the robot desperately trying to persuade SpongeBob that one of them was the actual Mr. Krabs and the other was an impostor. He wanted the two crabs to stop arguing so he could reach a sound conclusion, he had also became aware of the endangerment of the Krabby Patty formula's secrecy. "QUIET!" He yelled at the robot and the crab.

The crab robot and Mr. Krabs became silent.

A pause.

"I'm going to ask this super-hard question that only the real Mr. Krabs could answer." SpongeBob wanted to weed out the impostor, he did not want to become fully submerged in the darkness of confusion. He cleared his throat.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton bit his lip and sweatdropped. The success of his plan lied on his ability to answer the upcoming question from the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs gulped nervously. The fate of the Krusty Krab lied on the question that SpongeBob was going to ask.

"If we're discussing the formula on the third Wednesday in January and it's not raining outside after we've gargled vanilla pudding, what do we do?" SpongeBob asked a ridiculous question. From his perspective, the real Mr. Krabs was a rational thinker and could answer the question he just asked quickly. He was oblivious to the irrationality of his question, he had tried too hard to come up with a question.

"You just… just… let's see… if it's January… with… with vanilla pudding… you… uh… pass?" Mr. Krabs tried to answer the confusing and ridiculously complex question. He became heavily confused by his yellow employee's question since it did not make complete sense at all.

SpongeBob looked at Mr. Krabs and raised his brow. What Mr. Krabs said was the wrong answer.

"_We do the secret handshake and then talk about the formula, as we normally do." _The crab robot answered SpongeBob's question. The answer was based on a guess by Plankton, it was better to answer the question than to provide no answer at all since it would make the robot sound knowledgeable.

"Correct." SpongeBob glanced at the crab robot and nodded. He then narrowed his eyes at Mr. Krabs and sprinted towards the 'impostor'. He grabbed the crustacean and lifted him to the air like a wrestler. "Nice try, impostor, or I should say, Plankton!" He leaped to a conclusion. Only 'Plankton' would use such a 'realistic disguise' to 'get the formula'.

"Wait, SpongeBob! Give me another chance!" Mr. Krabs flailed his limbs as he was being held by the yellow square. He reached the apex of his desperation. In his mind, his money and the secret formula were slipping from his grasp by Plankton.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the door to the dining room open with a mighty kick.

"**NNNOOOOOOOO!" **Mr. Krabs screamed in despair. He was flailing to the point that his limbs looked like the wings of a hummingbird.

SpongeBob ran through the open doorway while carrying Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pushed the microphone away and laughed evilly at what he thought was an ascertained victory for him. Once Mr. Krabs was ridden of by SpongeBob, the formula would be in his grasp.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran across the dining room with Mr. Krabs on his two hands.

**S-SLAM**

The yellow sponge barged the double door open with another kick. "So long, Imitation Krabs!" He name-called the actual Mr. Krabs, he thought that he was discouraging Plankton from coming to the Krusty Krab in another Mr. Krabs disguise. He then threw the crustacean through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs landed on the ground.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob shut the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen. He eventually walked through the open doorway to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab robot had turned around to face the closed back door. It was waiting for SpongeBob to say the secret formula to it while it continuously tapped one of its feet. It was expressing Plankton's excitement and impatience. Plankton thought that the time he spent waiting would pass by faster if he did not watch SpongeBob get rid of the actual Mr. Krabs.

"Anyways, I'm gonna tell you the formula now..." SpongeBob told 'Mr. Krabs' what he was going to do. He then saw something on the crab robot's back and raised his brow. The thing he saw made him perplexed.

"_Thank you, SpongeDupe." _The red robot turned around and made eye contact with the sponge. It hid an insult about SpongeBob's gullibility within his verbal expression of sincere gratitude. It was also smirking and unintentionally reveal the sinister person that was controlling it.

An awkward pause..

"Are those… nails?" SpongeBob walked around the robot and pointed at the nails that made the metal plates covering its rockets boosters stick to the robot's metal surface. The sponge also noticed the outline of the metal plates. "Why do you have metal plates? Aren't you already wearing a metal coat?" Questions filled SpongeBob's mind so the sponge subsequently continued to ask questions.

"_I-I just had surgery." _The crab robot said a reason for his questionable physical appearance. Plankton was becoming nervous because he did not want the yellow fry cook to discover the truth and wreck his whole plan as a consequence.

SpongeBob could not control his curiosity. He repeatedly walked around the robot in search of more nails and saw many more of them scattered in patters throughout the crab's skin. He had overlooked such suspicious physical features. He started to think critically about his "boss'" physical condition. He then stepped up to the 'crab' and opened the robot's mouth. The sponge hypothesized that something inside the crab was causing a problem. He looked inside the mouth and saw a speaker. He then looked up at 'Mr. Krabs' with wide eyes. "Mr. Krabs, a-are you a r-robot?" He said his conclusion in the form of a question.

"_N-nope." _The crab robot shook its head.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was sweating profusely in anxiety. If he did not do something desperate, SpongeBob was bound to figure out the truth.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob reflected on what he, the robot, and his boss had talked about. He thought critically for several seconds and then came to another realization. "Why're you asking me to tell you the formula? Can't you open that safe with the bottle inside of it?" SpongeBob was trying to think in Mr. Krabs' shoes, unlocking the safe and reading the formula would have been more convenient. "Why have you been constantly asking me for the formula and did not count your money? I thought you really liked money, Mr. Krabs." He asked a very important question. "You told me to work harder but then you asked me for the formula. Didn't the secret handshake waste some of my working time?" His critical thinking potential was revealed to Plankton through the questions that the sponge was asking. "And why did you give Squidward a day off but then wanted him back in?"

The crab robot began to back away. It was going to get the secret formula through brute force. Plankton decided that breaking the safe and snatching the bottle would be the next best thing to do.

"I think I know who the true impostor is." By that point, SpongeBob was not he was glaring at the crab robot. "Tricking and lying to people is not nice, Plankton." He correctly guessed who was controlling the robot before him. He wanted to teach the plankton a lesson about manipulating people.

_Plankton tossed the ice cream cone to the side. "SpongeBob, isn't it great to get the things you desire?" He began to manipulate the sponge with his cunning words. "Like another ice cream cone, for instance. You can have anything you want with a little training." The plankton then stood up and slowly made a 360 degree turn as he pointed at everything in Goo Lagoon._

_Patrick overheard Plankton's words._

_"Training?" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time. The two then looked at each other._

A memory about Plankton's robotic invasion of Goo Lagoon passed through his mind. It filled SpongeBob with a righteous anger. He wanted to break the robot into pieces as payback for manipulating him into thinking that his actual boss was an impostor.

The crab robot sprinted towards the door to the office in the kitchen.

**SLAM**

The robot barged the door open and entered the office.

SpongeBob sprinted towards the robot and entered the office as well.

S-S-S-S-S

The robot faced the hidden safe on the wall.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was about to press the red button outside the keyboard when he abruptly fell out of his seat due to a sudden impact.

S-S-S-S-S

**CLANK**

SpongeBob karate kicked the robot in the rear.

**THUD**

The robot fell to the floor. _"You won't be getting in my way, SpongeBob." _It said something that only Plankton would say, it revealed its true identity. It stood up and…

**C-CTHUNG**

...its metal claws were replaced by tasers that were charged with very high amounts of electricity. _"Bring it."_

SpongeBob tried to punch the robot's chest.

**CLANG**

The robot blocked SpongeBob's punch with one of it's upper arms and then…

**ZZZAAAP**

….jabbed and electrocuted SpongeBob with the taser of the other arm.

SpongeBob reeled in pain and stepped back from the crab robot.

**SMACK**

The robot smacked SpongeBob's face with one of its tasers.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor.

The crab robot raised one of its tasers so it can electrocute SpongeBob again.

SpongeBob quickly rolled out of the way.

**SLAM**

The incoming taser hit the floor instead and left a small hole.

SpongeBob made a low kick and made the robot trip on his leg.

**THUD**

The robot fell to the floor.

SpongeBob picked up the robot, twirled it like a wrestler, and threw it towards the door to the dining room.

**SLAM**

The robot flew across the office, made the door to the dining room barge open, and flew across the dining room.

SpongeBob quickly exited the office. He was following the robot.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

The robot landed on the dining room floor.

Frightened customers stood up, picked up their meals, and walked back to the corners and walls of the dining room. They noticed that the robot and the yellow fry cook were fighting. However, the reason for their fight was unknown to them.

The crab robot stood up and charged towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob stepped out of the way and…

**CLANK**

...karate chopped the robot's back.

The robot flew towards a table and…

**S-SLAM**

...and fell to the floor while knocking down the table. It then stood up and picked up the table. The robot locked-on to SpongeBob and threw the table towards the sponge.

SpongeBob dove out of the way.

**SLAM**

The table landed and rolled across the floor.

SpongeBob leaped across the rolling table and…

**BAM**

...punched the robot in the chest.

The robot stepped back, grabbed a chair, and…

**SLAM**

**SMACK**

BAM

...repeatedly hit SpongeBob with the chair.

SpongeBob became dizzy and…

**THUD**

...fell to the floor.

The crab robot quickly jabbed the taser and….

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAPPP**

...electrocuted SpongeBob.

SpongeBob kicked the robot in the groin area and then grabbed the arm that had the taser that was electrocuting him.

The taser moved away from SpongeBob as the robot stepped back.

SpongeBob shakily stood up and lifted the robot to the air by holding on to its arm. He then…

**SLAM**

SLAM

SMACK

SLAM

POW

SLAM

...repeatedly made the robot hit the floor on both sides before and behind him as if it was a tool. To finish it off, it threw the robot towards the double door.

The robot flew towards the double door and…

**S-SLAM**

...made that double door barge open. It then flew to the outside world.

SpongeBob rapidly followed the robot and exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

The robot landed on the ground and became submerged in a sand cloud. It then stood up while still being inside the sand cloud and…

**Z-ZZZZZAAAAAP**

...fired two bright red lasers from its eyes.

SpongeBob dove to the ground and dodged the lasers.

The two bright red lasers pierced the double door and left two holes.

SpongeBob grabbed a nearby rock and tossed it to the air. He then karate punched the rock as it fell to the ground and made it fly towards the robot.

**CLANK**

The rock hit the robot and made it fall to the ground again.

The robot stood up and…

**CTHUNG**

...a jetpack popped out of its back. Flames came out of the jetpack and the crab soared to the air.

SpongeBob quickly came up with an idea that will make the robot confused and would give himself an advantage as a consequence.

**Z-ZZZAAAAAAAAP**

The robot fired two bright red lasers from its eyes again.

SpongeBob ran from the lasers. He took out his soap bottle and his bubble wand.

Mr. Krabs was hiding behind a rock and was watching the fight. 'What in the world is he doing?' He thought and tilted his head to the side when he saw SpongeBob take out his bubble blowing gear. He did not know how they could be used as weapons.

SpongeBob opened the soap bottle and then dipped the bubble wand into the bottle for several seconds as he ran and dodged the red lasers coming from the crab robot. He then aimed the bubble wand towards the robot above him and blew into the bubble wand with all of the air inside of him.

Numerous medium-sized bubbles came out of the wand and flew towards the robot. They did not reach the robot but they covered the small patch of sky in the Krusty Krab's vicinity. They blocked the robot's overhead view of the Krusty Krab and the Chum Bucket.

The crab robot stopped firing lasers. The reflections of the bubbles made it almost impossible to know where SpongeBob was since there were numerous reflections of SpongeBob below it.

SpongeBob picked up another nearby rock and tossed it to the air. He pulled back his fist and carefully aimed it at the robot above him. The sponge then karate punched the rock towards the crab robot with all of his might.

**BAM**

The rock soared towards the robot and broke through the canopy of bubbles.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton saw the incoming rock through the robot's eyes and gasped. He did not have enough time to react.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CLANK**

The rock hit the robot's jetpack at a very high speed.

The jetpack cracked and began to glow while becoming a dark red.

S-S-S-S-S

"Uh oh…" Plankton became wide-eyed and his face became pallid. He did not know what was going to happen to the jetpack. The state of the robot was balancing on a rope that was on a high altitude.

S-S-S-S-S

**BBOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

The robot's jetpack exploded.

A now charred crab robot fell through the canopy of bubbles and…

**CRRRAAASSH**

...fell to the ground. A dust cloud surrounded a somewhat broken robot. Several parts of the robot's surface have been removed or heavily scratched.

A long pause.

The robot shakily stood up and…

**C-CTHUNG**

...replaced its tasers with laser guns. It then locked-on to SpongeBob, it was going to shoot SpongeBob until the sponge was merely ashes.

SpongeBob widened his eyes in shock and he began to shake in fear. He assumed that the laser guns could fire lasers at an almost lightning-fast pace and would make the lasers impossible to dodge as a consequence. His sudden spike of fear made the two magical pages in his pocket glow.

SpongeBob looked at the glowing pocket and then smiled widely with a sense of hope. He had forgotten that his two magical pages were still in his pocket.

The glow from the pages flew to the sponge's hands and became two golden auras that surrounded both of SpongeBob's hands.

SpongeBob looked at the robot before him and continued to smile widely. He was going to use the miraculous opportunity that was given to him.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton's mind was occupied with other thoughts. 'Where did that glowing came from?' He mentally asked. He was highly aware of what was going on around him as he thought heavily.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob charged towards the robot and unintentionally made the two magical pages slip from his pocket.

The two pages landed on the ground, they were now glowing to a slight degree.

The robot did not have time to react to SpongeBob's charge.

**BAM**

**CLANK**

SpongeBob punched the robot on the face and on the chest.

Several pieces of the robot's metal armor fell to the floor.

The robot ran around SpongeBob and towards the two pages. It was desperate to gain some power that would allow it to prevent itself from getting destroyed by SpongeBob.

The yellow square quickly followed the robot and…

**C-CLANG**

...kicked the robot's back with both of his feet. He was holding his stance by his two magical hands. For several seconds, his arms were acting like legs. He then jumped to his feet and made a karate stance.

**CRRRAAASSSH**

The robot landed on a rock and broke into several pieces.

**CLANK**

The robot's head broke into many pieces of metal. The control compartment popped out of the robot's head and landed on the ground.

SpongeBob walked up to the control compartment and picked it up. He cracked the compartment open with his hands as if it was a nut.

His hands stopped glowing.

SpongeBob dug into the broken compartment and took out Plankton.

"Curse you…" Plankton loudly whispered to SpongeBob while gritting his teeth. He was seething with rage at the failure of his plan.

SpongeBob tossed the plankton towards the Chum Bucket. He did not want to seriously injure the plankton. His kind and gentle nature took over his more passionate nature. The sponge only wanted to make sure that Plankton was no longer a threat for the rest of the day.

Thud

Plankton landed before the Chum Bucket's double door.

Mr. Krabs stood up from the rock he was hiding behind and walked up to SpongeBob with a grin.

SpongeBob saw Mr. Krabs from the corner of his eye and then made eye contact with his actual boss. "Gee, Mr. Krabs. I'm sorry. I thought you were a phony." He sincerely apologized for his actions against the crustacean. He realized his own foolishness for confusing the robot and the crab as the same person.

"That's okay, me lad." Mr. Krabs forgave SpongeBob for his mistake. "As long as the secret formula is safe." The crab glanced at the opened door to his office. SpongeBob had redeemed himself anyway by making Plankton's plan fail. "Can you fetch Mr. Squidward?" He requested to the yellow square.

"Right away, sir." SpongeBob made a military salute and ran towards Squidward's tiki. He was aware of Squidward's absence. The sponge picked up his two magical pages along the way.

'I should investigate about those pages.' Plankton thought as he walked towards the Chum Bucket's entrance. He perceived his curiosity as a good thing since using those magical pages could lead to his successful seizing of the Krabby Patty secret formula. From his perspective, the discovery of the pages was both a source of frustration due to his plan's failure and as an opportunity since the pages could be a new source of power.

Creak

Slam

Plankton opened one side of the double door and entered the Chum Bucket.


	49. Welcome to the Chum Bucket

**Chapter 49: Welcome to the Chum Bucket**

* * *

An hour later…

S-S-S-S-S

A piece of the crab robot's metal surface was on a table. It had been part of the robot's surface that had been punched by SpongeBob's magically powered fists.

Plankton aimed a scanner gun towards the metal piece. He was going to see if there were any 'leftovers' from the golden aura that had surrounded SpongeBob's fists. 'If I can find a sample of that aura, I may be able to trace those pages or find more of them.' The plankton thought. By that point, he was considering if SpongeBob's magical pages were decent sources of power. He needed to find an actual magical page in order to reach a valid conclusion. The plankton pulled the trigger.

A large non-destructive green laser passed up and down through the metal piece.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The scanner gun beeped. It was signaling that it had detected something.

Plankton widened his eye and made a wide smile. The beeping signaled to him that he made a step in his journey to find a conclusion about the magical pages. He looked to the scanner gun's screen to see what it had detected.

The scanner gun's screen said:

'**MATERIAL: ? **

**The material left on the object could not be completely identified. It is possibly an otherworldly substance that can not be detected by normal technology. The unknown material also has signs of life inside of it as if it was possessed by a soul or related to a ghost. Other than the extreme basics, all other properties of the substance is unknown. A bigger sample of the substance may uncover more properties.**'

Plankton came to a conclusion as he read what was on the scanner gun's screen, the pages that gave SpongeBob enhanced fists were certainly magical. However, he was also dumbfounded by what he read. He had no idea about how SpongeBob could receive such 'haunted' objects. 'How did that sponge manage to get those pages?' The plankton mentally asked. 'Last time I checked, his pineapple was not haunted.' That fact that he remembered only caused confusion. 'I need to go outside and gather more of that page stuff.' Plankton decided to follow what the text on the screen said. He walked back and forth to several parts of the laboratory as he gathered metal parts for the machines that he was about to build.

S-S-S-S-S

Later on that day…

S-S-S-S-S

5:00 PM.

Several robots set long metal poles that had glowing green tips on their tops on the ground before the Chum Bucket. The poles each had a red button on them that had black text saying 'ON/OFF'. The poles were currently turned on.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

The robots entered the Chum Bucket since they were finished with their task.

S-S-S-S-S

The robots walked through the empty dining room.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The robots walked through the double door and entered the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton saw the entering robots and hopped to the computer. He had commanded the robots to set the poles before the Chum Bucket. "Karen, open the detector's program." He commanded solemnly to his computer wife. The poles were an advanced version of the scanner gun that he had used earlier, it was the machines that he had built over the previous few hours.

Several lists of the various materials that the poles were currently detecting appeared on Karen's screen. The poles were detecting those materials through a form of echolocation by sending out sound waves that were silent to most living creatures' ears.

? was on of the materials listed.

"Open the listed unknown substance." Plankton had a deadpan face as he said that command. He was mixed with hope and doubt at the sight of such a material in the lists. He did not know if he could find out much more about the otherworldly substance coming from the pages.

A summary of what the material was appeared on Karen's screen. It was almost the same as the text that had been shown on the scanner gun's screen except for an edited sentence, a removed sentence, and a completely new sentence at the end.

'**The substance also seems to change the properties of any object under circumstances that are currently unknown.**'

"Very interesting…" Plankton commented on what he read. There was absolutely no doubt that SpongeBob's pages were magical or alchemical. 'I need to make those detectors portable. Getting those pages are a necessity if I want to utilize their magical powers.' He thought critically.

S-S-S-S-S

It was an hour away from closing time at the Krusty Krab.

Only a few customers were eating during that time.

Mr. Krabs carefully watched the now barely occupied dining room for any signs of his arch-nemesis. The endangerment of his business that happened today had stuck into his mind and made him stay on a very high level of alertness. Abruptly, he saw four outside objects through the front window from the corner of his eye.

The crab turned to look at the four objects. He noticed that they were poles with bright green lights on top and were standing directly erect before the Chum Bucket. "So Plankton wants to get fancy, eh?" He thought that the poles were streetlights and quickly concluded that they merely had decorative purposes for the Chum Bucket.

A light bulb lit up in his head.

Mr. Krabs smirked. The Chum Bucket's 'streetlights' were fancy according to his tastes and could possibly be sold at a high price due to their 'fanciness'. However, he would have to persuade Plankton to his favor in order to obtain them. Another idea quickly entered his mind after he smirked. 'Gambling could work out pretty well.' Mr. Krabs thought. It would make his obtaining of the 'streetlights' more sweeter and could be also used as a way of payback for deceiving his yellow employee earlier during the day. He knew that Plankton would certainly accept the request for gambling since it was a competition between him and Mr. Krabs, the plankton would always seize an opportunity to be possibly better than the crab at something. He then thought about what gambling game he should play with Plankton.

A pause.

"Texas Hold'em would be perfect. Plankton won't know what's coming for him.' Mr. Krabs thought with a wider smirk. He had played Texas Hold'em Poker many times when he was young during desperate attempts to gain money, his pirate career had suffered through many bouts of poverty. He assumed that the memories of those Poker games counted as experience and became confident in his Poker abilities as a consequence. He walked towards the double door, he was going to put his idea into action immediately.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked across the street and walked up to the double door of the Chum Bucket.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the Chum Bucket. He predicted that Plankton would not mind his entrance due to what he was about to say to him.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton heard the faint sounds of the opening and the closing of his restaurant's front double door. He then smiled, he assumed whoever entered the Chum Bucket was a customer. He hopped from the keyboard and landed on the floor. He walked across the laboratory and…

Creak

Slam

...entered the dining room. He wanted to see who that 'customer' was.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked up and saw Mr. Krabs. 'That is definitely not a customer.' The plankton thought. His fists began to shake and his brow furrowed in anger. "What do you want?!" He spoke in an ill-tempered manner. He was especially angry at the crustacean today since the crab's appearance reminded him of his latest plan's failure.

"Plankton, I really like those streetlights you put outside. I wanna have them so I thought we could play Texas Hold'em. If I win, I get the streetlights. You could set up whatever reward you want if you win except for the secret formula. If you wanna play, you better tell me the reward you want." Mr. Krabs cut right to the chase and said the offer, he carefully constructed the offer so Plankton could not have an opportunity to steal the secret formula.

Plankton widened his eyes and he then smirked. He had played Texas Hold'em Poker and other gambling games far more times than had did. He had suffered through poverty many more times than the crab and had played more gambling games in futile attempts to get money as a consequence. To that current day, he still played gambling games. He currently played those games through virtual means; he would play those games on his large computer when he was bored and had nothing to do. Mr. Krabs was oblivious to that current fact. He gained experience in those games as a consequence. "Sure. I'll play." Plankton nodded. 'I'm gonna tear that crab to shreds when he sees my skills. I could also help my business in the process.' He thought and made a wider smirk. "If I win, I will get your best employee, SpongeBob." He wanted SpongeBob since he thought that his amazing fry cooking skills could make the food available in the Chum Bucket more edible.

Mr. Krabs nodded to show his approval of Plankton's reward. His confidence and obliviousness made him show indifference to the risk that he was taking by playing Texas Hold'em with Plankton. "We'll play right after the Krusty Krab close, alright?"

"It's a deal." Plankton made a sinister smile. The victory would be even more sweeter since SpongeBob would become his employee overnight and not even know it until it would be too late.

"I'll see ya in an hour." Mr. Krabs turned around and walked towards the front double door of the restaurant.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the Chum Bucket.

Plankton made an evil laugh. His victory in the gambling game was ascertained since his opponent was Mr. Krabs.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob and Squidward exited the kitchen. They were finished with their final tasks and duties for the day.

"C'mon, lads. It's quittin' time." Mr. Krabs signaled with his claw for his two employees to exit the restaurant. He was looking forward to the Texas Hold'em session that he was going to play with Plankton. He wanted to play as soon as possible. "I've got a card game tonight."

SpongeBob became curious and stopped walking before his boss. That was the first time he heard his boss talk about playing a game with someone. "Who're you playing cards with, Mr. Krabs?" He asked what he thought was an important question.

"I'm going over to the Chum Bucket to play with Plankton." Mr. Krabs spoke frankly. He expected SpongeBob to respond negatively.

SpongeBob gasped. "Plankton?!"

A pause.

Several thoughts became collected inside SpongeBob's mind. The sponge decided to say his most important thoughts to this boss. "But Mr. Krabs, he's you arch-enemy. He's been trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula for years. He might trick you like how he tricked me earlier today." The sponge informed Mr. Krabs about the risks of gambling with Plankton. He was only trying to protect the secret formula's secrecy. "Why would you play cards with him?" He asked a crucial question.

"Between you and me, Plankton is the worst card player in Bikini Bottom." Mr. Krabs said information that he got from outdated rumors. "Back in time when I was young, I almost always heard rumors at the casino about some horrible card player named Plankton who loses every single time." He stated the source of his outdated information. He walked towards the double door and flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. "Don't worry, SpongeBob. I'll beat him for sure." He try to assure his yellow fry cook.

FLICK

Squidward flicked the master light switch from 'ON' to 'OFF'.

All the lights in all of the Krusty Krab's rooms turned off.

**C-CRREEEEEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, and Squidward exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward walked towards their neighborhood.

SpongeBob crossed his fingers with one of his hands as he walked towards his home. He hoped that Mr. Krabs does not get tricked by Plankton and wins the gambling game, the secret formula's fate now lied in Mr. Krabs' claws.

Squidward was walking with a deadpan face. He took a deep breath. The tortuous working day was finally over. He thought that there were enough eventful happenings that occurred in the Krusty Krab today for him to write about it in his next journal entry.

Mr. Krabs walked towards the Chum Bucket. He took a few glances at the 'streetlights' before he...

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was standing on a table in the dining room. He had been waiting for Mr. Krabs.

On the table that Plankton was standing on, there were poker cards and poker chips.

Mr. Krabs sat in that table. He smiled widely to express his confidence in his Poker skills. He grabbed the cards, put them into two decks where each deck was a different color, flipped the decks upside down so the actual cards could not be seen, shuffled them together, split them in half, and then dealt two cards to himself and dealt two cards to Plankton. Mr. Krabs put the cards that were not dealt to the 'muck' pile and signaled the beginning of the betting rounds.

The game of Texas Hold'em began.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

9:00 AM

A crying and heartbroken Mr. Krabs was walking towards the Krusty Krab. He had to say something to SpongeBob that would heavily upset the sponge and make the sponge just as heartbroken as he was. The crab had lost the game of Texas Hold'em Poker, he had underestimated Plankton's skills in those type of games. He had made a made foolish mistake by deciding to play that gambling game with Plankton and suffered the consequences by having to give up his best employee to his arch-enemy.

SpongeBob was skipping merrily towards the Krusty Krab. He could not wait to go through another day of doing what he loved.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the double door of the Krusty Krab and took out the key. He then unlocked the double door with that key. He saw SpongeBob's incoming reflection through one side of the glass double door and sobbed even more. He found the task of telling SpongeBob the bad news and making him leave his clutches to be depressing by itself. As SpongeBob walked up to the restaurant, the crab quieted himself and wept silently.

"How'd the card game go last night, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob asked a very important question. He was thinking optimistically and the worst-case scenario was in the back of his head. He truly believed that his boss could beat Plankton in that card game last night since Mr. Krabs had told him about Plankton's formerly mediocre gambling skills.

Mr. Krabs turned around and made eye contact with SpongeBob. "I lost." He spoke simply and honestly. Speaking only a few words made the task less painful.

"Barnacles, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob winced. He sympathized with his boss. He now understood why the crustacean was crying. "How much money did you lose?" He assumed that Mr. Krabs and Plankton had been gambling over sums of money, like any normal gambling game.

"I didn't lose any money." Mr. Krabs answered SpongeBob's question. His throat became even more sore when he realized that he now had to tell SpongeBob what he lost. "I lost..." The soreness of his throat became as heavy as a rock and blocked out his voice. Several tears ran down his cheeks.

'If Mr. Krabs is crying this much, something really bad during the card game must've happened to him.' SpongeBob inferred. He then thought of scenarios that would make his boss cry. His eyes then bugged out when one scenario passed through his mind. "Don't tell me you lost the Krusty Krab!" He said a prediction about the scenario that Mr. Krabs was going to say.

"I lost..." Mr. Krabs tried to state what he lost again but failed again as well.

"Mr. Krabs, please tell me you didn't lose the Krabby Patty secret formula!" SpongeBob loudly stated another possibly true prediction to his boss. He sincerely hoped that the predictions that he was saying were not true.

Mr. Krabs gasped due to his weeping and then took a normal deep breath. 'I lost..." He made a third attempt at telling SpongeBob the truth. He pointed at the yellow square before him. "...you." The word that he just said made his eyes moisten further.

"What?" SpongeBob's jaw dropped and his face became pallid. He had not expected Mr. Krabs to say that at all.

"I bet your contract and then lost. I wanted to get those streetlights that Plankton had." Mr. Krabs became able to speak normally as his throat no longer became as sore, his acute depression lifted by a slight degree after he told his employee what he lost. The crab pointed at the 'streetlights' before the Chum Bucket.

A pause.

SpongeBob smiled widely and then laughed. He had leaped to a conclusion, he thought that Mr. Krabs would never make such a foolish mistake like the one the crab had recently did. He knew every since the squeaky boots incident that Mr. Krabs was not a perfect person but he also thought that the crab was intelligent enough to make appropriate decisions. He eventually stopped laughing. "Good one, Mr. Krabs." From the sponge's perspective, his boss had made an excellent joke. "Well, I got to go make those Krabby Patties." The sponge walked towards the Krusty Krab's double door to start his day of normal work.

Mr. Krabs grabbed the sponge's shirt with one of his claws and pulled the sponge away from the double door. He wanted to pay the price for his loss since he did not know what Plankton was going to do to the Krusty Krab if he was not rewarded with what he wanted.

SpongeBob turned around to make eye contact with Mr. Krabs.

Squidward walked up to the scene. He was wearing his employee hat and expected a typical workday at the Krusty Krab.

"I'm afraid you don't work here anymore." Mr. Krabs spoke solemnly. Signs of his sadness could still be seen through his face.

Squidward gasped and then made a beam as bright as the sun above him. "Please tell me this isn't a joke." He could not believe what he had just heard from his boss' mouth. He always assumed that the day of SpongeBob's firing would never come.

SpongeBob continued to smile. He still firmly believed that Mr. Krabs was joking. He had only worked at the Krusty Krab for a few months so he assumed that there were still some shades of his boss that he did not uncover yet. "Go on, Mr. Krabs. Tell him. Tell him all about your cruel, sick joke." He wanted to see Squidward' reaction to the joke.

Plankton was watching the Krusty Crew before the Chum Bucket's entrance. He had been waiting for his reward ever since Mr. Krabs had walked up to the restaurant and was also holding some sort of bucket helmet with the red letters 'CB' on it. The plankton walked up to the three to join their conversation. "As much as I love cruel, sick jokes, I'm afraid he's not joking." Plankton looked up at SpongeBob with a sinister smirk and then pointed at the sponge."You work for me now, SpongeBob!" He stated the bitter truth. "Time to put on the official Chum Bucket helmet." He held out the bucket helmet towards SpongeBob. The plankton then quickly crawled up SpongeBob's skin while still holding the helmet and eventually reached the crown of SpongeBob's head. The plankton stood up on the sponge's head and kicked the Krusty Krab employee hat to the ground. He then placed the bucket helmet on SpongeBob's head as a replacement and leaped to the ground.

SpongeBob's face became pallid again. He felt like he was being chained away by Plankton from the Krusty Krab, the bucket helmet he was wearing signaled Plankton's ownership of him. The sponge fell to his knees before Mr. Krabs, his eyes were moistening as sadness filled his mind and heart. "I don't want to work for him!" He cried in desperation and grabbed on to Mr. Krabs' shirt. "I want to work for you here at the Krusty Krab!" He loudly spoke with complete honesty. His connection to the restaurant he knew and loved was extremely powerful. Despair had not completely filled his heart. His emotions had fell from a cliff and were falling into the abyss of darkness.

Mr. Krabs bawled. Seeing SpongeBob's desperate behavior made him even more sadder, the task of giving SpongeBob away became unbearably painful. The shift of SpongeBob's employment meant the end of high profits and satisfied customers. SpongeBob was one of the best employees he ever had and the sponge had been so loyal to him and enthusiastic when working that he felt like SpongeBob was his own son. "I'm sorry, boy! I-it's all my fault!" He hugged SpongeBob and continued to bawl.

SpongeBob bawled as well. He could no longer control the signs of his sadness.

Plankton did not stop smirking in a sinister manner. "What kind of cold, heartless person would break such a loving relationship?" The plankton spoke in a sarcastic tone. He took out a remote that made the bucket helmet that SpongeBob was wearing do certain things. "I would!" He knew the evilness of his actions. He pressed a red button that had the black text ''FLY' on it and then moved a joystick towards the Chum Bucket. The helmet served more than just as an employee uniform.

**C-CTHUNG**

The bucket helmet stuck to SpongeBob's head and two plastic wings popped out of the helmet. The two wings then spun and made SpongeBob fly towards the Chum Bucket. Plankton was forcing him to work at the Chum Bucket.

"MR. KRABS!" SpongeBob desperately yelled for his boss and held out both of his hands towards the crab. By that point, despair almost completely filled his heart.

**S-SLAM**

The bucket helmet and SpongeBob in tow flew through the entrance of the Chum Bucket.

"SPONGEBOB!" Mr. Krabs called out for his yellow employee and then covered his face with his hands in remorse. He then bawled and fell to the ground on his knees. SpongeBob's desperation was only making the scene more depressing for the crab.

"This is one of your greatest blunders, Krabs." Plankton walked up to the bawling crustacean and stated the obvious. He put the remote's joystick in the neutral position. He was simply bathing in his immense victory. "I may not have the precious Krabby Patty formula but I got the next best thing: the guy who makes them!" He then walked backwards towards the Chum Bucket. "Once he starts cooking the Chum Bucket's food, I'm gonna run you out of business, Krabs!" He spoke with an even wider smile. The plankton then turned around walked towards the Chum Bucket.

Creak

Slam

Plankton eventually entered the Chum Bucket.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab. He was having conflicting feelings of joy and sadness. He was joyful since SpongeBob would no longer annoy him during his work at the Krusty Krab and he also felt pity for the yellow square. The tragic separation was not pleasant to watch at all. SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs' crying was constantly replaying in his mind, he could tell and understand the emotions that the two are going through.

Mr. Krabs continued to cry. He continued to be in the same position.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on the floor of the Chum Bucket's dining room. He was looking at his surroundings so he could quickly absorb his new environment. Thoughts of escaping the Chum Bucket already entered his mind. "What is this place?" He asked a question that was only meant for himself.

Plankton walked up to SpongeBob. "This is now your new working place." He answered the simple question. "You will not be cooking Krabby Patties here. It is honestly a waste of time to force the formula out of you or steal the formula from Krabs if I got fry cooks like you working for me. Instead, you are going to be cooking the food served at the Chum Bucket. With your skills, you are going to make the food here more edible for normal citizens' tastes and attract more customers as a consequence. As long as you cooperate, we are going to run the Krusty Krab out of business and the Chum Bucket will become the greatest restaurant in Bikini Bottom. Kapeesh?" The plankton told SpongeBob his expectations for the sponge.

SpongeBob looked up at the restaurant's menu. Some of the foods on the menu looked familiar, especially 'Chum Burger' and 'Chum Fries'. The sponge then stood up. He did not know for sure about what he was supposed to do now.

"Report to the kitchen and cook a Chum Burger. I want to see the level of your fry cooking skills." Plankton commanded as SpongeBob's new boss.

SpongeBob looked down at Plankton and made eye contact with the plankton. "Where's the kitchen?" He asked an important question to his new boss.

"Right there." Plankton pointed at a door that was right below the Chum Bucket's menu. "The cash register and ordering window are in the same room." He informed SpongeBob about another important fact.

SpongeBob walked up to the kitchen door and...

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered the kitchen.

Plankton leaped to the windowsill of the ordering window. He was going to watch SpongeBob cook a Chum Burger by looking through the window.

S-S-S-S-S-

SpongeBob walked up to the grill and the adjacent table that had bags of ingredients on it. He was not used to his new surroundings enough to properly cook a Chum Burger. "Actually, uh, Mr. Plankton, sir, I haven't uh-" The sponge spoke to his boss with uncertainty, he was not sure if he should ask a question to his boss or not. However, he got interrupted by Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton did not know and could not figure out SpongeBob's problem. "Perhaps you don't understand. You work for me now" The plankton began to repeat his expectations for the yellow square as a reminder for the yellow square. He dove through the hole in the ordering window for passing food and landed on the floor of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"and as your new boss, I command you to make me a Chum Burger this instant, or else." Plankton threatened SpongeBob by masking his threat with the unknown. He then folded his arms. "So get cooking." The plankton spoke sternly, he considered the Chum Bucket's kitchen to be similar enough to the Krusty Krab's kitchen for SpongeBob to adjust to it easily.

SpongeBob sighed and nodded. He understood what his boss said. The sponge looked at the grill for several seconds to see where the buttons and knobs are. He eventually found them and he then pressed a few buttons and turned a few knobs to see how they work. The sponge then opened a plastic bag that had Chum patties inside of it. He took out a Chum patty and put it on the grill. The sponge turned on the grill. 'I better satisfy Plankton's desires first, I don't wanna make him too angry if I try to escape.' SpongeBob thought, he was seriously considering the option to escape the Chum Bucket. He could not survive his new working place for too long without entering an abyss of mourning for his former working place. He grabbed a nearby spatula and flipped the patty when needed to.

"Excellent..." Plankton whispered. He was commenting on SpongeBob's cooking ability. "His cooking skills are absolutely marvelous. Just as I expected." He continued to quietly comment on SpongeBob's performance.

SpongeBob heard Plankton's comments as he cooked the Chum Burger. He was able to cook that burger by using a common sense approach; he assumed that the Chum Burger was made in a similar way to a Krabby Patty. For some really strange reason, he smiled slightly. His boss' positive comments about him was like a spark in a dark cave of danger and mystery. Plankton's appreciation of his work in the Chum Bucket might make his adjustment and eventual escape from the Chum Bucket easier to handle. Even as he smiled, he mentally clinged to the Krusty Krab to the best of his heart's ability.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the freshly made Chum Burger on a plate and held it out towards Plankton. "Here you go. One Chum Burger." He stated what he cooked to assure Plankton that he fulfilled the order. Once he realized that Plankton was having trouble with reaching the burger, he set the plate on the floor.

Plankton took off a piece from the Chum Burger and ate it. He then gasped as a pleasant flavor filled his mouth. The food at the Chum Bucket usually tasted horrible due to the plankton's poor cooking skills. "Wow..." The burger's flavor surprised him so much that he could only say one word. 'That sponge is probably going to make the Krusty Krab deserted in less than a day.' Plankton thought about the future of his rival's restaurant.

SpongeBob made another slight smile. Plankton's amazement at his cooking was another spark of hope for his escape, it would fool Plankton into thinking that the yellow sponge was obedient.

The aroma of the Chum Burger wafted through the ordering window and spread through the dining room. The sponge's careful cooking made the burger's true potential shine by its aroma and taste. The pleasant smell eventually slipped its way through the slit of the front double door and entered the outside world.

S-S-S-S-S

A male teenager was walking towards the Krusty Krab for a breakfast consisting of a Krabby Patty and a pack of fries. However, the Chum Burger's aroma soon entered his nostrils. His mouth watered since the aroma indicated that a pleasant meal or food was nearby. He quickly looked at his surroundings for the aroma's source and eventually decided to follow the smell.

The customer walked across the street. His mind was focusing on the smell instead of the surroundings.

The young male eventually bumped into the Chum Bucket's double door. He looked up and realized that the aroma was coming from the Chum Bucket. 'Out of all places...' He thought as he looked at the restaurant wide-eyed. He had heard unpleasant rumors about the Chum Bucket but the Chum Burger's aroma was discrediting those rumors. 'The food there smells really nice... it's worth a try.' He thought with very slight hesitance about trying out the Chum Bucket's food.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The male teenager entered the Chum Bucket.

Mr. Krabs was still crying before his own restaurant. He was currently in a sitting position. The crab had noticed the customer and what restaurant that customer had entered. 'There goes me money.' He thought with despair. He had correctly predicted that one by one, his customers would leave the Krusty Krab for SpongeBob's cooking at the Chum Bucket. 'I guess me business is gonna shut down in less than a week at this rate.' The crab thought, looked at the ground, and sighed.

S-S-S-S-S

The customer was no longer hesitant when he stepped into the Chum Bucket's dining room since the aroma became several degrees stronger. His mouth watered even more as a consequence, the aroma was too potent for him to resist.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton gasped when he heard the opening and closing of the Chum Bucket's entrance. He leaped through the ordering window's hole and landed on the dining room's floor.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked up to the young male. "Welcome to the Chum Bucket, good sir." He formally greeted the customer as if the teenager was a god. He almost always greeted the Chum Bucket's customers in that manner since they were one of his few chances to gain money without relying on his wife or family. "You can walk up to the window if you want to order anything." He ended up acting like an employee due to his formality.

The male teenager smiled, he appreciated Plankton's kindness. He walked up to the ordering window and looked up at the menu. The male then quickly decided on what he wanted to eat. "I would like a Chum Burger."

SpongeBob heard the customer's order and quickly went to work. He was not enthusiastic since he knew that he was helping the boss' arch-enemy. However, he was not betraying his boss since he had a powerful desire to escape the Chum Bucket. He was cooperating with Plankton so his adjustment and escape could be less painful.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Many customers were entering and exiting the Chum Bucket. For the first time even. the Chum Bucket was receiving a regular traffic of customers.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward and Mr. Krabs were watching the Chum Bucket through one of the Krusty Krab's large windows. They had nothing else to do but watch the customers enter and exit the restaurant across the street. Not a single customer had currently entered the Krusty Krab today.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

S-SLAM

Mr. Krabs and Squidward exited the Krusty Krab. They had turned off the restaurant's lights and the crustacean had flipped the door sign from 'OPEN' to :CLOSED'. No customer had entered the restaurant at all.

"Good night, Mr. Squidward." Mr. Krabs solemnly said a farewell to his employee. He had not spoken much today due to his sadness over his foolish loss of SpongeBob and the eventual shutdown of his business if action was not taken. His face was deadpan as if he had been scarred by a traumatic event. The boss then walked towards his anchor.

Squidward walked towards his tiki with a wide smile on his face. He was delighted that he did barely anything productive during his workday at the Krusty Krab. At the same time, a deep fear was growing inside his heart. If the Krusty Krab shuts down due to the Chum Bucket's superiority. he would end up back in the unfortunate state of unemployment. 'I could always work at the Chum Bucket if I wanted.' The octopus thought reassuringly.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was in his laboratory and was reading his journal entries of his latest schemes to steal the formula. He was reading them out of boredom since SpongeBob's cooking and successful attraction of customers made pursuits of the secret formula unnecessary. Over the course of the day, he developed a trust in SpongeBob since the yellow square fulfilled without fail he customers' orders and minor tasks such as cleaning floors. He no longer monitored SpongeBob's behavior because of that trust.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at his watch and he realized what time it was. 'I should ask Plankton if I can leave now.' He thought. There was a possibility that the Chum Bucket had a different schedule than the Krusty Krab. He then...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up the laboratory door and...

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

"Yes?" Plankton asked without looking at SpongeBob. He assumed that his yellow employee entered the laboratory.

"Can I go home? It's six right now." SpongeBob asked a crucial question and said a reason for asking that question.

Plankton turned around to make eye contact with SpongeBob. He thought critically for several seconds before saying: "No. There still might be some late-night customers." He answered the question and gave a valid reason for his answer. He lived in the Chum Bucket so had not came up with a schedule yet. "I will probably have a schedule by tomorrow."

SpongeBob frowned. "Okay." Due to his new working environment, he was not pleased with the extra late working schedule. He already began to miss his neighborhood and friends. He turned around and...

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking at the dining room's floor as he slowly walked towards the kitchen door. Plankton's answer to his question had made him realize that the place he was working at was more like a prison than an actual working place, he was working here against his will. The sponge had continued to work in the Chum Bucket for another reason, he was afraid of Plankton's unknown threats if he did not report to the Chum Bucket or obeyed his boss. He also had been reminded that Plankton had 'chained' him into his business instead of hired him. The plankton was far more bossy than Mr. Krabs in spite of the fact that Mr. Krabs was a retired pirate captain and a cheapskate.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S-

SpongeBob walked up to the only window inside the kitchen. He thought that looking at the night sky would assist him in purifying his thoughts and think in a more relaxed and rational manner. The sponge looked through the window and saw his former boss walk towards his home. A light bulb then lit up in his head. Since Plankton was distracted by the computer and the sponge was stuck inside the Chum Bucket, SpongeBob decided to start communicating to Mr. Krabs in the only way that he currently could. He opened the window and stood on his tip toes. The sponge then leaned through the window's opening. When he saw a glimpse of the Krusty Krab, a heavy amount of nostalgia filled his heart and that provided enough fuel for the song he needed. The absence of the sights of the Krusty Krab was what made the glimpse so nostalgic.

"A stove is a stove, no matter where you go."

SpongeBob began to sing. His lyrics were heartfelt.

Mr. Krabs' eyes slowly widened when he heard SpongeBob's singing. He turned to look at the Chum Bucket and saw his yellow former employee. A light bulb then lit up in his head. He wanted to accompany SpongeBob in his emotionally revealing song.

"A patty is a patty, that's what I say."

Mr. Krabs began to sing.

What Mr. Krabs sang only led to more lyrical inspiration for the yellow sponge.

"A grill is a grill, this is surely so."

SpongeBob continued the song. His eyes moistened a bit since he felt immense appreciation for Mr. Krabs willingness to sing with him.

"And fries should be fries, either way."

Mr. Krabs was building upon the foundational lyrics that SpongeBob laid.

"But this grill is not a home. This is not the stove I know."

SpongeBob began to sing to the true core and meaning of the lyrics. He and Mr. Krabs had revealed to themselves that they had some talent when it came to singing.

"I would trade it all away, if you'd come back to stay."

Mr. Krabs fell to his knees and sang directly towards SpongeBob with his claws held out. He was also singing to his heart's core. He was using the song as a way of desperately reaching out to his former employee, starting today and possibly for the rest of his life, he would not be able to see his 'son' as much as before. The separation between him and SpongeBob made him appreciate SpongeBob's presence more, his longing was temporarily satisfied by his singing.

"This kitchen's not the same without you."

Their emotional synchronicity allowed them to sing the same line of their made up song's lyrics.

"It's just a grill, it's true."

The line that he and SpongeBob sang in unison ended up making Mr. Krabs more depressed. He somewhat sang that line since his throat began to become weighed down by a heavy soreness. His eyes moistened as well.

"It's just a greasy spoon..."

SpongeBob began to show very obvious signs of sadness as well. He and Mr. Krabs were unintentionally making themselves sadder and were also making their separation more harder to cope with.

"...without you..."

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs simultaneously sang an appropriate last line to the creatively constructed song.

SpongeBob closed the window. He did that to signal the end of the song. He no longer had enough emotional control to communicate with Mr. Krabs in any form for any longer.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs looked at the ground and resumed his walking towards the anchor. Tears ran down his cheeks and he gasped as he cried. The song that he and SpongeBob had sang constantly replayed in his mind and it only made it harder for his sadness to leave his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat down and leaned against one of the walls of the kitchen. He then closed his eyes and began to sob. The song reinforced the idea that he was put into a cold prison-like hell against his will. However, it was Mr. Krabs' fault anyway and he and the crab both have to pay for that mistake.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton had heard the song that SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs had sung. For the whole duration of the song, he had quietly paid attention to it. He only listened to the song because he was surprised by the voices who were singing it. He was currently thinking about what he was going to say to his computer wife. The song had interrupted his train of thought.

A pause. Plankton heard the faint sounds of SpongeBob's sobbing.

Plankton finally decided on the words he was going to say. "Why?" The plankton asked both himself and the computer. He was unable to fully express his thoughts through words due to his thoughts' complexity. "All these tears... and the showtunes... why is he doing this?" The plankton managed to ask his question to his computer. He thought that he was treating SpongeBob professionally and appropriately. It was certainly true that he did not abuse the yellow square throughout the workday. "If he keeps this up, he will stop working and mope in his sadness instead." He stated the possible outcome of the current situation.

"_Perhaps you need to show him more compassion and understanding. Congratulating him for his excellent cooking is not enough to stop his sadness. If you treat him more like a person instead of a minion or robot, he will become more productive and you will be more satisfied as a consequence."_ Ironically, Karen's A. I. was more sympathetic for SpongeBob when compared to Plankton. However, she was not aware of SpongeBob's hidden desire to escape the Chum Bucket. She felt pity for SpongeBob since her A. I. was carefully crafted for her to be an ideal wife and assistant. In spite of that fact, she was assisting Plankton with the current situation.

Plankton thought critically. 'Showing too much kindness may lead to weakness.' He began to predict the possible outcomes of treating SpongeBob with more kindness.

S-S-S-S-S

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head; he suddenly remembered why he had worked in the Chum Bucket for more than a whole Krusty Krab workday. SpongeBob wiped his tears, stood up, and stared at the door to the dining room. 'Now's the time.' He thought. Since Plankton was still in the laboratory, the opportunity to escape the restaurant was still available to him. 'Better go before it's too late.' He decided to take action immediately, his mourning for his former job at the Krusty Krab motivated him to do that. He jogged to the door and...

**CRRRR**rrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaak

Slam

...slowly exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dashed towards the Chum Bucket's exit. His surroundings became a blur due to the speed of his running.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton heard rapid footsteps and turned to look at the laboratory's exit. "What is going on?!" He asked to no one in particular. 'Those footsteps are probably from that sponge.' He correctly assumed that SpongeBob was doing something. The plankton then ran towards the double door at his fastest speed, the rapid foosteps sounded suspicious from his perspective.

Creak

Slam

Plankton eventually reached the double door and exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob rapidly exited the Chum Bucket. He was headed for his pineapple. The sponge thought that Plankton did not notice his exit of the restaurant.

Plankton saw what SpongeBob did and narrowed his eye in a sinister manner, he was not going to tolerate SpongeBob's disobedience. He took out the remote for the bucket helmet and pressed a red button on the remote that had black text saying 'SHOCK'.

S-S-S-S-S

Blue electricity surged through the bucket helmet.

**ZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP**

SpongeBob became electrocuted by the bucket helmet. "AAAaaahh..." He began to scream but his voice soon died down and his mouth eventually closed. His vision became more faint and black as he was losing consciousness. His body could not handle the electric shock from the bucket.

The sponge lost sensation in his legs.

**THUD**

SpongeBob collapsed to the ground.

A tiny green man that had two antennae sticking out jogged up to SpongeBob. The sponge's vision was too blurry and faint for the sponge to see any of the plankton's physical features.

SpongeBob tried to touch the plankton in an attempt to 'see' how the plankton actually looked like. If he could not rely on his vision, he could rely on his sense of touch.

A pause.

SpongeBob was losing sensation in all of his limbs. After several long seconds of clinging to consciousness, SpongeBob closed his eyes and became still.

SpongeBob became unconscious.

Plankton turned around and walked towards the Chum Bucket. He had watched SpongeBob to make sure that the sponge fell unconscious. He wanted a robot to bring SpongeBob's body into his restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's body was set on a metal table. His arms were stretched out and his legs were in their proper places. His unconsciousness allowed him to be moved like a ragdoll. The table was electronic since it could move by wireless command instead of manually and had several other features. The bottom of the table's legs were wheels.

"Karen, secure the table." Plankton glanced at Karen and said a command to the large computer. The plankton had spent a chunk of the last twenty minutes thinking of what he was going to do with SpongeBob. He had came up with a solution to the situation after those minutes of thinking.

Karen sent a wireless command to the metal table.

**C-C-C-CTHUNG**

Four metal cuffs popped out of the metal table's surface. Two cuffs closed around SpongeBob's wrists while the other two cuffs closed around SpongeBob's ankles.

'If SpongeBob refuses to be a loyal employee to the Chum Bucket, at least I can have an incomplete copy of his mind.' Plankton tried to mentally state the plan so he could remember the plan better. 'There's no point in keeping SpongeBob and making him serve our food if he is just going to try to run away again. He might end up being unconscious for most of the day if I continue to electrocute him for each attempt at escaping.' He mentally stated the reasons for executing such the plan. 'If I can copy SpongeBob's intelligence and personality and convert it into A. I., I may be able to 'improve' the sponge's 'mind' so that it would be appropriate for a minion.' Plankton wanted to make a robot who was just as good at fry cooking as SpongeBob and also had the sponge's quirks and intelligence. Having a robot copy of the fry cook was the next best thing. "Begin the copying, Karen." Plankton stated another command to his computer wife.

Several tiles in the ceiling opened.

Electric wires with pads on their ends swam like tentacles towards SpongeBob's forehead. The wires' pads soon reached the sponge's forehead and landed on the forehead in certain positions.

"_Beginning the intelligence copying and A. I. conversion..." _Karen stated what she was doing with the wires.

A pause.

Many bright electric pulses went up the electric wires and eventually entered Karen's hard drive; those pulses consisted of facts that SpongeBob knew, tiny aspects of his personality, or memories. The electric wires were copying what they found inside SpongeBob's mind, they were not draining the sponge's mind of its resources.

Plankton patiently waited for the process to finish.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

"_Intelligence copying and A. I. conversion has been completed." _Karen announced the completion of the long process.

"Release the cuffs." Plankton commanded.

**C-C-C-CLACK**

The cuffs retracted back into the metal table's surface.

'Might as well bring SpongeBob back to his home. It would be best if he would not cause more disturbances here.' Plankton thought. The plankton wanted to begin the development of his robot copy of SpongeBob peacefully. "Karen, make a robot bring the sponge back to his home and make that robot come back here once it is done with the task." The plankton stated a more complicated command. 'I can save the search for those pages for later.' He put the search for the magical pages on a lower priority.

Karen sent an electric pulse towards a nearby robo-guard.

The robo-guard's one green eye glowed; it turned on.

Karen sent a few more electric pulses towards the robo-guard.

The robo-guard walked up to the metal table and picked up SpongeBob's unconscious body. It then walked towards the laboratory's exit while carrying SpongeBob.

Creak

Slam

The robo-guard eventually exited the laboratory. It continued to carry SpongeBob.

Plankton looked at several places in his laboratory. His search for metal parts for his robot copy of SpongeBob began.


	50. Dying for Pie

**Chapter 50: Dying for Pie**

* * *

SpongeBob slowly opened his eyes. He noticed that he was still in the outside world. The sponge wiped his eyes until his vision was clear and he shakily stood up. The sponge looked at his surroundings and noticed that he was in his neighborhood. He felt the top of his head and also noticed that he was not wearing his bucket helmet. The yellow square then took a step forward as he began his search for the helmet, he was not sure about what he should do.

The sound of a paper was heard.

SpongeBob looked at one of his feet and noticed that he stepped on a paper. He picked the paper up and put it before his face so he could read it. The paper had black text saying:

'SpongeBob, you are no longer a Chum Bucket employee; you have been fired. You are now a Krusty Krab employee again. -Plankton'

Plankton had left that note next to SpongeBob so the sponge could be informed about the latest status of his job. The plankton had sent another robot to bring that note to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob slowly made a grin that went from ear to ear. He felt so overjoyed that tears were becoming close to flooding the dams of his eyes. However, he was able to hold back those tears. 'I can't wait to show this to Mr. Krabs.' SpongeBob thought enthusiastically. He folded the paper and put it into one of his pockets. His happiness became so potent in such a short amount of time that he was not able to fully express it, a wide smile was all that he could currently handle.

**CRRREEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple. The sponge felt a renewed sense of optimism knowing that his future in the career world was bright again.

S-S-S-S-S

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

Waves gently and repeatedly lapped over a small shore and retreated back to the surrounding ocean.

The sun floated near the middle of the sky and made the sand somewhat hot. The sand was currently quite troublesome to walk across due to the heat from the sun that it absorbed.

Squidward was sitting on a comfortable wooden chair and was wearing Hawaiian clothes that were for men. The floral pattern on his shirt was similar to the one on Patrick's pants. His hands were gliding across the keys of a piano as he played a composition on that piano.

The octopus being in such a location and doing such an activity would be an ideal Sunday for his tastes.

**DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING**

SpongeBob rapidly rang a bell that was on the ground. "Order up, Squidward!" He was holding a Krabby Patty with his other hand.

Squidward looked at SpongeBob and raised his brow in confusion. At the realization that SpongeBob had a Krabby Patty in one of his hands, his vision slowly faded.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

To Squidward's dismay, today was Saturday.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING **

Squidward opened his eyes and saw his ringing alarm clock on the adjacent drawer, he had turned to face the alarm clock while he had been dreaming. The octopus then groaned out of irritation, he was irritated at the alarm clock for interrupting his pleasant dream. 'This is why I freaking hate that damned contraption.' The octopus thought grumpily. He stood up from his bed and set his alarm clock to his next waking time. Unfortunately, the alarm clock was a necessary evil in order for him to report to work on time and keep his job as a consequence. The Krabby Patty that SpongeBob had held in his dream reminded him of that fact.

Squidward wiped his eyes and then walked towards the bedroom's exit.

**CRRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bedroom. He had a rough start to his typical day of work.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to the Krusty Krab. He was wearing his employee hat.

SpongeBob was standing next to the Krusty Krab's front double door and was wearing his employee hat. He had a wide smile on his face and was hiding something behind his back with both of his hands. The sponge was certainly hiding a surprise for the octopus. He quickly adjusted his position as Squidward got closer and closer to the entrance so Squidward could not see the surprise. "Hi, Squid." SpongeBob lessened his smile, he was trying to act casual so he could look less suspicious.

Squidward ignored SpongeBob's behavior and spoken words. It was a testament for Squidward's current indifference towards the sponge and his contradictory emotions of relief and anger. He had become relieved on the day of SpongeBob's return since the continuation of his work once again became certain. However, the sponge's return also angered the octopus since he would have to deal with SpongeBob's antics during work again.

**C-CRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab with a deadpan face. He was not excited at all for today's hours of work.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked across the dining room.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

He entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to the ID machine and took out his ID card. He then swiped his ID card on the machine.

**DING**

The machine successfully detected and recorded the swipe of Squidward's ID card.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office and entered the dining room immediately after Squidward entered the dining room, he had heard the octopus' footsteps while he had been inside his office. A smile was on the crab's face. He was expecting something pleasant from both Squidward and SpongeBob. He was generally content over the last few days due to SpongeBob's return to working at the Krusty Krab. He had felt such a surge of happiness on the day of SpongeBob's return that it clung to the crab's mind. "Good morning, Mr. Squidward." Mr. Krabs walked up to Squidward. "So, are you ready?" He asked with a folding of his arms.

"To go home?" Squidward asked with a raising of his brow. He unintentionally expressed his unenthusiasm for today's work in verbal form.

"No," Mr. Krabs smirked at Squidward's apparent silliness and shook his head. "to exchange gifts for Employee Brotherhood Day." He reminded Squidward that today was Employee Brotherhood Day. That holiday was celebrated at the Krusty Krab for obvious reasons.

"Ohh..." Squidward remembered that holiday. The Krusty Krab had not truly celebrated that holiday last year due to the absence of the previous fry cook. The lack of the Krusty Krab's celebration for that holiday had made Squidward forget that holiday as a consequence. "Mr. Krabs, you pay me to stand behind the register and take orders and give change. For the current circumstances and my current situation, you would have to pay me alotta money for me to act brotherly towards..." Squidward pointed at SpongeBob who was still standing outside the Krusty Krab. "...that guy." The octopus revealed his grumpiness through his words. He only saw SpongeBob as a very, very minor friend. The connection between him and SpongeBob was as thin and weak as a string of yarn. It was not until recent times that Squidward began to see SpongeBob's friendliness in a positive light and felt a slight connection. His grumpiness was also a partial reason for his refusal to give SpongeBob a gift.

"That attitude of yours is precisely why we're having this little shenanigan." Mr. Krabs spoke in a somewhat scolding manner. Employee Brotherhood Day was celebrated at businesses since it would make the environments in those businesses less stressful and more healthy for the employees. The crab was also aware of Squidward's indifference towards SpongeBob.

**C-CRREEAAK**

S-SLAM

SpongeBob entered the Krusty Krab. He decided that the time was right to show Squidward his surprise.

"The lad's got a surprise for you." Mr. Krabs whispered into Squidward's ear. He assumed that SpongeBob's hiding of the gift was not obvious to Squidward.

"Squidward, in honor of employee brotherhood, I present to you a gift." SpongeBob walked up to Squidward. He then held out a black sweater with several designs sewn into it. One design in particular was a heart with Squidward's face on it. There was also some text on the sweater as well. "Ta-dah."

Squidward leaned in to read the sweater's text, he was curious. "I heart you..." He read the text that was on the sweater.

"Try it on, Mr. Squidward!" Mr. Krabs patted Squidward on the shoulder. "It's got you written all over it." He tried to make a joke and then pirate laughed at his own joke. He tried to make the scene's atmosphere less awkward and more lighthearted.

'Let's get this over with.' Squidward thought. He only wanted to try on the sweater so he could prevent a loss of his paycheck by Mr. Krabs or further annoying by SpongeBob. The octopus took the sweater from SpongeBob's hands and then tried to put it on. He then struggled to get his head through the sweater's head hole.

"I wasn't sure how big to make the hole for the head, so I used a watermelon for size." SpongeBob told Squidward a fact in how he sewn the sweater. His spoken words were an explanation for Squidward's struggling. The yellow square did not want a reduction in his paycheck either.

Squidward eventually managed to squeeze his head through the sweater. Once he set the sweater across his torso, he walked around the dining room to see how the sweater felt. 'Wow. This is actually quite comfortable.' The octopus thought. The sweater had been sewn together elegantly. Squidward then walked back to SpongeBob. "Sponge, did you really made this?" He pointed at the sweater he was wearing. "I don't know why but I'm actually starting to like this sweater. It's pretty comfortable." He spoke frankly. He tried to have an objective viewpoint when he said those words. However, his narcissism was another reason why he liked the sweater since his face was etched into the sweater's dark face.

"My grandma helped me out." SpongeBob spoke with a brightened beam. He was happy that Squidward liked his gift for him. "I'm really glad that you like it, Squid." He verbally expressed his happiness.

Mr. Krabs smiled. "Mr. Squidward, if you like that sweater so much, you could wear it for the rest of the workday." He appreciated Squidward's positive response to SpongeBob's gift. He was aware of Squidward's indifference towards the sponge and the two employees' strained relationship.

"May I resume my minimum-wage duties?" Squidward looked at Mr. Krabs from the corner of his eye. He wanted to begin his workday by leisurely reading a magazine.

Mr. Krabs shook his head again. "After you present your brotherhood gift." He still wanted Squidward to participate in the celebration of the holiday. He only wanted things to be fair between SpongeBob and Squidward.

Squidward thought about what he should give SpongeBob as a gift. A can of soda and a gum ball immediately came to his mind. However, he quickly dismissed that idea. 'I gotta be fair to him. This sweater's pretty nice after all.' He thought that SpongeBob deserved equal treatment due to his pleasant gift. His indifference became lessened because of that thought. The tiny sparks of friendship returned between SpongeBob and Squidward. However, the sparks were too tiny to be noticeable. A light bulb then lit up in his head. 'I'll buy something for him. Making one will waste too much time.' He decided on how he was going to get a gift for SpongeBob. "Mr. Krabs, can I buy something for Sponge?" He needed permission to leave the restaurant before he could begin his search.

Mr. Krabs nodded. "Go ahead." He appreciated Squidward's willingness to celebrate Employee Brotherhood Day.

Squidward walked towards the double door.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked at several different directions, he was deciding on which place in Bikini Bottom where he was going to buy his gift from.

A vendor was walking along the street. He was wearing a snapback cap and judging by his clothing, he was certainly from the ghetto of Bikini Bottom. He was carrying a large brown bag over his shoulder.

Squidward saw the vendor and walked up to him. He wanted to buy something from the vendor since it would be more convenient than walked all the way to a store. "Excuse me, sir. Can I buy something from you?" He asked politely.

The two made eye contact with each other.

An awkward pause.

Squidward noticed that the vendor strangely looked familiar. However, he could not pinpoint who that vendor was and he then decided to ignore his own sense of deja-vu.

However, the vendor recognized Squidward. 'It's one of the sponge's friends.' He thought and narrowed his eyes at the octopus. 'Me and my homies took him as a hostage a few months ago.' He glanced through one of the Krusty Krab's windows and saw SpongeBob. His eyes then returned to normal and he smirked. He realized that he had an opportunity to get some sort of revenge on SpongeBob, he yearned for such an opportunity to come by. He made eye contact with Squidward again and opened his bag. He took out a pie and showed it to Squidward. "I'm only selling pies right now." He lied. There were some guns and some illegal drugs in the bag as well.

Squidward thought that a pie would be a nice gift for SpongeBob. He assumed that SpongeBob had a taste for sweets since he was childish. The pie being shown to him was quite large and was meant to be eaten by more than one person. He considered the sweater he was wearing and the pie before him to be equal in worth because of the pie's size. "How much does it cost?"

"Three bucks." The vendor immediately answered Squidward's question.

Squidward thought that the vendor's offer was an excellent deal for a pie. He took out his wallet, opened it, and gave $3 to the vendor.

"Here you go." The vendor gave Squidward the large pie and put the three $1 bills into one of his pockets. He closed the bag and put it over his shoulder. He then resumed his walking along the street.

Squidward had not asked many questions about the pie to the vendor. He had done that because he was slightly blinded by the deal offered to him and his own sense of equal treatment.

The octopus turned around and walked towards the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs.

SpongeBob widened his eyes when he saw the pie, he did not expect Squidward to give him such a gift. He then licked his lips. He almost always enjoyed the taste of pies. He also liked eating pies because it left his stomach satisfyingly full.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes as he looked at the pie and he then raised his brow. "Mr. Squidward, leave that pie inside the office." The pie looked like a type of pie that the old crustacean was familiar with.

Squidward walked towards the door to the office and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

...entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward set the pie on Mr. Krabs' desk. He then turned around, walked towards the door to the dining room, and...

**CRRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Squidward, have a seat here." Mr. Krabs pointed at a table. He had a solemn facial expression. He wanted to tell something very important to Squidward.

'Not another lecture.' Squidward thought. He inferred by looking at the crab's face that the crab was going to have a long and one-sided conversation with him. 'I need to get him off my back.' He thought with a deadpan face. The octopus then sat down at the table that his boss pointed at.

SpongeBob smiled slightly and walked towards the kitchen door.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Mr. Krabs sat in the table that he had pointed at. His seat was directly across from Squidward. "I reckon that pie you brought in has a bomb inside it. My pirate instincts have almost never failed me so don't think I'm crazy. That pie definitely has the right looks. Back when I was a young pirate lad, and they still do this to this day, us pirates would put bombs into pies and would cover those pies up so they would like strangely large or overbaked pies. We would then put those pies into large bottles with a note in each of them and send them to ships of enemy crews as gifts. It was quite an effective method at gettin' rid enemies who were tryin' steal your booty. Even I used this method from time to time during my captain days. I've witnessed eleven enemies getting killed by my bomb pies." The crab began a lecture about the surreptitious weaponry of pirates.

Squidward's eyes bugged out and his face became slightly pallid after he heard Mr. Krabs' latest spoke sentence. The idea of Mr. Krabs killing enemies when he had been a pirate never passed through his mind.

"Why're you acting so shocked? A pirate's gotta do what a pirate's gotta do. Anyways, once some of these pirates who had used that killin' method retired, the police caught on to them. Due to their greedy spirits, those retired buccaneers went on to other businesses such as bake sales. Unfortunately, they sold some of their bomb pies by mistake. Customers who bought those pies and the relatives of the victims of the bomb pies soon reported to the police and to this day some of those pirates are still on the run from the cops. The vendor that you bought that pie from probably bought it from a pirate who was trying to erase any evidence of his bomb pies. I've seen many pirates who got the police off their tails and I was definitely one of them. I reckon such a pirate must be a real scallywag to fool a poor person like that vendor." Mr. Krabs said a supporting explanation for his conclusion before saying his actual conclusion. He was trying to be rational and his conclusion was plausible.

Squidward looked at the door to his boss' office from the corner of his eye. "Maybe I should trash that pie." He said one of his thoughts out loud. He did not want to suffer the consequences of his foolish mistake of buying that pie from the vendor. After thinking critically throughout the lecture, he considered Mr. Krabs' point to be valid.

Mr. Krabs nodded. "Good thinking..." He commented. The crab was glad that Squidward's indifference towards SpongeBob was lessening. He had been aware of that indifference ever since SpongeBob's first few weeks of working at the Krusty Krab.

Squidward stood up and walked towards the door to the office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ate the last pieces of the pie. He had entered the kitchen so he could stealthily enter the office through the door between the office and the kitchen. The yellow square could not resist the allure of the pie and he correctly assumed that Squidward intended the pie to be SpongeBob's gift. The yellow sponge licked his fingers and mouth so he could swallow the last drops of the pie jelly filling.

The pie did not had a bomb or any other poison at all; it was a normal pie.

**CRRRREEAAAAK**

Squidward opened the door to the dining room and stepped into the office. He then gasped in horror at what he saw. His jaw dropped.

Mr. Krabs stepped into the office as well. His face almost became as white as paper when he saw what SpongeBob did.

"Hey guys." SpongeBob greeted the other Krusty Krew members with a grin.. "Thanks for the pie, Squidward." He verbally expressed his gratitude for Squdward's gift. He then hummed as he walked towards the door to the kitchen. His joy over eating a large and satisfying pie was what caused him to hum.

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the kitchen. He was going to begin his preparation for the workday.

"You had to kill him." Mr. Krabs turned to look at Squidward. He had a solemn face but his eyes were narrow, he heavily desired to chastise the octopus for his mistake. "The boy made you a nice sweater..." The crustacean pointed at the black sweater that Squidward was wearing. "...and you kill him. How are you gonna live with yourself? If we were pirates, what you did would be considered mutiny against your crew." He spoke in a serious and biting tone. He was pointing out the unequal treatment between SpongeBob and Squidward. If his conclusion was true, Squidward had just committed a crime caused by ingratitude.

"Kill him?" Squidward looked down at the floor with widened eyes. He would never be so foolish as to murder SpongeBob out of anger. His arrest and subsequent downfall would be inevitable if he committed such a crime. He began to accept the 'fact' that he ascertained an imminent death for SpongeBob; he had not seen SpongeBob eating the pie at all and his acceptance of Mr. Krabs' conclusion had made him make a wild assumption.

A pause.

A frightening thought went through Squidward's mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside Squidward's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to a customer who was sitting at a table. A plate with a Krabby Patty on it was being held by both of his hands. "Here's your order, ma'am." He gave the plate to the customer with a beam.

"Thanks." The young lady appreciated the Krusty Krab's decent customer service. She opened her mouth to take a bite from the burger.

**BBOOOOMMMM**

SpongeBob suddenly exploded into pieces.

Blood, organs, pieces of yellow skin that was riddled with holes, clothes; and bones fell to the floor. SpongeBob's employee hat was the last to fall to the floor.

The young lady shrieked in horror and stood up from her seat.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

"We got to call the hospital!" Squidward yelled in desperation. SpongeBob had done too many nice deeds for him over the last few months for him to let SpongeBob die. The octopus would receive a crippling amount of guilt if SpongeBob's death fell in his unintentional hands.

Mr. Krabs shook his head while he still facially expressed solemnity. "The surgery would take too long to catch up with the bomb. The bombs from those pies are quite small and can get digested pretty quickly. Once that pie gets to his lower intestine, he will explode into bloody soup." The crab spoke with realism and complete honesty. He thought that Squidward was going to learn his lesson about employee brotherhood the hard way. That hard way was SpongeBob's death and subsequent mourning. "I'm not makin' this stuff up. I've seen it happen many times to some members of me buddies' crews and it even happened to a crew member of mine once." He reminded Squidward of his vast experience with the pirate business.

A very long pause.

Squidward fell to his knees and covered his face with both of his hands.

_People dominate others in certain situations and cause more destruction for the dominated._

The formerly spoken words of the White echoed in his mind. The mental hearing of those words was a clear indicator of Squidward's sudden remorse for his actions. 'I kept clinging to the past...' The octopus thought. When SpongeBob had done extremely kind things for him such as taking the hit of a laser beam or saving Squidward from losing his job, he thought that he should have taken that opportunity for friendship. He thought that he should have done that even if the sponge and him both knew that the sponge would be up to his antics anyway. Striving for a friendly and peaceful relationship with SpongeBob could have lessened the sponge's antics and possibly prevented the imminent 'tragedy'. Unfortunately, Squidward had loyally clung to his past hatred and bitterness for SpongeBob out of fear of being angered again and became indifferent towards the sponge as a consequence. His recent journal entries after SpongeBob's return clearly indicated his clinging and subsequent conflicting emotions. His remembrance of past fleeings of friendship opportunities only severely worsened his guilt. Such as what had occurred in April Fool's day, the octopus sometimes needed SpongeBob's positivity when it came to going through tough situations.

Another long pause.

Mr. Krabs continued to look at Squidward. He allowed the octopus to let the facts sink into his mind.

Squidward stopped covering his face with his hands and revealed a face shaken by anxiety and guilt. He then stood up and made eye contact with his boss. "How do we tell him?" His question revealed his acceptance of the facts and his sudden concern for SpongeBob. The possible fines and jail time for his mistake was lurking in his mind along with his guilt. He wanted to tell the 'truth' to SpongeBob without frightening the sponge to the point of the sponge isolating himself.

Mr. Krabs shook his head. "Don't tell him. That'll only make him feel worse. The way I see it, he's only got 'til sunset." He told Squidward his prediction for the time when SpongeBob was going to die from the 'bomb' that he ingested. "Why ruin his last day on earth? The lad deserves to enjoy his final hours." He walked towards his desk, opened one of the desk's drawers, and took out the old 'HELP WANTED' sign. "I'm gonna put this up tomorrow." He informed the octopus about his future usage of the 'HELP WANTED' sign. The crab believed that SpongeBob was truly going to die.

Once Squidward saw the sign, his will to atone for his past mistakes became resolute. He wanted to open up to SpongeBob so he could form some sort of friendship with the sponge. The octopus wanted to savor the last rays of positivity from SpongeBob. He wanted to be with the sponge during the sponge's last moments since once that sponge dies, he would have to deal with challenging obstacles with only the concocted darkness of his mind by his side. "I'm gonna make SpongeBob's final hours the best he's ever had." Squidward's spoken words revealed his sudden determination. The light reflecting off his eyes almost looked like small embers. He then tightened his fists. "And this time, there's going to be love... so much, he's going to drown in it." He stated his will to make his view of SpongeBob turn a new leaf. The octopus then turned around and walked towards the door to the dining room.

**CRRREEEEAAAAK  
**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the office.

Mr. Krabs walked towards the safe. He was going to count yesterday's profits.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was moping the floor of the dining room. He was doing menial chores since he had nothing to do and wanted to stay productive.

Squidward took a deep breath. He was trying to look relaxed while not being too emotionless. "Uh, SpongeBob?" He walked up to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned to look at Squidward. "Yes?" His smile became slightly wider. Squidward rarely tried to catch his attention and such an action made SpongeBob a bit more happier.

"I forgot to tell you, there's a part two to your gift." Squidward said a white lie that was completely justifiable from his and Mr. Krabs' viewpoints. He wanted to introduce what he and SpongeBob were going to do instead of announcing it suddenly.

"Part two?!" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he grinned. "Part two! Part two! Part two! Part two!" The yellow square jumped up and down in excitement. His enthusiasm was glaring.

"Please, don't do that." Squidward grabbed both of SpongeBob's shoulders. He wanted the yellow square to pay his full attention to the octopus' spoken words.

SpongeBob stopped jumping up and down. He continued to make eye contact with Squidward while still grinning. "What's the part two?" He asked out of intense curiosity. The sponge assumed that Squidward was being generous due to him giving the sponge a two-part gift.

"I'm gonna cut right to the chase. I wanna be more friendly with you. I've been acting kind of like a jerk over the last few months since I was not grateful for the kind things that you did for me. I was too afraid that you were going to annoy even more if I treated you with kindness. After I thought about all the nice deeds you did for my sake, I can say with certainty that I was afraid of something that wasn't true. I know that because you've treated me kindly even when I was acting kind of mean. Remember when you took that laser shot in my place and the other time when you brought me to Goo Lagoon as an apology for what happened with that bubblestand?" Squidward spoke sincerely. All of the spoken words had came from his heart. He informed the yellow square about his renewed mental view of the yellow square.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled and his smile slowly stretched until it went from ear to ear. The sponge knew that Squidward was not one of the most friendliest Bikini Bottomites but such honest words from Squidward filled him with a vast amount of joy. It was like seeing light at the end of a long and dark tunnel. The sponge had waited a long time for Squidward to 'propose' a friendship with SpongeBob. He was aware of the fact that Squidward had not considered him to be a friend while his own view of Squidward was the opposite. "I... I..." The yellow sponge was at a loss of words. The surprise was too delightful.

An awkward pause.

When Squidward thought of a friendly thing that he and SpongeBob could do, a light bulb lit up in his head. "What's the most fun thing you can think of?" He said his idea in the form of a question.

SpongeBob continued to smile widely. "I have a whole list at my house. We gotta focus on work though. The day's just started." He answered Squidward's question and reminded Squidward about their obligations at the Krusty Krab.

Squidward nodded. "True. We should save the fun stuff for when we get home." He stated a wise course of action. He then turned to look at the cash register. 'I'm going to have to get through the torture of my monotonous job first.' He thought grumpily. His source of grumpiness was not SpongeBob. The octopus walked towards the boat and sat in it.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

A bit past 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob and Squidward were walking towards their neighborhood. Their workday had ended and they had left the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob was telling a story about some funny incident that happened to him as a child to Squidward.

Squidward was being quiet and tried to pay attention to SpongeBob's story. He was hearing the sponge's last words after all.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward walked up to SpongeBob's pineapple.

"Wait right here. I'll get the list in a few seconds." SpongeBob spoke to Squidward in a hasty tone and then stepped up to the pineapple's front door. He wanted to do his fun activities with Squidward right away.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered his pineapple.

Squidward waited patiently.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. A long rolled piece of paper was being held by one of his hands. He retrieved that piece of paper from the treasure chest inside his bedroom.

Patrick walked up to the two neighbors. "Hey, Sponge. Hey, Squid." The sea star greeted his did not notice them until now since he had been doing his daily activity of doing absolutely nothing while standing before his rock when the two neighbors passed by. "What're you doing?" He noticed the paper in SpongeBob's hand.

Another light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. 'I guess more friends makes SpongeBob's final moments more merrier.' The octopus thought. "I'm one of SpongeBob's actual friends now. Me and Sponge are going to do some fun things from a list." He told Patrick the situation and what he was about to do with SpongeBob.

Patrick smiled. He liked Squidward's new attitude towards his best friend. He then looked at SpongeBob. "Can I join?" He asked in an excited manner. He imagined several activities that the three of them could do.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick and grinned. "Sure! Why not?" He brought the sea star into the 'fun party'. The yellow square then unrolled the long piece of paper.

The activity list was so long that the long paper reached the ground and stretched for another foot.

Squidward and Patrick looked at the list by leaning towards the paper.

SpongeBob pointed at activities on the list that were written in red ink. "The things that are extra fun, I've written in red." He informed Patrick and Squidward about an important fact.

Squidward skimmed through the whole list and raised his brow. "Everything's in red." He observed. He found the list to be strange because of that observation.

"Yeah, I know." SpongeBob giggled.

All of the activities in the list were written in red ink. The only term written in normal ink was the title of the list. The title was 'FRIENDSHIP LIST'.

"Are there any activities that are super-duper fun?" Patrick asked SpongeBob. He had different terms for different levels of fun, excitement, and enjoyment.

"All of them are super-duper fun." SpongeBob answered Patrick's question. He assured Patrick of the excellent 'fun quality' of the activities on the list.

"We'd better start now if we want to get through this list before you die... of anticipation." Squidward said his desire to start the activities immediately and quickly prevented revealing his true thoughts to SpongeBob and Patrick at the last second by twisting the 'truth'.

"Then let's roll!" SpongeBob enthusiastically announced the beginning of the three's series of fun activities. He glanced at the first activity on his long list. "The first thing I want to do is show my two friends," The yellow square pointed at Patrick and Squidward. "to everybody in town." The first item on the list was also what he wanted to do first.

Squidward sweatdropped when he realized something. 'Everybody in town?! It will be way past sunset once we're done with that. Sponge would be dead before we would even finish that activity.' He mentally thought. His judgement was clouded by anxiety.

A pause.

Squidward reflected on what Mr. Krab said about SpongeBob's remaining time alive. 'Mr. Krabs could've meant that SpongeBob had a full twenty four hours left to live. SpongeBob definitely didn't eat that pie yesterday evening.' The octopus tried to think more rationally and his anxiety lessened as he reassured himself with a different interpretation of Mr. Krabs' words.

"Squidward, why're you standing there?" Patrick asked.

Squidward looked at his surroundings and noticed that SpongeBob and Patrick were many steps away from him.

"C'mon, Squid!" SpongeBob smirked and signaled with his hand for Squidward to follow him.

Squidward jogged towards his two neighbors in an attempt to catch up with them. His two neighbors brought him back to reality.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of Mr. Krabs' anchor. He had already introduced Squidward and Patrick to many Bikini Bottomites.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Pearl opened the front door. "Oh, it's you again." The whale was not too thrilled to see SpongeBob again. She recognized the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting on the sofa and was reading an old newspaper, his facial expression indicated his current state of gloom. The best and worst memories of the yellow fry cook were rewinding in his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hi, Pearl." SpongeBob greeted Pearl and waved at the whale. "These are my best friends, Squidward and Patrick." He pointed at Squidward and Patrick respectively so their names would not get confused.

Mr. Krabs looked up and saw SpongeBob. He then sobbed immediately after seeing the sponge. His 'son's' 'inevitable death' left the crab in an emotionally vulnerable state. In his mind, he may be catching his last glimpse of his 'son'. Being with SpongeBob during the sponge's last moments would be unbearable for the crab.

"Okay." Pearl nodded. She found her encounter with SpongeBob to be awkward since it was too sudden.

**SLAM**

She closed the front door.

The faint sounds of Mr. Krabs' crying were not heard since the sounds of SpongeBob and Pearl's conversation dominated the sounds going into the three's ears.

The three walked away from the premises so the octopus and the starfish could be introduced to more people.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

SpongeBob knocked on the front door of Sandy's treedome. He had introduced Squidward and Patrick to numerous Bikini Bottomites

A pause.

"_Who is it?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"It's SpongeBob. I've brought some friends with me. You can come out if you want" SpongeBob answered Sandy's question. He did not want to spoil who was accompanying him since he wanted that fact to be a surprise for Sandy.

A very long pause.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

Sandy opened the front door. She was in her astronaut suit.

"These are my friends, Squidward and Patrick. Pat's my best friend." SpongeBob pointed at the octopus and the sea star respectively. He introduce the two to Sandy even though he knew that Sandy was acquainted with his two neighbors.

Squidward was not too pleased to see the squirrel. He remembered the argument between him and Sandy during the time when he was acting like a ghost. However, like turning a new leaf with SpongeBob, he did not want to cling to that anger. He thought that it would lead to a tragedy similar to the current one afflicting SpongeBob. He did not express any signs of anger in an attempt to let his anger go.

Sandy glanced at Squidward for several seconds. She also remembered the argument she had with Squidward. However, after seeing the octopus' neutral facial expression, she assumed that Squidward forgot about the incident. She could not see a valid point in bringing up something that she thought should be forgotten. "I already know them, Sponge. What're you guys doing?" She slightly tilted her head to the side out of confusion.

"We're doing some fun activities that I've always wanted to do." SpongeBob spoke honestly and with a wide smile. "Wanna join?" He thought that the activities would become even better if there were more participants.

"Alright, I'll tag along." Sandy accepted SpongeBob's invitation. "I've got nothin' to do at my home anyway." She informed the neighbor trio about her slight boredom at her home. She stepped out of the glass hallway and...

**SLAM**

...closed her treedome's front door.

SpongeBob resumed his wandering around Bikini Bottom. "Follow us." He signaled with one of his hands for Sandy to follow him. "I'm introducing all of my friends to everybody in town." He stated the current activity that the group was doing.

Sandy walked at the same pace with the trio.

S-S-S-S-S

More than an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Sandy walked up to a man who was sitting on a bench.

"Hi, I want to show you my friends, Squidward, Sandy, and Patrick." SpongeBob greeted the man and pointed at Squidward, Sandy, and Patrick respectively. The man before him was the last person in Bikini Bottom that had not been introduced to SpongeBob's three friends.

"Hey there." Patrick greeted the man.

"Howdy." Sandy greeted the citizen with a wave of one of her hands.

"Hey, Frank." Squidward casually greeted the citizen. He recognized the man since he and the man used to be students in the same high school.

The four then walked away from the man.

The man sitting on the bench scratched his head in confusion and then shrugged his shoulders.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Sandy were in the neighbor trio's neighborhood.

"Glad that's over." Squidward spoke in relief. He became relieved since he found the fun activity to be too tedious. He had continued to do the tedious activity because he wanted to be with SpongeBob for as long as possible, the sponge's 'death' was still 'imminent' after all.

"Good, 'cause we're onto our next activity." SpongeBob took out a pencil and put a check next to the first activity that was on the list. He wanted himself and his friends to do all of the activities on the list. The sponge then checked his watch and noticed that it was currently past 8:00 PM. "Looks like we can't do everything in one day. We'll just do the best ones before sunrise." SpongeBob changed his plan slightly.

Squidward did not complain about SpongeBob's plan change. He was determined to support the sponge during the sponge's moment of 'death'.

"I'll go for as long as I can." Patrick informed SpongeBob that he was going to try to pull off an all-nighter in order to do all of those activities.

"Me too." Sandy nodded.. She was going to do what Patrick was going to do. "I need my sleep though." She pointed out an important fact that SpongeBob was probably not aware of.

A pause.

"So, what's the next activity?" Squidward asked. He hoped the next activity was something that was easy to do.

SpongeBob looked at his list and quickly chose an activity. "I'm going to play catch with my friends while we're all wearing salmon suits." He stated the activity.

'Better than walking around the whole town.' Squidward thought. He also thought that playing catch with SpongeBob could at least be a little bit fun. He did not really like sports and would rather play his clarinet than play a sport when it came to doing something fun.

SpongeBob walked towards the downtown area. "Don't worry guys. We're going to a store and I'll be paying for all of the suits." He stated how the four were going to prepare for the fun activity.

The other three followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The four returned to the neighborhood. They were all wearing salmon suits.

"I'll get the ball." SpongeBob ran towards his pineapple and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

...entered it.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the pineapple with a blue ball in one of his hands. He then walked up to the other three. "Me and Pat will be one side while you and Sandy will be on the other side." The sponge was speaking towards Squidward.

Patrick stood next to SpongeBob.

Squidward and Sandy walked away from SpongeBob and Patrick until they reached a certain distance. They then turned around to face SpongeBob and Patrick.

SpongeBob got into his position and then served the blue ball as if he was playing a volleyball game.

The ball flew over to the other side.

Sandy nimbly caught the blue ball and threw it to the other side. She already somewhat liked the game that she was playing with her friends since it was a physical activity.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward caught the blue ball. The game kept him on his toes and that made it therapeutic as a consequence. He was beginning to like the game because of that fact, the game had therapeutic effects on him since it distracted his mind from SpongeBob's 'death'. It temporarily grounded Squidward to the here and now. The game also showed Squidward how it was like when playing with SpongeBob and Patrick, it made him start to understand why SpongeBob and Patrick were up to their antics. The octopus then threw the blue ball towards Patrick.

Patrick dove forward and caught the blue ball.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had checked off several activities that were on the list. "Knock-knock jokes!" He said the next activity with a smirk on his face. He then rolled up the long piece of paper and put the paper on the ground. The sponge walked to a medium-sized rock and sat on it. He then patted the space on the rock that was left over. "Sit here, Squid."

Squidward sat next to SpongeBob.

"Knock-knock." SpongeBob began the joke. He then giggled.

"Who's there?" Squidward spoke with a deadpan face. He was not too fond of knock-knock jokes.

"I am!" SpongeBob finished the joke and then laughed..

Squidward chuckled because he found SpongeBob's laughter to be weird. He always noticed that SpongeBob laughed in a weird way. The joke, like the game of catch with salmon suits, distracted his mind from the tragedy that was going to occur soon.

A pause.

"C'mon over, Pat." SpongeBob signaled with his hand for Patrick to walk up to and sit on the rock.

Squidward stood up and stepped away from the rock.

Patrick sat on the rock.

"Knock-knock." SpongeBob began another knock-knock joke.

"Who's there?" Patrick asked with a giggle. He already thought that the joke was funny.

"Pink." SpongeBob spoke with a wide smile. He was trying to suppress his giggling.

Patrick released a few chuckles. "Pink who?"

"You!" SpongeBob pointed at Patrick. He was giggling.

SpongeBob and Patrick laughed.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Sandy had returned to their homes. Patrick returned to his rock due to drowsiness. Sandy returned to her treedome because she needed some sleep so she could function efficiently for the next day.

Many activities on the list had been checked off.

SpongeBob was tied to Squidward's face and covered the octopus' vision. He and Squidward were currently doing another activity. "Turn left," He commanded.

Squidward turned to directly face the left direction.

"and... stop." SpongeBob's command was a form of announcement that ended the activity. "See, that's what it would be like if you had me for a face." The next sentence that he said made the purpose of his last command obvious.

"I can't breathe." Squidward said a complaint and poked SpongeBob on the shoulder. He could no longer hold his breath or take another deep breath. The slight movement of the sponge's body made it impossible to breathe. By doing that activity with SpongeBob, he and the sponge developed a very slight bond of trust since they both needed to cooperate in order to complete the activity. The octopus saw a slight glimmer of potential for him and SpongeBob to work together effectively as Krusty Krab coworkers instead of him getting grumpy while SpongeBob annoys him during work.

SpongeBob untied himself from Squidward's face and landed on the ground.

Squidward took a few deep inhales and then breathed normally.

"The last thing I want to do is..." SpongeBob wanted to do one more activity with Squidward for the day. He picked up the list that was on the ground and skimmed through it until he found an activity that he liked. "Watch the sunset with Squidward." He stated the activity.

"But the sun had already set." Squidward stated an important fact. "Can't we do some other activities?" The octopus wanted to keep playing with SpongeBob because he wanted to be with the sponge in all of the sponge's 'last' living moments and another reason was that he learned more about SpongeBob as he did more of those fun activities.

"We can always watch the sunrise." SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple. "We gotta get our sleep though. It's gonna be a long time before the sun rises and I have boating school tomorrow."

Squidward decided that SpongeBob's reason for sleeping were rational and valid. He also knew that SpongeBob ate that bomb pie during the morning so he thought that SpongeBob was going to die slightly after sunrise. In the back of his mind, he knew that he needed sleep anyway. He did not want to start his Sunday in a grumpy manner. "Can you wake me up so we can watch it together?" He asked.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. "Okay. I'll wake up way before my alarm clock and I'll then wake you up." He stated what he was going to do tomorrow morning.

Squidward walked towards his tiki. Many memories about the fun activities he did with SpongeBob rewinded in his mind.

SpongeBob resumed his walking towards his pineapple.

**CRRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Squidward entered the tiki.

**CRRREEEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 5:45 AM.

**CRRREEEEEEEEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob slowly opened the door and entered Squidward' bedroom. Abiding by the promise he told Squidward and by luck, he woke up a few minutes ago without his alarm clock making any noise. The yellow square tip-toed towards the bed and then gently tapped Squidward on the shoulder, he tapped the octopus several times.

Squidward slowly opened his eyes and noticed a yellow body standing before the side of the bed that he was facing. He then blinked until his vision was clear and he sat up in his bed. When he saw SpongeBob's face with his clear vision, he remembered why the sponge had came to his bedroom. "Can you step out for a sec? I need to change my clothes." He was wearing his pajamas.

SpongeBob silently nodded and...

**CREAK**

SLAM

...quickly exited the bedroom.

When SpongeBob left the bedroom. Squidward remembered that SpongeBob only had until sunrise before the bomb would kill him. He realized that SpongeBob only had a short time left to live. With a now solemn facial expression, he changed to his usual attire. His facial expression indicated his acceptance of SpongeBob's death. Thoughts about the possibility of SpongeBob having a will filled his mind as he walked towards the exit.

**CRRRREEEEAAK**

SLAM

Squidward exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward walked down the hallway.

SpongeBob was beaming so radiantly that he was temporarily taking the sun's place when compared to the dawn sky above and surrounding him. He was also skipping merrily as he walked. The yellow square could not wait to see the sun rise and begin its domination of the sky.

Squidward maintained his solemn face. He was not as sad as before since he learned a lot of things about SpongeBob and understood the sponge better yesterday.

The two neighbors walked down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward eventually reached the living room and then walked towards the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

The sponge and the octopus exited the tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

"Follow me." SpongeBob signaled with his hand for Squidward to follow him. He then walked towards somewhere outside of the neighborhood.

Squidward followed SpongeBob. From his perspective, he was certainly going to accompany the sponge during the sponge's last moments.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Here's good." SpongeBob stopped walking and laid down on the ground. He thought that the spot on the ground that he and Squidward were currently standing/laying on was ideal since there was no physical object in the way between them and the sun.

Squidward laid down on the ground next to SpongeBob. His throat became sore at the thought that SpongeBob was going to die in a few minutes.

The sun's crown was peeking over the horizon. It was giving the sky a dark tint of blue.

A long pause.

"Ah, underwater sunrises are beautiful. Eh, Squidward?" SpongeBob asked for a confirmation of his opinion. He had seen sunrises on dry land through pictures and videos on the internet. However, he liked underwater sunrises more since he was a sea creature.

"Yeah." Squidward nodded. Strangely, he shared the same opinion with SpongeBob.

A bit of the sun's yellow head rose over the horizon. It cast a bright blue onto the sky.

"Yeah, this is great, just the two of us. You and me." SpongeBob was trying to do some small talk with Squidward. He thought that talking with his friend while watching the sunrise would make the activity more enjoyable. His happiness and perspective was as bright and yellow as the sun before him; he was completely oblivious to Squidward's truly feelings.

"Yeah." Squidward replied to what SpongeBob said. He was replying since it nulled the pain of knowing that SpongeBob was going to 'die' before his very eyes.

"Sunrises always remind me of bowls of fruit. What do they make you think of, Squidward?" SpongeBob looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye and asked. He wanted to hear the octopus' opinion so he could get to know the octopus better. He desired what Squidward gained yesterday.

Squidward's mind was clogged with thoughts about SpongeBob's death. "Explosions... I mean, erosion." He blurted a clue to this true thoughts but quickly covered it with something else. He still did not want to accidentally reveal the 'truth' to the yellow square.

The sun eventually rose until it gave the sky its normal light blue tint.

SpongeBob slowly formed a wide smile of satisfaction. The rise of the sun gave him a temporary sense of euphoria, what he had been waiting for was finally given to him. "You know, if I were to die right now, well, that would just be okay." The sponge spoke sincerely. He wanted to savor every second of the euphoria. He then abruptly burped. The sponge recognized what type of burp he did and he smelled the burp as well. "Wow, it feels like something just dropped into my lower intestine. It smells kinda like chery.. or maybe grape... blueberry?" The smell of his burp was certainly fruity but he could not pinpoint what fruit his burp smelled like.

Squidward glanced at his watch with moistened eyes, what SpongeBob said announced that the sponge's 'time' was near. He noticed that it was twenty seconds before 6:00 AM. 6:00 AM was the time when sunrise technically occurs.

SpongeBob glanced at his watch as well. "Here it is, the sunrise!" The sponge also knew the official time for sunrise for the current season. "I always love to count it down." He stated one of the habits he does with Patrick when watching the sunrise while inside Squidward's bedroom. "Five... you do the rest, buddy." He wanted Squidward to finish the countdown.

Squidward frowned and took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his heavy throat. His attempt then failed since it made his throat even more heavy. "Four... three... two... one..." He then covered his ears and closed his eyes for the anticipated explosion.

The time on Squidward and SpongeBob's watches changed to 6:00 AM.

An awkward pause.

Nothing happened.

Squidward slowly widened his eyes in utter shock. The anticipated explosion had not happened and his prediction was completely inaccurate.


	51. No Free Rides

**Chapter 51: No Free Rides**

* * *

SpongeBob saw the shocked face that Squidward was making. "Why're you making that face? Did something bad happen?" He was curious. The sponge could not see anything shocking about the sunrise.

"B-but... but..." Squidward was struggling to express what he expected to happen to the yellow square. The sudden increase of shock that he had experienced was so powerful that it almost completely seized his mouth.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers since he thought that doing that would end Squidward's stuttering.

Squidward took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He regained full control over his mouth. "Mr. Krabs predicted and told me that you were going to die twenty four hours after eating that pie. There was a bomb inside that pie." The octopus finally revealed the dark thought that had been lurking inside his mind.

SpongeBob laughed so hard that a few tears ran down his cheeks. After several seconds, he stopped laughing and took a breath since the laughing drained his oxygen supply. "You and Mr. Krabs are really silly. There was no bomb inside that pie. I ate the whole thing and even saw its interior." The yellow square told Squidward the truth. He was smiling widely as he said those words and was even giggling from time to time.

"What?!" Squidward dropped his jaw in disbelief. "But Mr. Krabs said that that pie looked like one of those bomb pies." He said something else that Mr. Krabs said.

"Whoever cooked the pie didn't do it perfectly." SpongeBob said a plausible assumption for the strange size of the pie.

A pause.

Now that his fear had been lifted from his mind and heart, Squidward wanted to move on to something else. "SpongeBob, I'm sorry for being careless when I was buying your gift. I bought from that nearby vendor because it was more convenient for me than going to a score. The whole situation yesterday would have never happened if I was a little bit more careful with my buying." The octopus apologized for his actions since he wanted his regret for buying that pie to get completely off his chest.

"Hmm..." SpongeBob reflected on what happened yesterday. "Were you afraid that I was gonna die from that 'bomb' in the pie?" He wanted to confirm a conclusion that surfaced in his mind.

"Yeah." Squidward nodded with a deadpan face. He did not find someone telling him his own mistake to be pleasant. "That's why I wanted to be friends with you. I regretted how I treated you over the last few months since I thought that I treated you unfairly yesterday and caused your death." The octopus kept his desire for SpongeBob's positivity hidden from the sponge's knowledge. He needed to develop a better bond of trust with his yellow square before he could safely reveal that fact.

"Well, look at the bright side." SpongeBob wanted Squidward to accept the mistake he made and move on from it. He then pointed at himself. "You've gained a new friend now, right?" He was aware of the closer bond between him and Squidward. He knew that Squidward was his friend but not the other way around.

Squidward put one of his hands on his chin and thought for a few seconds. "Honestly, I don't know." He shrugged. "We know each other better though." A tiny bit of the sponge's positivity had rubbed off on him.

SpongeBob stood up. "That's good too. Me and you barely hang out together." The sponge said an obvious fact. He then looked at his watch. "I'm gonna have boating school soon." He said an excuse for returning to the neighborhood. He had looked at his calendar when he had awoken.

Squidward stood up as well. 'I better tell Mr. Krabs tomorrow about Sponge's survival.' He thought. He did not want Mr. Krabs to be expecting a date for SpongeBob's funeral tomorrow. The octopus then thought about some relaxing activities that he could do at his home.

SpongeBob and Squidward walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Ricky walked up to a wooden table in a messy and wrecked kitchen. He was currently in his parents' house. His two parents were just as poor as him. He sat down in a wooden chair and opened a brown bag that was under the table. That bag was the one he had used when he was selling things yesterday as a street vendor. He had been trying to make some money so he could buy some weapons. He and the other thug group members had been put into prison for fighting with SpongeBob during the prom and he and the members had also been bailed out by other friends that were affiliated with gangs. When Ricky saw the pie inside the bag, he remember what he had sold to Squidward yesterday. 'That sponge should be ashes by now.' Ricky thought with a smirk. There used to be two pies inside that bag, one was a normal pie while the other was a bomb pie. He had bought those two pies from a pirate a few days ago and the pirate told him about the destructive properties of the bomb pie. 'Gotta give that pirate some credit.' He was grateful for the pirate's willingness to sell those two pies to him.

Ricky took the remaining pie out of the bag. He thought that he sold the bomb pie to Squidward. The thug then set the pie on the table and tried to take out a piece of the crust from the pie. He wanted to eat something for breakfast.

**BOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

The pie exploded.

**SLAM**

**THUD**

Ricky flew to the wall and then fell to the ground. He became dizzy for a few seconds but soon regained his vision.

The wooden table before him was now a pile of wooden pieces. The contents of the brown bag were spilled to the floor.

"Neptune dammit..." Ricky cursed while gritting his teeth. The explosion of the pie made him realize that the pie he sold to the octopus had not successfully killed SpongeBob. He then stood up and walked towards the living room so he could use the shell-phone. 'Better tell my bros about this.' He thought. Ricky thought that telling the group members about what happened would make them form a better plan when it came to killing SpongeBob. The current plan that the group had was quite unorganized since it consisted of killing the yellow sponge on sight. 'I'm gonna need those guns now.' He decided that he was going to sell more things as a street vendor today. He was thinking about shooting SpongeBob to death.

Revenge had consumed the minds of the thug group.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He then jogged towards the boating school. He was aware of the fact that there was a boating exam today. He was smiling widely since he was confident in his driving skills and optimistically thought that he will get a driver's license today.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran through the opened gate and along the boardwalk to the building.

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

The yellow square eventually reached the building and entered it. He then ran down the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

"The exams will now begin. Please stand up from your seats and follow me." Mrs. Puff announced to her morning class the beginning of the boating exams. She had a neutral facial expression and was speaking in a somewhat serious tone.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged into the classroom. "SpongeBob, reporting!" He informed Mrs. Puff of his presence. He had also overheard what Mrs. Puff said to the class and knew what to do as a consequence.

Mrs. Puff opened her gradebook and erased the 'X' next to SpongeBob's name with a pencil. The 'X' was used to indicate that someone was absent. She then walked through the open doorway.

SpongeBob and his other classmates followed her.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRAAASSSH**

A boatmobile crashed into a mannequin that looked like an average pedestrian.

SpongeBob was the one who was controlling the wheel of the boatmobile. Mrs. Puff was sitting next to her. He was currently doing the boating exam since it was his turn. Each student in the class took turns so they all could eventually complete the exam. The whole class had completed the written portion of the exam a week ago. The yellow square could not see what he crashed the boatmobile into since several signposts that he had crashed through were sticking on the front of the boatmobile and blocked his view of the road. "What happened?" He scratched his head. His text anxiety was once again making him fail the exam.

Mrs. Puff scribbled a number into a notepad that she was holding. "Oh, nothing, SpongeBob. You just struck another pedestrian. Minus twenty more points." The sponge had crashed into so many things so many times during boating exams that it became normal for Mrs. Puff. She then looked at her watch and realized that the test was over. The pufferfish then took a deep breath in relief.

"How many does that leave me with?" SpongeBob facially expressed anxiety. He thought that he was going to get a bad grade since he had crashed into so many obstacles in one exam attempt.

Mrs. Puff jotted down the final grade on the notepad. "Negative two-hundred twenty four" She droned. The teacher wanted to quickly move on to the next student. Administering a boating exam to SpongeBob was one of the most torturous tasks that she could possibly do.

"How many more minutes left in the test?" SpongeBob was oblivious to the fact that the boating exam for him was over.

"The test is over." Mrs. Puff made eye contact with SpongeBob and stated what she perceived to be an obvious fact.

However, SpongeBob did not fully pay his attention to Mrs. Puff's words. Self-deprecating mental voices blocked out the words of his teacher. In retaliation against his own self-deprecation, he wanted to squeeze in a few more points into his final grade. "That's enough time, I can make up those points!" SpongeBob heard something else from the pufferfish due to his sudden burst of optimism.

"No, SpongeBob, you didn't hear me!" Mrs. Puff sweatdropped and began to panic. If she allowed SpongeBob to continue taking the exam, a major accident was bound to happen.

SpongeBob pulled the lever into the reverse direction with all of his might. He wanted to drive through the whole course all over again.

**VVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOMMM**

The boatmobile drove in reverse at a super-fast speed.

SpongeBob's anxiety suddenly spiked when the sponge noticed how fast the boatmobile was going. His anxiety made him think that he could no longer control the vehicle.

The boatmobile drove through and knocked over a long row of cones that had been standing on one part of the track. The vehicle eventually drove outside of the track and hit a large rock.

**CRRRRAAAAASSSSSH**

The boatmobile twirled in the air and landed upside down.

The crash triggered a natural response from Mrs. Puff's body. The pufferfish puffed up until she was several times her size. "It's too late, SpongeBob." Mrs. Puff spoke in a deepened voice.

SpongeBob completely heard what Mrs. Puff said. He nodded in acceptance of the fact that his turn had ended. "Okay, Mrs. Puff. What's my final score?" He assumed that his score on the exam had changed as the boatmobile had drove in reverse.

"It's still negative two-hundred twenty six." Mrs. Puff answered the sponge's question as she slowly crawled out of the vehicle. Her large size made it difficult for her to move.

SpongeBob facially expressed disappointment. "How many do I need to pass?" He forgot what was the minimum score that one needed in order to pass the boating exam. His anxiety clogged the pathways to his memory.

"Six... hundred." Mrs. Puff managed to stand up. She looked like a second lighthouse from SpongeBob's perspective.

A pause.

SpongeBob sighed. With the realization that he failed the test, his disappointment removed the anxiety that was plaguing his mind. He now thought clearly, was relaxed, and regained his optimistic viewpoint and outlook. "Don't worry, I'll be alright, Mrs. Puff." The yellow square simpered. "I'll just try harder next time I get a chance." Hope filled his heart at the possibility of self-improvement. "Well, see you next week!" He said a farewell while waving his hand. The yellow square then leaped to the boardwalk and jogged along it.

SpongeBob eventually exited the campus of the boating school.

A long pause.

Mrs. Puff shrunk back to her normal size. She was now standing with no difficulties at all. 'Oh, Neptune. Another few months with him!' The pufferfish thought with ill-temper and despair. "Barnacles! Dirty barnacles!" She loudly whispered curses. 'I've got to do something to save myself.' She desired relief from the torture of teaching SpongeBob. She currently had SpongeBob as a student for more than two years. When she saw her fallen gradebook and picked it up, she noticed that she had not put SpongeBob's final grade for the boating exam into the gradebook. A light bulb then lit up in her head. "There's only one way out: a teacher's ace in the hole!" The teacher loudly whispered to herself while smirking. She then dashed towards the jogging yellow square. "EXTRA CREDIIIIIIT!" She loudly announced her 'ace in the hole.

SpongeBob incompletely heard his teacher's yelling. He stopped running and turned to face the campus. He then walked towards the campus and stepped through the open gate. The yellow square made eye contact with the pufferfish. "What was that, Mrs. Puff?"

Mrs. Puff grinned and stepped up to the sponge. "Extra credit, SpongeBob!" The teacher wanted to boost up SpongeBob's grade on the exam so she could pass him and make him 'valid' for a driver's license. Doing such a crime would save her from possibly infinite amounts of future torture. "The extra credit!" She laughed fanatically. She was overflowing with joy since she found her idea to be novel. "I still have a chance! I mean, you still have a chance." She accidentally revealed what she was truly thinking but covered it up within a heartbeat.

"Extra credit?!" SpongeBob smiled widely. He knew what extra credit was since he had went through high school. The sponge did not think that extra credit could be offered in boating school since he had never heard or seen it being offered in that school before.

"It's when you get credit for the things you weren't able to do before." Mrs. Puff inferred from SpongeBob's facial expression that the sponge did now what extra credit was. She then briefly explained it.

"Are we gonna start now?" SpongeBob was jumping up and down in excitement. He could not wait to seize a chance at passing his exam and consequently getting that driver's license that he yearned for.

"Yep." Mrs. Puff nodded. She climbed up to the boardwalk and then walked towards the building. "Follow me."

SpongeBob followed his instructor.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff entered the main building.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff briskly walked down the hallway. The pufferfish desired to assign the extra credit assignment while SpongeBob wanted to do it to the best of his ability.

The two eventually reached the door for the classroom of the Sunday morning class.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff entered the classroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Mrs. Puff walked up to her desk and opened a drawer. She took out a sheet of lined paper from the opened drawer and gave it to SpongeBob. "Now, are we ready for that extra credit?" She wanted to energize the sponge so the sponge could do the assignment quickly and efficiently.

"Extra credit!" SpongeBob yelled with enthusiasm. He held out the lined paper to the ceiling.

"That's the spirit." The instructor made a thumbs-up and smiled. "Have a seat."

SpongeBob walked up to one of the front desks and sat in it. He put the paper on the desk and took out a No. 2 pencil. He was expecting a writing assignment.

"So all you have to do to earn your extra credit and pass my class and never have to go anywhere near this school again, is to write a ten-word sentence on what you've learned in boating school." Mrs. Puff's enthusiasm for the extra credit assignment was becoming revealed through her word choice. She wanted SpongeBob to a very simple essay since she assumed that it would be very easy for the sponge, the sponge always passed the boating exam's written portion anyway.

Like doing the driving portion of the boating exam, SpongeBob began to become nervous. "But I've learned so many things..." His nervousness began to make him over-think about how he was going to complete the assignment and how he was going to be graded.

"Just pick one." Mrs. Puff shrugged. "I don't care which." She was so excited by the thought of SpongeBob getting his driver's license that she saw the extra credit as more of an obstacle than an assignment. "Here, I'll help you get started. Copy what I say."

The sponge nodded and grabbed his pencil.

"What I've learned in Boating School is..." Mrs. Puff stated how she wanted SpongeBob's written sentence to turn out. She did not state the sentence completely since she wanted SpongeBob to put a bit of effort into the assignment.

SpongeBob jotted the partial sentence that his teacher said unto the paper.

"There!" Mrs. Puff pointed at SpongeBob's paper. "That's already seven words. Only three more!" She was trying to encourage the sponge to continue doing the assignment.

SpongeBob wrote 'lear' on the paper before the tip of his pencil broke under the pressure of his grip. His growing anxiety over failing the extra credit assignment had made him tightly grip the pencil. His teacher's attempts at supporting him were beginning to backfire. "Oh, barnacles." The sponge bit his lip.

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Puff became alarmed. She heavily did not want any interruption to the sponge's work on the assignment.

"Got to sharpen my pencil." SpongeBob hopped to his feet and briskly walked up to the electronic sharpener.

**RIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIIHIHIHI**

He stabbed the pencil into the sharpener's hole and allowed the sharpener to sharpen his pencil for several seconds. The sponge then pulled out the pencil and smiled at seeing its now perfectly sharpened tip. The sponge then dove back to his desk, sat in it, and resumed his writing. He eventually finished his sentence but then narrowed his eyes as he read it, the sponge wanted to make sure that what he wrote was high-quality.

A pause.

noticed the complete written sentence on her student's paper. "Fantastic. Let me see it!" She gave a compliment to SpongeBob's paper in spite of the fact that she did not read it yet, she was trying to coax the sponge into giving her the paper.

"No, wait!" SpongeBob held out his other hand while erasing the words he had truly written on the paper with his dominant hand. He did not want to hand what he anxiously perceived to be 'garbage' to his teacher. He then wrote three words that replaced the words that he had erased.. The sponge read the words he just wrote. 'Good enough, I guess.' He then stood up and held out the paper towards Mrs. Puff. He was able to control his anxiety for a very limited amount of time.

Mrs. Puff snatched the paper from SpongeBob's hand. She then quickly read the paper.

What was written on the paper said: 'What I learned in boating school is how to drive.'

"As long as he wrote something.' She thought. The teacher tossed the paper to her desk. "You passed! You passed!" The pufferfish repeatedly announced that SpongeBob received a perfect score on the extra credit assignment. That perfect score would then subsequently raise SpongeBob's final exam grade to a passing range.

SpongeBob had a facial expression that was somewhat expressing concern. He felt strange since he felt like he did not do an assignment at all. Mrs. Puff had never assigned him such an easy assignment before. "Mrs. Puff, I don't feel like I really did anything."

"That's how extra credit is supposed to feel." Mrs. Puff lied to the sponge. Deceiving the sponge away from the suspiciousness of the assignment would make SpongeBob's obtaining of his license and final exit from the school pass by more quickly.

"Really?" SpongeBob scratched his head. His mind was in a conflicting state of belief and suspicion. The sponge could not figure out a valid reason for why his teacher suddenly assigned him that extra credit assignment.

"Besides," Mrs. Puff opened another drawer in her desk and took out a card with a photo of SpongeBob and some of his personal information on it. "here's your license." She held it out towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped at the pleasant surprise and then beamed radiantly. His nervousness made him forget the reward that awaited him at the end of the tunnel of exam fails. "My license..." The sponge took the card from Mrs. Puff's hand and marveled at it with sparkling eyes.

The info on the driver's license consisted of:

'**EXPIRES: 12/14/13 **

**SpongeBob SquarePants**

**124 Conch St.**

**Bikini Bottom, Atoll Region, Pacific Ocean**

**Sex: M Hair: Yellow DOB: 07-14-85'**

SpongeBob was staring at the driver's license in his hands. He just could not believe that he had just received his own license from Mrs. Puff. His teacher had always informed her students about the updated expiration dates for the unreceived licenses but he never thought that he would receive his driver's license just for completing such a simple assignment. He had thought at one point that by the time he receives his license, it would expire some time after his death due to how much of his life he spent failing those boating exams.

An awkward pause.

"Thank you, SpongeBob." The pufferfish spoke sincerely. She was being grateful for SpongeBob's completion of the assignment since it would mean the end of her torture. Mrs. Puff grabbed SpongeBob by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the classroom.

S-S-S-S-S

"Congratulations," She dragged him towards the building's exit and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

...opened it. "and have a nice life!" She threw her yellow graduate through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the boardwalk.

The students of the morning class were nearby as they waited for Mrs. Puff to come back to them and resume the administration of their exams.

SpongeBob stood up and brushed some particles out of his clothes. He did not mind Mrs. Puff's throwing of him at all due to his happiness. "Look out, Bikini Bottom! There's a new driver on the road and his name is SpongeBob SquarePants!" The sponge held out his driver's license towards the sky. He was acting like he won a gold medal in the Olympics. The yellow square then ran towards his neighborhood. 'I need to tell Squid and Pat about this.' He wanted to inform his friends about the great news.

The sponge exited the campus.

Mrs. Puff was watching the running yellow sponge while standing before the open doorway to the outside world. 'SpongeBob SquarePants...! SpongeBob SquarePants...!' The sponge's yelling of his name echoed in her head. When she saw her former student run past a parked boat, a fear suddenly gripped her mind. That fear was about the severe consequences of SpongeBob's invalid receiving of his driver's license. However, Mrs. Puff had been aware of those consequences all along.

Her fears manifested into a hypothetical scenario occurring inside her mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside Mrs. Puff's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

"La la la la la la la la la la la!" SpongeBob was singing to mental musical notes as he drove a typical boatmobile. He was driving down a street with his hands properly on the wheel. He was not turning the boatmobile's wheels correctly however. That was making his car jerk in random directions before him and also made it drive off the road often.

**CRASH**

SpongeBob's boatmobile drove through and broke a 'STOP' sign.

"La la la la la la la la la!" SpongeBob turned the wheel with too much force as he continued to sing.

His boatmobile drove towards another boatmobile that was driving in an opposite direction.

**SSSCCCRREEEEEECCH**

The opposite-driving boatmobile moved away from the incoming boatmobile. It and the sponge's boatmobile were several inches apart from each other.

SpongeBob's boatmobile was driving directly towards a little boy.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" **The boy shrieked in terror and tried to run away from the incoming vehicle. However, it was too late...

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

Mrs. Puff winced as her horrifying hypothetical scenario continued in her head. "That's preposterous. He did the extra credit. There's no need to worry. He doesn't even have a boat to drive." She tried to deny the possible consequences of her selfish actions and also tried to rationalize the scenario that just occurred in her mind. No matter how much she tried to put herself in a positive light, her self-serving actions and their consequences were inexcusable. The pufferfish was rationalizing and denying since she did not want another form of torture to be beared on her shoulders, guilt and fear.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting in his lawn chair, it was on his tiki's lawn. He was reading a novel written by a dead human named Charles Dickens called Oliver Twist. He began to read that novel today and so far could certainly relate with the orphan who was the main character of the story. He could also see a similarity between the workhouse where the orphan worked at and the Krusty Krab. He currently felt like he was reading a biography of himself due to the early part of the novel's story's similarity to his current life.

SpongeBob walked up to Squidward and held out his driver's license towards him. "Squid, I got some great news!" He was jumping up and down and spoke with the enthusiasm of a young child who got a Christmas present.

Squidward looked up and saw the driver's license that SpongeBob was holding. Due to what happened earlier today, he was happy that the sponge was present before him; the sponge's presence indicated that the sponge was still alive and not blown into pieces. However, he did not express any signs of happiness and kept his deadpan face instead.

"I finally got my driver's license!' SpongeBob pointed at his driver's license. "I don't know when I'm gonna get a car though." He needed to save some money before he could afford a boatmobile.

"Congratulations and good luck with your car search." Squidward droned but his words were sincere. He wished the best for the yellow square since that square had supported and done generous deeds for him. For some strange reason, he remembered the time when he, SpongeBob, and Patrick were alien hunting and made Squilliam one of the victims. That memory made him smile slightly.

SpongeBob's smile became a bit larger and the sponge then ran towards Patrick's rock. He then reached the rock and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on it.

A pause.

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

The rock opened. Patrick was sticking to the ceiling.

"Mornin', Sponge." Patrick smiled when he saw his best friend.

"I got a driver's license, Pat!" SpongeBob held out his driver's license towards Patrick.

Patrick widened his eyes and leaped to the outside ground.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob's driver's license with wonder. "Wow. I wish I had one of those, I heard it's really hard to get them." The sea star desired a driver's license since he thought having one would make him look 'coral' and would boost his ego as a consequence. He currently thought that SpongeBob was 'coral' for possesing that type of license.

SpongeBob giggled after hearing Patrick's words. He then looked at his licence as well. "I've failed the boating exam many times before I got this, you're completely right, Pat." He then made eye contact and asked out of curiosity: "Think you can get one?" He did not intend the question to be a form of bragging.

"I dunno how to get one." Patrick shrugged. He did not know what boating school was due to sheer ignorance.

"Do you know what's boating school?" SpongeBob made an assumption and asked so he could get a confirmation for the assumption from the sea star.

"Nope." Patrick shook his head. He had forgotten what boating school was.

"It's a school where you learn how to drive a car." SpongeBob tried to jog Patrick's memory. He knew that Patrick knew what a boating school was.

"Ohh..." Patrick remembered what a boating school was after hearing his best friend's words.

"See ya later." SpongeBob spoke to Patrick for a final time and then jogged towards his pineapple.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV while laying on the sofa. He was watching a documentary about coral that was native to the Atlantic ocean.

"Gary, look what I just got!" SpongeBob held out his driver's license towards Gary; he informed the snail about the good news. "Isn't it wonderful? I can drive now!" He joyfully stated the obvious. He then stepped towards the shell-phone and picked it up. He then dialed his parents' house number and put it next to his ear.

A pause.

"_Hello?" _SpongeBob's mother's electronic voice was heard.

"Hey, Mom, it's me, SpongeBob. I just got my driver's license!" SpongeBob enthusiastically spoke about the good news into the shell-phone he was holding. He wanted all of his close friends and loved ones to know about his current possession of his own driver's license.

SpongeBob's mother gasped through the shell-phone. A light bulb then abruptly lit up in her head. The idea was about a gift that she can give to SpongeBob. However, it was going to take some time. _"Can you come to our house at five in the evening? Me and your father are pretty busy right now." _She said a white lie so the gift for her son could be kept as a secret.

SpongeBob became slightly disappointed since he could not visit his parents right away. He wanted to celebrate his obtainment of a driver's license with his immediate family. "What're you busy with?" He was curious nonetheless.

"_Work-related errands." _SpongeBob's mother said a believable excuse. Her excuse was coincidentally very similar to the excuse that Squidward had used when he rapidly entered and exited the Krusty Krab as temporary manager.

"Oh." SpongeBob nodded. "Well, remember to tell Dad 'bout this. Love ya, Mom. I'll see ya later." He said a farewell to his mother. He also assured his mother of his visit to his parent's house.

"_You too, SpongeBob." _SpongeBob's mother said her farewell to her son and put down the shell-phone on her end. She wanted to immediately tell her husband about the good news.

SpongeBob put down the shell-phone on his end.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's father was watering some flowers that were in the garden of his home's lawn. His and his wife's home consisted of a dark yellow multi-story building, a backyard, front yard; and a shed in the backyard. There were two gardens, one in the lawn and one in the backyard. SpongeBob and Brian had spent most of their childhoods, teen years, and currently for Brian his early adult years; in that premises. Like Squidward, one of SpongeBob's father's hobbies was gardening.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob's mother opened the front door and briskly walked up to SpongeBob's father. "Harold, SpongeBob just got his license!" The mother spread the news to the sponge's father with a grin on her face. She never thought that the day of SpongeBob's license obtainment would come.

SpongeBob's father gasped. He stopped watering the flowers and put the watering can on the ground. "Are you serious?" He looked at his wife with widened eyes in disbelief. He had no intention of chastisement or rebuking.

"Yep. SpongeBob just told me on the phone." SpongeBob's mother pointed through the open doorway at the shell-phone in the living room.

"Mrs. Puff must've put some real effort if she made him pass. I heard from her that he failed the exam more than ten times. Maybe she should get an award as well." SpongeBob's father said the current thoughts in his mind. He was recognizing Mrs. Puff for her efforts at surviving the torture of teaching SpongeBob.

Another light bulb lit up in the mother's head. "Say, why don't we give a gift to SpongeBob and also congratulate Mrs. Puff?" She combined her two ideas into one proposal of a plan. She also appreciated Mrs. Puff's efforts since her son could now be allowed to drive a car and she would consequently no longer bear the shame of being the mother of one of the worst boating school students in Bikini Bottom. However, she and her husband were not really affected or harmed by that shame in the first place.

"That sounds pretty decent." SpongeBob's father smiled and made a thumbs-up. "You thinkin' about getting Sponge a boatmobile?" He guessed at what gift that his wife wanted for his son.

SpongeBob's mother widened her eyes for a second. She was surprised at the fact that her husband 'read' her mind. "Yep." She nodded.

SpongeBob's father looked at the open doorway. "Wanna start searching for a good car deal now?" He asked. He wanted to decide what boatmobile he was going to get for his son immediately. His burst of happiness fueled his eagerness for the boatmobile search.

"Why not?" SpongeBob's mother smiled even more. She then walked towards the open doorway. "I'll tell SpongeBob about where we're going later on. Once we get the boatmobile, we're gonna bring it to Mrs. Puff's house before she comes back. We will then wait 'till evening and SpongeBob will then visit the house while Mrs. Puff comes back from work." She said what she was about to do and also further explained her plan.

"Gotcha." SpongeBob's father nodded to indicate that he understood what his wife just said.

SpongeBob's mother entered the dark yellow building.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob's father entered the building as well and closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's mother walked up to the shell-phone and picked it up. She then dialed SpongeBob's number and positioned the shell-phone next to her ear.

SpongeBob's father walked up a set of stairs. He needed access to the internet in order for him to conveniently do his boatmobile research. He knew a certain bedroom in the house where he could get a computer.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's father reached the next floor and walked down the hallway. He then opened a certain door to a certain bedroom that belonged to a certain person. The father then stepped through the open doorway and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Brian, SpongeBob's older brother, saw his father from the corner of his eye. The brown square sponge then turned to look at his father. "Hey, Dad." He greeted his father with a simper. He was sitting in a mobile and turnable chair. Before the chair was a wooden desk with drawers under its top surface. There was a desktop computer and laptop computer on the desk, Brian was currently using the desktop computer. His father entered his room in the middle of his coding of a new program, Brian was doing work for his internship. His current project was a part of the development of a video game. He thought that doing office work at home would be more comfortable for him than working overtime; his boss was somewhat kind for allowing him to do that.

If one was to see Brian's bedroom, that person would instantly discover under most circumstances that Brian was a major introvert since the sponge had many things stored into his room. However, the young brown sponge's shyness also gave his introvert personality away. He was socially isolated for most of the time of most days since he prefers solitude; he had a social awkwardness problem similar to Plankton's. He was also isolated since he preferred to work on projects such as the one he was doing now then idly chat or hang out with people; he had a work-based mindset. He had such a mindset since he was a perfectionist and a worrywart. Even the slightest of things related to work could trigger thoughts of nervousness or anxiety.

Brian's interests were revealed through what he had inside his bedroom. A few stacks of comic books were in one side of his bedroom, the rest of his comic book collection was saved on an internet cloud drive. He was a major fan of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy; even more than SpongeBob and Patrick. Books thick enough to be doorstoppers were housed in wooden shelves on another side of the bedroom. The brown sponge liked to read ridiculously long books, especially archaic ones or non-fiction ones, since he wanted to get deeply absorbed into them. He had tastes for books that would be torturous for most normal people to read. Brian's bedroom was also a home to a TV, stacks of video games, and a few video game consoles. The older brother also had an interest in gaming.

To his dismay, he currently did not have much time during a typical day for such hobbies. He was really busy due to his hard working on getting a job. Like SpongeBob, he had recently finished college. He currently had an internship with a company that he was interested in since he preferred that method than getting hired with luck involved like what happened to SpongeBob.

An overly lengthy description for Brian is needed since such facts are kept within his own comfort zone. His comfort zone was too small for most people to break into; his introvertedness created that comfort zone and also protected it. Other details about Brian will be told later.

"Brian, can I borrow your laptop? SpongeBob just got his driver's license and I want to buy a car and give it to him as a gift." The father spread the news to Brian and said what he was going to do.

Brian widened his eyes a little bit in surprise. "Yep." He picked up the laptop and held it out towards his father. "He must've called you, right?" He wanted to put his assumption through the test of validity.

"He called your mother." SpongeBob's father took the laptop from Brian's hand. A topic for a conversation then passed through his mind. "Bri, when're you gonna visit your brother? You've barely contacted with him ever since he moved out."

"I'll very likely move to his house once I land a job I like. I've been thinking about where I wanted to move for a long time and I think Sponge's pineapple is pretty decent for a home. SpongeBob wouldn't mind my stay anyway." Brian answered his father's question. He had carefully considered the ideal home for him that was in Bikini Bottom; he often planned ahead so he would not get nervous later on.

"I see." SpongeBob's father nodded and exited Brian's bedroom.

**SLAM**

The father closed the wooden door.

Brian looked at the two Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy action figures that were next to his desktop. He had those toys ever since he was a child and his carefulness when playing or being around those toys made their condition almost completely preserved. With a smile, he adjusted the two figures until they were perfectly facing the wall the door was on. He then resumed his coding of the program.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's father had walked down the stairs and was now inside the first floor. He sat in a couch that was in the living room, unfolded the laptop, and turned it on by pressing the power button.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The sponge was thinking about what he was going to do next but the shell-phone rang in the middle of that. He then stood up, walked up to the shell-phone, picked it up; and positioned it next to his ear.

"_This is your mom. I wanna tell you that we'll be coming to Mrs. Puff's house at five in the evening. Remember that. There's gonna be a surprise for you." _SpongeBob's mother informed her son about the slight change in plans.

SpongeBob began to jump up and down in excitement. "I can't wait!"

SpongeBob's mother put her shell-phone down on her end.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down on his end.

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Patrick knocked on the pineapple's front door. He had an idea that he wanted to propose to SpongeBob.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door. "Hey, Pat." He simpered. He had stopped jumping up and down so he would not look weird.

"You wanna go to Jellyfish Fields to celebrate?" Patrick pointed at the driver's license that SpongeBob was holding so the sponge could know what the two would be celebrating about.

SpongeBob made a bigger smile. "Alright." He nodded. "I'll be right back."

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door. He was going to retrieve his jellyfishing gear.

Patrick walked towards his rock, he was going to get his jellyfishing net.

S-S-S-S-S

About nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sun had flew past the middle of the sky by that time of the day. The sky was currently in the process of the turning into a dark blue.

SpongeBob was walking towards Mrs. Puff's house. His teacher's home was a pink building with a fenced lawn and backyard. He knew where his teacher lived since she provided her address as part of her contact info during the first day that SpongeBob ever came to boating school. He was also aware of what time it was and that was the reason why he was walking towards the premises.

The sponge eventually reached the lawn and walked towards the front door.

A boatmobile parked in front of the premises. That vehicle was owned by a certain pufferfish. Mrs. Puff exited her boatmobile and then walked up to SpongeBob. She had just completed her workday for Sunday. "SpongeBob, what in the world are you doing here? I thought I gave you your license." She asked a question and then stated an assumption that could be a possible answer to her question.

SpongeBob looked at Mrs. Puff and giggled. "There's a surprise for us." He found Mrs. Puff's obliviousness to his parents' plan to be humorous.

Mrs. Puff raised her brow and walked towards the front door of her house. "I'll be the judge of that." She was skeptical of SpongeBob's clam. She eventually reached the front door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened it. She then entered the building.

SpongeBob followed her. He could not remove the smile that was on his face.

S-S-S-S-S

**FLICK  
**

Mrs. Puff turned on the lights of the living/dining room.

"SURPRISE!" SpongeBob's parents yelled in unison. They held out their hands and were grinning.

There was a large cake on the wooden table of the living/dining room. There was icing on the cake that was written into cursive words saying: 'Thank You, Mrs. Puff!' The sponge's parents had baked that cake and added all of its designs. The idea for the cake came from the mother when the two were looking for a boatmobile to buy.

After seeing his parents and the cake that celebrated the end of his teacher's teaching of him, SpongeBob realized why his parents wanted him to visit Mrs. Puff's house. He smiled widely and looked at Mrs. Puff. "To the greatest teacher ever!" He contributed to his parents' act.

SpongeBob's father walked up to Mrs. Puff. "Thank you, Mrs. Puff. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we consider you a member of the SquarePants family." He and his wife considered Mrs. Puff as part of their family since she dedicated so much time to teaching SpongeBob how to drive. The teacher had used up so much time that she was almost like a third or foster parent for SpongeBob. SpongeBob's father then kneeled on one knee before Mrs. Puff and took one of her hands. He then kissed that hand for a long time to show his gratitude for Mrs. Puff's efforts.

Mrs. Puff cringed due to suddenness of the hand kiss. There was another reason for her cringing. Something from the back of her mind reached her mind's surface. It was about the faulty and invalid way that SpongeBob got his driver's license.

An awkward pause.

"I think you made your point, Dear." SpongeBob's mother realized the awkwardness of her husband's long kiss.

SpongeBob's father stopped kissing and blushed in embarrassment. "Ahem." He stood up and walked backwards towards his son and his wife as if nothing had happened. He then stood before his immediate family. "Mrs. Puff, we were starting to think SpongeBob was never going to get his license. But you never gave up on him, you never quit, you never took the easy way out." The father stopped blushing by that point. He was speaking for his and his wife's viewpoint about SpongeBob's receiving of his own driver's license.

"Well, I... okay." Mrs. Puff did not know how to react to her current situation. She did not expect to receive such a celebration from SpongeBob's family. She decided to go with the flow since she did not want the family to get suspicious of her actions. She hoped that SpongeBob would drive boatmobiles decently in the future so she would not get caught for invalidly giving SpongeBob his license.

"We also wanted to make sure Mrs. Puff, the greatest driving teacher in the world, was here to see this..." SpongeBob's mother spoke with a wide smile. There was another surprise she had not talked about at all to SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff.

"See what?" SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff asked simultaneously.

SpongeBob's parents walked through the open doorway and walked towards a certain parked boatmobile that was outside.

SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff followed the parents.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's parents stood before a green boatmobile that had been parked behind the back of Mrs. Puff's boatmobile. "Ta-Daa!" They revealed the surprise gift to their son and the teacher by pointing at it.

"A BRAND NEW BOATMOBILE?!" SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff yelled in shock and with widened eyes. They were heavily shocked since the gift had been nearby and viewable for the whole time. The two had not expected that boatmobile to be a gift for the yellow square.

SpongeBob ran towards the boatmobile and looked at its license plate.

The license plate had the custom letters 'IM-RDY' on it. SpongeBob's parents gave that license plate those letters to indicate that the boatmobile was SpongeBob's property.

After seeing its license plate, SpongeBob immediately knew for certain that the boatmobile was a gift for him. "For me...?" The surprise gift was so shocking that he became lightheaded. His limbs lost sensation and he eventually...

**THUD**

...collapsed to the sidewalk. His consciousness faded and he closed his eyes.

The sponge became swallowed by a sensationless darkness; he had fainted.

A long pause.

"I guess we should drive him home." SpongeBob's mother shrugged her shoulders. She remembered her son fainting in a few incidents in the past. The orange sponge picked up the yellow sponge and put his unconscious body into the one of the backseats of the green boatmobile.

"He'll probably wake up later." SpongeBob's father remembered his son fainting a few times in the past as well. Each of those previous fainting occurrences ended with SpongeBob waking up not too long after fainting. He opened one of the doors and entered the vehicle. He sat in the driver's seat and left the door open for his wife.

SpongeBob's mother entered the green boatmobile and closed the door. "I know this is kinda short but, good-bye, Mrs. Puff." She waved at the teacher before her with a simper.

SpongeBob's father waved at Mrs. Puff as well. He then twisted the keyhole that already had a key inserted into it.

The boatmobile turned on.

SpongeBob's father took hold of the steering wheel and put one of his feet on one of the pedals.

The green boatmobile smoothly drove out of his parking spot and drove down the street. it was heading for SpongeBob's pineapple.

Mrs. Puff watched the boatmobile drive towards SpongeBob's house. As she had watched the scene unfold, she began to regret giving SpongeBob his driver's license. "What have I done?" She asked to herself to express her regret. After having seen SpongeBob faint, she had realized that SpongeBob had much to learn before he could properly drive a boatmobile. There was no way that SpongeBob can survive driving a boatmobile without getting anxious or nervous and consequently causing an accident. Once the police would enter the accident scene and ask SpongeBob for information, she would eventually get caught and get sentenced to jail as a consequence. 'Everyone will know I let him slide through the school! I'll have to move to a new city, start a new boating school with a new name.' She thought in desperation. Her anxiety blinded her by making her think that a drastic move was the only effective solution available to her.

A pause.

Mrs. Puff took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She tried to relax so she could collect her thoughts.

Another pause.

Mrs. Puff decided on a more rational solution. "I've got to end this before it begins." She spoke to herself so she could solidify her solution. She narrowed her eyes at the shrinking green boatmobile that was getting closer and closer to the horizon. 'Better prepare first.' The pufferfish then walked towards a store.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sensation returned.

A long pause.

SpongeBob slowly opened his eyes. He then sat up in his bed and his vision cleared.

His parents were standing before him. They had tucked SpongeBob into his bed and had been waiting for him to return from his unconsciousness. They had been patient since they knew that SpongeBob would wake up soon.

Gary was near the bed as well. He had also patiently waited for his owner to wake up. "Meow." He greeted the yellow sponge.

"Hey, Gar." SpongeBob looked at Gary from the corner of his eye and greeted the snail back with a smile.

"You took quite a buster there, Son." SpongeBob's father informed his son about what had happened to him an hour ago. "We're gonna hafta hold off the driving for a while." He did not want SpongeBob to drive the boatmobile until SpongeBob got comfortable being near or in it since he feared that the yellow sponge would faint again.

SpongeBob's mother nodded. She completely agreed with what her husband had said. She had not thought of a plan while waiting for her son to wake up. "That's right, Honey. Now just stay in bed, take a nap if you need to, and no going near the boat." She raised one of her index fingers. The mother had the same parental fear as her husband.

SpongeBob nodded. However, he was speaking through his body so he could hide what he was speaking through his mind and heart.

An awkward pause.

"Good night, SpongeBob." SpongeBob's mother decided that it was time for her and her husband to leave SpongeBob's home; she did not want to stay longer than she needed to. She walked towards the right door.

"We'll probably be seeing ya when you're driving that car." SpongeBob's father smiled and walked towards the right door as well.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SpongeBob's mother opened the right door and exited the bedroom. She then walked down the stairs.

SpongeBob's father reflected on what he just said and realized something. "Don't be getting any ideas!" He warned his son about interpreting his own spoken words in a way that was not intended. He then...

**SLAM**

...closed the right door.

A pause.

SpongeBob stood up from his bed and walked up to the window. 'Just gotta wait until they leave.' He looked through the window so he could know when his parents were leaving. He wanted to do something that was against his parents' wishes, he considered the desire to be harmless enough to not cause any guilt.

"What'cha doing?" Gary became curious at what his owner was doing.

"Waiting for Mom and Dad to leave." SpongeBob answered Gary's question as he continued to look through the window.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Through the bedroom window, SpongeBob saw his parents walk towards their home. He then waited for them to disappear from the horizon. Once the thing he waited for happened, he turned around. The yellow square walked towards the right door and...

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

After a long journey of sneaking through hiding spots. Mrs. Puff finally reached SpongeBob's premises. She was wearing a black ski masks that had three holes cut through it for her eyes and mouth. She was also holding a crowbar in one of her hands, she had decided to buy it since it could be useful as a self-defense weapon or for opening locked containers. One she took a few steps into the pineapple's front yard, she dove into the flowers that surrounded the pineapple's perimeter. She then peeked through the flowers that were covering her, she wanted to check if the scene was safe or not.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the pineapple.

Mrs. Puff made herself as hidden as possible within the flowers.

"Hi, Boaty." SpongeBob walked up to the green boatmobile and jumped into one of the front seats. He treated the vehicle with affection since he thought that it was one of the greatest gifts that he ever received, his hard work in boating school was part of the reason for his positive treatment of the vehicle. While sitting on the front seat, SpongeBob rubbed his hand across the boatmobile's front part. His fingers felt the frigidity of the surface, the boatmobile had to drive through the light breezes that blew against it. "Boaty, you're cold." He was talking to the boatmobile as if it was a real person. He then took off his shoes and then took off his socks. "Take my socks." He put the socks on the vehicle's front part. "Oh Boaty, I'm always gonna take care of you." The sponge hugged the front seat. He made a sincer promise to the boat since it was such a precious gift. His extreme happiness was making him drowsy. His acute unconsciousness had made him temporarily inclined towards bouts of drowsiness. "You're the best boat in the deep blue sea..." SpongeBob closed his eyes and his body eventually became still.

The sponge fell asleep. He was taking a nap.

"The coast's clear.' Mrs. Puff thought and narrowed her eyes in determination at the green boatmobile. She was not giving up now since her plan was close to suceeding. She stood up from the circle of flowers and briskly tip-toed towards the boatmobile. The pufferfish then stepped into the vehicle and sat in the driver's seat. She twisted the key in the keyhole.

The boatmobile turned on.

'I need to leave him somewhere... but not now.' She thought about how she was going to get SpongeBob off the boatmobile but then decided on leaving the sponge somewhere in Bikini Bottom along the way to her destination. She grabbed the steering wheel and pressed down on the pedal.

**VRRRROOOOOOOOOMMMM**

The green boatmobile drove at a fast speed down the road.

The somewhat loud sounds of the boatmobile's running engine woke up SpongeBob "Huh?" The sponge sat up in his seat and noticed that his boatmobile was moving 'by itself. He looked at the driver's seat and noticed a masked lady that was driving the vehicle. He gasped and jumped to his feet while he was still on the seat. "Who are you and what're you doing with my boat?!" He asked with righteous anger. "And why are you wearing that ski mask when you're not skiing?!" He angrily stated a thought of suspicion in the form of a question.

Mrs. Puff looked at SpongeBob and sweatdropped. She then thought in panic about how she was going to get rid of her former student.

SpongeBob jumped to a conclusion after carefully looking at the masked person's face. "Oh my gosh, I know who you are!" The sponge pointed at the masked person with wide eyes.

Mrs. Puff inferred by SpongeBob's words that the sponge discovered her true identity. "No you don't! You don't know who I am!" She began to sweat in anxiety. She targeted SpongeBob's gullibility to see if she could use it to her advantage.

"Yes I do!" SpongeBob folded his arms to show his seriousness. "I know that yo're a boat-jacker!" He loudly stated the obvious. "Now get off my boat!" He dove towards Mrs. Puff and grabbed her. He was struggling to toss her off the vehicle.

Mrs. Puff's hands were firmly grasping the steering wheel, if she let go, it would certainly lead to an accident. "Sorry, SpongeBob, but it was for your own good." The pufferfish said a major portion of the truth, the untold portion was that she would have benefits from the car-jack as well.

**BAM**

She tried to kick SpongeBob off the boatmobile but her attempt failed. The sponge got hit in the stomach and absorbed the hit.

The sponge grabbed the steering wheel and tried to pull it towards himself. He wanted to control the boatmobile so he could drive it in a certain away that would make the masked person fly out of the vehicle.

Mrs. Puf slapped SpongeBob's hands off the steering wheel and she firmly grasped the steering wheel again.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. 'If she steals my boat, at least I can report her to the cops.' The sponge thought. He then grabbed Mrs. Puff's ski mask so he could know her true identity and subsequently tell the police her physical description.

Mrs. Puff grabbed SpongeBob's hands. Her identity was just as precious as the green boatmobile.

The boatmobile drove in random forward directions, it constantly drove in and off the road.

SpongeBob yanked the ski mask's off the woman's head. He then saw Mrs. Puff's face. He then gasped and his face drained of color. "Why would you do this...?" He could not say much more words since he was being strangled by shock.

"You would've ended up causing an accident anyway." Mrs. Puff stated one of the main reasons for why she was stealing the green boatmobile. She grabbed the steering wheel and made the vehicle drive on the road. "Do you want us to both end up in jail?!" She partially revealed another reason.

"It's my gift!" SpongeBob furrowed his brow in anger and grabbed Mrs. Puff's arms. "You have to get my permission first!" He tried to pull the pufferfish's arms off of the steering wheel. He made another attempt at taking the reigns of the boatmobile.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes of petty fighting later...

S-S-S-S-S

The green boatmobile was driving along a street that was in the ghetto of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff were still fighting for control of the vehicle.

S-S-S-S-S

Ricky was waking down a street's sidewalk while carrying an empty bag. He had sold all of the old and ammoless guns and illegal drugs that had been inside the bag. He was holding another bag with his other hand. In that bag were stacks of money, pistols, pepper sprays, and a taser. He was ready to attack SpongeBob with those weapons if he saw the sponge entering his turf.

The green boatmobile drove past him at a high speed. From the corner of his eye, he saw SpongeBob fighting with someone else inside that vehicle.

Ricky glared at the green boatmobile. "That sponge's gonna regret comin' here..." He said as he gritted his teeth. Seeing the sponge was like setting off a match that would start a large wildfire; the fire (his anger) would only further increase unless it was stopped completely in its tracks. He opened the non-empty bag and took out a loaded pistol. He aimed the pistol at the boatmobile and pulled the trigger.

**P-TAFF**

The gun fired a bullet and the bullet flew lightning-fast towards a wheel of the green boatmobile.

**POP**

The bullet punctured the wheel and air that had been filled into the wheel became released.

The boatmobile slowed down and moved in a certain direction regardless of the direction of the steering wheel.

**P-TAFF**

Ricky aimed the gun at another of the boatmobile's wheels and pulled the trigger.

**POP**

Another wheel became puncture. It was on the same side as the other punctured wheel.

The green boatmobile slowed down even more.

"What the barnacle?!" Mrs. Puff raised her brow. She could not figure out a reason for why the boatmobile was slowing down and was moving in a certain direction. She also noticed that one side was leaning towards the ground more than the other.

SpongeBob turned around to see if something was wrong with the boatmobile''s rear. Instead, he saw a very familiar thug and the gun that the thug was holding. He became so frightened that he would pee his pants if he was a human. "M-Mrs. Puff..." He struggled to alert his teacher, fear was strangling him that time.

"What is it?" Mrs. Puff glanced at SpongeBob with an annoyed look. She was ill-tempered since the boatmobile's current slow speed was making it futile for her to get the sponge off the vehicle.

"G-gun..." SpongeBob could only say one word before his eyes bugged out.

Ricky was approaching the vehicle. A smirk was on his face. However, when he saw Mrs. Puff, he stopped smirking. 'Crap, a witness! Maybe I should shoot her first and then warn her 'bout snitchin'.' The thug thought. He then aimed his pistol at the teacher.

Mrs. Puff's eyes bugged out at the sight of Ricky and her face became pallid when she realized that the thug was aiming the gun at her. "Don't shoot me!" She raised her hands in submission to the thug's demands and stood up, she was heavily afraid of getting shot by that pistol. She then sweated profusely.

Ricky eventually stood before SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff. He did not loosen his grip on the gun or change who it was aiming at.

SpongeBob glanced at the vehicle's leaning side and then glanced at the steering wheel. A light bulb then lit up in his head. He inched his foot towards the pedal and stepped towards the steering wheel.

Ricky ignored what SpongeBob was doing. He assumed that the yellow square was shaking or moving in fright. He was waiting for Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob to get off the boatmobile.

Mrs. Puff noticed what SpongeBob was doing and made eye contact with SpongeBob. She then raised her brow to indicate that she wanted to know what the sponge was doing.

'I know a way that can make him not shoot.' SpongeBob moved his mouth without using his voice.

Mrs. Puff nodded to show that she understood the sponge's words.

"WHAT'RE YOU TALKIN' ABOUT?!" Ricky stepped towards the teacher and aimed the pistol closer to her.

Mrs. Puff gulped in anxiety.

A police car was driving towards the scene. The two police officers who were in that car were two of many officers that were patrolling the area in their vehicles.

SpongeBob grabbed the steering wheel, moved it in the opposite direction of the leaning side, and slammed on the pedal.

The green boatmobile jerked in a certain direction.

**SLAM**

The boatmobile's front part hit Ricky and made the thug hit the wall of a building.

**THUD**

Ricky fell to the ground. He became dizzy since the building wall that he had hit was made out of a very strong metal.

His pistol fell to the ground and was a foot away from him.

"Dammit..." Ricky cursed and gritted his teeth again. He then crawled towards his gun. His dizziness made him unable to stand up. He eventually reached the gun and grabbed it.

SpongeBob sweatdropped. He was aware of the incoming police car since he could see it from the corner of his eye. He was not sure about who Ricky was going to shoot first, him, Mrs. Puff; or the officers in the incoming car.

**P-TAFF**

Ricky fired the pistol towards the green boatmobile.

**CLANK**

The bullet flew into the surface of the boatmobile's front part and left a small bullethole.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

Ricky was struggling to stand up. He continued to shoot at the boatmobile in a desperate attempt to shoot down Mrs. Puff and SpongeBob.

**SCRRREEEEEECCCCH**

The police car swiveled as it rapidly parked.

Officer Rob and Officer John exited the vehicle, took out their pistols, and aimed them at the thug. "FREEZE!" They yelled simultaneously. They recognized SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff so they did not think that they were suspicious.

A long pause.

Ricky continued to stay on the ground. He glanced at the officers and then glanced at SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff.

Another pause.

Ricky rolled towards the boatmobile within the blink of an eye.

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF**

Rob and John fired their pistols at Ricky.

Ricky dove out of the way.

**C-CLANK**

The bullets hit the green boatmobile. The bulletholes were centimeters away from Ricky.

Ricky leaned into the boatmobile and grabbed SpongeBob's arm. He then yanked the sponge out of the boatmobile and fiercely hugged the sponge with one of his arms. He then aimed his pistol at SpongeBob's forehead. "If you shoot me, then I'll shoot him!" Ricky took the sponge as a hostage.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip in anxiety. His life was now in the hands of the familiar officers before him.

Rob and Job thought critically about the situation they were currently in. They were trying their best at quickly coming up with a solution to the yellow square's predicament.

Ricky walked backwards towards an alley. He was threatening to kill the sponge so he could find an avenue for escape and use that given opportunity. He was going to kill SpongeBob anyway since he continued to hug SpongeBob.

SpongeBob glanced at Rick's bag full of possibly illegal stuff. He then looked up at the pistol being held on his forehead and a light bulb of hope then lit up in his head. 'Karate could sure come in handy.' The sponge thought and smiled confidently.

"Why're you smiling?!" Ricky raised his brow in confusion. However, he was not going to reveal the sponge's 'inevitable' to the sponge.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob karate chopped the pistol towards Ricky's bag of illegal items.

The pistol hit the bag and made its contents spill into the ground.

"DAMMIT!" Ricky cursed and then threw SpongeBob out of the way.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the ground.

Rob and John walked up to Ricky while they were still pointing their pistols at him.

"Don't. Make. Another. Move." Rob solemnly and slowly spoke as he glared at Ricky. He knew with certainty that Ricky was trying to pick up his pistol and get some other weapons. "Or we will shoot." He spoke in the most understandable way that he could say.

A pause.

Ricky noticed that the pepper spray can was nearby. 'Aha!' He had an idea that would allow him to get his weapons. He then kicked the pepper spray can.

An orange fog of a vaporous chemical became released into the air by the can.

Ricky closed his eyes, picked up a pistol from the bag that was better than the previous one he had held, and picked up a taser.

Rob, John, SpongeBob, and Mrs. Puff coughed from inhalation of the chemical as their eyes watered from the physical contact of the chemical.

The orange fog began to dissipate.

**ZZZAAAAAP ZZZZAAAP ZZZZZZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAP ZZAAAP ZAP ZZZZAAAP**

Ricky repeatedly jabbed the taser into Rob and John.

**T-THUD**

Rob and John dropped their guns as they collapsed to the floor. They were paralyzed due to the large amounts of the taser's electricity flowing in their bodies.

As SpongeBob began to see Ricky's silhouette through the dissipating fog, he glanced at the police car and a light bulb lit up in his head. He could use that vehicle for shelter since it had windows that could temporarily protect him from bullets; the green boatmobile did not had a covering or windows. He then grabbed Mrs. Puff's arm and dragged the teacher with him as he dashed towards the boatmobile.

SpongeBob dove and with Mrs. Puff in tow and they entered the police vehicle.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

Ricky tried to shoot through the police boatmobile's windows so he could land a hit on SpongeBob or Mrs. Puff. However, each of his attempts failed.

S-S-S-S-S

"DUCK!" SpongeBob saw the bulletholes on the windows and pushed Mrs. Puff's head towards the vehicle's floor. He then crouched to the boatmobile's floor.

"How're we gonna stop him?!" Mrs. Puff asked in panic. "If we go out there, he's gonna kill us for sure." She was thinking pessimistically since the current situation was causing a high amount of anxiety within her.

SpongeBob looked at the steering wheel and the pedal of the vehicle. "I think I know what to do." He said as he slowly formed a wide smile.

Mrs. Puff turned to look at what SpongeBob was looking at. "You've gotta be kidding me..." She was in total disbelief. Concerns about SpongeBob causing a car accident entered her mind.

SpongeBob put both of his hands on the steering wheel while he slammed one of his feet on the pedal. He was still crouching so he would not get shot.

S-S-S-S-S

**VRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM**

The police boatmobile drove towards Ricky at a very high velocity.

"CRAP!" Ricky quickly dove out of the way in desperation.


	52. Graveyard Shift

**Chapter 52: Graveyard Shift**

* * *

To Ricky's dismay, the police boatmobile hit him anyway.

He flew through the alley and dropped his weapons as he flew.

**SLAM**

Ricky hit the exterior wall of a building. He hit the wall so hard that he...

**THUD**

...collapsed to the ground and became unconscious.

S-S-S-S-S

The remaining group of thugs: Jack, Marcus, and Mike; were walking down the sidewalk of the street where the fight was taking place. They were not close enough to the scene to exactly know what was going on. However, the part of the ghetto area that they were in was quiet enough for them to hear the sounds of the fight.

"What was that?" Marcus scratched his head. He could not figure out the reason for the yelling he was hearing. He had been closely watching the fight that was occurring before and far away from them.

"Somebody's fightin' the cops." Jack pointed at the moving police car that was not too far from them. "See that car?"

"Yep." Mike nodded.

Marcus nodded as well. "Didn't that car just drove into and hit somebody? I've never seen the cops do that before." He just saw what the police boatmobile just did.

Mike and Jack stopped walking after hearing what Marcus said.

Mike turned to look at Marcus. "You got a point there. Why the hell would they do that? You could accidentally kill someone by doing that. I've seen a few of them gangsters running over rivals before, it kills 'em quickly." He began to put some thought into the situation that was occurring.

Jack moved several steps closer to the scene and noticed that a yellow square that was not wearing police uniform was driving the police vehicle. "Guys, the dude who's driving ain't a cop." He observed.

Mike walked further then Jack and eventually stopped at a place where he could accurately tell what was going on. He saw Ricky's two bags. One bag was empty while another one had its illegal contents spilled to the ground. Two familiar police officers, Rob and John, were lying on the ground in a paralyzed state. A pistol, a taser, and a can of pepper spray were near the cops. Mike also saw SpongeBob peeking through one of the windows of the police boatmobile at an alley before the vehicle. "That buck-toothed bastard... he knocked out Ricky!" He pointed at the scene.

Marcus and Jack widened their eyes and ran up to where Ricky was standing.

"We already discussed about how're we gonna deal with that sponge. That bag's definitely Ricky's since I saw him gather a lot of stuff into it as he sold his other stuff." Jack encouraged his fellow members to begin their revenge plan and showed how the evidence pointed out to Ricky's assault.

"Quick, we gotta get Rick's crap before that sponge sees us!" Marcus pushed Mike and Jack towards the fallen bag of illegal contents. He was thinking on his toes.

The three quickly and quietly ran towards the fallen bag. They then each picked up a pistol.

"That sponge won't see this coming!" Mike smiled arrogantly and aimed his pistol at the police vehicle.

The other two aimed their pistols at the police vehicle as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"Is the coast clear?" Mrs. Puff looked at SpongeBob. She was sweating profusely out of anxiety. She could not tell if the current situation was safe or not.

SpongeBob had lowered a window and was looking through it so he could see Ricky's current condition. "That guy's knocked out cold. The officers are still paralyzed though." He reported to his teacher about the current state of their situation.

Mrs. Puff felt like now was the time to ask her student an important question since their situation was currently 'peaceful'. "SpongeBob, why did that young man attack us in the first place?" She demanded an answer from the sponge.

"He recognized me. Remember when I was hall monitor? You've also seen the newspaper headlines day after that, right?" SpongeBob answered the question simply but wanted to make an explanation for that answer.

"Mm-hm." Mrs. Puff nodded.

"The guy who attacked us was one of the five thugs that got arrested, the newspaper identified him as Ricky. If you read the article, you would notice that it wasn't me alone that knocked them down, I had help from a fellow partner/ best friend of mine." SpongeBob said his explanation and felt comfortable enough inside the police vehicle to tell Mrs. Puff a noteworthy fact about the hall monitor incident. He had fully read the article that was featured as the headlines of the newspaper on the day after the arrest of the thugs. He read that article since it was his first 'appearance' on the newspaper.

Mrs. Puff nodded. She understood what SpongeBob said.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

Shots from pistols were fired at the police vehicle.

Bullet-holes began to litter the windows.

SpongeBob glanced through a window and noticed that there were three more familiar thugs standing outside with pistols in their hands. "U-oh, looks they brought-" The sponge became interrupted.

**P-TAFF**

A fired bullet made a bullet-hole that was centimeters away from SpongeBob's face.

The sponge dove to the floor. "...reinforcements." He finished his sentence.

Mrs. Puff predicted about what SpongeBob was going to do to end the thugs' rampage. "You're gonna take the wheel again?"

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded and made a slight smile of confidence. He hopped to the driver's seat, grabbed the steering wheel, and slammed on the pedal.

S-S-S-S-S

**VVVRRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM**

The police boatmobile rapidly drove towards the three thugs.

The three thugs successfully dove out of the way. They then saw the green boatmobile and ran towards it out of instinct. The escalated situation required actions of instinct instead of long bouts of thought. They eventually entered the vehicle.

Jack sat in the driver's seat. He took hold of the steering wheel and slammed on the pedal.

The green boatmobile moved at a snail's pace.

"SCREW THIS CRAP!" Jack cursed out of frustration and kicked the steering wheel so hard that it flew out of its place. He and the other thugs then exited the vehicle since staying in the green boatmobile would leave them wide open for more attacks.

**VRROOOOMMMM**

The police boatmobile resumed its chase for the three thugs. Like the thugs, SpongeBob was also using his instincts as he drove the vehicle. His anxiety did not affect his driving abilities at all and his full potential was being shown as a consequence.

The three thugs faced the incoming police vehicle and...

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

...fired their pistols at the vehicle.

**SCRReeeRRREEEEeeeeRRREEEeeeeeeRRRREEEEeeeeeeRRRRREEEEeeeeRRREECH**

SpongeBob smoothly made the police boatmobile swivel in place. The vehicle consequently avoided all of the fired bullets.

"Damn, that sponge's good." Jack commented on SpongeBob's driving skills. He had never seen someone dodge bullets in the way that SpongeBob just did.

"Shut up!" Mike shouted at Jack. Anger was building up within him since he could not manage to injure SpongeBob at all, the police boatmobile was a shield that he could not penetrate.

Jack nodded in compliance. 'Less chat, more fighting.' He thought.

**VVVRROOOMMMM**

The police boatmobile drove towards the three thugs once again. One of its windows was lowered by SpongeBob on purpose.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

The three thugs fired more shots with their pistols.

The police boatmobile quickly swerved left and right and avoided the bullets. It then made a very big swerve to the right and ended up making its lowered window face Marcus.

"HIYA!" SpongeBob leaned out of the window and...

**SHOOP**

...karate chopped Marcus' gun.

Marcus' pistol fell to the ground.

Before Marcus could react, the police boatmobile's lowered window became raised to normality. The vehicle then took another big swerve to the right.

"OOF!" Marcus was pushed by the police vehicle's rear as it made its swerve to the right.

One of the vehicle's wheels crushed Marcus' pistol to pieces.

'I gotta get 'nother one.' Marcus thought as he regained his footing. He then sprinted towards the bag of illegal objects. He inferred that he could outrun the police boatmobile if he sprinted since he and the other thugs were successfully avoiding the vehicle's 'charges'.

**VRRROOOMM**

The police boatmobile drove in reverse.

**BAM**

Its rear hit Marcus on the side of his body.

Marcus flew across the street and...

**CRASH**

...hit a trash can.

Mike and Jack turned towards Marcus to see if he was in a stable condition. Another lost member meant a higher likelihood of getting arrested.

Marcus' body was covered in garbage. He was lying on the floor in an unconscious state.

"That freakin' sponge..." Jack cursed and shook his fist at the police vehicle in further frustration. He then...

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

...rapidly fired his pistol at the police boatmobile.

**SCRRREEEEECH**

The police vehicle made an almost 360 degree swerve and avoided almost all of the bullets. The bullets it could not avoid ended up hitting it on its rear end.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

Jack and Mike rapidly fired a volley of bullets at the police boatmobile. They were becoming extremely desperate to kill the sponge and the witness. The fire of their anger was the fuel for their fingers that were holding down on the pistols' triggers.

**SCCCCRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCH**

The police boatmobile took a giant swerve to the left.

**C-C-C-C-C-CLANK**

Several bullets managed to hit its front end.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a deep breath and made a facial expression of determination. He tightly gripped the steering wheel since he was about to do something that was far more risky than his previous acts. He raised his foot.

Rivulets of sweat ran down Mrs. Puff's face and back as the pufferfish shook. She was wracked with intense anxiety.

SpongeBob slammed down unto the pedal as hard as he could.

S-S-S-S-S

**VVVRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

The police boatmobile charged like a bull towards the two remaining thugs.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF**

Jack and Mike tried to dive out of the way while continuing to fire their pistols at the incoming vehicle. Their hatred allowed them to do more riskier acts in their hopes of landing a hit on the yellows square.

**B-BAM**

Unfortunately, the vehicle hit the two thugs; their dodge attempt failed.

Mike and Jack flew at a high speed towards a dumpster that was adjacent to a building side.

**CRRAAASSSH**

They fell into the dumpster and became unconscious shortly after that.

A very long pause.

S-S-S-S-S

After a long wait and some critical and careful thinking, SpongeBob decided that the scene was safe. He slowly opened the side door adjacent to the driver's seat and slipped out of the police vehicle.

"It's over?" Mrs. Puff asked cautiously. She was still anxious about getting shot by a thug.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the dumpster and took out Jack and Mike's pistols from the trash inside the dumpster. He then collected the other weapons and illegal possessions and put them back into Ricky's bag. The sponge eventually closed the bag once he was finished. The sponge picked up the paralyzed and now unconscious bodies of the police officers and put them back into the police vehicle. He also picked up the unconscious bodies of the thugs and laid them next to the police vehicle so they could get arrested. SpongeBob put the bag of illegal contents next to the police boatmobile so the contents could be confiscated. All of the actions just stated took a total time of ten minutes.

Mrs. Puff had watched her former student's clean-up of the scene silently. She wanted to say something and demand something from the sponge but she also wanted to wait for a short time so her demand would not be too sudden.

SpongeBob walked up to Mrs. Puff. He opened his mouth to say something about what he and Mrs. Puff should do next but got interrupted by Mrs. Puff.

Mrs. Puff raised her index finger to silence SpongeBob. She then slowly lowered her index finger. "SpongeBob, this was all my fault. This whole situation would've never happened if I didn't give you that license." The teacher spoke honestly, she was taking responsibility for her actions.

"But-" SpongeBob facially expressed concern for his former teacher but got interrupted by her again.

"There is no such thing as a extra-credit assignment in my boating school. It's not part of and also against the standards of boating education in Bikini Bottom. I felt like teaching you how to drive was too much of a burden for me so I decided to let you go easily by making up that assignment; I wanted to find an excuse for giving you your driver's license. I wanted to steal your boatmobile because I was afraid that you were going to cause accidents throughout the town and I will get arrested as a result, I was your boating teacher after all. For the safety of all of the people who live here and to shortly sum up what I just said, SpongeBob, I want your license back." Mrs. Puff spoke solemnly and sincerely. Her regret became as obvious as the sun due to her facial expression. She held out her hand.

SpongeBob looked at her hand and then frowned. His eyes moistened as he took out his own driver's license from his pocket. "B-but I saved your life and those officer's lives by using my driving skills, don't I deserve the license for doing that?" He said an excuse for keeping his driver's license. The joy that he had felt when he received the license made him cling to the license as if he was a child and it was a new toy. Hope for a future of decent boatmobile driving blinded him from the truth.

Mrs. Puff shook her head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but what you just did is not valid for you to obtain that license. Your ability to drive in combat does not accurately tell how you're gonna drive in everyday situations. If you can't drive normally, you shouldn't have that license." The pufferfish continued to speak solemnly, she wanted her former student to accept the cold truth about his driving skills.

SpongeBob sighed and gave the driver's license back to Mrs. Puff. By doing that, Mrs. Puff was his boating teacher again. He could not find any fault with Mrs. Puff's reply to his excuse, the teacher was completely right. The sponge thought that he would save many people's lives by giving up his license and earning it again when he was competent at normal driving. He was trying his hardest at holding back the tears that were going to flood the dams of his eye sockets.

Mrs. Puff was aware of how SpongeBob was feeling. "This does not mean that you'll never receive this license again. You will earn this when you become at least somewhat good at driving. For you, there is still much to learn." The teacher spoke thoughtfully.

SpongeBob looked up and made eye contact with Mrs. Puff. A very, very slight smile formed on his face and his tears retreated from his eye sockets' dams. He became refilled with a new hope, that hope was him doing well on a boating exam.

Mrs. Puff turned around and walked towards her house. When she took another glance at the police vehicle, she remembered the fight that just occurred. She had been so absorbed into the memories of her past actions that the fight nearly slipped out of her mind. She then turned to look at SpongeBob again. "SpongeBob, I need to tell you one more thing."

SpongeBob nodded and stood up straight to indicate that he was paying attention.

"Do not tell ANYBODY about what happened here. It's already bad enough that I caused a fight like this..." She pointed at the unconscious bodies. "...to occur. I do not want jail time to be added to the prices of my crime." She warned SpongeBob about revealing the fight to the public's ears.

SpongeBob nodded, he was going to obey his order. However, he knew that there was an ambiguity in what Mrs. Puff just said. "Mrs. Puff, can you go to jail just for giving someone a driver's license without a good reason?"

"Absolutely." Mrs. Puff nodded. She turned around again. "I'm gonna call it a day. I'll see you for our next class session." She walked towards her home again. Having SpongeBob's license would prevent a bigger burden from being put on her shoulders. However, she did not anticipate having to teach SpongeBob again.

"I'll see you too, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob spoke to his teacher with a wider smile. His normal happiness had replaced his acute sadness. He took a final glance at the police vehicle like what Mrs. Puff just did. However, he realized something instead of remembered something. 'Those weapons have got to go.' He looked at Ricky's bag. 'I don't want more of those meanies to harm other people.' Like giving up his license, he was being considerate for other Bikini Bottomites through his actions. The sponge was also aware of the anxiety about his license and the fight that Mrs. Puff had to go through. He waited for his teacher to leave the scene so he would not cause her any more stress. He thought that Mrs. Puff deserved some relaxation time.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Once SpongeBob thought that the coast was clear, he walked up to the police boatmobile.

S-S-S-S-S

He then entered the vehicle and pushed Rob and John's unconscious and paralyzed bodies towards the other door. He then closed the side door. He noticed that the vehicle was still on since heard the engine's sounds and saw the twisted keyhole.

SpongeBob slammed on the pedal.

S-S-S-S-S

**VRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM**

The police boatmobile drove towards Ricky's bag at a high speed.

**CCRRRAAACCCK**

It drove through the bag and its wheels crushed some of the bag's contents.

**VVVRRRRRRROOOOOMMMM**

**VRRROOOOMM**

**VRRRRRRRRROOOOOMMMMM**

**VRRRROOOOOOOM**

**VRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOMMMMM**

The police vehicle drove back and forth across the bag. It eventually broke all of the contents in the bag to the point that they were unusable.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked through the front window and became satisfied with the destruction that he had caused. He then twisted the key in the keyhole with a beam on his face.

The boatmobile turned off.

SpongeBob exited the vehicle. He was smiling since he knew that he did another good deed. He almost always felt happy after helping out strangers or his friends, even if it was indirectly.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards his home at a fast pace. He could not wait to enter his pineapple and spend the rest of his day in relaxation and peace.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mike, Marcus, Jack, and Ricky awoke from their temporary state of unconsciousness. They slowly and shakily stood up and waited for their vision to clear.

John and Rob were still unconscious.

Ricky noticed that the belongings inside his bag had been crushed. "My stuff!" He yelled in shock and walked up to his ripped bag. He saw broken pieces of pistols and a broken can of pepper spray that had the liquid spray spilling to the ground. He then looked up at the police vehicle and saw pieces of those guns on its wheels. He knew for certain that the police officers did not do it since they were still unconscious. "Curse that freakin' sponge!" He stomped his foot in extreme anger.

Jack stared at the broken pistol pieces for several seconds. "Guys... I think we should go home now. If we chase that sponge by using the cops' car, we might attract more of them cops. Let's just gather more weapons and use our new plan tomorrow." He said those words after careful consideration. He grudgingly accepted his group's temporary defeat.

A long pause.

Ricky nodded. "True. Ain't nobody here wanna go to jail again. But that sponge ain't getting away with this." His group's defeat fueled his hatred against SpongeBob. The thug could not wait to kill SpongeBob when he finds the chance.

"Don't worry, Rick. That sponge's gonna pay with his life." Mike assured Ricky of the group's eventual killing of SpongeBob.

A police boatmobile was driving down the street.

Marcus was the first group member to see the vehicle. "Guys, it's the cops! Let's scram!" He ran towards an alley.

Mike, Ricky, and Jack quickly followed Marcus.

The group fled from the scene.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting in the living room and was watching Gary's favorite TV show with Gary. A thought about contacting his friends and family about the recent incident entered his mind. He then glanced at the shell-phone and gulped nervously. However, he knew in the back of his mind that his parents' upsetness was inevitable by that point. He then stood up and walked up to the shell-phone. He picked up the shell-phone and dialed his parents' number. SpongeBob positioned the shell-phone next to his ear.

S-S-S-S-S

More than a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 6:00 PM.

With a wide smile on his face, Squidward changed the sign on the double door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. He had finished his closing time chore of cleaning the dishes. He could not wait to go home and spend the rest of his day playing 'pleasant' tunes with his clarinet. The octopus had created a composition during the morning that he wanted to try playing after work. Squidward took off his employee hat in preparation for his leaving.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on a table in the dining room. He was keeping a careful eye on his employees so none of them would slack off.

**CRREEAAAK**

A naive young blue male opened one side of the double door and stepped into the restaurant. "Are you open?" He was oblivious to the sign on the double door.

Squidward stepped into the outside world and pointed at the sign. "Read the sign." He obviously did not want to work extra hours for late customers.

"I'll have a Krabby Patty Deluxe and double chili kelp fries." The young male did not notice Squidward. He was looking at the Galley Grub. He had decided what he wanted to order before entering the Krusty Krab.

Squidward walked around and stood before the potential customer so he could be noticed. "No, you won't! I can't hang out here all night! I've got a life!" He indirectly told the male that it was closing time and he was a lazy employee. 'He should've done his research.' The octopus thought.

The young male sighed, he had anticipated eating at the Krusty Krab. He thought that ordering at the Krusty Krab at the last second was now impossible.. "Fine... you don't want my money..." He stated his compliance to Squidward's command and also stated his assumption..

Mr. Krabs heard what the young male said and he widened his eyes. From his point of view, he just heard a pleasant opportunity for extra cash. "Money?" He stood up from the table and walked up to the young man. "You mean, if we stayed open later, you'd give us your money?" He wanted the customer to clarify his demands.

The young man took out his wallet and nodded. "Sure!" He smiled in delight.

Mr. Krabs eyes' sparkled with fantasies of immense riches. He rarely allowed the Krusty Krab to stay open for more than an hour after closing time. He had yearned for such a business opportunity to knock on his door and that opportunity, in the form of a single customer, had came. He then flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'. "Mr. Squidward, welcome to the night shift. Starting from now, the Krusty Krab will be open 'til five o'clock." The crab announced the schedule shift, he was confident that the new schedule will attract more customers for the current night. "Resume your normal duties." He walked towards his office.

**CRREEAAAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

'There goes my happiness and beauty sleep.' Squidward thought grumpily. He reluctantly took out his employee hat, put it on, walked back to the boat; and sat in it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob overheard what he thought was great news. He saw the schedule shift as a pleasant surprise instead of a burden, he could now enjoy his job for the whole night. He stood on his tip-toes and looked at Squidward through the ordering window. "Isn't that great, Squid? Now we could work an all-nighter! I bet we'll have so much fun working at night!" His enthusiasm was flowing through the words from his mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward made eye contact with the young man as he walked up to the boat. "More like torture." He made a nasty remark to SpongeBob's joyful words.

**CRREEAAAK **

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office and walked towards the double door. He had finished counting today's profits and had locked them into the safe. "See ya in the morning, boys! I can't hang out here all night. I've got a life." He turned to look at Squidward and SpongeBob. He coincidentally said words that sounded similar to some words that Squidward had recently said; he was saying a farewell to his employees. He then...

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

'Why I oughta...' Squidward thought with a face that was hiding but also exposing his irritation against his boss. Almost nothing could make Mr. Krabs look more like a jerk than him indecently treating his employees.

The young man snapped his fingers to catch Squidward's attention.

"R-right." Squidward looked at the young man again. He had been looking at something else as he thought angrily. "What would you like to order?"

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A few customers were sitting in a few tables as they dined inside the dining room. They were attracted to the restaurant as if they were moths and the Krusty Krab was a lamp in the night. In terms of business, Mr. Krabs had made a wise decision.

Squidward was sitting at the boat with a deadpan face, he perceived the all-nighter shift as an extra weight to his misery.

S-S-S-S-S

However, SpongeBob perceived no wrong in the different temporary schedule. He stood on his tip-toes again and looked at Squidward through the ordering window. "Isn't this great, Squidward? Just you and me together for hours and hours and hours and then the sun'll come up and after a few hours we'll be working again!" He enthusiastically predicted how their all-nighter will turn out.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ignored what SpongeBob said. He decided that he should start ignoring SpongeBob now so his annoying would not be as severe later on.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob hopped through the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward immediately ducked.

SpongeBob gracefully landed on the cash register. "Are you ready to rock, Squidward?!" The sponge leaned towards his coworker. He assumed that Squidward wanted to work as hard as him.

"No." Squidward spoke frankly. He did not look at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob grinned. "Good! 'Cause more customers are coming!" The sponge pointed at customers that were walking towards the Krusty Krab and that could be seen through the dining room's windows.

Squidward sighed. He could tell that SpongeBob was going to be up to his antics due to his enthusiastic view of the all-nighter.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

More customers were eating at the dining room.

SpongeBob leaned through the ordering window. "Psst, Squidward." He whispered to Squidward's ear.

Squidward took a deep breath and ignored SpongeBob's whisper. 'Don't pay him any attention, Squidward. He'll just keep doing this anyway.' He mentally spoke words of motivation to himself.

"I'm working at the kitchen..." The sponge continued to whisper and then giggled. "...at night." He spoke normally. He found working a job at night to be really 'coral' since he had never done it before.

A young woman walked up to Squidward. "I would like a Krabby Patty." She said her order.

Squidward jotted down the order on a yellow notepad and then posted the sticky note on the ordering wndow's wheel.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob turned the wheel and saw the order on the sticky note. He then ran to the table to prepare another batch of ingredients so he could make more burgers. He grabbed a lettuce head and then rapidly karate chopped it into separate leaves. "Hey, Squidward. Guess what?" He smirked, a joke was incoming.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward groaned. He knew the joke that SpongeBob was about to say.

S-S-S-S-S

"I'm chopping lettuce... at night." SpongeBob giggled and then ran to the grill. He took out a patty from a stack and then put it on the grill. He then flipped the patty when needed.

S-S-S-S-S

Another twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Squidward entered the restroom. He wanted to take a short break since he felt the urge to pee. He walked up to a stall and...

Crrrrrreeeaaaak

...opened it.

SpongeBob was mopping the floor of the stall. He had decided to clean the Krusty Krab's rooms since he had nothing to do at the kitchen. "Look at me, I'm swabbing the bathroom... at night." He said the same joke again. He then lightly giggled at his joke. He was aware of the joke's decreasing luster.

"Can you leave?" Squidward was becoming impatient. His urge to pee could not be resisted for much longer.

SpongeBob silently nodded and stepped out of the stall.

Squidward stepped into the stall and...

Slam

...closed the stall's door.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

11:00 PM.

There was not a single customer inside the dining room. They had all eaten their ordered food and left the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob was marching around the dining room in a certain pattern. "Night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, night, na-na-na-na-night! NIGHT!" He was chanting/singing a song that went along to the beat of his marching. He had to express his happiness and enthusiasm for working an all-nighter shift through several outlets, those positive emotions were 'overwhelming' him.

Squidward's face turned crimson and steam came out of his ears."WILL YOU PLEASE?!" He yelled at the sponge; he lost his temper. His irritation had boiled to a scalding anger. SpongeBob had done one antic too many.

SpongeBob stopped marching, stopped smiling, and looked at Squidward.

An awkward pause.

Squidward noticed that a nearby trash can was full. He then stepped out of the boat, walked up to the trash can, picked up the bag from the can; and then tied it up. "Here," He gave the trash bag to the yellow square. "give me a moment's peace and take out the trash." He acted like he was the temporary manager again.

"Alright!" SpongeBob made a military salute. He walked towards the kitchen door. "Taking out the trash. Taking out the trash.. at night." He was quietly singing a made-up song to himself.

**CRREEEEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the back door.

Squidward watched SpongeBob through the ordering window. He was making sure that SpongeBob was doing his task instead of fooling around.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the back door and then looked at the dark outside world. The sky was far more darker than the night sky that he was used to. He very, very rarely left his pineapple past 10:00 PM. Due to his inexperience with the darkness of late night, an old childhood fear was roused within him. He began to shake in fear of the dark, mysterious, and otherworldly world before him. "I-I-It's kinda dark out there." The sponge's anxiety became obvious.

Squidward raised his brow. "Sponge, I thought you liked the night shift." He pointed out the strangeness of the sponge's behavior. He did not expect the sponge to act like that at all. He even thought that SpongeBob would have loved to explore the world of midnight.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and tried to hide his fear. "You're right!" He lifted the bag until it was over his head. He stood in a resolute manner. The octopus' words gave him courage. "For the Krusty Krab!" He then stepped out of the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Once he was in the Hades-like world, his childhood fear took over once again. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" **He screamed like a terrified child as he ran up to the dumpster, threw the trash bag into the dumpster, and ran back to the Krusty Krab.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the back door with force.

S-S-S-S-S

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. He was glad and relieved since the temporary ordeal was over. He had acted like the night air he had been inhaling was poisonous. After he took a deep breath, he made a confident smile. "Piece of cake!" He denied the truth since it would make the past ordeal less embarrassing to think about.

"So you're not afraid?" Squidward asked sarcastically. He certainly knew that SpongeBob had some sort of fear of the dark after seeing how the sponge threw away the trash bag. The octopus wanted to have a little fun of his own.

SpongeBob smiled and made a motion with one of his hands as if what Squidward asked was rubbish or nonsense. "Pffft, nah." He blatantly lied.

Squidward remembered a scary story that was told to him by a friend when he was a young child. He assumed that the sponge had not heard the story. 'This'll shut him up for the night.' He thought with a smirk. However, he wanted to reveal the truth near night's end so SpongeBob would not become too emotionally damaged. "Well, I am. Especially after," He looked around in a nervous manner and then gulped nervously, it was all an act. "well, you know." He pretended that he was anxious.

"What?" SpongeBob scratched his head in confusion. "What do I know?"

"You don't remember? It was all over the news." Squidward stacked one lie after another so SpongeBob's gullibility could be fully exploited.

"Tell me! Tell me!" SpongeBob became very curious. He could have sworn that he watched the news everyday.

"No, no, no," Squidward shook his head. "I probably shouldn't." He was trying to make SpongeBob even more curious by denying to share information. "It would ruin the night shift for you." He could not hide his smirk, he could not help himself.

Squidward's smirk made his information refusal more effective. "What happened, what happened, what happened?" He rapidly asked as he jumped up and down in excitement. He was dying to know about that news report.

"You mean you've never heard the story of the Hash-Slinging Slasher?" Squidward indirectly informed SpongeBob about the main focus of the 'news report'. He tried to act like he was somewhat shocked by SpongeBob's question.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "The Slash-Bringing Hasher?" The sponge could not figure out how to pronounce the name of the 'monster'.

"The Hash-Slinging Slasher." Squidward restated the 'monster's' name so SpongeBob could pronounce it correctly.

"The Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, The Flash-Springing, Ringing, The Cr-Crash-Dinging..." SpongeBob was still unable to pronounce that name. He scratched the back of his head in frustration.

"The Hash-Slinging Slasher." Squidward restated the name for a final time. "But most people just call him the HaAAAAAHH because that's all they have time to say before he GETS THEM." He tried to instill fear into the sponge by beginning his retelling of the scary story.

Even though what Squidward said sounded creepy from his perspective, SpongeBob's curiosity strangely heightened to the point of desperation. "Tell me the story!" The yellow square fell to his knees, put his hands together, and begged.

"Years ago at this very restaurant, the Hash-Slinging Slasher used to be a fry cook -just like you- only clumsier and with less skill. Then, one night, when he was cutting patties... it happened." Squidward tried to build up suspense with his story retelling.

"He forgot the secret sauce?" SpongeBob guessed. What he said was what he thought was one of the worst things that could happen to a Krusty Krab fry cook.

"No."

"He didn't wash his hands?" SpongeBob guessed. What he said was almost just as bad since germs could contaminate the food.

"No." Squidward shook his head.

"Irregular potions?" SpongeBob gave more of a wild guess. What he said was a mildly annoying occurrence for a restaurant employee.

"He cut off his own hand by mistake..." Squidward revealed the horrific occurrence that happened to the Hash-Slinging Slasher. He had build up suspense so his story could sound more creepy.

SpongeBob raised his index finger, he was about to interrupt Squidward's story. He thought that the Hash-Slinging Slasher could regrow his hand.

Squidward silenced SpongeBob by making the quiet sign with his hand over his own mouth. "...and he was not a sponge." He resumed his telling of the scary story.

SpongeBob slowly widened his eyes in horror. When he had been a child, he always got traumatized when he had heard a scary story. However, the scary story he was currently hearing was in a horror tier of its own. The sponge found the inability to grow one's limbs back to be disturbing since he himself was a sponge (he could regrow his limbs).

"And he replaced his hand with a rusty spatula. And then, he got hit by a bus after working the night-shift. At his funeral, they fired him!" He raised the tone of his voice so he could sound more dramatic. "So now, every Tuesday night, his ghost returns to the Krusty Krab to wreak his horrible vengeance." He made the story sound more scary by using bigger vocabulary.

SpongeBob's face drained of color. "But... tonight's Tuesday night..." He quietly stated an obvious fact. The sponge was becoming shaken by a sudden spike in fear.

Squidward narrowed his eyes to look more solemn. "Than he'll be coming." He spoke in a serious manner.

SpongeBob suddenly found an ambiguity in Squidward's scary story after reflecting on it. "How will we know?" He tilted his head to the side.

"There are three signs that signal the approach of the Hash-Slinging Slasher." Squidward continued to tell the story. What he was saying was what he had been exactly told when he was a child, he remembered the telling of that scary story like it happened yesterday. "First, the lights will flicker on and off. Next, the phone will ring and there will be nobody on the other end." He then leaned closer towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's body was shaking in intense anxiety. The sponge could not imagine the horrors that the Hash-Slinging Slasher could inflict upon him and Squidward.

"And finally, the Hash-Slinging Slasher arrives in the ghost of the bus that ran him over." Squidward dove to the kitchen's floor by that point since it would add an even more dramatic effect to his story. "Then he exits the bus and crosses the street without looking both ways because he's already dead."

SpongeBob was sweating profusely. He was taking deep breaths so he would not freak out.

"Then he taps on the window with his grizzly spatula hand..." Squidward spoke with widened eyes. He was trying his best to make SpongeBob as scared as possible.

"N-no." SpongeBob covered his mouth with both of his hands. He was becoming so scared that he would be peeing his pants if he was a human.

"He opens the door." Squidward pushed his tentacle towards a non-existent door and imitated a door's squeaking sound. "He slowly approaches the counter... and you know what he does next?" So far, Squidward was doing an excellent job at scaring the soul out of the yellow sponge.

"What?" SpongeBob still wanted to hear the end of the story. He could not a pinpoint a reason for his enduring curiosity.

"You really want to know?" Squidward asked so he could instill more fear into SpongeBob. He raised his brow.

"What?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Squidward was trying to make what he was about to say next sound really scary.

"WHAT DOES HE DO?!" SpongeBob asked in desperation. He grabbed Squidward's shoulders and lightly shook the octopus. His curiosity wanted to be satisfied. His fear might become intensified if he does not hear the story's end, the fear of the unknown could strangle his mind with thoughts of possible horrors.

Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's arms and pushed them away from his shoulders. "He gets you!" He quickly tapped SpongeBob on his shoulder.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" **SpongeBob screamed in horror. He could imagine the gruesome murder that the Hash-Slinging Slasher could inflict on him and Squidward.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. He found SpongeBob's reaction to be absolutely hilarious.

S-S-S-S-S

Half a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was repeatedly screaming since his voice box got too tired. He had been doing that for the entire half-minute. He was completely traumatized by the scary story. For him, the story was so traumatic that he almost reached shell-shock.

Squidward became concerned for his coworker's well-being. His prediction about the sponge becoming that emotionally damaged within a few hours was completely wrong. He did not want to recommit the mistake of indifference that he had did when he had bought that 'bomb' pie for SpongeBob. "SPONGEBOB, I WAS JOKING!" He grabbed the yellow square's shoulders and shook the sponge back to sanity. He spoke loudly so the sponge's attention would focus on him.

"What?" SpongeBob looked up at Squidward and raised his brow in utter confusion. His mood had quickly swung from the grips of terror.

"It's not true. None of it's true!" Squidward told SpongeBob the truth. His face was expressing concern for the yellow square, very tiny sparks of care and friendship were being shown.

"It's not?" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out in shock. He could not believe what he was hearing, his gullibility had made him believe Squidward's scary story to its entirety.

"Of course not. Nobody has a spatula for a hand. It was all a joke." Squidward pointed out the illogicality of his scary story. However, he did not want to reveal his purpose for telling that story since that purpose might hurt SpongeBob's feelings. The octopus did not want SpongeBob to fall into a different but just as deep state of emotional trauma.

"Ohhhhhhhhh..." SpongeBob came to a major conclusion after hearing Squidward's words and then doing his own reflection on the story. He then laughed since he considered the scary story to be childish and silly. Rationality and positivity once again seized the reign of his mind.

Squidward took a deep breath in relief. He was glad that SpongeBob was functioning normally, he did not want the sponge to leave the Krusty Krab out of sadness or fear since that would leave him with doing all the work in the restaurant.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost four hour hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

3:00 AM.

Not a single customer came to the Krusty Krab since a few hours ago.

Squidward was laying in the boat and was reading a novel. He was fiercely combating his drowsiness. His interest in the novel was the chariot that was carrying him forward along the long journey of doing an all-nighter shift. However, the boredom that was caused by the night shift was also another vicious beast that he had to tackle.

SpongeBob was using his time productively by doing various chores, some extraordinary while others menial, throughout the restaurant.

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

Sounds that sounded like the plunging of a toilet abruptly assaulted Squidward's ears. They were coming from the ceiling.

Squidward nearly fell out of the boat in fright. The Krusty Krab had been peacefully quiet since midnight. The novel he was reading made him almost completely oblivious to the world around him.

Several water drops landed on his face.

Squidward looked up at the ceiling in a search for the source of the strange sounds and the waterdrops. He then noticed that SpongeBob was cleaning the ceiling.

SpongeBob had two toiler plungers tied to each of his shoes by two individual pieces of rope. He leaned towards the ceiling and then began to clean it with a wet towel. He was beginning the extraordinary chore of cleaning the ceiling.

Several more waterdrops landed on Squidward's face. The wetness of the towel was what caused the waterdrops to fall on Squidward's head.

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

SpongeBob walked across the ceiling to another dirty area of the ceiling. The toilet plungers were allowing him to walk across walls and the ceiling.

Squidward did not know how to react to what was occurring above him. The sponge's ceiling cleaning caught him completely off-guard.

SpongeBob looked down and noticed that Squidward was looking at him. "Isn't this great, Squidward?" He beamed. He was somewhat proud of his innovative invention of using the toilet plungers as footwear. "There's never time to wash the ceiling during the day."

'Open for a whole night... what a stupid idea! Who wants a Krabby Patty at three in the morning?' Squidward mentally complained about the ridiculousness of the night shift. If SpongeBob was going to do such ridiculous and unnecessary chores at such a strange time, and not a single customer entered the restaurant past midnight, he concluded that the night shift was pointless. It was one of those moments where he was harshly reminded about the slave-like working conditions of the Krusty Krab. "Just look at this place. It's like a ghost town in here!" He viciously commented about the Krusty Krab's current business state.

For less than a second, the lights flickered to darkness. Right as that second past, the lights flickered back on. They had not been replaced in several months and age was quickly catching up with them.

"Very funny, SpongeBob." Squidward assumed that SpongeBob was up to his antics again. He expected the sponge's antics to become more extreme as night passed by since he also assumed that the sponge was becoming bored (although to a lesser extent since being energetic was one of the sponge's traits).

"What?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He then scratched his head. He was not pulling off any pranks.

"And the lights will flicker on and off." Squidward retold an excerpt from his scary story in a somewhat regained dramatic voice. "Just like the story. I get it." He thought that SpongeBob was trying to reenact the story out of curiosity to see how he was going to react. He remembered some past antics from SpongeBob that were truly unexpected.

The lights flickered to darkness and then to brightness several times in quick succession.

'The lights are probably getting old.' Squidward came to a rational conclusion

SpongeBob raised his brow in puzzlement. "Hey, Squidward, how're you doing that without moving the switch?" He assumed that his coworker was doing a magic trick.

"I'm not doing it." Squidward shook his head with honesty. "It must be the stupid, faulty wiring in here. This place isn't built to run for a whole day." He made another complaint about the cheap state of the business and the building's state or disrepair.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone next to the cash register rang.

Squidward walked up to the shell-phone and then picked it up.

Silence was coming from the other end.

"Hello?" Squidward raised his brow in confusion. He could not figure out a reason for why he was not hearing an electronic voice.

An awkward pause.

Squidward decided to put the phone down. He assumed that whoever called the Krusty Krab did it by mistake.

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

**SHCOOP**

SpongeBob walked down a wall and then walked up to the octopus. "Nice try, Squidward." He thought that Squidward was trying to make another joke.

The sponge and the octopus were unaware of the honesty and sincerity of the other's actions.

"Nice try, what?" Squidward became irritated and then glared at SpongeBob. From his viewpoint, his actions were not showing a single sign of silliness.

"The phone will ring and there will be no one there." SpongeBob dramatically spoke an excerpt of Squidward's scary story in a silly manner. He then giggled. "Oh, you crack me up." He assumed that Squidward was reenacting the scary story in an attempt to frighten him again.

"SpongeBob, I'm not doing this." Squidward spoke solemnly and honestly.

The lights flickered again.

A primal fear of the unknown became planted and then sprouted inside Squidward's mind. His heartbeat quickened and he sweatdropped. Out of such astronomically slim chances, there was a possibility that the Hash-Slinging Slasher was a real person. Mr. Krabs had not given him a full history of the past employees who worked here after all. 'Calm down, Squid.' He tried to relax himself. His fear could become potent enough to block out his rationality. 'First there was the lights, and the phone, and then...' He mentally retold the signs of the Hash-Slinging Slasher's ghostly presence. The signs he just mentally stated were certainly what was occurring inside the Krusty Krab. However, his growing fear made him forget the third and final sign. 'What was the third thing?' He scratched his head as he searched through his library of memories and knowledge for the answer to his mental question.

S-S-S-S-S

A bus passed by the Krusty Krab. It eventually stopped at a bus stop that was somewhat near the location of the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward and SpongeBob noticed the bus.

"I didn't know buses ran this late." SpongeBob became surprised by the sight of the passing bus. He did not think that the bus was suspicious since he had tried to wipe Squidward's scary story from his memory. He merely noticed the strangeness of the time that the bus was active.

Squidward shook his head. "They don't." He knew the Bikini Bottom bus schedule since he had taken the buses when he had not had a driver's license yet and was in high school. However, he did not know everything about the bus schedule. There were some changes in the schedule that he was not aware of.

SpongeBob shrugged. "Well, they're dropping someone off." He stated the obvious.

S-S-S-S-S

A person that was covered in the shroud of the night sky's darkness stepped out of the bus. He seemed to be hunchbacked, had crimson eyes that were glowing at the Krusty Krab, and a spatula in place of one of his hands. He perfectly fitted the description of the Hash-Slinging Slasher.

The bus' door became closed by the driver and the bus then went down the road again.

The 'Hash-Slinging Slasher' walked directly towards the Krusty Krab. It eventually got close enough to the restaurant that it could be seen from the restaurant's windows.

S-S-S-S-S

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!**" Terror gripped Squidward and the octopus then screamed to the top of his voice in fright. That slim possibility in the back of his mind was reality. He truly thought that the Hash-Slinging Slasher was before him and SpongeBob. The silhouette's resemblance to the mental image of the Hash-Slinging Slasher in Squidward's head was highly exceptional. He then dove to the boat and crouched inside of it so he could not be seen by the 'ghost'. "T-the H-Hash-Slinging Slasher..." Squidward struggled to loudly whisper to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned to look at the silhouette walking up to the restaurant. His intense fear of the 'monster' in Squidward's scary story then rekindled. His heartbeat rapidly quickened, his face became pallid, and sweat ran in rivulets down his brow. **"THE HASH-SLINGING SLASHER!" **SpongeBob screamed out of terror and dove into the boat as well.

"W-we're doomed..." Squidward whispered to himself pessimistically. He thought that his and SpongeBob's deaths were imminent since the 'Hash-Slinging Slasher' was certainly going to kill them.

The 'Hash-Slinging Slasher' tapped on one of the windows before...

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...it entered the restaurant.

The lights flickered to darkness. The darkness of night made the dining room become shrouded in what SpongeBob would call an 'advanced' darkness.

The Hash-Slinging Slasher walked up to SpongeBob and Squidward. It held up its spatula for some reason.

SpongeBob and Squidward screamed and then hugged each other for a 'final' embrace.

Squidward was doing that since he did not want to die alone. Dying with an upbeat person was at least somewhat better from his perspective.

SpongeBob was doing that because he wanted Squidward to protect him. He deeply trusted his neighbor/coworker since he thought that he was one of his friends.

The lights flickered to brightness. They revealed a queer young green man. He was wearing glasses and a purple shirt. He also had a large nose with two large nostrils and a spatula was being held out in one of his hands. "Can I have a job application? I brought my own spatula." The potential employee held out the spatula towards the shell-phone. "I called here on a payphone earlier but I hung up 'cause I was nervous." He had been carefully thinking about what he was going to say when he had dialed the Krusty Krab's number on the payphone.

SpongeBob made a beam that could light up the night sky. He leaped from the boat and landed in front of the potential employee. "Do you have references?"

"I never had a job before," The green teenager told the truth. "I'm a Junior in high school."

SpongeBob nodded and walked towards the door to Mr. Krabs' office. "Follow me." He commanded with a smile.

The male adolescent followed the yellow sponge.

Squidward was astonished by what he was seeing. He could not believe that the signs of the Hash-Slinging Slasher's presence was merely a coincidence and he had assumed the potential employee to be a killer due to darkness of the night. He sat up in the boat and picked up his fallen novel. He then resumed his reading of the novel.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a drawer in Mr. Krabs' desk and took out a paper application for potential employees. He then gave that application to the young man. "Here you go." He spoke with enthusiasm. He was excited that there was a possibility that there was going to be someone added to the Krusty Crew. He imagined the fun times that he might have with the new member.

"Thanks." The young man smiled when he received the application. He then turned to leave the office.

"By the way," SpongeBob raised one of his index fingers. A question was on his mind.

The teenager turned to face SpongeBob. "Yes?" He wanted to be formal since he wanted to show respect to the Krusty Krab business. SpongeBob was a Krusty Krab employee after all.

"What's your name?" SpongeBob wanted to know that potentially new employee's name.

"Nicholas." Nicholas replied. He then resumed his walk towards the office's exit.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Nicholas exited Mr. Krabs' office.

S-S-S-S-S

He walked across the dining room.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Nicholas exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The green teenager walked back to the bus stop. He then waited for another bus to pick him up and transport him across the darkness.


	53. Patty Hype

**Chapter 53: Patty Hype**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through one of the windows in the Krusty Krab's dining room. He was waiting in anticipation for Nicholas' arrival. The green teenager had came to the restaurant yesterday to hand in his job application. Nicholas had also said that he was going to make another visit to the Krusty Krab the next day for Mr. Krabs' verdict.

It was 10:00 AM. Not a single customer was inside the dining room. The Krusty Krab was currently suffering from the Saturday curse of a customer scarcity.

Squidward was sitting in the boat and was reading Oliver Twist. His baggy eyes were one of the few remaining signs of his sleep debt. The all-nighter shift that he had done with SpongeBob a few days ago had cost him a nasty case of drowsiness that lessened as one day transitioned to the next.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on a table. He had finished the counting of yesterday's profits and was also waiting for Nicholas' arrival. He had not seen Nicholas on the night he asked for a job application or the day he handed in the job application. The funny story about the Hash-Slinging Slasher that he had heard from SpongeBob made him interested in the potential employee.

SpongeBob saw a green dot rise up from the left-most horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

That green dot eventually enlarged to become a young green man; Nicholas was walking towards the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

S-SLAM

Nicholas entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

"It's him!" SpongeBob jumped up in joy and pointed at Nicholas. He looked at his boss. "He's the new guy!" He spoke enthusiastically. His happiness for having a new member in the crew could not become more obvious.

Mr. Krabs stood up from the table and walked up to Nicholas. "You must be the one who wrote and handed that application, right?" He wanted a confirmation for what SpongeBob just said.

"Yep." Nicholas nodded confidently. From his perspective, had to built up a large amount of courage before even stepping into the restaurant. His fear of failure had controlled his actions for the past few days.

"Why you didn't came yesterday?" Mr. Krabs asked an important question. He found the large gaps of time between the writing of the application, its reception, and the potential employee's arrival to be strange. "I can't hire anybody who doesn't at least come to work on time." He told a hard truth to Nicholas right away. He did not mean to scare the potential employee. "Just saying." He clarified his intention.

"I was afraid that I was going to get rejected right away so I took a long time with writing, I wanted to make mine the best that it could be. I couldn't stay after handing it in since I had school; you already know that I'm a student. I'm only here 'cause there's no school today." Nicholas spoke directly to the point and honestly. He thought that speaking in such a manner would impress Mr. Krabs. That was the first time he attempted to get a job so he was trying to act as professional as possible.

"No wonder yer handwriting was so neat." Mr. Krabs commented on what Nicholas wrote on the application. That teenager's handwriting was almost as neat as typewritten text since he spent such a long time on writing. Such diligence was one of the key traits that Mr. Krabs was looking for in an employee. What the teenager had written on application was also far more honest than what almost all applicants had written before, it exuded an air of confidence from Nicholas. "It's too bad that you're still in school. I can't have no employees being absent on random days." Absent employees meant less money for Mr. Krabs' wallet.

A long pause. Mr. Krabs was considering if Nicholas should have a position in the business.

"I'll give you a part-time internship. You'll get the full job once you finish school." Mr. Krabs said his verdict. He decided that the teenager should have a position due to his diligence. his willingness to come to the Krusty Krab at 3 AM just to get an application, and also for his care when it came to work-related tasks. .

A very wide smile slowly formed on Nicholas' face. "Will it start now?" He asked with sparkled eyes. He almost could not believe that he just landed a position in the Krusty Krab. Like SpongeBob, he long aspired to be an employee at the Krusty Krab.

"Yep." Mr. Krabs nodded. He took out an employee hat and put it on Nicholas' head. "I'll show ya around so you can get a feel for this place." The crab informed the new intern the beginning of his newbie trip around the Krusty Krab. He walked towards the kitchen. "Follow me.

Nicholas followed Mr. Krabs.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Nicholas and Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen.

SpongeBob sat on a table, he was waiting for a customer to come by. He assumed that Mr. Krabs was going to fully explain the functions of the kitchen to Nicholas, that assumption was based on another assumption that Nicholas had not observed the employees' work as much as he had did.

S-S-S-S-S

A starving homeless man, who was from another town and seemed to be in his early thirties, was crawling towards the Krusty Krab. He was heading for that restaurant since it looked like it contained edible food. His starvation was so severe that he was unable to walk.

CCrrrreeeaaak

The man pushed one side of the double door open and crawled through it.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gasped with a smile at the sight of the starving man. "Mr. Krabs, a customer!" He pointed at the man. He then made a solemn face as he noticed the poor health condition that the man was in. The sponge walked up to the man, picked him up, and made him sit in a table. He assisted the man out of kindness.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs barged the door to the kitchen open with a smile that went from ear to ear. He briskly walked up to the starving man. "What would you like to order?"

"No food... three days..." The starving man stated his current situation with a weak voice. His other senses had been impaired and that explained why he seemed to be staring into space.

"Hold on, me bucko. Food's on the way!" Mr. Krabs assured the man of a speedy cooking and delivery of food. He glanced at SpongeBob but then looked at the starving man again at the remembrance of something. "You got money, right?"

"Yeah." The homeless man nodded.

"SpongeBob, bring this guy some grub before he keels over!" Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob again and barked a command at SpongeBob in a non-rude manner. He saw a starving man as a perfect opportunity for gaining money since the likelihood of him/her being a paying customer was almost certain.

SpongeBob nodded and dashed towards the kitchen.

**CREAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob quickly entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"Nick, you know how to make a Krabby Patty, right?" SpongeBob asked as he turned on the grill and took out his spatula. He did not make eye contact with the intern since he was focusing on his work.

"Yep." Nicholas nodded. "Want me to help you?" He put Krabby Patty ingredients on the table and opened the plastic bags of buns. He also opened a box of patties that were in a cooled-down/normal temperature and put some of them in a stack next to the grill.

"Mm-hm. You could also help me out with putting the ingredients together." SpongeBob nodded and quickly put five patties on the grill with his spatula. "Anyways, did Mr. Krabs give you a role yet?"

"Nope. I'll probably switch between several roles since I'm in intern." Nicholas told a decent and rational inference. He was much more smarter than the previous new member, Patrick, and was almost as food-savvy as Bubble Bass.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen with two warm plates on his hands that had five Krabby Patties each. He jogged up to the starving man and set the plates on the table. "Here you go, sir."

"Oh, Krabby Patties, huh?" The young man had seen Krabby Patties before and also heard rumors about them. He was starving since he had forgotten to bring food for his long journey. The destination of his journey was to find an affordable home and also land a job.

"Finest under the sea." Mr. Krabs folded his arms and stated the quality of the Krusty Krab's food with pride. Recognition for his money-making method brought some but not all of the joy that came with obtaining the money itself.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But where's the pizazz?" To Mr. Krabs' dismay, the starving man was a picky eater. Unfortunately for the young man, bad habits during his childhood somehow survived into his adulthood.

"Huh?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow and scratched his head. That was the first time he ever saw a starving person react in that way to food being served to him/her. Every other time he remembered seeing a starving person being served food, they would usually eat it right away.

"Look at this place, I mean, what is the theme here?" The young man pointed at his eating environment. He revealed the obviously cheap and neglectful state of the restaurant. "Underwater? It's boring." He thought that a non-inviting environment would prevent him from having a satisfying meal and thus prolong his hunger. He then crawled away from the table and...

CCrrreeaaak

...exited the Krusty Krab. "Food! Water! Atmosphere!" He resumed his desperate demanding for food. His weakened voice did not make his yelling much louder than before.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes in grumpiness. He found the starving man's reaction to be absolutely ridiculous. If he had discovered the man during his days as a young pirate, he would have considered the man to be mad. "No one goes to a restaurant for atmosphere. They go for food!" He talked to himself in an ill-tempered manner like he was replying to the starving man's response.

SpongeBob and Nicholas were looking through the ordering window. They thought that the situation went into an awkward turn due to the homeless person's reaction.

"That dude's gotta be nuts." Nicholas commented. "His ribcage is showing but he still wouldn't eat, how crazy can someone be?" The intern had a similar opinion about the homeless man when compared to Mr. Krabs'. However, his opinion was necessity-related instead of money-related.

Squidward was still reading his novel like nothing had happened at all. He could care less for petty situations that occurred in the restaurant. Coincidentally, the main character of the novel, Oliver, was a starving and homeless person. However, his overhearing of what people were saying and doing around him allowed him to form an opinion of the starving customer. He knew for certain that Oliver, unlike the starving customer, would not care about the 'atmosphere' of where he was eating.

S-S-S-S-S

A dark green young male and a light green young male bumped into each other. The dark green man was wearing brown pants while the light green man was wearing a purple shirt and blue pants.

"Hey, Tom!" The dark green man greeted his light green friend.

"Fred, you wanna eat at the Krusty Krab?" Tom pointed at the Krusty Krab. He felt like eating a Krabby Patty.

"Nah, I'm going to the Shell Shack. They've got a talking dog." Fred believed that a rumor about the Shell Shack that he had heard from another friend was true. His curiosity was what was making him want to go to the Shell Shack.

"You know what, I'm coming with you." Tom became curious as well.

Tom and Fred walked in the same direction.

"Say, what's a dog?" Tom did not have much knowledge about air creatures.

Mr. Krabs had opened the double door slightly so he could watch and hear the two friends' conversation. He gasped when he saw the two friends walk towards another restaurant instead of the Krusty Krab. "Money walking! I need to think up a gimmick like that to bring customers back here..." He whispered loudly to himself. From his perspective, he had an urgent problem on his hands.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Nicholas were standing behind Mr. Krabs. They had overheard what their boss had said and became interested in brainstorming ideas for attracting customers.

"Mr. Krabs, I have an idea!" SpongeBob raised his index finger. His childish personality promoted an overwhelming amount of creativity in his mind.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at SpongeBob, a smile was on his face. "Don't worry, me boy. I've already got one." He had an idea that he wanted to try out. He then patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "And you're gonna help with spreading the news around." The idea required some help from SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

A large crowd had gathered around the front of the Krusty Krab building. SpongeBob had walked around Bikini Bottom and had informed them about a ridiculous act that Mr. Krabs was going to do, they had became interested as a consequence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to buy plenty of Krabby Patties as I bury myself alive!" Mr. Krabs spoke enthusiastically to the crowd as he held a shovel with one of his claws and was standing before the restaurant's front double door.

The crowd cheered for Mr. Krabs. Some of them even rapidly stomped their feet to show their excitement for what Mr. Krabs was about to do.

Mr. Krabs quickly dug a hole in front of him and hopped into it. "No free refills." He informed the potential customers about an important Krusty Krab policy. He then filled the hole by shovel patting the nearby ground into the hole. His arm that held the shovel was the only remaining visible body part.

Fred ran up to the large crowd. He had seen the talking 'dog' at the Shell Shack and heard something so important that he thought that he had to inform the crowd about it. "Hey, everyone, listen!"

The crowd turned to look at Fred.

"The talking dog at the Shell Shack is SINGING! Come on!" Fred signaled with one of his hands for the crowd to follow him. He was jumping up and down in excitement.

The crowd decided that a singing 'dog' was more interesting than someone getting buried alive. They walked up to Fred.

Fred and the crowd walked towards the Shell Shack. They eventually disappeared from the horizon.

A very long and silent pause.

Mr. Krabs began to dig himself out of his earthly confinement when he noticed the large crowd's absence. A bigger attraction at the Shell Shack had made his idea a failure.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was repeatedly walking around the dining room in a nervous manner. His anxiety about the possible closure of his business blocked his mind from producing anymore creative ideas. "What am I going to do? If I don't think of an idea, I'll go out of business..." He was talking to himself, his dread began to take control of his actions.

SpongeBob and Nicholas were watching and hearing Mr. Krabs' pacing.

Nicholas glanced at the condiment stand and then glanced at the kitchen through the ordering window. A giant light bulb then lit up in his head. "SpongeBob..." He whispered to his yellow coworker and also poked his coworker's shoulder.

"What is it?" SpongeBob turned to look at the intern. "You've got an idea that can attract people?" He made a prediction for what Nicholas was about to talk about.

"Yep. But I want you to tell it to Mr. Krabs instead of me since he might take it more seriously if you say it. The idea is..." Nicholas explained what he wanted SpongeBob to do and then whispered his head to the yellow square's ear.

SpongeBob's eyes widened in surprise as he heard the idea and he then smiled in delight. "Gotcha!" The sponge made a thumbs-up and grinned. He then walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Mr. Krabs, I have an idea!" He attempted to grab Mr. Krabs' attention.

Unfortunately, Mr. Krabs' ears were blocked out by his mental voices. He continued to pace nervously. "Why can't someone give me an idea?" He asked that question to himself as he looked at the dining room's floor.

"Mr. Krabs, I have an idea." SpongeBob poked Mr. Krabs' shoulder. He raised the volume of his voice to see if Mr. Krabs was going to pay attention to him.

Mr. Krabs continued to walk anxiously like SpongeBob did not even exist. He was walking so fast and his mental voices were speaking so much that it made unaware of the yellow sponge. "Great Neptune in Atlantis, I need an idea!" He cried out in desperation. His anxiety was slowly worsening as his desire was not getting 'answered'.

SpongeBob hopped and landed in front of Mr. Krabs. "MR. KRABS, I. HAVE. AN. IDEA." He then jumped up and down yelled so he could seize his boss' attention.

Mr. Krabs gasped and then grabbed SpongeBob by the shirt with his claws. He then shook the sponge furiously. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" He was overjoyed since his yellow fry cook gave him a possibility of salvation from his business' doom.

"Okay, okay, okay..." SpongeBob shook himself out of Mr. Krabs' grasp and then ran towards the kitchen door. "Just stay right there and wait a sec!" While he ran, he pointed at the location that his boss was currently standing on.

Nicholas rapidly followed SpongeBob.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

The two entered the kitchen.

Mr. Krabs sat at a random table and then waited for SpongeBob to come back. The subsequent silence made him become nervous again. He began to tap his feet in unease.

S-S-S-S-S

"Are there any food dyes here?" Nicholas rapidly looked at several parts of the kitchen. He needed some key items in order for his idea to be executed properly. His inexperience at the Krusty Krab prevented him from finding inside the kitchen what he sought.

"Absolutely." SpongeBob opened a cabinet that was below a sink and took out several bottles of food colorings. Each bottle had one color type of dye. The colors were: green, red, blue, orange, purple; and yellow. "Want me to make a patty for each color?" He put the dye bottles on the table.

"Yeah." Nicholas nodded. He took out six patties from the stack and carefully put them on the grill. He was a person who learned at a decent pace; he already learned how to set patties on the grill by observing how SpongeBob did it.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the door to the kitchen open. "Ta-da!" He ran up to the table that Mr. Krabs was sitting on and then set the plate of dyed Krabby Patties on that table. He was self-assured that his boss was going to like the intern's creative idea.

Mr. Krabs looked at the dye patties with bugged-out eyes. "Great Barrier Reef! Those patties are spoiled." He made a negative inference since he barely knew anything about Nicholas' idea.

Nicholas walked up to the table. "Mr. Krabs, they're not tainted meat." He wanted Mr. Krabs' mind to be cleared of any irrational conclusions, inferences, or assumptions about his idea.

"They're painted meat!" SpongeBob added to Nicholas' spoken words with a wide smile. "They're called Pretty Patties. Available in six designer colors." He spoke like he was a salesperson for those Pretty Patties. He then pushed the plate towards Mr. Krabs to indicate that he wanted his boss to try one.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. He found the idea of Pretty Patties to be ridiculous since it was similar to that starving and homeless man's ideal of eating with 'atmosphere'. From his perspective as an experience pirate, people did not eat food just for their looks. "Mr. Squidward, come look!" He signaled with his claw for Squidward to come over to the table.

Squidward stopped reading his novel and looked up at Mr. Krabs. He then noticed the dye Krabby Patties on the table and became interested in them due to their strange looks. He had overheard Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, and Nicholas' conversation. He stood up from the boat and walked up to the table.

"Don't they look appetizing?" Mr. Krabs made eye contact with Squidward and smirked. He tried to make a joke.

"Mmm, mmm! Good, sir!" Squidward spoke with sarcasm that was more bitter than the taste of grapefruit.

Mr. Krabs made another pirate laugh while Squidward laughed by honking his nose.

They laughed for several seconds.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. It was an idea for another joke. "Wait! Gimme an orange patty... with extra purple." He tried to expose the ridiculousness of Nicholas' idea by saying a possible order that a normal customer would say.

Squidward laughed again.

Nicholas frowned and looked at the floor. His confidence in his abilities as an employee went down the drain as Mr. Krabs and Squidward continued to make fun of his idea.

SpongeBob saw what Nicholas was doing and made a solemn face. He felt bad for his coworker and began to wish that there was a way to show to his fellow Krusty Crewmates that Nicholas' idea was valid and applicable.

"What's next? Sequin milkshakes?" Now that his anxiety had quickly shrunk to near non-existence, Mr. Krabs' creativity returned and he was using it to its fullest at making jokes about Pretty Patties.

Squidward laughed again. He was banging his fist on the table in laughter. Once he managed to control his laughter; "Bow-tie French Fries?" ;he made a joke of his own. He had a similar viewpoint with Mr. Krabs about Pretty Patties.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward laughed in hysterics. The awkward situation, the strange idea, and the perfect opportunity for jokes was what caused them to laugh to such an excessive amount.

Nicholas walked to another table and sat in it. A major amount of disappointment flooded into this mind. He had initially thought that his idea was on a genius level and would become a great success. To his dismay, the long time he spent on carefully thinking up that idea was what made him overestimate its future success.

SpongeBob looked at the Pretty Patties, looked at the laughing Squidward and Mr. Krabs, and then looked at Nicholas. 'They're bullying, Nick' He thought with consideration for Nick's possibly hurt feelings. The sponge had been bullied in the past before and the bullies often joke in a similar way to how Mr. Krabs and Squidward had did it with the Pretty Patties; the sponge came to heavily dislike bullies as a consequence. 'I'lll show them...' Determination to prove Mr. Krabs and Squidward wrong about their viewpoints about Pretty Patties built up within SpongeBob. His fists closed and tightened. His brow furrowed to show a very serious face, it was his face of determination. The sponge then stomped up to the still laughing octopus and crab. "STOP IT!" He banged both of his fists on the table to grab both Squidward and Mr. Krabs' attention.

Mr. Krabs and Squidward stopped laughing and looked at SpongeBob. They were heavily surprised at SpongeBob suddenly acting in such a manner since the sponge was almost always happy when he worker. However, their thoughts about the victims of their jokes did not change. They still thought that they did not hurt SpongeBob's feelings (although SpongeBob's feelings were not hurt at all).

"I know this is a good idea. I'll show you! I'll prove both of you wrong by making my own successful restaurant!" SpongeBob decided to announce an idea he had thought up while Mr. Krabs and Squidward were joking around that would prove the validity of Pretty Patties. He then stomped up to Nicholas and grabbed the intern's arm. "C'mon, Nick. Let's get out of here." SpongeBob dragged Nicholas with him as he walked towards the double door. He threw his employee hat and Nicholas' employee hat to the floor as he walked.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

SpongeBob with Nicholas in tow exited the restaurant.

Squidward resumed his laughter. He did not take SpongeBob's idea of a Pretty Patty restaurant seriously at all; he assumed that its execution will end in failure.

Mr. Krabs, however, did not resume his laughter. He had a solemn face as he thought critically about the idea of a Pretty Patty restaurant. He realized that not a single customer had not bought a Pretty Patty yet so he should not assume that the idea of Pretty Patties will fail. Due to the idea's result being unknown, it had a potential for success. As a result of his thinking, Mr. Krabs began to regret making jokes about Pretty Patties; he temporarily lost a valuable employee and a possibly valuable intern as a consequence of his actions.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Nicholas entered SpongeBob's neighborhood.

Nicholas scratched his head in confusion. "This must be where you live, right?" He could not figure out any other reason for coming to such a specific neighborhood.

SpongeBob nodded. By that time, he was in a somewhat grumpy mood. He had reached such a state after thinking about how Mr. Krabs and Squidward had made fun of Pretty Patties and subsequently Nicholas. He noticed that Patrick was expressing a similar facial expression as the sea star stood outside his rock doing absolutely nothing. "Hey, Patrick, are you angry too?" He walked up to Patrick.

"Yeah." Patrick made eye contact with SpongeBob. His facial expression did not change, it expressed more of frustration than anger.

"What's the matter?" Even though he had a goal to accomplish, SpongeBob became somewhat concerned for his friend's well-being. He and Patrick supported each other after all.

"I can't see my forehead." Patrick had tried to do a challenge that he had seen on TV and failed to complete it. "What's your problem?" He found SpongeBob making such an angry facial expression to be quite strange since the sponge rarely makes such facial expressions.

"My buddy here," SpongeBob quickly pointed at Nicholas. "Nick, has a good idea but our coworkers don't think so. Me and him came here so we can open up a restaurant and sell Pretty Patties." The sponge briefly explained his situation to Patrick.

Patrick widened his eyes and he smiled after hearing SpongeBob's words. He thought that Nicholas and SpongeBob's ideas were on a genius level. "Forget the dumb thing I did, that's great!" He expressed his view of the ideas presented to him. "I'll help you out."

SpongeBob smiled widely. 'Looks like I already got two employees.' He thought. Nicholas was automatically an employee since he had been dragged along and Pretty Patties was his idea anyway. The sponge then walked towards his pineapple's garage. "C'mon, guys. Follow me." He signaled with his hand for Patrick and Nicholas to follow him.

Patrick and Nicholas followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-one minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow and dropped to the floor the hammer he had used. He, Patrick, and Nicholas had constructed two stands for their business.

The stand was covered in light purple paint. Dark purple paint text on its front said: 'PRETTY PATTIES'. There was another stand that looked identical to the other one except for the fact that it had dark purple paint text saying: 'PAY HERE',

"At least building this is easier than building an actual restaurant." Nicholas said one of his thoughts out loud. Building was certainly something he was not accustomed to and it had been consequently uncomfortable for him. He imagined building a restaurant to be a nightmare for him.

SpongeBob stood behind the 'PRETTY PATTIES' stand. "Nick, Pat, ready for the big rush?" He was thinking very optimistically about the restaurant's future. He could not wait for their first customer to come by.

Patrick stood behind the 'PAY HERE' stand and made a thumbs-up. He also anticipated many customers coming to the restaurant.

Nicholas stood next to SpongeBob. He stood with the sponge since the sponge was far more experienced with fry cooking and doing chores at the Krusty Krab than him. He thought that he could learn some important lessons from SpongeBob by watching how he ran the restaurant.

"Pretty soon those hungry customers will be lining up, 'cause we are open!" SpongeBob flipped a sign that was on his stand from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'. The sign looked like the one he had used on his bubblestand during the incident where Squidward got into a large bubble. "I'm ready!" He beamed. The moment he had been waiting for may possibly happen soon.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Not a single customer passed by.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick. He was worrying about the state of his business. "Patrick, how long have we been standing here?" He had forgotten to put on his watch before he left for work.

Patrick looked at his wrist but noticed that the 'watch' did not change at all since his last glance at it. He had forgotten to put on his watch as well and had decided to 'wear' a completely useless substitute. His intelligence was not at his brightest today. "Aww! I gotta draw a new battery for this." He took out a black crayon and a white crayon. He then changed the 'short hand' and the 'long hand' of the 'watch' by drawing over them with white and redrawing them with black.

SpongeBob began to have doubts about the future success of his and Nicholas' ideas. Such fears about an idea's failure are always sprouted in the people who execute them for the first time, these doubts had been fed by the absence of customers and grew to the point that it reached the surface of SpongeBob's mind. "Maybe Mr. Krabs was right... maybe our ideas were dumb." He looked at Nicholas from the corner of his eye. He frowned and sweatdropped.

"We shouldn't give up so quickly. We just gotta be patient." Nicholas advised the experienced yellow fry cook. He had not given up when he took such a long time to write on the job application so he thought that he should not give up on having a Pretty Patty business either.

Patrick nodded in agreement and then looked at SpongeBob. "He's right, but sometimes we have to go deep inside ourselves to solve our problems." He said some advice that he had heard from his grandfather when he was child. However, he interpreted it literally. He walked up to SpongeBob. "I'm gonna go in you." He wanted to examine SpongeBob's insides, it was part of his literal interpretation of his grandfather's advice. He put his head into one of SpongeBob's holes.

Nicholas eyes bugged out since he became shocked by the sight of what Patrick was doing. He had properly interpreted the advice that Patrick said. "Ummm..." He could not decide if he should pull Patrick's head out of SpongeBob's hole or just let Patrick continue doing his strange behavior.

Patrick pulled his head out of SpongeBob's hole. He did not find anything noteworthy or that could help with solving the problem of a lack of customers.

"Did you find anything?" SpongeBob looked up at Patrick and made a facially expressed concern. He hoped that Patrick found something that would attract more customers to his restaurant.

"Nope." Patrick shook his head. "All I saw was dark yellow."

SpongeBob sighed in disappointment and looked at the ground. The thought about shutting down the business entered his mind but his lingering optimism prevented it from taking more control of SpongeBob's mind.

A young blue man walked past the two stands but immediately stopped when he saw a plate of Pretty Patties from the corner of his eye. He then walked back to the 'PRETTY PATTIES' stand. "Hey, do you sell food here?" He looked at the plate of Pretty Patties.

SpongeBob gasped and then grinned. "Yes, sir! We sell Pretty Patties!" He walked up to the stand and spoke enthusiastically. His mood had made a complete u-turn.

The young man raised his brow when he closely looked at the burgers. He thought that the colors of the burgers were very strange since they were basic. He picked up a green Pretty Patty and began to laugh at it. Green was one of the colors that he disliked the most. "This thing's green!" He laughed for several seconds before saying: "Green!" The thought of artificially green food made him laugh in hysterics.

SpongeBob looked at the ground and his eyes moistened. He began to sink into the dark abyss of despair. His first spark of hope ended up being his first step into a dark realization that his restaurant was going to end in a 'pathetic failure'. The leap to despair was so sudden that it was triggering the urge for him to cry.

The young man put the green burger back on the plate and noticed that there was a purple Pretty Patty. He then gasped. "Purple's my favorite color!" He picked up the purple burger and smiled widely. 'It's worth a try.' He thought. He no longer considered the idea of Pretty Patties to be ridiculous or strange since it now appealed to his aesthetic tastes. The blue male then took a bite from the Pretty Patty. "This ain't half bad." 'As a matter of fact, I've never seen food colored like this before'. He reflected on the times when he had dined at restaurants. The man then ate the whole burger. "How much'll that cost?"

"One dollar." SpongeBob pointed at the adjacent stand. "Give your money to Pat."

The young man walked up to the stand and took out a dollar from his wallet. He then gave the dollar to Patrick.

Patrick put the dollar into the jar on his stand.

'I need to tell my friends 'bout this.' The young man thought. He thought that Pretty Patties were decent enough for more people to be informed about them. He was aware of the fact that there were no other customers in the Pretty Patties restaurant. He then walked past the restaurant and resumed his normal trip.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The young blue male bumped into a friend that was around his age. "Yo, Pete, there's a new restaurant down the street. You gotta try their burgers, they aren't like the other ones in town." He informed his friend about the restaurant.

"Alright." Pete nodded and walked down the street. He heeded his friend's advice.

That is what began the success of SpongeBob's business.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

7:00 AM.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on the couch in his anchor's living room and was eating a small bag of jerky. He was watching the local news through the old and archaic TV. The TV's screen made it somewhat difficult to see the news reports and the reporters reporting them.

Johnny Erain appeared on the TV screen. _"In other news, a small restaurant in a small neighborhood has become a culinary sensation overnight. The only food they sell are burgers called Pretty Patties and they are now wildly popular among citizens. The owner of the restaurant, SpongeBob SquarePants, was the former fry cook of the Krusty Krab. It has been said that his fry cooking skills made partially explain his restaurant's sudden popularity."_

Mr. Krabs gasped and his eyes became glued to the TV screen. "Pretty Patties?" The doubts in his mind became cleared the moment when Johnny said "Pretty Patties". The crab never expected the sponge's restaurant to end up being on the news.

"_Let's take a listen." _The TV screen then cut to show a large line of customers standing in front of two purple stands in SpongeBob's neighborhood.

"_Pretty Patties! Pretty Patties! Pretty Patties! Pretty Patties! Pretty Patties! Pretty Patties!" _Customers waiting in line were chanting in anticipation for their receiving of the dyed burgers. Some of them had already eaten one or some of those burgers.

The TV screen then changed to show Johnny Erain again. _"It's easy to see that Pretty Patties are popular, but what is it about them that drives Bikini Bottom feeders wild?"_

The TV screen cut to show several customers being interviewed.

"_They match our purses!"_

"_They remind me of home."_

Larry flexed his muscles while he was being shown on the TV screen. _"Pretty Patties rule!" _Even a bodybuilder like him had acquired a taste for Pretty Patties.

The TV screen cut to show Johnny Erain.

"_Mr. SquarePants, how do you explain all this success?"_

The TV screen cut to show SpongeBob._ "I think it's because Pretty Patties are an original idea. It wasn't my idea after all."_ He gently pulled Nicholas towards the screen. _"It was Nick's idea._" He then let go of Nicholas._ "Since most burgers are the same color, I think people like Pretty Patties 'cause they're all different colors and they could get any Pretty Patty that''s their favorite color. However, stuff like this wouldn't be selling if it wasn't for the restaurant, which was my idea." _He was slightly nervous since he knew that he was being watched on TV but he kept his smile and maintained his collected state.

"_And how can you not make money with such a brilliant idea?"_

"_By not spreading the word. It was our first customer who spread the rumor about Pretty Patties after all. We also gotta make sure that the place of our restaurant is public and can be easy to access, like my neighborhood right here." _SpongeBob pointed at the houses in his neighborhood.

"_What're you doing with all of that earned money?"_

"_We just decided to spend it on renovating our homes. Fpr me, I think my house already has plenty of stuff in it so I didn't decide to buy anything else."_

'At least SpongeBob's a good spender.' Mr. Krabs thought. He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. "I gotta see this for me self." He told his own decision to himself. He wanted to visit SpongeBob's business so he could talk with SpongeBob. He stood up from the couch and walked up to the front door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The crab was not too far from SpongeBob's neighborhood.

Mr. Krabs accidentally bumped into a young man who was waiting in line for Pretty Patties.

"Hey! Watch it, buddy. I don't care how much you want your Pretty Patty. You're gonna have to wait in line like the rest of us." The young man spoke grumpily and pointed at the long line of people in front of him. His anticipation for the burgers made him swing from anticipation to grumpiness very quickly.

Mr. Krabs sighed and walked towards the end of the line. He thought about the possible future of the Krusty Krab, he was thinking that his restaurant was going to be in an abysmal state since it will certainly be outcompeted by SpongeBob's Pretty Patties restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs reached the end of the line and finally stood in his proper place in the line. He had a very long wait ahead of him.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob handed a yellow Pretty Patty to a young man in front of the stand. "Here you are, sir. Stay pretty." He then laughed at his own silly joke.

The young man walked away from the stand. He was satisfied since the sponge gave to him the food that he exactly ordered.

SpongeBob looked at the top of his stand and noticed that all of the plates on it had ran out of Pretty Patties. He then looked up at the line of customers in front of him. "Guys, wait right here. I'm gonna get some more." He stacked the plates on top of each other and then walked towards his pineapple.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the stand. It was finally his turn to order and receive Pretty Patties. He believed that the excessively long wait was worth it since he now had the opportunity to talk with his former fry cook. He was thinking of a way to bring SpongeBob back to his business and consequently resume the certainty of his business' success.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door and entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the living room and entered the kitchen.

Gary was laying on the couch and was doing his daily activity of watching his favorite TV show.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas was cooking some patties on a grill inside the kitchen. SpongeBob had bought that grill with the money he had earned from the success of his business, the grill was part of the renovation of the pineapple. The sponge had taught him the basics of where to buy patties (the patties on the grill were not Krabby Patties) and cooking patties. Nicholas had gained many skills as he worked in SpongeBob's business that would be useful for his internship at the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob walked up to Nicholas and took out his own spatula. "We gotta make more refills. I'll help ya out." He took some patties from a nearby stack and put them on the grill. He then flipped the burgers when needed.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK  
**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Nicholas exited the pineapple. They were holding plates full of randomly colored Pretty Patties. They walked up to the stand and put the plates on the stand.

Nicholas walked back to the pineapple and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered it.

SpongeBob smiled when he saw his boss before his stand. "Hey, Mr. Krabs. Isn't this great? The Pretty Patties are a big hit!" He happily stated a glaring fact.

"They sure are, boy. You're doing pretty well for yourself. I guess you've completely forgotten the Krusty Krab." Mr. Krabs spoke sincerely but also said those words on purpose. He wanted to make his former employee think about the Krusty Krab and consider the decision of once again becoming the fry cook of that restaurant.

"No sir, I haven't. Sometimes I really miss the old days back at the Krusty Krab." What Mr. Krabs said triggered a heavy amount of nostalgia within SpongeBob. His thoughts had been so focused on his business that the mere mention of the Krusty Krab could spark a bout of nostalgia. The sponge then made a solemn face. Judging by Mr. Krabs' facial expression, the yellows square began to think that he betrayed the Krusty Crew by abandoning them.

Mr. Krabs mentally smirked. The sponge was now a perfect target for triggering a guilt trip. Without a change in his facial expression, the crab continued to talk about the Krusty Krab. "I bet you miss Squidward... and the grill. And the crow's nest."

"Yeah!" SpongeBob nodded with a grin. He now yearned to return to the Krusty Krab and resume his work there, his memories of working at that restaurant were too pleasant to ignore. "But do you know what I miss the most, Mr. Krabs? The smell of the Krabby Patties getting cooked on the grill. You know what I mean?" The smell in his pineapple's kitchen did not trigger any nostalgia since the patties being cooked in the pineapple's kitchen and the ones in the Krusty Krab had two distinct smells when cooked.

"Uhh... Yes. Yes, I do, lad." Mr. Krabs lied to avoid accidentally hurting SpongeBob's feelings. He knew that his plan to bring SpongeBob back was currently succeeding. "Well, the Krusty Krab's only a short walk away. Why don't you head on down, for old time's sake?" His asking of that question was the most crucial component of his plan.

SpongeBob frowned since his nostalgic desire was unsatisfied, he had other things to attend to. "I can't leave, Mr. Krabs. What about the stand?" He pointed at the purple stand in front of him. His business was a major responsibility after all.

Mr. Krabs made an assuring smile. "Don't worry, lad. I'll watch the stand for ye." What he spoke was sincere.

"You will?" SpongeBob's eyes sparkled. Hope filled his mind.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. The crab continued to smile in an assuring manner. "No! I''ve got a better idea. I'll take this old roadside stand off your hands. For keeps. And in exchange, I'll give you the Krusty Krab with the grill and all the other knick-knacks." He said the perfect lure for SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped and a wide smile covered his face. He became absolutely speechless. A gateway to the satisfaction of his nostalgia opened up to him.

"Here's the key to the Krusty Krab." Mr. Krabs took out the Krusty Krab key from his pocket and gave it to SpongeBob. "She's yours now." The crab gave SpongeBob temporary control of his restaurant. He predicted that with SpongeBob being inside the restaurant, he will cook up Krabby Patties and attract customers. However, his ultimate goal was to ruin SpongeBob's business and regain control of the Krusty Krab. Although that goal was extremely selfish, it would barely affect SpongeBob in a negative way since the sponge desired to return to the Krusty Krab.

"Thank you." SpongeBob looked at the golden key in his hands with wonder. It shined under the rays of the morning sun. "What should I do now?" His mind was so full of nostalgic thoughts that he had forgotten what he wanted to do next.

"Run to her, boy." Mr. Krabs pointed towards the Krusty Krab. "She's waiting for ya." He smiled widely, he could not help himself. The crab was victorious in his persuasion of SpongeBob.

SpongeBob immediately ran towards the Krusty Krab as fast as he could. 'Dreams do come true.' He thought positively and optimistically as he ran towards the currently horizon-hidden image of the Krusty Krab. He felt refreshed, it was the same feeling that he felt every workday morning when he jogs to the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the stand and stood behind it in exact location that SpongeBob had stood. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! 'PRETTY PATTIES' IS NOW UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!" The crustacean loudly announced the news to the customers in front of him since the loud noises of their voices were blocking normal-toned speech.

Patrick looked at Mr. Krabs and scratched his head. "What happened to Sponge?" He could not figure out where his best friend had went to. From his viewpoint, Mr. Krabs had magically teleported into where SpongeBob had been standing.

"He left for me restaurant. I'm taking over this stand now." Mr. Krabs spoke bluntly. He knew that the sea star could easily get fooled since the sea star often suffered with long periods of stupidity.

"Oh, okay." Patrick nodded in belief that what Mr. Krabs just said was the truth. He then looked at what was in front of his stand in resumption of his normal duties.

The voice noises became louder as people discussed about the new manager of the Pretty Patties restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the Krusty Krab's double door. He then inserted the golden key into the keyhole and unlocked the door.

**S-SLAM**

He barged the double door open with a kick and then dove into the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob landed on the dining room's floor. He then kissed that floor to fully express his joy for being back at his former working place. He could now resume his former working life without the new pressures and distractions of his Pretty Patties business.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward threw a novel that he had been reading to the living room floor. That novel was Oliver Twist. He then stood up from the couch and his face became crimson with the fires of anger and frustration. He had barely slept through the night; the many customers in SpongeBob's business had made go through several bouts of wakefulness during the night. As a result, he woke up in an extremely grumpy state. The current noises coming from outside were so loud that he was unable to read his novel. The octopus could no longer tolerate the heavy external distraction, the time was ripe for a complaint. He stomped up to the front door and...

**SLAM**

...barged it open. He then walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward saw the purple stands that were near his tiki and bugged his eyes out in shock. The Pretty Patties being sold from the 'PRETTY PATTIES' stand shocked him the most, he had predicted that SpongeBob and Nicholas' ideas were going to fail miserably when it came to their execution. He did not expect such a business to be running in his neighborhood. When he saw Mr. Krabs standing behind the 'PRETTY PATTIES' stand, he assumed that the crab was allowing the business to prosper so he could make a lot of money very quickly. The octopus stomped up to the crustacean and poked him on the shoulder.

"Hm?" Mr. Krabs turned to his right and saw a grumpy Squidward. He then sweatdropped. "Oh. Hey there, Mr. Squidward." He then looked at the massive amount of customers before his stand. "This Pretty Patties thing is surely a genius idea." He tried to talk about the business' success since he correctly guessed that Squidward was going to complain.

"Mr. Krabs, can you move these stands somewhere else?! I barely got any sleep last night and I can't do anything in my house 'cause of those damned customers!" Squidward pointed at the large line of waiting people. "I bet you're leeching off SpongeBob's idea and abandoned the Krusty Krab." He made an extreme yet rational assumption. He remembered Mr. Krabs doing many extremely greedy actions in the past; all of them were to another's detriment; especially the octopus himself.

"I just traded places with SpongeBob. I gave him the key and allowed him to go back to the Krusty Krab. Me business is gonna go down the toilet if I don't take action, ya know?" Mr. Krabs spoke in a calm manner. The selfish action he had recently did was nothing compared to the greedy actions and decisions he had committed during his pirate past. "I can't just this move these stands from here anyways. They just keep coming back for more of these Pretty Patties." He spoke as a he gave a Pretty Patty to a customer.

'How can people keep coming back for these colored burgers? This is almost nothing like what happens in the Krusty Krab.' Squidward thought. "You know what, I'm gonna try one myself." He took out his wallet. He wanted to find out what was so great about Pretty Patties that kept customers in the neighborhood for more of those burgers.

"Pick whatever you like." Mr. Krabs pointed at the plates of remaining Pretty Patties on his stand.

Squidward picked up a blue Pretty Patty and carefully ate it so he could determine its flavor. "The taste is definitely different from a Krabby Patty. Other than that, this tastes like an average burger." The octopus spoke honestly with a facial expression of dissatisfaction. He then walked up to Patrick's stand. "How much do these cost?"

"One dollar." Patrick's memory was somewhat decent today.

Squidward handed a dollar from his wallet to Patrick and then walked towards his home. 'No way am I gonna stay in this noisy hell. I need bike out of here.' He thought about what activity he was going to do next.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked across the living room and went upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

He reached the next floor and walked down the hallway. He then...

**CRRREEAAAAK**

SLAM

...entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus opened the mirror cabinet that was above the sink and then took out his deodorant, he needed it so he could properly prepare for his long bike trip. Once he was finished with rubbing the deodorant on his armpits, he put the deodorant back into the cabinet and closed it.

A pause.

Squidward narrowed his eyes when he saw his reflection on the mirror. He noticed that the tip of his nose had turned blue. He then opened his mouth to see if there was anything else that was blue. Indeed, the tip of tongue was also blue. He did not have those blue colorings on his face and mouth when he looked at his mirror reflection when he had brushed his teeth, those colorings were certainly caused by the blue Pretty Patty he just ate. Squidward came to a logical conclusion and became angry again. With tightened fists that were steaming with anger, Squidward...

**CREEAK**

SLAM

...exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Squidward exited his tiki and stomped up to Mr. Krabs.

Customers that had eaten Pretty Patties yesterday walked up to the crustacean in an angry manner as well. They were suffering from the same condition as Squidward. However, some of them had colorings on different parts of their bodies. The colorings were an unforeseen side-effect of the Pretty Patties.

"I want a refund, Mr. Krabs!" Squidward stood before Mr. Krabs and folded his arms. He thought that Mr. Krabs was aware of that side-effect of the Pretty Patties but did not inform the customers (including him) about it since he would consequently get lower profits.

An angry young man nodded. "Me too!"

"Those dumb Pretty Patties turned my face purple!" A young woman pointed at her face.

"Look at our tongues!" A group of young teens opened their mouths to reveal neon-like green tongues. They pointed at their tongues so Mr. Krabs could focus his attention on those tongues.

Mr. Krabs scratched his head in confusion. He could not figure out why the customers demanded a refund due to seemingly unrelated colorings on their bodies. "What's wrong with you?" The crab wanted to know how Pretty Patties and those strange colorings were related.

Squidward's face became crimson with anger again. He banged his fists on Mr. Krabs' stand. "WE WANT OUR MONEY BACK!" He spoke for all of the customers near the stands. By that point, all of the customers who had at least eaten a Pretty Patty and were near a stand had noticed the colorings on their bodies.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped and bit his lip. He assumed that the customers were about to maul him so they could steal his own cash. He pointed at Patrick's stand. "He has the money! I only give the patties." He stepped away from the 'PRETTY PATTIES' stand.

All of the customers glared at Patrick.

Patrick was highly aware of what was going on. In fear of what was going to possibly happen to him, he flipped the stand over to reveal several rows and columns of money jars.

The customers ran towards the jar and opened them. They then each took a dollar from a jar until all of the jars were empty.

Some customers were empty-handed. The jars did not have all of the money that had been taken.

"If you wanna find more money jars, go to my house!" Patrick pointed at his rock. His intelligence had increased. He remembered that he stored last night's and yesterday's profits inside his house since his living room was large and mostly empty.

Most of the empty-handed customers ran towards the rock and...

**CREAK**

...lifted it open. They then jumped into the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

The customers opened the jars and took a dollar each from a jar until all of the jars inside the living room were empty. The ones who still did not have a dollar searched through all of the rooms in the house and opened whatever money jars they found. They then took a dollar each from one of those jars until those jars were completely empty.

All of the money jars in Patrick's rock had been completely removed of their monetary contents.

The customers climbed out of the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Once all of the customers left the rock...

**SLAM**

...the rock closed.

All of the customers who had went into the rock now had a dollar each.

The remaining empty-handed customers walked up to Patrick.

"Where's our money?! They gotta be somewhere!"

"Are you hiding it?! I bet you're keeping it for yourself."

Suspicion was growing within the empty-handed customers.

"SpongeBob already spent a bit of the money we got. If you wanna know where he is, he's at the Krusty Krab. He got the key for that restaurant." Patrick pointed in the direction of the restaurant. He did cause the customers' empty-handedness at all; he had not spent a single dollar of the profits.

The empty-handed customers ran towards the Krusty Krab. They were furious since they thought that SpongeBob was a coward by 'hiding' in the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SIIIZZZZZLLLE**

SpongeBob was cooking Krabby Patties inside the kitchen. He was holding his spatula and had his employee hat on. He was cooking them as a leisurely activity. He had a grin on his face since his nostalgia was satisfied. He did not notice the stampede of angry Pretty Patties customers running towards the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

The empty-handed customers barged into the Krusty Krab. They then noticed the smell coming from the kitchen and quickly assumed that SpongeBob was cooking Krabby Patties. The customers then ran up to the kitchen door and...

**SLAM**

...barged the kitchen door open. They then poured into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob gasped at the sight of the customers. He then nimbly turned off the grill so it would not harm anybody with its high temperatures.

One enraged customer grabbed SpongeBob by the collar of his shirt. "GIVE US BACK OUR MONEY! YOUR JARS APPARENTLY RAN OUT OF THEM!" He screaming at the sponge's face.

"Why do you all want refunds?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He thought that the customers of his restaurant liked Pretty Patties.

The enraged customer pointed at his red-colored hand and then pointed at the other strange colorings of the other customers.

'It must be a side-effect. I guess their reason is pretty... reasonable.' SpongeBob thought. "I'll just sell the renovations of my house and give you back the leftover money. If that's not enough, I'll even give you back a little bit of my own money." The sponge spoke honestly. He took responsibility since the Pretty Patties restaurant was his idea and he did not test the Pretty Patties at all before selling them.

The enraged customer let go of SpongeBob. He decided that the yellow square was telling the truth.

"I'll go to myself and tell them right now." SpongeBob announced what he was going to do and then...

**CRREEEAAAAK**

SLAM

...exited the kitchen.

**CRREEEAAAAAAAAAK**

The customers inside the kitchen opened the door to the dining room and exited the kitchen as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's neighborhood was back to its normal state of tranquility. There was no longer a large group of customers standing in a line near the purple stands. Squidward had left the neighborhood since he had begun his biking trip, he needed to do something that would cool off the anger he had built up last night and in the current morning.

SpongeBob, Patrick, Nicholas, and Mr. Krabs were watching the last customers with their dollars returned walk away from the neighborhood.

SpongeBob was beaming, he was looking at the bright side of his business' end. He could now work again in the job that he loved. He could care less about his monetary losses. Unlike his boss, he valued happiness and lives over ultimately meaningless pieces of paper and metal.

Patrick was expressing indifference through his deadpan face. After working his job as the cashier of SpongeBob's business for a while, he only had continued his efforts because he was bored and thought that he had nothing else to do that was remotely interesting.

Nicholas was saddened by the failure of his idea; his idea was the foundation of SpongeBob's business so he considered the business to be an extension of his idea. However, his mind was not completely clouded by the darkness of sadness. After deeply reflecting about what he did to contribute to the business, he had realized that he had learned important skills that would assist him in his internship and would also make him a better candidate for an actual job at the Krusty Krab. The combination of sadness and happiness was what caused his neutral facial expression.

However, Mr. Krabs was more saddened than Nicholas about the end of the Pretty Patties restaurant. He had thought that he could sneak in some of the restaurant's profits for himself during his short time of working in the restaurant. What made the business' end even worse was the fact that he had to watch his money walk away from him, never to be used in his claws. The crab's eyes were moistened but his pirate stoicism prevented him from shedding a single tear or frowning.

Patrick found the silence between him and the three others to be awkward. He was thinking about making a stupid joke so he could lighten up the mood but lacked any ideas for one. "You guys got any ideas for jokes?"

SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick. "I dunno. Maybe something about us animals?" An idea for a joke popped up in his head.

Patrick snapped his fingers, a light bulb lit up in his head. "Why does it take more than one squirrel to screw a bubble?" He chose the squirrel species since Sandy was the first animal that appeared in his mind.

SpongeBob giggled and shrugged his shoulders. He assumed that the joke was not meant to be targeted at squirrels like Sandy.

"Because they're so darn stupid!" Patrick answered his own humorous question with a smirk.

Nicholas laughed for a few seconds.

However, SpongeBob did not laugh. The answer to Patrick's question revealed the true nature of Patrick's joke. Sandy, the only squirrel he knew, was also one of the smartest people that he ever met. 'Stupid' would be a completely opposite characteristic of Sandy. He guessed that Patrick was thinking of Sandy when he came up with that joke. "That wasn't funny." He spoke bluntly in defense of Sandy.

Mr. Krabs pirate laughed at Patrick's joke. He found jokes that insulted other people to be particularly humorous since he was a former pirate, he and his former crewmates used to insult their rival pirates back in their pirate days. A light bulb then abruptly lit up in his head. That idea was about a possible business undertaking that was similar to the talent show that had been hosted at the Krusty Krab. The crab was even able to immediately come up with a name for that new show. 'Komedy Krab.' Mr. Krabs thought and then formed a wide smile. If he could not gain money from those Pretty Patties, he could gain money through more humorous means.


	54. Squirrel Jokes

**Chapter 54: Squirrel Jokes**

* * *

Almost a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

June 7, 2008.

Friday morning.

9:00 AM.

Mr. Krabs inserted the golden key into the keyhole and unlocked the Krusty Krab's double door. He then...

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the Krusty Krab.

A long pause.

SpongeBob jogged up to the Krusty Krab, he had quickly caught up with Mr. Krabs. He took out his employee hat and put it on as he jogged. With a smile that expressed his enthusiasm, he...

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs heard SpongeBob's footsteps and turned around. He was aware of what day it was today, he had planned his comedy show to be hosted at the Krusty Krab on a specific date. "SpongeBob, come into me office. I've got something important to tell ya." He was smiling to indicate that the topic was not dire or tragic. He then walked towards the door to his office and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened it. He held the door open for SpongeBob.

SpongeBob walked into Mr. Krabs' office.

Mr. Krabs stepped into the office.

**SLAM**

The door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat in a chair that was in front of the desk.

Mr. Krabs sat in his desk. "SpongeBob, I've been thinking about starting a comedy show here at the Krusty Krab. I've had this idea for almost a week." He informed the sponge about the idea in his head, he considered the sponge to be a major component for that comedy show plan.

SpongeBob gasped and smiled from ear to ear, what his boss said was a very pleasant surprise. Mr. Krabs' idea reminded him of the talent show that Squidward came up with. His anticipation for the plethora of humor that might possibly used in the show made him shake in his seat in excitement.

"Since, in my opinion, you're the funniest of the crewmates in me vessel, I want you to be the star of the show; you'll be the one making the jokes." Mr. Krabs explained SpongeBob's crucial role in the comedy show.

SpongeBob became even more excited. Fantasies about making jokes in front of a large crowd in the Krusty Krab and consequently making them laugh filled his mind. However, his mind lacked ideas for jokes. He had used up those ideas for jokes over the current week by annoying Squidward.

"So for today and possibly tomorrow, I want you to think up ideas for jokes or the jokes themselves. I'm thinking about starting the show at 6:30 PM tomorrow." Mr. Krabs spoke in both a serious and calm manner. He wanted to make sure that SpongeBob was listening to his important words. "If you can, write them in a notepad."

"Aye, aye, sir." SpongeBob stood up and made a military salute. He then took out a notepad and walked towards the door to the kitchen.

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob thought deeply as he looked at the blank notepad in his hands. He was carefully considering what would be the most humorous ideas or jokes. He looked at his surroundings, specifically at various ingredients and kitchen utensils, and several ideas entered his mind. He deemed them decent enough to be jotted on a notepad, he even giggled as he thought about the jokes he could make with them.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Krusty Krab. He walked up to the bathroom door and...

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward swiped his ID card across the card detector.

**DING**

The detector recognized Squidward's card.

Squidward turned around and...

**CRREEAAK**

SLAM

...exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat in the boat and took out a novel that he had brought from his tiki. He then opened the novel and resumed his reading of Oilver Twist.

**CRREEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office and stepped into the dining room. "Mr. Squidward, come into me office." He was also going to inform Squidward about the comedy show so the two of them could prepare the stage and the dining room for the event.

Squidward stood up from his boat and walked into Mr. Krabs' office.

Mr. Krabs stepped into his office.

**SLAM**

The door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was an hour before closing time.

Several construction workers were entering and exiting the Krusty Krab. They were leaving several stacks of wooden planks. a large purple curtain; and a few small boxes of nails inside the dining room. The materials needed for the stage required several trips to the truck that they had ridden on since the amount of materials was too much for one group to carry all at once.

Squidward and Mr. Krabs were standing before the growing wooden stacks and were watching the construction workers. Squidward and Mr. Krabs had went to a construction material retailer; the octopus had carefully chosen what to buy since Mr. Krabs thought that he was a less frugal buyer and his aesthetic tastes were superior to his own; the crab had used his own money to buy the materials. Even though the materials were quite costly due to their good looks, Mr. Krabs thought that it was a worthwhile investment since the comedy show could bring in massive profits. He would probably have chosen less pleasant materials if he was the one choosing what to buy; his cheap habits made it difficult for him to shop normally.

Once the construction workers were finished with their task, they walked towards the double door for a final time and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

The construction workers entered the truck.

A pause.

**VRRRRRROOOOOMMM**

The truck drove down the road and eventually vanished from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

"Well, I guess that's it for today." Mr. Krabs informed Squidward about the state of the preparation for the comedy show. The workers had told him that they will be coming back tomorrow to begin and finish the construction of the stage. 'Let's see how SpongeBob's doing.' He thought and walked towards the kitchen door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. "SpongeBob, you've got some jokes yet?" He asked a crucial question. He wanted SpongeBob to begin practicing for the comedy show once tomorrow's construction is finished.

S-S-S-S-S

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded with a simper. He then opened his notepad and quickly flipped through the pages of jokes and ideas before Mr. Krabs' eyes.

S-S-S-S-S

"I want you to start practicing once the stage's finished. However, I don't want you to memorize every little thing in that notepad. This isn't going to be a play so I want you to act natural during the comedy show." Mr. Krabs gave his yellow fry cook a direction for how he should practice for the comedy show.

S-S-S-S-S

"Aye, aye!" SpongeBob nodded in obedience.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the kitchen door.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday morning.

10:00 AM.

A construction worker hammered the last nail into the last wooden plank on the stage. At that moment, the stage for the comedy show was complete. Its size covered a large chunk of the dining room. However, it was not as large as the former stage for the talent show since only one person was going to be on stage.

SpongeBob, Nicholas, M. Krabs, and Squidward watched the construction workers leave the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEEEAAK**

S-SLAM

The remaining construction workers exited the Krusty Krab.

The four Krusty Crewmates looked at the stage before them.

Mr. Krabs nudged SpongeBob on the shoulder. "Now's your chance, boy." Now was the time for SpongeBob to begin his comedy show practice.

SpongeBob grinned with enthusiasm and ran towards the stage. He then leaped and...

**THUD**

...landed with both of his feet on the wooden stage. The sponge then took out his notepad and opened it. SpongeBob made eye contact with the Krusty Crewmates and made a normal smile. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen..."

He began his rehearsal for the comedy show. During his rehearsal, he looked at the notepad when he needed to and also followed Mr. Krabs' advice by trying to act 'natural'.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday evening.

6:00 PM.

A large amount of customers were gathering around the front of the Krusty Krab. Some of them had eaten at the Krusty Krab and had learned about the comedy show through the posters that had been put on exterior and interior sides of the restaurant's windows. Others had heard of the comedy show from those customers. Regardless, they were all interested in the idea of seeing a comedy show at the Krusty Krab. They expected the show to be just as good as the talent show that had been hosted at the same restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

The tables in the dining room had white cloths over them. Lit candles and plates with pre-made Krabby Patty meals were also on the tables. The Krusty Krab's interior had been cleaned up and there was a red rug on the space that was behind the entrance. The dining room had been decorated to make it look like the dining room of a fancy restaurant, an occasion such as the comedy show made such decorations appropriate.

SpongeBob was standing on the wooden stage. He was wearing a red bow tie instead of a red normal tie. He did not have his notepad on hand or in any of his pockets. He had just finsihed his latest rehearsal, he had practiced enough to know the jokes without consulting the notepad.

Mr. Krabs was sitting in a table. He was wearing a green jacket, a yellow bow tie, and a blue clown nose; he intentionally looked like a clown. He gave a thumbs-up towards SpongeBob. "Good job! You're ready to go, me lad!" The crab spoke with enthusiasm. With a comedian like SpongeBob as his trump card in the comedy show, he thought that he would gain profits that were almost completely unheard of. Greed filled his mind so much that dollar signs could be seen in his eyes.

Squidward was sitting in the boat. He was not dressed for the occasion. He was reading a long novel that he had brought from his tiki, reading a book that long would almost certainly make a long event such as the comedy show pass by quickly. He and Nicholas had to stay in the Krusty Krab since it was still open.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas was standing in the kitchen and was looking through the ordering window. He was in the kitchen so he could cook up something in case if there was something wrong with someone's meal or if someone wanted seconds.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the double door and...

**C-CRRRREEEAAK  
**

...opened it. "Okay, folks! The comedy show will now begin!" He then quickly stepped out of the way so he would get stepped over by the massive amount of customers. The crab held out his claw before the open doorway. "But you have to pay a small fee of five dollars before you can enter." What he just said was the main reason why he wanted to make the comedy show a reality, he would have canceled the show immediately if customers watched it for free.

S-S-S-S-S-S

The customers took out their wallets and each of them paid Mr. Krabs $5. That consequently made them enter the restaurant slowly.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Eventually, all of the customers were seated in the tables. Among them were Patrick and Sandy; they were loyal enough to support their friend when it was his time to shine again.

Mr. Krabs walked through the slit of the purple curtain and walked up to the microphone. He then snatched the microphone from the holder pole. _"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Komedy Krab! Put your fins together for our star, SpongeBob SquarePants!" _He spoke in a lively manner as if he was the main host of the comedy show, he wanted to leave a good impression on the customers. He then put the microphone back on the holder pole and walked through the curtain's slit.

A pause.

SpongeBob walked through the curtain's slit and grabbed the microphone from its pole.

"Go get'em, SpongeBob!" Sandy cheered for her best friend. She wanted to let the sponge know that she and Patrick were supporting him.

"Whoo-hoo!" Patrick was clapping for his best friend. He then drummed his hands on the table he was sitting at to express his excitement. He and Sandy were sharing the same table.

SpongeBob grinned after hearing Sandy's and Patrick's cheering. He then made a thumbs-up towards them as a way of saluting them. He then resumed his normal posture. _"Hey, hey, hey, ladies and jellyfish, have you ever noticed salt shakers? I mean, you fill them up every night at closing, and I mean, where does it all go? Huh? You know what I mean?" _He tried to make a joke.

A very awkward pause.

Not a single laugh came from the audience. Not even Mr. Krabs was laughing since he heard that joke numerous times during SpongeBob's rehearsals. He used to find the jokes that SpongeBob said in his rehearsals to be funny since his sense of humor was different than the audience's. He would have not chosen SpongeBob as the comedian if the sponge had not made him laugh at all.

SpongeBob bit his lip, he did not expect the audience to react in such a silent matter. _"And tomatoes - what's the deal on those things?"_

Another awkward pause. To the audience, SpongeBob was just saying weak and nonsensical jokes.

SpongeBob chuckled in an attempt to hide his growing nervousness, a fear about the audience eventually booing at his lame jokes grew in his mind. _"I mean, you chop them up into slices, but..." _He tried to continue saying the same types of jokes in a desperate attempt to make the audience laugh. However, his anxiety cut his joke short and the ideas he had for his jokes became clouded with a fog.

The third awkward pause.

A few customers yawned to express their discontent with SpongeBob's jokes.

Mr. Krabs crossed his claws in a waning hope that SpongeBob would make a good joke. He sweatdropped at the anxiety over the customers eventually demanding refunds due to the sponge's poor performance.

"_What are they, vegetables or... fruit? And what does that make? Ketchup?" _SpongeBob made another joke. He chuckled to hide his nervousness again. Sweat was running down his back in rivulets, he knew that Mr. Krabs was counting on him.

An extremely dissatisfied male customer folded his arms and facially expressed irritation. "Oh brother, this guy stinks!" He spoke bluntly and pointed at the yellow square on the stage.

"**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **Nearly the entire audience yelled at SpongeBob. They then made thumbs-downs.

The only audience members who did not boo or thumbs-down were Patrick and Sandy. They were loyal enough to SpongeBob to hope that the sponge would make a good joke. They were aware of SpongeBob's potential in humor since SpongeBob had at least made them laugh once.

The audience eventually stopped booing.

Another dissatisfied young man stood up. "Hey, hey, funny guy, I've got a joke for you! What smells rotten and puts people to sleep?" He tried to insult SpongeBob for his poor performance.

"Umm. noxious gas?" SpongeBob scratched his head. He could not tell what was the man's intention with the joke that he just said.

"No! Your act!" The young man smirked and pointed at SpongeBob.

The entire audience laughed sans Patrick, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs. They found the young man's joke to be more funny than SpongeBob's jokes since the young man insulted SpongeBob. All of the sponge's jokes so far only insulted objects instead of people.

SpongeBob's limbs shook due to the sponge's increased nervousness. _"Did you ever notice how, uhh..." _He glanced at a fork that was on the table and a light bulb lit up in his head. _"...forks, uhh..." _His anxiety blocked his mouth from finishing the joke.

"Forks?! Come on!" A third dissatisfied young man called out SpongeBob for making an unfunny joke.

"**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **The crowd sans Mr. Krabs, Sandy, and Patrick booed again.

'Quick, SpongeBob, make a witty observation!' SpongeBob mentally spoke to himself. He then quickly glanced around the dining room so he could find ideas for good jokes. He noticed Sandy's buck teeth. He then sighed. 'I don't want to do this but...' He thought. He did not want to insult Sandy or people like her but he had to do it since Mr. Krabs was trusting and relying on him for the comedy show's profits. He then made a wide smile to hide his dissatisfaction. _"Did you ever notice how big squirrels' front teeth are?" _He made a witty joke with a worn smirk. However, his mental self had a far more different facial expression.

The entire audience sans Sandy chuckled. They found SpongeBob's joke to be funny since it insulted a group of people.

"That's true." A young women commented on SpongeBob's joke.

"Huh?" Sandy raised her brow. 'SpongeBob would never say something like that or act that mean.' She thought. The squirrel assumed that SpongeBob said that joke in a desperate attempt to make them laugh. Regardless of the assumed intention, she took that joke to heart. She began to glare at SpongeBob.

"_I mean, hey, you could land a plane on those things." _SpongeBob made another insulting joke about squirrels since the audience had laughed at his previous squirrel joke. However, saying that joke was painful since he had glanced at Sandy's facial expression; he knew that he hurt Sandy's feelings.

The audience sans Sandy laughed again.

"_And what's up with all that squirrel fur? I guess fleas need a home too." _SpongeBob made an extremely clever joke. The jokes were becoming more painful to say since he knew that Sandy was becoming angrier as he said more of those squirrel jokes.

The audience sans Sandy laughed in hysterics.

Patrick banged his fists on the table as he laughed. "Squirrel fur!" He found the topic of SpongeBob's recent squirrel joke to be hilarious. He was oblivious to Sandy's growing anger and hurt feelings. His laughing had made his intelligence decrease by a few levels.

"_And they smell! But hey, you'd stink too if you spent three months buried in dirt." _SpongeBob said a joke that targeted a stereotype about squirrels that was known to sea creatures. Another idea for joke then entered his mind, it was similar to a joke that Patrick had said almost a week ago. _"Hey, why does it take more than one squirrel to change a light bulb?"_

"Why?" A middle-aged woman within the audience replied to SpongeBob's question.

"_Because they're so darn stupid!" _SpongeBob spoke with a worn grin. The joke he just said bit him in the heart more than the other squirrel jokes because he assumed that Sandy was going to get especially pissed off by that joke.

The audience sans Sandy laughed in hysterics again.

Patrick fell to the floor in laughter. Once he managed to control his laughter, he sat back down in his seat. "That's a good one, huh, Sandy?" He found SpongeBob's jokes to be immensely clever and witty. He began to eat the Krabby Patty that was on plate in front of him.

"Uhh..." Sandy's stopped glaring at SpongeBob and looked at her table's surface instead. She could not answer Patrick's question. She did not want to hide her true feelings by answering the question with a "Yes.". She also did not want to answer the question with a "No." since that might make Patrick raise suspicion of her.

S-S-S-S-S

A hour later...

SpongeBob had moved on from squirrel jokes and insulted other types of air creatures. His conscience could not handle the growing nervousness and guilt over him saying those squirrel jokes.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finished saying his last joke. _"...and that's all, folks." _He announced the ending of the comedy show.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the stage with a grin on his face and then whispered to SpongeBob's ear. He wanted the sponge to inform the crowd about an important fact. Once he finished whispering, he walked back to his seat among the audience.

"_Come back next week for another round of jokes!" _SpongeBob spoke cheerfully and pointed at the crowd before him.

The audience sans Sandy clapped and cheered for SpongeBob. They were satisfied with the jokes that SpongeBob said and it was almost certain that almost all of them were going to come back next week for more insulting jokes. They then stood up from their seats and began to exit the Krusty Krab.

Patrick ran towards SpongeBob while clapping. "Woohoo! Good job, Sponge!" He wanted to congratulate SpongeBob for providing an excellent comedy show. It was the first comedy show he had ever been to and he almost suffocated from the long series of insulting jokes. "I almost died from laughing."

SpongeBob walked down the stage and walked towards Patrick. "Heheh." He giggled nervously. He was anticipating a certain squirrel to walk up to him and complain about the insults he said to her species. "I almost lost the audience until I said those squirrel jokes."

"Man, those squirrel jokes were the best! I didn't expect 'em at all." Patrick commented on SpongeBob's squirrel jokes. "You should do more of them."

Mr. Krabs overheard what Patrick said. He stopped counting the money in his large sack of profits and walked up to SpongeBob. "The lad's right. If you stick with those squirrel jokes, you'll keep knocking 'em out." He said some advice for the next comedy show. "Anyways, you and Squidward are gonna clean this place up and wash the dishes. You can go home once you're done." He walked back to his money sack, picked it up, and walked towards his office.

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

"Well, see ya later." Patrick walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

...exited the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen to get a mop.

"Howdy, SpongeBob." Sandy walked up to SpongeBob. She was trying to hide her anger since she did not want to terrify or sadden the yellow square.

SpongeBob stopped walking and turned to look at Sandy. "Did you enjoy the show?" He acted like Sandy had laughed at his insulting jokes. He was trying to hide his nervousness over his friendship with Sandy possibly ending and his guilt for hurting Sandy by saying those jokes.

"Well, ac-actually, SpongeBob, no. Those jokes were hurtful and you know it." Sandy said the harsh truth right away. She could tell how SpongeBob was truly feeling and did not mince her words.

'Oh no... I have to tell her the truth...' SpongeBob thought with heightened nervousness. 'But I have to make it a bit mild, I don't want to make her feelings more hurt.' He was aware of the fact that his reason for saying those jokes was a little bit selfish. "Sandy, I was just joking. I mean, everybody knows that you're the smartest one in Bikini Bottom." He stretched the truth out of consideration for Sandy.

Sandy found SpongeBob's excuse for his jokes to be plausible. "Well, I can't argue with that." What the sponge said also boosted her pride a little bit.

"We all gotta laugh at ourselves once in a while. I do it all the time!" SpongeBob said another half-truth in an attempt to prevent Sandy from asking questions about his reason for saying those squirrel jokes.

"You're right, SpongeBob. I was being a little too sensitive." Sandy spoke honestly. She had grown some thick skin for insults about her when she was a child since she had been picked by her peers during that time. She then hugged SpongeBob to show her forgiveness for his actions.

However, SpongeBob felt something very strange. He did not feel like he deserved that hug from Sandy. He began to think that it would have been better if he had told Sandy the complete truth, he predicted that saying such words would have led to better understanding between them. He knew that the half-truth he had said was an excuse instead of a reason. However, saying the truth also runs a risk of worsening Sandy's feelings and may make Sandy think that he is a jerk.

Cognitive dissonance formed in SpongeBob's head. Such contradictory thoughts led to SpongeBob feeling unpleasant.

"See ya tomorrow." Sandy walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

...exited the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob resumed his walk towards the kitchen.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took hold of the mop, it had been leaning on the wall. He then picked up a bucket and put it into the sink. He twisted the sink's cold faucet.

Cold water poured into the metal bucket.

SpongeBob had a deadpan face. He could not find away to express his cognitive dissonance. His contradictory thoughts were like two people debating over a controversial decision. Lying to Sandy out of consideration could also be manipulation since Sandy now condoned the sponge to continue saying those insults at the next comedy show, he felt like a jerk for saying that half-lie to Sandy. However, the other option was just as bad as the one he had taken.

Both decisions were going to lead to unpleasant outcomes.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

9:00 AM.

Barg'N-Mart.

Sandy was holding a shopping cart. She was walking down the hygiene aisle until she spotted something. "Okay, deodorant." She was talking to herself. She was looking at a shelf that had several types of female deodorant. "Huh, let's see." She tried to decide on what type of deodorant that she should get. "Roll-on or stick?" She asked to herself.

A young couple walked past Sandy and overheard her. They had both went to the Krusty Krab's comedy show.

"I think she should buy both." The young man made a rude comment and snickered.

"Huh?" Sandy turned to look at the young couple. She did not fully hear the young man's comment.

Scooter and his group of friends were walking down the hygiene aisle as well.

"Hey guys, look!" Scooter pointed at Sandy. "It's the stupid squirrel!" He and his friends had went to the Krusty Krab's comedy show. Due to his ignorance about squirrels and other land creatures, he believed that the stereotypes in SpongeBob's jokes were true.

A light bulb lit up in the yellow male's head. "I know, let's try to communicate with it." He said the idea in his head.

"Good thinking, Lloyd." Scooter's other friend whispered a comment on Lloyd's idea.

"Duuhhh..." They spoke in unison and made stupid faces. They were trying to act like they were as stupid as Patrick since they assumed that that was how squirrels communicated.

"Hmph!" Sandy grabbed the female stick deodorant and threw it into the cart. The people insulting her were starting to irritate her, she thought that the Komedy Krab injured her pride enough times for her to handle it. She did not want embarrassing events such as what was occurring now to happen every week. She then walked down the aisle and saw a mother and her young son. "Hello, little critter. What's your name?" She tried to be friendly with the child. She had some sort of fondness for children.

The boy's mother had went to the Krusty Krab's comedy show. "Don't stand too close to a squirrel, Billy." She lightly pushed her son away from Sandy. "You'll catch its stupid." Unfortunately, she was not too bright for a woman her age. She then grabbed her son's hands and walked away from the squirrel.

"Stupidity isn't a virus, but it sure is spreading like one." Sandy commented grumpily as she rolled her cart down the aisle. She was kind of pissed off at the fact that some people were gullible and ignorant enough to accept the squirrel jokes that SpongeBob said as facts. 'Maybe I should tell SpongeBob 'bout this before the next show.' She thought. 'He could then tell that to everybody.' She then thought about the possible consequences of that decision.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on a rock that was near his pineapple. A very odd act for such a lively and animated sponge to do. He was making a Thinker pose, he was trying to end the cognitive dissonance in his head by trying to decide if he should tell Sandy the truth or not.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob. A jellyfishing net was being held in one of his hands. "Hey, Sponge, you wanna go jellyfishing...?" He asked but then became silent when he saw SpongeBob's facial expression. The sponge's face was a cold one, it was full of ambiguity and it indicated his current state of deep thought. "What's wrong? Did your net broke or something?" The sea star quickly assumed.

"It's just..." SpongeBob gathered some words that he could say to his best friend. "It's just that I said some really mean jokes about squirrels yesterday, it hurt Sandy's feelings." He made eye contact with Patrick. "I didn't really tell Sandy the truth 'cause I didn't want her feelings to get even more hurt... I don't know what to do for this week's show. Insults are the only jokes that the you and audience laugh at..." SpongeBob sighed and looked at the ground.

Patrick sat down on the rock with SpongeBob. "So you're saying that you can't choose between telling Sandy the truth or continuing to make those squirrel jokes?" He wanted some clarification since SpongeBob was talking to himself somewhat when that sponge had talked to him.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded.

Patrick took a deep breath and thought critically about SpongeBob's situation. His intelligence increased significantly since he put his brain to some heavy work.

A pause.

"You should be honest with, Sandy. At least she'll expect those same jokes to be said during the next Komedy Krab. You don't want her to get more pissed off. I kinda think that her discovery of the truth's inevitable." Patrick giggled nervously. "Remember when I pissed off Sandy 'cause I made fun of Texas?"

SpongeBob giggled as well. "Yep." He then reached a resolution in his mind. 'I know telling the truth might hurt Sandy even more, but she'll get over it.' The mental words he just spoke signaled the end of his cognitive dissonance. He then noticed the jellyfishing net that Patrick was holding. The yellow sponge then hopped to his feet. "Pat, wait right there. I'm gonna jellyfish with you."

Patrick smiled widely. He was satisfied with the fact that he had just helped his best friend find a solution to his situation.

SpongeBob ran towards his pineapple and...

**CRREEAAAK**

SLAM

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:25 PM.

Customers were walking into the dining room for another Komedy Krab show. They sat in the seats that they had sat on during last week's show. They had bought tickets for the Komedy Krab before entering the restaurant.

One of them, Sandy, walked around the stage and saw SpongeBob behind the curtain. She then walked up to the sponge as the sponge was practicing his jokes. "Umm, SpongeBob?" She poked the sponge on the shoulder.

SpongeBob turned around and saw Sandy. "Oh, hi, Sandy." He knew immediately that now was the time to confess the truth to Sandy.

"I need to talk to you about them squirrel jokes." Sandy wanted to cut right to the chase. She could not tolerate the insults she had received over the current week and wanted to inform the sponge about what had happened so the squirrel insults could end.

SpongeBob prepared his ears so he could pay close attention to the words that Sandy was about to say.

"Ever since you told them those jokes, people have been treating me different. They were insulting me since they thought I was stupid when clearly I was not. It's gotten so annoying that I have to shop at different times of the day so I won't get teepeed on or something like that." Sandy complained to SpongeBob about the childish insults she had received from ignorant or gullible Bikini Bottomites.

Patrick walked around the stage and walked up to SpongeBob. "SpongeBob, five minutes." He was aware of the comedy show's starting time and wanted to inform the sponge about that time. He then looked at Sandy. "Hel-lo... Sandy. Me Patrick. Do you un-der-stand?" His intelligence had been particularly low during the comedy show he believed that the sponge's jokes were facts.

Sandy shook his fist at Patrick in irritation and she then looked at SpongeBob again. "You see?! That's what I'm talking about." She found Patrick's insult to be a decent example of the insults that she had received. "I'm just asking you as a friend, please lay off them squirrel jokes, okay? Tell some of them other jokes you got."

Patrick walked back to the tables.

SpongeBob sighed. "Well, Sandy, I gotta tell you something too." He made a solemn facial expression. "I said those squirrel jokes last week 'cause that's the only type of jokes that the audience laughs at. As you have seen, none of my other jokes worked. Mr. Krabs picked me to be the star of the show and couldn't let him down by making the Komedy Krab a failure; I also have to keep my job. I'm sorry if I made you upset over those jokes and for not telling you this earlier. I'm gonna try to make fun of other land animals, if that makes you happy." The sponge spoke seriously. His moistened eyes revealed his increased regret over saying those squirrel jokes, what Sandy had complained about triggered the moistening of his eyes. He imagined what Sandy had went through over the current week to be similar to the bullying he had received when he was a child.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Sandy raised her brow. "Why you didn't tell that to the audience?" She realized that the sponge could have prevented all of those insults by announcing the falseness of his jokes right after the show had finished. What SpongeBob said made her anger against the sponge worsen by a few levels.

"I didn't feel contradictory until you hugged me last week. I was afraid that the truth was going to hurt your feelings even more since it was a bit selfish. I guess my prediction came true; I can tell that you're mad about what I just said about the truth. You should be. Only a jerk would put himself over his friends, especially if he harms them. Even if I'm lying or telling the truth, I sound like a jerk either way." SpongeBob's emotions took control of the sponge's mind. His short monologue revealed the hidden and elusive emotions inside the sponge. He spoke poorly of himself out of further consideration for Sandy, he was trying to see himself from the squirrel's viewpoint. "I even knew that the jokes were going to make you angry before I even said them, I only said those jokes because I was desperate." An even more hidden fact became revealed. "However, you probably also know that Pat and Mr. Krabs encouraged me to say more jokes. Saying those jokes was the only that I can be successful in that show."

Sandy's eyes widened in shock. After absorbing SpongeBob's confession, she smiled warmly. She was delighted to know that the yellow square cared for her before those insulting jokes were even spoken. The flames of her anger at the yellow square had completely doused. She then thought about SpongeBob's boss. 'That crab gotta be real greedy if he wanted SpongeBob to say more insults, I bet Mr. Krabs had probably sat back in his money while I suffer for his money-makin'.' Sandy thought with a new source of anger. She became aware of the Krusty Krab's fishy business practices. "SpongeBob, I'm gonna have a talk with your boss." She spoke in a serious tone and then stomped up to the crustacean. She reflected on the moments when she had been insulted. 'I seen him walk down the street while people been makin' fun of me, he was the same guy who glanced like he was yellow and then quickly ran off.' After some deep thought, she realized that Mr. Krabs had caught of glimpse of her suffering but decided to remain a bystander so he could maintain his business practices. "Hey, Mr. Krabs, why'd you tell SpongeBob to keep makin' those jokes? You think you could've got away with it? Like that time when you saw me gettin' insulted?!" She immediately confronted with the greedy boss.

Mr. Krabs remained calm. He did not want the customers to get distracted by a fight, he predicted that they would leave once the fight was over since they would think that it would be the main event of their night stay. The crab viewed his confrontation with the squirrel as something that was not new, he had confronted the victims of his greedy actions many times in his past. Both when he was a pirate and as the Krusty Krab owner. "Of course people are gonna laugh at ya for a while, but they'll get over it eventually." He was not aware of the seriousness of Sandy's situation.

"Getting over it?! They're not doing that at all! My reputation got ruined by what you made SpongeBob do! People are making fun of me every damn day!" Sandy's face became crimson with anger. She banged her fist on the table.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped. He heard an increase in the loudness of the nearby voices and he knew right away that Sandy was creating a commotion. 'Yikes! If I'm not careful, that squirrel could break my shell!' The crab thought in fright. He had heard rumors about Sandy's physical strength, he also seen her lift of the barbell during the talent show.

SpongeBob saw what was occurring before the stage. He then decided to take immediate action. He wanted to satisfy both his boss and his friend. The yelllow square ran to the back of the stage and climbed up the back steps to the floor of the stage that was behind the curtain. He then dashed through the curtain and grabbed the microphone. He opened his mouth so he could speak into the microphone.

The sponge caught the audience's attention.

Mr. Krabs saw what was happening on the stage and he scrambled out of his seat. He then ran up the side steps of the stage and snatched the microphone from SpongeBob's hand. _"Put your fins together, fishes, for SpongeBob SquarePants again." _To him, a proper introduction to the comedy show was ideal. He then ran down the steps and sat down in his seat.

Sandy walked towards her seat and sat in it in an ill-tempered manner. She was still pissed off at Mr. Krabs for what he had encouraged the sponge to do. However, there was something else that she had to pay attention to. She looked up to see SpongeBob.

"_Folks, before the show begins again, I wanna tell you something really important." _SpongeBob was not smiling. He was not expressing his lightheartedness yet.

A commotion rose up within the audience.

Patrick put his hand on his face, the non-cheery introduction of his best friend made him bored. "Aww, he's gonna be lecturing." He spoke with a heavy amount of disappointment. He made a wild and inaccurate assumption.

Sandy's eyes sparkled. She was glad that the sponge was going to inform the crowd about the insults, it showed the sponge's consideration for Sandy.

"_I've heard a complaint that a certain squirrel got made fun of by some people 'cause of my jokes." _SpongeBob spoke solemnly' he had no silly or sly intentions with his words.

The audience including Patrick giggled. They thought that SpongeBob said a joke.

"_THIS. IS. NOT. FUNNY." _SpongeBob furrowed his brow to show his seriousness.

The crowd became silent. They slightly bugged out their eyes in surprise.

"_I want all of you to know that my jokes are inaccurate and barely conform with reality. Not all of the squirrels have the traits that I say in my jokes. Don't make fun of them because of my jokes. I bet if I made jokes about all of you, you wouldn't fit the stereotypes either." _SpongeBob tried to be honest but not too mean so he would not unintentionally anger his audience.

A long pause.

Sandy began to clap. The squirrel was showing her appreciation for SpongeBob's announcement. She predicted that the rate of insults against her would drop to nearly non-existent levels. She was the only person in the dining room who was clapping.

SpongeBob winked at Sandy with a wide smile before returning his attention to his audience. _"Anyways, let's get back to the show." _He made a comical smile.


	55. Pressure

**Chapter 55: Pressure**

* * *

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

7:45 AM.

SpongeBob was holding a shopping cart and was rolling it down an aisle in Barg'N-Mart. He was shopping for groceries. He put a loaf of bread, a few peanut butter jars, a few grape jelly jars; and a few sea apples into his cart as he walked down the aisle. Food like the grape jelly jars had been directly imported from human civilizations.

Sandy was walking up the same aisle as SpongeBob with her cart. She was also shopping for groceries.

**BANK**

SpongeBob and Sandy's two carts bumped into each other.

"Hey, Sponge." Sandy greeted her yellow friend with a wave. The sponge's confession and act of care right before the comedy show was still fresh in her memory. She understood the sponge a bit more as a consequence.

"Hey, Sandy." SpongeBob grinned and moved his cart back. "How're you doing? Are people still making fun of you?" He was still a bit concerned for Sandy. He was hoping that Sandy's normal life had resumed after the latest comedy show was over.

"I'm doing pretty good. I've only been insulted once yesterday but it was by a teen so I don't think it was that harmful." Sandy had grown a backbone for the insults that she had received last week. Her pride could not be constantly attacked since she could find new sources of pride, that new source of pride was having caring people like SpongeBob being her friend.

"It was all my fault anyway. I started it by saying those jokes." SpongeBob still felt a slight weight of guilt and responsibility for his previous actions at the first comedy show. He felt like the balance between him and Sandy was still leaning towards him, he wanted that balance to be balanced since he was trying to be a loyal and just friend. "I wanna make up for those insults by doing something for you." He spoke with a slight smile. His words directly came from his mind; they were not filtered.

"I don't got any work or chores to do right now... " Sandy reflected on what she had done at her treedome during the current morning. "...so I guess we could do something fun." She then smiled widely in anticipation, she imagined him and her doing some karate matches.

SpongeBob grinned. "Okay." He was glad that he and Sandy could spend some time together. He did not get many opportunities to spend some time with Sandy since he had to continue nurturing his relationship with Patrick. The squirrel was also quite busy with her job and that was another cause for the lack of opportunities.

""Is Patrick coming with ya?" Sandy asked out of curiosity.

"Nah." SpongeBob shook his head. "He's still sleeping. Plus, we've never really hanged out together many times." He remembered only a few occasions where it was only him and Sandy hanging out together. He tended to learn more about the squirrel if such occasions happened. Since he wanted to make up for his actions, he thought that him hanging out only with Sandy for the morning would be appropriate.

"You wanna do some karate practice?" Sandy stated what was in her mind in the form of a question.

SpongeBob gasped and began to jump up and down in excitement. "Yeah!" His enthusiasm leaked out through the manner that he said that word. "We haven't had a karate fight in ages!"

Sandy giggled at how SpongeBob childishly expressed his excitement for the karate matches. She then looked at her cart and remembered what she had been doing. "C'mon, Sponge. We gotta get our groceries first." She resumed her walk up the aisle.

SpongeBob nodded and grabbed his shopping cart. He then ran down the aisle and quickly put into his shopping cart whatever he desired or needed. He wanted to begin karate fighting with Sandy as quickly as possible.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Sandy's treedome. He had put his groceries into the refrigerator in his pineapple. He was wearing his red karate gear.

**DING DONG**

SpongeBob rang the doorbell.

"_Who is it?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"A sponge who's ready for action!" SpongeBob spoke eagerly. He jumped up and down in excitement and then made a karate pose.

A long pause.

**SLAM**

Sandy barged the front door open by kicking in. "HIYAA!" She then tried to karate chop SpongeBob.

SpongeBob rolled himself out of the way and then stood up.

"Seems like you got the reflexes." Sandy made eye contact with SpongeBob and smirked. "Have you been practicing?" She was intrigued by how quickly SpongeBob dodged her karate chop. Both her and the sponge knew that practicing the martial art was part of mastering karate.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. "I practice whenever I have some time on my hands. I usually do some moves and make a few poses." He informed the squirrel about his practicing habits.

"You're gonna need to do more than that if you wanna beat me!" Sandy tried to intimidate the yellow square. She wanted the sponge to try his best in the upcoming karate match between him and her.

SpongeBob smirked as well. He immediately caught on to what Sandy was trying to do. "I'll show you!" He pointed at the squirrel and then giggled. He found his attempt at intimidation to be silly.

"Follow me, then!" Sandy ran towards a certain location and signaled with her hand for SpongeBob to follow her. "I know a good place where we can fight." She wanted to fight at a certain location so the karate fight would not end up damaging her property.

SpongeBob quickly followed the squirrel.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy stopped running.

SpongeBob eventually stopped running as well.

The sponge and the squirrel were below a cliff.

Sandy turned to face SpongeBob and made a karate pose. She motioned with her hand for SpongeBob to come closer to her. "Begin!" She announced the beginning of their karate fight.

SpongeBob made a karate pose. He narrowed his eyes at Sandy so he could detect any slight movements from the squirrel.

A long pause.

SpongeBob and Sandy walked a few steps closer to each other, stopped, and then resumed their karate poses.

'I'm no fool, Sandy.' SpongeBob thought and then made a wider smirk. He wanted the squirrel to know that the sponge was aware of her master-like trickery. He knew that karate masters can use several tricks up their sleeves to gain advantages in the battlefield.

'This sponge ain't seen nothing yet.' Sandy thought. The squirrel did not change her facial expression. She did not want to reveal anything that she was thinking. Keeping a good composure was one of the hallmarks of a karate master.

SpongeBob charged towards Sandy and tried to kick the squirrel off her feet.

Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's foot, lifted the yellow sponge, twirled the sponge in the air; and then unceremoniously threw the sponge to the ground.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the ground. A sand cloud then formed around him and swallowed him.

A pause. The sand cloud was beginning to dissipate.

SpongeBob leaped out of the sound cloud and...

**CLANK**

...punched Sandy in the stomach.

Sandy reeled. She then...

**KLOK**

...kicked SpongeBob in the pelvic region.

The sponge soared into the air and then fell back down to the earth. He raised his hand into a 'knife' hand and...

**CLINK**

...karate chopped Sandy on the helmet.

The force of the karate chop made the glass helmet shake and Sandy became dizzy as a result. With her distorted vision, she managed to spot SpongeBob and then attempted to punch the sponge.

**FASH**

SpongeBob blocked the punch with one of his hands. However, the force of the squirrel's punch was too strong. The punch ended up pushing SpongeBob towards the rock. The yellow square subsequently tripped on the rock and...

**THUD**

...fell to the ground.

Sandy shook back to her normal senses and then ran towards SpongeBob to land another hit on the sponge.

SpongeBob jumped out of the way and landed on a large rock. He then leaped towards Sandy and raised his foot to make a mighty kick.

Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's foot and...

**SLAM**

...swung the sponge to the floor like the sponge was a baseball bat.

SpongeBob immediately stood up and tried to do an uppercut punch.

**FASH**

Sandy blocked the punch with one of her hands. She used the other hand to...

**SHOOP**

...karate chop SpongeBob on the head.

SpongeBob's body shook violently and the sponge became dizzy as a result. He struggled to walk and was unable to lift his fist to punch Sandy.

Sandy pushed SpongeBob to do the ground with both of her hands. She then nailed the yellow sponge to the ground by continuing to push the sponge down with her hands. "You wanna give up?!" She tried to encourage the sponge to fight to the best of his ability. She found karate matches to be most exciting when her opponent is trying their best to defeat her.

"NEVER!" SpongeBob yelled in determination and...

**K-KLOK**

...kicked Sandy with both of his feet.

Sandy flew towards the cliff and...  
**  
THUD**

...landed on the ground.

SpongeBob stood up and made a karate pose. He tried to predict Sandy's next move.

Sandy stood up and ran towards the sponge. She then leaped towards a nearby rock, landed on it, hopped to another rock, and then continued to leap from rock to rock. She was getting closer to the yellow square through that type of movement.

The sponge tried to follow the movement of the squirrel. What Sandy was doing made it difficult for SpongeBob to avoid her next hit.

Sandy dove towards the sponge and...

**BIFF**

...uppercut punched the sponge before she landed on the ground.

SpongeBob flipped in the air for a few seconds but managed to land on his feet. He then slowly faced Sandy, made a karate pose, and stood completely still. He decided to use more strategy in his fighting.

Sandy smirked and then ran towards SpongeBob. Once she closed some of the distance between her and the yellow square, she abruptly stopped running.

Sandy was right in front of SpongeBob. The squirrel had done this in an attempt to catch the sponge off-guard and subsequently give herself an opportunity to land more hits.

SpongeBob did not react to Sandy's movement at all. He merely blinked and remained still.

A long pause.

Sandy stepped back. She tried to make it seem like she was walking away from the sponge out of fear. The squirrel then made a mighty kick.

SpongeBob quickly tilted his head to the side.

Sandy's kick missed. The squirrel lost her footing as a consequence.

SpongeBob flipped out of the way.

**THUD**

Sandy fell to the floor.

The yellow square could not help himself, he began to giggle. Since the beginning of the fight, Sandy's karate moves had been quite elegant. To see her making such a careless blunder at such an unexpected moment was humorous from his perspective.

Sandy's pride had taken a punch to the face when she saw the sponge giggling. She then facially expressed irritation while smiling, she was still enjoying the fight regardless. The squirrel jumped to her feet and tried to trip SpongeBob.

The sponge tried to dodge the kick by moving his feet simultaneously in one direction. He ended up leaning towards one side and eventually fell. Sandy's leg was caught in the midst of his falling.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Sandy fell to the ground. The weight of SpongeBob's body had brought the squirrel to the ground.

A pause.

SpongeBob laughed.

Sandy found how SpongeBob laughed to be quite humorous. She ended up laughing as well. The squirrel was also laughing because of the awkward position that she was in with SpongeBob. However, she did not focus on her own mistake that partially led to such a position; her pride had to be protected whenever it was possible.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was laying down on the ground with Sandy laying down right next to him. The two were not wearing their karate gear and were relaxing so they could rest from the karate match that they had done. The yellow square was wearing his employee hat. He was aware of the fact that he had to go to work soon.

"That fight we had reminded me of when I was first learning karate. Whenever I had to do a match with someone, it would always end up like the fight we just had but with more silly mistakes from my part. It took a while to get a hang of." Sandy talked about a part of her childhood after she had reflected on the recent karate match.

"Even masters gotta take their baby steps at first." SpongeBob said a truth with a smile. "I wasn't born with good cooking abilities either. It took me a long time before I got really good at it." He could relate to what Sandy said.

Sandy came to a realization. "Y'know, SpongeBob, we aren't that different. Even though I'm a land animal and your a sea critter, we both got buck teeth, we both love karate, we both initially took a long time learning something that we we eventually mastered and... we both are social outcasts, right?" The squirrel turned her head to look at SpongeBob. The last similarity that she said was an assumption.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. He looked through the library of his childhood memories as he looked at the sky. "I've been called a 'weirdo' many times when I was a kid. It happened even more during high school since I remained kiddish." The sponge stated an obvious fact in his last sentence.

Sandy widened her eyes and she then smiled in delight. She had just found someone that she could relate to. "I've been bullied too. I got bullied when I was a kid 'cause I was too 'manly' for my peers." The squirrel said a memory that instantly came into her mind when the sponge talked about the bullying he received.

SpongeBob giggled. If he was blind and Sandy's voice was altered to his voice, what she had just said would almost sound like a doppelganger of himself. "We live in a small world." The sponge was surprised by how much he could relate to Sandy. Out of all the creatures dwelling in the sea, he did not expect a land creature to share such similar experiences with him. However, that did not mean that he was not aware of the similarities between him and Sandy until now. He had been aware of such similarities ever since he discovered a shared enjoyment in karate between him and her.

Sandy looked up at the sky. She enjoyed the immense beauty of the oceanic expanse. When she had decided to move to Bikini Bottom for her career, the Pacific Ocean's aquatic beauty was partly the reason for her decision; it had allured her. "Y'know, SpongeBob, sometimes it's nice to hang up my hang-glider and just watch the clouds roll by." She verbally expressed her vivid imagination, it was the only way she could could cope with seeing such beauty.

SpongeBob tried to mentally form in his own head the vivid scene in Sandy's head. "Yup, and just relax." He added to the scene that Sandy spoke about.

"Yeah... relax..." Sandy closed her eyes and tried to make herself sink into the scene in her head. She was often in such an imaginative state when she was designing new inventions, inventions required creativity in order to be created.

SpongeBob noticed a passing cloud that had a weird shape. "Ooh! Ooh!" He pointed at it. "Do you know what that cloud looks like?" He wanted to state a minor observation.

Sandy opened her eyes. "What?" She looked at the passing cloud that was right above her and SpongeBob. The squirrel could not see the cloud resembling any of the shapes that she knew.

"A flower." SpongeBob observed. He traced out the 'pedals' of the cloud with his finger to show how the cloud looked like a flower.

"That's weird." Sandy commented. "I thought most sea clouds looked like boots or spurs. Some of them even looked like fists." She stated several observations she had made during her stay at Bikini Bottom. The squirrel looked at the cliff before her and SpongeBob and a light bulb lit up in her head. However, she did not want to execute the idea. "Y'know, normally, I'd offer to race you to the top of that coral cliff." She pointed at the cliff. In her opinion, the cliff was large enough for a decent climbing race. She had done many climbing races with friends when she was in Texas. "But I don't want to miss out on a second of this beautiful beauty." She looked up at the clouds again, the clouds' allure was too powerful.

SpongeBob looked at the cliff and then looked at Sandy. "Who wants to get all dirty anyway?" The sponge was highly conscious of the unpleasant after-effects of exercise. His close watching of the clouds made him highly aware of changes in him and his current environment.

"Yeah. And sweaty." The clouds' beauty made Sandy have the same thinking process as SpongeBob. "Besides, I think we'dall know who'd get to the top first." The squirrel sneaked in a bit of her braggadocio into her words through suggestion. However, she had a good reason for bragging. She had finished in first place for almost all the climbing races she had participated in.

"Yeah." SpongeBob had ran over many hills and climbed many cliffs during his times when he jellyfished at Jellyfish Fields. Some jellyfish tend to flee to perilous places to avoid their pursuers. He thought that Sandy suggested that he was the better climber. However, the sponge was not being arrogant since he was aware of the fact that squirrels are natural climbers.

The sponge and the squirrel then laughed at the thought of who was going to lose the race. "Me." They announced simultaneously who was going to be the winner.

"That's funny, Sandy. That sounded like you said you could beat me at a climbing contest." SpongeBob immediately caught on to Sandy's braggadocio. The yellow square then smirked as he tried to estimate Sandy's climbing ability, he still thought that he could beat Sandy in a climbing race.

"Course I can!" Sandy pointed at the acorn patch that was on her suit. "I'm a squirrel. See?" She had another, more obvious reason for her belief that she could beat SpongeBob in a climbing race.

"I thought that patch meant that someone was nuts." SpongeBob had always taken the meaning of the patch of Sandy's suit literally. "I don't think you're nuts though." He spoke with honesty. The yellow square considered Sandy to be an exception due to her scientific prowess.

Sandy continued to point at the patch. "This patch means that I'm a squirrel a. k. a. a natural-born climber. I'm from the surface and nothing prepares you for climbing than growing up on good ol' dry land." She thought that the path she had went through in learning how to climb was best. Being an air breather was part of her pride, especially when she lived daily with sea creatures.

SpongeBob laughed. "Land-shmand, I've climbed several cliffs and traversed many hills in Jellyfish Fields. Jellyfish sometimes get tricky to catch and you definitely need some climbing skills if you want to catch the hardest ones. Don't underestimate us sea creatures, we got finger strength too." The yellow square tried to flex his fingers to show the climbing prowess of aquatic life. He provided an equal and opposite viewpoint of climbing skills when compared to Sandy's.

Sandy assumed that SpongeBob was suggesting that sea creatures are better climbers than land creatures. Her pride became slightly bruised when SpongeBob said that he climbed often when jellyfishing. "I'll see about that." She stood up and dashed towards the cliff. She then reached the cliff and began to rapidly climb it.

SpongeBob was looking in another direction and consequently did not notice Sandy's running and subsequent climbing. "What do you think about that... Sandy?" He turned around and noticed that Sandy was no longer next to him.

"I'd say I'm already halfway there!" Sandy yelled at SpongeBob while she was hanging on to a hedge. She was on the middle part of the cliff in terms of height. The squirrel then resumed her rapid climbing.

SpongeBob gasped and ran as fast as he could towards the cliff. "No fair, Sandy! You got a head start!" He pointed out Sandy's somewhat crafty tactic. He wanted to prove the climbing potential of sea creatures by beating Sandy in the climbing race. He reached the cliff and began to climb it.

Sandy hopped from one ledge and then hopped and hanged on a rock that was projecting from the cliff.

The ledge broke into many pieces due to the speed of Sandy's hop. The squirrel had hopped on that ledge so that it could slow down SpongeBob's climbing speed.

"Hey!" SpongeBob swung to a projecting rock and dodged the incoming ledge pieces. "You did that on purpose!" The sponge became irriated at Sandy's cunning tactics. He thought that Sandy was cheating in the race.

Sandy had an excuse for the tactics that she was using. "Yeah, but this is an accident!" The squirrel hopped to and landed on a larger ledge and then leaped to another projecting rock. The smaller ledge that she had broken is what she would consider to be a slight mistake. From her viewpoint, she was not cheating since she did not alter the cliff before the race.

The larger ledge broke into several rocks. Those rocks fell towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's heartbeat quickened as he saw the incoming rocks. Adrenaline pumped through his blood and he then climbed so fast that he was now on par with Sandy's pace. He swung from projected rock to projected rock like a monkey swinging from vine to vine. By climbing in that manner, he avoided all of the falling rocks. The yellow square then noticed that he had just climbed halfway through the cliff when he looked up at the remaining part he had to climb through. The yellow square then made a final rapid climb. He hopped from one ledge to another like a rabbit and swung from rock to rock when he needed to. The yellow square eventually reached the cliff's highest and main ledge, he put both of his hands on it. SpongeBob then carefully swung over the ledge and...

**THUD**

...landed with his feet on the cliff's surface.

"Well, it's about time you showed up." Sandy was standing before SpongeBob. She was smirking while her arms were folded. She was also tapping her foot. The squirrel was trying to give off an air of pride and confidence.

SpongeBob shook his fist in frustration. He thought that he failed to be a good representation of aquatic life when it came to climbing. The yellow square looked at his watch and a light bulb lit up in his head. 'I could kill two scallops with one stone.' SpongeBob thought. "I want a rematch! First one to the Krusty Krab is the winner!" He spoke without a change in his negative facial expression. If he could represent sea creatures when it came to climbing, then he could certainly represent them when it came to running.

Sandy shook her head. "Ain't no way a sea critter can run faster than a land critter." She based her disapproval of SpongeBob's proposal on an assumption.

"I can underwater! I'm..." SpongeBob pointed at himself. "...hydrodynamically designed!" He spoke in a deep voice. He reminded Sandy that he had an advantage when it came to underwater running since he was a sea creature. "How can you win a fair race with that suit on?" He pointed at Sandy's suit. He did not intend to insult her. He was merely pointing out the disadvantage Sandy had.

"Why don't you ask my behind!" Sandy tried to be sarcastic. She interpreted SpongeBob's words as an insult, her pride could not allow her to see her current situation objectively. "That is, if you can catch it! What do you think of that, HydroPants?" The squirrel tried to, from her viewpoint, counter SpongeBob's 'insult' with another insult.

SpongeBob abruptly ran towards the Krusty Krab at a very quick pace. He wanted to catch Sandy off-guard so he could have an advantage in the race, Sandy had done such a tactic in the previous race so he thought it would be fair if he did it too.

"HEY!" Sandy turned towards SpongeBob and glared at him in anger. She became somewhat pissed off at the sponge since he used a tactic that she had used and also 'insulted' and 'intimidated' her. A burning desire to win the race grew within her, it was a defensive response to her natural instinct of protecting that precious gem called pride. She then ran towards SpongeBob in an attempt to catch up with him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw the incoming Krusty Krab before his eyes. He then sprinted towards that restaurant and...

**S-SLAM**

...plowed through the building's front double door. He then entered the restaurant. Under the current circumstances of the race, the Krusty Krab's double door was the finish line. The yellow square had won the race by passing through that obstacle before Sandy.

Not too long after SpongeBob entered the Krusty Krab, Sandy ran through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on a table with a smile of satisfaction on his face. He was not trying to look or be cocky unlike Sandy, he simply felt an immense amount of satisfaction since he accomplished his goal of beating Sandy. "There you are!" He spoke with sincere surprise. He thought that he outran Sandy by numerous steps, he felt like he ran as fast as a roadrunner.

"I thought ya wanted a rematch." Sandy became ill-tempered and put her hands on her hips. She did not consider the race that she and SpongeBob just did to be a rematch since SpongeBob 'cheated' by going first. However, she was and was completely aware that she was a hyprocrite since she had 'cheated' during the race before the recent race. She could not see her way through the hypocrisy since her pride locked her into that mindset. Her pride locked her especially tight when she realized that her assumption about sea creatures' running ability was wrong.

"I did!" SpongeBob was thinking mostly the exact opposite of what Sandy was thinking. He considered the recent race to be a rematch and even tried to play fair and square when he had participated in it. "And I took a head start like you did. It's gotta be fair, y'know." The yellow square had his own definition of fairness, he wanted to give Sandy a taste of her own medicine. He also wanted Sandy to change her viewpoint towards sea creatures' physical and athletic abilities.

Strangely, SpongeBob and Sandy now seemed like opposites. The moment of their bonding over their similarities seemed to have vanished within a blink of an eye. Their differences grew into extreme and glaring forms.

SpongeBob was more humble than the squirrel and tried to change her views out of concern for her well-being and the well-being of other sea creatures.

Sandy, on the other hand, was trying to protect her pride, especially the pride of her being a land creature. Unfortunately, the squirrel had to resort to more selfish and malicious means in an attempt to prove the land creatures' physical superiority. She now considered the sponge to be an enemy to her pride since he was trying to lower her to his level, her pride was completely altering how she viewed her current predicament.

"Well, I was just funning with you that time!" Sandy said a blatant lie. She did not let go of her selfish means of protecting her precious pride. "But I guess y'all underwater don't have to play fair." She said a mentally formed stereotype of sea creatures in a desperate attempt to protect herself from the humbling truth.

The yellow square narrowed his eyes at Sandy and thought critically. He could not tell if Sandy's first statement was a lie or a truth. At the beginning of the climbing race, it was certainly plausible that Sandy could have been playing around. However, how Sandy acted when SpongeBob caught up with her proved otherwise.

A pause.

"Admit it, SpongeBob. Land critters are better than sea critters." Sandy stated while folding her arms. She just needed SpongeBob to surrender in order for her pride to be satisfied.

"Wait a second..." SpongeBob figured out what Sandy was trying to do. He realized that the squirrel had been protecting her pride by trying to prove that land creatures were more athletic than sea creatures. That conclusion made complete sense since Sandy boasted about her natural abilities as a squirrel right before the climbing race. "...you're just trying to boast about how you're species is better than my species or other sea species!" He pointed at Sandy with a disapproving face. 'This is kinda like that time when she got mad over Patrick making fun of Texas.' A memory about a similar past situation popped up in his mind.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick casually entered the Krusty Krab. He came to the restaurant so he could have a Krabby Patty as his morning meal. 'If she's yelling so much, it might be important.' The starfish thought. Sandy had been speaking so loud that he had heard her before he even entered the aged building. "Better at what?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, dern near everything, I guess." Sandy made a wild, pride-filled assumption. She did not want her assumption to be broken by facts anyway. "Cattle roping and pie eating and wood chopping and flying!" She based her view of land creatures' abilities by the abilities and career skills of some of her family members.

Squidward closed his book of Oliver Twist, stood up from the boat, and walked up to Sandy. The squirrel's bragging about land creatures and her argument with SpongeBob was beginning to annoy him. He could not concentrate on reading if someone was going to speak loudly over his mental voice. "What's she blabbering about?" He asked to no one in particular except for Sandy.

"She says land creatures are best." Patrick perfectly summarized what Sandy was saying.

"Only 'cause it's true!" Sandy was in a severe state of prideful denial. "We're best at horse ridng and fur stylin' and rowing. Y'all got us licked in swimming, but we've got corn shuckling and hay bailing and barn raisin'... and fishing!" She stated several skills and hobbies that her family had or did in the guise that all land creatures were good at using or doing them.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward gasped in shock. In the back of their minds, fishing was a necessary but also horrifying and unfortunate part of nature. For some sea creatures, even thinking about fishing could unleash chills of disgust. However, carnivorous sea creatures such as sharks did not view fishing as such an evil unlike many other sea creatures, they were used to the bloodshed and succulence of fish meat. They ate sea creatures that barely or did not have any traits of intelligent beings at all such as certain species of eel or trout. Sea creatures considered eating those types of sea creatures to be morally acceptable since those creature types had no chance of becoming as intelligent as pets (eating pet animals such as certain snails species was considered immoral) , those creature types had also been eaten as normal food ever since prehistoric times. Such a lengthy and pace-slowing description is needed so as to expose the plethora of views that sea creatures hold about fishing. This description ascertains the fact that their views are non-hypocritical since it varies by the diets of each aquatic species.

**CRREEEEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his office and walked up to Sandy. He had heard the conversation between his employees, Sandy, and Patrick. He considered the conversation to be worthy of his attention since such loud conversations between his employees and customers were rare. However, he did not speak or ask any questions immediately. He knew the conversation was at its peak and needed to be absorbed through close hearing; asking too many questions may discourage the talking four from continuing their conversation out of suspicion of spying from the crab.

"And name calling, for sure!" Sandy spoke with confidence, her assumption was plausible from her perspective. She remembered a few bullies calling her names during her childhood past, not all of the bullies were squirrels.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. Like SpongeBob, he disapproved of Sandy's braggadocio. "And drowning, don't forget drowning." He spoke with slightly narrow eyes and a smirk, his face was indicating that what he just said was a clever comment. That comment was bitter venom that countered Sandy's boasting about her species and other air-breathers.

SpongeBob laughed. "Good one, Squidward." He found Squidward's comment to be funny since it was cleverly spoken at the right time in the conversation. The comment hurting Sandy's feelings was not a reason for why it was funny from the sponge's perspective. He then raised his hand so he and Squidward could do a high-five.

Squidward did not high-five SpongeBob. He did not want to fool around. He simply desired for Sandy to stop boasting in such an annoying and distracting manner.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob giggled and put his hand down.

"Squirrels can do anything they want to." Sandy made a ridiculous assumption. By that point, she wanted to sound like she was the one who was right and correct so her pride could be preserved and even boosted.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The squirrel's claims were so ridiculous that even the sea star with his currently low intelligence could think of insults or counter-arguments against those claims. "I bet they can't eat a Krabby Patty Double Deluxe in one bite." He then looked at Squidward. "As a matter of fact, I'll order one." He needed his breakfast anyway. He took out some money from a pocket in his pants.

"That'll be five dollars." Squidward remembered the Krabby Patty Double Deluxe's price. Some menu items had been ordered enough times by other customers for him to remember their prices.

Patrick raised his brow, he noticed that the price for the Krabby Patty Double Deluxe was strange. "Isn't that a bit more expensive than last time? The last Double Deluxe I ate was like four dollars." His attention to detail was particularly high today.

"The prices for our food change depending on the amount of customers and profits that we get." Mr. Krabs explained the change in the Krabby Patty Double Deluxe's price. He often changed the Galley Grub items' prices to keep other businesses from taking the Krusty Krab's spot of being the most successful (which was determined by profit amount) restaurant in Bikini Bottom. One of the reasons why the Krusty Krab was so successful was because of its popularity over its success.

Patrick nodded in understanding of Mr. Krabs' words. He then gave a $5 bill to Squidward. The sea star then looked at Sandy and remembered the counterargument that he had said to the squirrel. He took out another $5 bill and gave it to Squidward. "Sponge, make another one for Sandy." He spoke somewhat loudly towards SpongeBob. He wanted to see if both he and Sandy could eat a Krabby Patty Double Deluxe in one bite.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the kitchen with a plate of two Krabby Patty Double Deluxes being carefully held by one of his hands. He walked up to a table and set the plate on that table.

Patrick walked up to a plate and took a Krabby Patty Double Deluxe. He then tossed the Double Deluxe into the air and swallowed it in one gulp like a shark. "Ah." He rubbed his belly in satisfaction. With that gulp, his breakfast meal had ended.

Sandy narrowed her eyes. Patrick made the mighty feat of swallowing a Double Deluxe in one gulp look simple, he consequently made Sandy think that the task was easy. By swallowing the large burger, Sandy could represent the potential of air creatures and make herself proud for being such a 'decent' representation. "They don't call me Cheeks for nothin'." She had sometimes eaten in excessive amounts during the past, that fact boosted her confidence. She grabbed the other Krabby Patty Double Deluxe and then opened her mouth so she could swallow it. When the held burger touched her suit's glass helmet, the squirrel came to an embarrassing realization.

The glass helmet prevented Sandy from eating the Krabby Patty Double Deluxe in spite of the squirrel's desire to eat the burger.

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs laughed. They found Sandy's realization to be hilarious since it directly contradicted with the statement that she said earlier.

"Thank you, thank you." Patrick repeatedly bowed to a non-existent audience. He felt accomplished for proving someone as smart as Sandy wrong. Him correcting others of their ignorance was rare due to his own varying stupidity.

"Well, that's just one thing." Sandy dismissed Patrick's challenge. She deceived herself into thinking that she could do an infinite amount of other feats.

Patrick grabbed the Krabby Patty Double Deluxe from Sandy's hand and ate it in one gulp as well. He paid for it so he considered the burger to be his property anyway.

Patrick's successful counter-argument and Sandy's statement of denial added fuel to the fire of the argument between her prideful views and boasting, and the counterarguments of reality from the other four. Ideas for counter-arguments filled the aquatic four's minds.

"Can you do this?" Mr. Krabs popped his eye-stalks in and out of the holes of his shell's head section. He sometimes did it with one eyestalk at a time or both at the same time. "Everyone in my family can do that." His words indicated that some crustaceans had such a strange talent.

Sandy tightened her fists. She knew immediately that she did not have such a unique talent at all. The squirrel was becoming pissed off because the sea creatures before her were demanding her to do feats/talents that only they can do.

Squidward ran towards the kitchen, he was going to put another idea into action.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Squidward entered the kitchen.

A pause.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Squidward exited the kitchen with six stacked clean plates being held by one of his hands. "How about this?" He carefully put a plate on each of his available five tentacles including his head (he did not put one on one leg tentacle so he could remain standing up). Octopuses were famous for their ability to balance items.

"Can you reproduce by budding?" SpongeBob asked a simple question as a counter-argument instead of showcasing a feat that she could not do. He obviously knew how sponges reproduced, it was almost completely different when compared to mammal reproduction. The budding reproduction method that sponges use explained why SpongeBob or other sponges did not have genitalia. The yellow square was less harsh than the others because he wanted to change her biased views instead of insult her like the others desired.

"No!" Sandy shook her head. She knew the obvious answer to SpongeBob's question.

Squidward stepped up to the squirrel. He wanted to show another unique talent. "Most importantly, can you do this?" He widened his eyes until they seemed to be enlarged. The pupils of his eyes also dilated. He then gasped without exhaling, he was showcasing the breathing talent of sea creatures; only one who had at least some sort of gills could have such a talent.

Mr. Krabs and Patrick made the same faces and gasped in unison with Squidward. They were trying to intimidate Sandy.

SpongeBob did not join in their gasping. His kind nature prevented him from flat out insulting Sandy.

"Well, what would I wanna do any of that dumb stuff for anyway?" Sandy found trying to do those strange talents and feats to be pointless. She saw no benefit in having those sea creature talents. She now fooled herself into thinking that all of the talents and skills that air creatures could do were useful.

"Admit it, Sandy. You can't do anything us sea creatures can do. In fact, if it wasn't for that suit, you couldn't even live down here." Squidward was revealing his true colors since he was insulting Sandy the most. He did not forget about how Sandy infuriated him during the incident where he acted like a ghost, what he was currently doing to Sandy was a form of payback. However, his current act was nothing compared to the act of revenge he had committed that affected SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship. He had learned his lesson from committing vengeful acts that were too extreme.

Sandy knew for certain that what Squidward said was harshly true. Her adamant pride had been bruised so much that it began to weaken, humbleness was sprouting within her. However, a light bulb lit up in Sandy's head. She assumed that Squidward and the others were trying to show the superiority of sea creatures. Her idea was an excellent counter-argument to what Squidward just said.

An awkward pause. Sandy did not immediately respond to Squidward's statement.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. He assumed that Sandy lost the argument by running out of things to say. He now considered his act of revenge to be a success.

Sandy's face turned slightly red in anger. Squidward was the person who she was currently the most pissed off at. "Alright, alright! You had your little laugh. But now it's my turn!" The squirrel pointed at herself with her thumb, she announced the beginning of her counter-argument. "Y'all think you're hot stuff, don't ya. Swimming around with your fancy gills and such. But none of you wetheads could last a minute on my turf." The squirrel folded her arms and smirked. "Dry land." Her counter-argument unintentionally sounded like a challenge, that was caused by Sandy trying to sound intimidating.

A pause.

"Do you we have to wear pickle jars or something like that?" Squidward asked with a facial expression of seriousness. He could not conceive himself surviving on dry land for a minute without any water to breath in. He asked that question due to an ambiguity in Sandy's counter-argument.

"Nope, nothing but the clothes on our backs." Sandy smirked. She knew with confidence that the aquatic four were not going to survive such a brutal minute on dry land.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The sea star had an idea for another insult against Sandy. "One minute? No problem, Landy!" He thought that he could survive one minute on dry land since he assumed that one minute was not enough time for the dry land's fatal effects to surface on him and his aquatic friends. Patrick, SpongeBob, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs had not technically visited the surface world before (the reef blower incident is excluded since they were on the seafloor when the water had been drained).

Squidward and Mr. Krabs laughed. They found Patrick's insult to be highly clever.

SpongeBob restrained himself from even chuckling. He was becoming frustrated at Sandy's adamant persistence with her claims about the superiority of air creatures. He then became determined to change her views, that put him in a direct conflict with Sandy; just like his aquatic others. He walked up to Sandy and narrowed his eyes. "Let's go" He spoke solemnly and with a dash of confidence. He was confident since he and Patrick had the same assumption.

Sandy nodded. She walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

'There probably won't be any customers comin' here for a while.' Mr. Krabs thought. Sometimes, customers scarcities occurred on another day of the week instead of Saturday. 'Standing in dry land for a few secs won't hurt.' The crab did not view surviving on dry land as a daunting task. He had overcame many dangerous obstacles as a pirate, Sandy's challenge did not scare him as a consequence. He had a desire to make an attempt to beat it, his pirate desire for adventure took over his mind.

Squidward wanted to beat Sandy's challenge since from his perspective, it would make the time spent at work fly by faster. Even reading novels or magazines would not assist him that much since he could not do any other leisure activities except for reading.

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy, SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward; and Mr. Krabs were traversing Mt. Atoll, the largest nearby mountain in Bikini Bottom. The mountain's summit was so high that it was actually the island of three palm trees that could be fully seen from above the ocean.

It had became apparent that the aquatic four were curious about visiting the surface world unprotected. SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick had caught a few glimpses of it when they had been in Sandy's rocket one time but that did not really count. They had the same curiosity that Sandy had when she thought about moving to Bikini Bottom, such an unknown world may open up wonders and risks.

The five were nearing the mountain's summit. The wavy ceiling of the oceanic abyss was above them by about twenty or thirty feet. Clouds could be seen up close from their current position on the mountain and some even passed by the mountain; those passing clouds created little more than a temporary fog if they got in the way.

Sandy turned around and looked at the four sea creatures. "Well? Are you going or not?" The squirrel wanted a final verdict from the four sea creatures. She was highly aware of the risks of sending the four into the surface world without any water supplies.

Sandy's question invoked a hidden fear among the aquatic four. The aquatic four knew that the surface world was full of danger for sea creatures like them and their minds then focused on the possible dangers of that unknown and alien world.

"Actually, you know, but..." SpongeBob sweatdropped and began to shake in fear. The sponge could no longer shake or control his fear and now thought that the surface world was too dangerous for him to visit. However, he could not quickly come up with an excuse for leaving.

"We can't, uh... because..." Squidward was thinking of a reasonable and valid excuse for his absence from the challenge.

Mr. Krabs was silent. He found the other sea creatures' excuse-making to be unmanly. He waited for them to finish so he could know who was going first. He was courageous enough to still have a desire to visit the surface world, such courage had been developed by years of pirate adventures.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "We're late for our fitting." Patrick completed the excuse that SpongeBob and Squidward were trying to create. He chose 'fitting' as the activity he and the others were late for since it was ambiguous and might consequently make it easier for Sandy to let them go.

Sandy smirked. Patrick gave her an idea for an insult against the four sea creatures. "Oh, you mean for your chicken costumes?!" She insulted the four (actually three since Mr. Krabs wanted to go) for their cowardice. She considered cowardice to be a sign of weakness, she learned such a mindset about fear when she had learned karate back at Texas.

Patrick quickly lost his temper. He did not take insults from the squirrel lightly since she had been boasting about land creatures not too long ago, he had developed some irritation against Sandy during their argument at the Krusty Krab. "We're not chicken!" He pointed at Sandy.

Patrick's response to Sandy's insult made SpongeBob more determined to change Sandy's views about sea creatures. SpongeBob puffed up his chest to show his courageous willingness to come in contact with the surface world. "Yeah, we're not chicken, we'll do it." He confidently spoke. 'There's no turning back now.' He then walked up the mountain until he was directly below the ocean's ceiling. He poked his index finger through the ceiling and into the surface world's fresh air. The sponge then brought down his finger back into the safety of saltwater. "There. Mission accomplished." He thought that he completed the challenge. He was still too afraid to completely immerse himself into the surface world. He had forgotten the challenge that Sandy had actually said.

Sandy walked up to SpongeBob. The other three sea creatures followed her. "Look. Unless you can stay above water for one measly minute, you forfeit the contest and prove that land creatures are better than sea creatures." She still arrogantly believed that air-breathers were superior to water-breathers, her pride was still protected and surrounded by a steel wall. Even though air-breathers could not breathe underwater without air supplies, she still thought that they had more pros than sea creatures. However, her views of sea creatures might change if the aquatic four succeed in completing the challenge.

SpongeBob now saw Sandy's challenge as an excellent opportunity to prove Sandy wrong about how she saw sea creatures (in reality, him winning the challenge would whittle down her pride). "No way, Sandy. We can take on your challenge!" He gathered enough courage to be completely willing to completely enter the surface world.

"Yeah!" Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs yelled in unison. The sea star and the octopus had also gathered enough courage to properly participate in Sandy's challenge. The crab already had enough courage and joined in the yell to show that he was also willing to participate in the challenge.

SpongeBob walked up to the three other sea creatures. "We're sea creatures!" The sponge tried to psych up his fellow comrades for the challenge.

"Yeah!" Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs yelled simultaneously as a response to SpongeBob's statement. They yelled to show their own pride for being sea creatures. However, their pride was not like Sandy's since it was not excessive.

Sandy turned to look at SpongeBob. "Sponge, do you wanna go first?" She asked the sponge first since the sponge was the one who was closest to the ocean ceiling.

SpongeBob gulped to remove all of his remaining fears. He then silently nodded. He then began to resume his walk towards the mountain's summit.

Mr. Krabs bit his lip as he watched the yellow square. He was concerned for his yellow fry cook's safety, he did not want to lose his main source of profits by the dangers of the surface world.

SpongeBob traversed the part of the mountain that was right below the summit. He walked through the oceanic ceiling and was no longer covered in the familiar water that he had been born in.

S-S-S-S-S

**SPLASH**

SpongeBob was now standing on the island of three palm trees. That island was part of an atoll called Bikini Atoll, which Bikini Bottom and the large mountain near it was named after. Two seagulls were resting on a palm tree, they were taking a short nap. The yellow square was feeling a sensation he had felt when he had entered Sandy's treedome for the first time. He was still able to breathe since he had plenty of absorbed water inside his body. However, like that first treedome visit, it will eventually run out if SpongeBob does not return to a body of water soon. "Hey, this isn't so bad." SpongeBob smiled in relief and delight. 'It's kinda like my first visit to Sandy's place.' The sensation was familiar and made him remember his first treedome visit. "We can do this!" He then turned around and looked at the ocean that was below him. "Hey, Patrick, come on up! The air is fine!"

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked at Sandy, Mr. Krabs, and Squidward. "I'm gonna do it quick and get it over with." He announced what he was about to do. "Cannonball!" He ran towards the oceanic ceiling and leaped through it.

S-S-S-S-S

**SPLASH**

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the island's surface. "Hi, SpongeBob." He stood up and greeted his now dry and more clear-looking friend. "Everything looks so... clear." The sea star observed an obvious fact. He no longer had the blue eye contacts of saltwater to affect his vision.

S-S-S-S-S

"All ashore that's going to shore, Mr. Squidward!" Mr. Krabs looked at Squidward and said what he was about to do. "Land ho!" He ran through the oceanic ceiling and entered the world of dryness.

S-S-S-S-S

**SPLASH**

Mr. Krabs walked across the island's surface. He looked at his surroundings so he could absorb his new environment. He was absolutely speechless since he did not expect the surface world to look so strange. From his perspective, his new environment looked like an environment of another planet.

"Looking good, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob complimented on Mr. Krabs' new appearance. The crab looked somewhat different when compared to his underwater appearance since his shell made look more shiny.

"Yeah! Yeah! Woohoo!" Patrick clapped. He was celebrating Mr. Krabs', SpongeBob's, and his own successful entrance to the surface world. He thought that his current healthy state in the surface world was a miracle since he initially assumed that he was going to run out of absorbed water quickly. The sun hot rays were directly shining on them, something that did not occur in Sandy's treedome.

"Come on, Squidward. You're missing all the dry. Come on, Squid!" SpongeBob looked at the ocean below him again. He was trying to encourage Squidward to come up to the surface world. "Squidward! Squidward! Squidward!" He began to chant Squidward's first name in another attempt to encourage Squidward.

"Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward! Squidward!" Patrick and Mr. Krabs joined in SpongeBob's chanting. The sponge, the crab, and the sea star were all chanting in unison.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took a deep breath and walked through the oceanic ceiling. He honestly had nothing to say yet, his mind could not come up with anything noteworthy that he could tell Sandy about.

S-S-S-S-S

**SPLASH**

Squidward stood on the island's surface. He looked at the ocean that surrounded the island and began to marvel at its beauty, he was captivated by how the waves moved while the sunlight was reflecting off of it. The trip on Sandy's rocket that he had went on with SpongeBob and Patrick had not provide decent-enough views of the external ocean.

"Well, here we are." SpongeBob stated an obvious fact. He said such a statement so he could fully accept that what was occurring before him was reality and was not a dream. He even pinched himself on the arm as a second reality check. The sharp pain that rose in the pinched area confirmed that he was truly standing on an island above the Pacific Ocean.

Squidward walked around the island with ease. "This is pretty easy." He made a sincere smile of relief. He was surprised since he initially thought that it would be difficult for him to move in the surface world, he had assumed that his limbs were used to aquatic movement and could only move underwater. The octopus then looked up at the three palm trees before him, he had never thought that he would ever get to seem such trees in real life.

An intense curiosity for the surface world rose up within Patrick. "I may keep a second rock up here." He desired to absorb all of the wonders, previously unknown facts, and secrets of the surface world. He wanted to see how Sandy lived before moving to Bikini Bottom. The sea star was also itching to interact with the new environment. Patrick then began to make a sand castle, he was trying to see how dry sand felt like.

Mr. Krabs quickly got used to the strange sensation of dry air. His shell assisted in such a transition from saltwater to fresh air. "Once you get your land legs, it's not so bad." He smiled and then looked at the strange objects and plants on the island. He was looking for some valuables that he could sell for a satisfying amount of cash.

'Looks like we're the masters of land and sea.' SpongeBob thought optimistically. He was aware of the duration that he and his aquatic comrades had for staying above the ocean without becoming dehydrated. He also knew that land creatures drown without any form of air while underwater. That latter fact was the reason why he made such a farfetched statement.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy took out a waterproof smartphone from a slot in her suit. She then turned it on and noticed that one minute had passed. "Well, tan my fur. They made it." She turned off the smartphone and put it away. She was quite surprised by the aquatic four's success. Her pride then shrunk back to its normal self and Sandy no longer viewed her situation through a fog of pride. "Better congratulate them." She walked towards Mt. Atoll's summit.

S-S-S-S-S

_**SpongeBob, there is a page nearby. **_

The ghost had detected the presence of a magical page on the island.

SpongeBob jumped in fright at the mental hearing of the ghost's voice. He was especially frightened since the ghost now knew his name. 'How did you figure out my name?' He mentally asked.

_**I can read your thoughts. Do not worry or fear, however, since I do not respond to them or take them seriously except for very rare situations and circumstances.**_

SpongeBob's breathing slowed a bit, he became a little bit more relaxed. 'I didn't know there were more than four of those magical pages lying around.'

_**The pages of the Holy Book are great in number and are scattered throughout the world. Guardian Spirits like me guard the locations of the pages. As a matter of fact, there are two Guardian Spirits currently perching on a palm tree.**_

The ghost revealed some important information to the yellow square.

SpongeBob looked up at the tow seagulls perching on a palm tree. 'You mean those seagulls?' He wanted to know for certain if the seagulls were actually the Guardian Spirits or not.

**Yes.**

SpongeBob marveled at the sea gulls. He wondered how those birds were going to react if an unworthy person touched or took the island's magical page. He then began to deeply consider the decision to take the island's magical page. If the Guardian Spirits allowed him to take the magical page, then from his perspective; he would not see any con with having that page. He could used more of the pages' magic if he had that page anyway.

Patrick looked up at the seagulls. Out of boredom, he wanted to scare them. He picked up a fallen coconut and threw it towards the top of the palm tree that the seagulls were perching at.

The coconut hit near the palm tree's top. It consequently shook the palm tree due to its speed.

The seagulls flapped away from the palm tree and then flapped in place. They were searching for a new area for them to perch at. The Guardian Spirits would not become aggressive right away. They would only take action if they see an unfamiliar person taking the island's page.

Mr. Krabs walked to the center of the island in his search for a valuable item or object. He then flipped over a rock that was directly on the center of the island.

On the revealed area of the island's ground, a shiny paper glistened in the sunlight.

Mr. Krabs widened his eyes at the sight of the magical page and dollar signs appeared on his pupils. The sunlight combined with the paper's shininess made it difficult for the crab to figure out what the paper was made of, the crab assumed that it was made out of gold due to its shininess. He seized the paper and held it out before himself. "This day couldn't get any better." Mr. Krabs spoke with intense delight, he could not wait to return to Bikini Bottom and sell the page for a high price. "Who would've thought there was buried treasure on this island."

Patrick looked at Mr. Krabs immediately after hearing the crab's words. "Treasure?!" He saw the page that Mr. Krabs and became wide-eyed.

_**It appears that the page has been taken by someone else.**_

The ghost informed both SpongeBob and Patrick.

Patrick gasped and then ran towards Mr. Krabs. Since he currently possessed two magical pages, he thought that he had the right to own that magical page. "GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!" He grabbed the page and tried to yank it out of Mr. Krabs' claws.

"Oh no you don't!" Mr. Krabs became irritated at Patrick's behavior. His claws' tight grip on the page allowed him to pull the page away from Patrick's grasp. He then ran towards the ocean so he could return to the aquatic world.

Sandy had entered the island when the seagulls had flown away from the palm tree. She was standing still and was facially expressing disbelief at what she was seeing. The squirrel was completely surprised by the current series of events at the island.

The seagulls had been watching Mr. Krabs and Patrick's behavior. They now deemed Mr. Krabs a threat and flew towards the crustacean. The two birds then picked up Mr. Krabs by his shirt with their beaks.


	56. Krusty Love

**Chapter 56: Krusty Love**

* * *

"MR. KRABS!" SpongeBob ran towards his boss in a desperate attempt to save him. He did not want the seagulls a. k. a. the Guardian Spirits to harm the crustacean. As the crab was being lifted off the ground, the sponge tried to pull the crab by grabbing both of his feet.

Mr. Krabs was flailing his arms. He wanted the seagulls to release their beaks' grasp on his shirt. He merely saw the seagulls as pesky obstacles that were preventing him from obtaining riches.

The size difference between the squirrel and the sea creatures; and the seagulls became noticeable. The seagulls were quite larger than Sandy and the sea creatures.

_**You shall not leave until you give the page back!**_

The Guardian Spirits spoke mentally to Mr. Krabs.

"Huh?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow and looked at his surroundings. "Who said that?" He did not know where those voices he just heard came from.

_**The voice you are hearing is coming from us, the seagulls. We know who you are, tyrant. We will make sure you do not abuse the power of these pages.**_

"What the barnacle?" Mr. Krabs looked at the seagulls from the corner of his eye. He had never encountered any animals who communicated in such a manner before. He jumped to a wild conclusion as a consequence of the current experience's newness. "THE ISLAND IS HAUNTED!" He yelled his assumption. The crab dropped the page out of fear.

The seagulls let go of Mr. Krabs.

**T-THUD**

Mr. Krabs fell to the ground and landed on top of SpongeBob. 'I gotta get outta here!' He then stood up and ran towards the ocean. The crab thought that ghosts were going to attack him and the others on the island.

**SPLASH**

Mr. Krabs returned to the Pacific Ocean.

Patrick immediately believed Mr. Krabs' assumption to be a fact. He then screamed out of a sudden spike in fear and ran towards the ocean as well.

**WAIT!**

The Guardian Spirits mentally spoke to Patrick and then grabbed the sea star by taking hold of his pants with their beaks. They recognized Patrick's soul and the pages that the sea star was currently possessing.

Squidward raised his brow after hearing the crab's assumption. He was skeptical of the crustacean's claim. He then walked up to the seagulls. He knew that it seemed like the seagulls were attacking Patrick but he did not see anything paranormal about the birds.

The seagulls looked at Squidward from the corners of their eyes. They recognized Squidward's soul.

_**Octopus, stay here as well. Time does not change the bonds we have formed.**_

The guardian spirits mentally spoke to Squidward.

Squidward widened his eyes. The mental voices from the seagulls that he heard made him become frightened. The fear of the unknown gripped the octopus' mind. If he stayed at the 'haunted' island and continued to interact with the seagulls, he would be walking in unknown and murky waters. "I think I'm gonna... leave now." Squidward took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. He then walked towards the ocean.

_**Please heed our words.**_

One Guardian Spirit mentally spoke to Squidward. That seagull then flapped towards the octopus while the other continued to hold Patrick with his beak. The flapping seagull grabbed Squidward by the shirt with his beak.

Squidward flailed his limbs out of fright. "SOMEONE, HELP!" He desperately cried for someone to rescue him. He thought that he was getting attacked by the seagulls for not obeying their commands. The sudden escalation of the situation, the strange phenomena occurring with the seagulls, and the way that the seagulls wanted to keep the island's visitors all combined to make a frightening experience for Squidward.

"Why're you hurting my friends?!" SpongeBob became angry and pointed at the seagulls. He did not hear any mental voices from the Guardian Spirits so he assumed that they were attacking his friends for no reason.

"You ain't eating anybody without going through me first!" Sandy assumed that the seagulls were trying to eat Patrick and Squidward as quick snacks. She then ran towards the seagull holding Squidward since that seagull was the closest to her.

_**Everybody, we beg of you to calm down. We do not want you three to leave because we have something we want to inform you about.**_

The two seagulls mentally to spoke to SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward.

SpongeBob made a neutral facial expression. He stopped pointing and walked up to the seagulls. He knew that they were Guardian Spirits but he was still not sure if they were suspicious or not. The sponge now considered them to not be an immediate threat since they found their reason for their 'assault' to be valid.

Sandy stopped running. She thought that the seagulls' words were honest. "This better be important." She folded her arms and repeatedly tapped her foot in impatience. The squirrel wanted her fellow aquatic creatures to return to the safety of the ocean.

An awkward pause.

"I think... I'm losing... too much... water..." SpongeBob looked at his hands and noticed that they have become dry and chapped. His voice became raspy. The sponge's supply of absorbed water was running out.

"Me too..." Patrick's voice was hoarse as well. His skin had the roughness similar to human skin that had went through a long shower.

Squidward nodded to let everybody know that he also had similar symptoms. Like SpongeBob and Patrick, he was showing signs of dehydration.

_**Very well. We will attend to your dehydration immediately.**_

The seagulls mentally spoke to the three sea creatures in their grasp and before them. They considered the creatures to be important enough for them to assist in the removing of their symptoms. They had seen many sea creatures suffering dehydration while being on the island, all of them had came to the island out of curiosity or for the magical page under the rock.

The seagull holding Squidward flew towards SpongeBob and grabbed the sponge's shirt with one of his feet. He then flew towards the ocean with Squidward and SpongeBob in tow and...

**SPLASH**

...quickly immersed the sponge and the octopus into the ocean. He then flew back to the island and dropped them to the island's surface.

The other seagull did the same action with Patrick.

The seagulls then flapped to the center of the island and one of them grabbed the page with his beak along the way. They then stood on the island's center while one of them still held the magical page.

_**For the whole time, what we were trying to say was that you three, **_The seagull that was not holding the page pointed at SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward respectively. He was the one mentally speaking to those three. _**have the right to possess this page- **_The seagull became interrupted by Squidward.

Squidward was held out his hand as a signal for the seagull to stop mentally talking. He then lowered his hand. "What I wanna know is why is that damn page so important?! You scared my boss out of this island and kept us in this dry hellhole over a stupid paper?!" The octopus lost his temper after hearing paperless seagull's mental words. He could not believe that he had been frightened by the seagulls and suffered dehydration over something he considered to be ridiculous or trivial. What was going on right now was almost as crazy as that time travel trip to Bikini Millennium.

_**I was just about to tell you about the pages of the Holy Book. The sponge and the sea star already know what the pages are since they currently possess them.**_

The paperless seagull looked at Squidward and mentally spoke to the octopus.

Squidward looked at SpongeBob and Patrick. "Is it true, do you guys really own papers like that one?" He pointed at the page that the other seagull was holding while still looking at his neighbors.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

"How come I've never noticed?" Like the time traveling incident, questions filled Squidward's head. The situation simply had escalated too suddenly for the octopus to comprehend fully within a short amount of time. 'Whenever he gets new stuff, he usually fools around with it with Patrick.' He found SpongeBob's previously unknown possession of the pages to be strange.

"Me or Patrick can't really do much with them. Their magic usually works only during emergencies." SpongeBob stated a fact about the magical pages. He had tried to use his pages' magic at home but to no avail.

"Magic?" Squidward raised his brow again. "Are you serious?" He could not tell if SpongeBob was playing around or not. The concept of magic was not alien or ridiculous to him, especially after the time travel incident, but he could not wrap his mind around such an easy method of access to magic.

_**The sponge is right. This pages and other pages are magical. If you only possess a tiny amount of pages, you can only used them while under severe distress or during extreme situations. The pages' magic can be more accessible the more pages you obtain. **_

After all of the interruptions, the paperless seagull finally brought closure to Squidward's confusion.

_**Me and my brother are Guardian Spirits. As the name implies, we protect the locations of magical pages. Since you are the only one of the valid three to not possess a page, you shall be the one to receive the page. **_

The seagull that was holding the paper mentally spoke to Squidward and then walked towards Squidward.

_**However, when you receive this page, we will have to merge with your soul in order for you to use it. The connection that had been formed between us and the page when we were assigned to be Guardian Spirits allows us to have full control over the page's magic, the connection is a method of control in case if a robber manages to obtain a page. **_

The seagull that was holding the paper continues his explanation.

Squidward's face became pallid with shock. He imagined the horrors of having multiple mental voices in one head. "What happens when you merge with me?" He wanted to see if the horror he was imagining was true or not.

_**You will retain your current physical appearance. The merge will not affect you that much. The only differences between your current form and your merged form is that you will be able to use this page and we will communicate with you when needed.**_

The paperless seagull answered Squidward's question.

'It might not be that bad.' Squidward thought. He saw no disadvantages or con with possessing the magical page. He thought that it might be convenient during tight situations and emergencies. The octopus then walked towards the now still seagull that was holding the page.

The seagull dropped the page into Squidward's hands. He and the other seagull then faded into two large masses of ectoplasm. The ectoplasm masses then flew towards Squidward and went directly into his body like they were made out of nothing.

Squidward felt a slight chill run up his spine but his body quickly returned to his normal body temperature.

'Can all the Guardian Spirits shape-shift?' SpongeBob mentally asked to the ghost. He had noticed an apparent similarity between the Spork Mountain's Guardian Spirit and the island's pair of Guardian Spirits.

_**Yes. Such disguises are needed to avoid bringing any attention to themselves.**_

An awkward pause.

"I guess we can go home now." Squidward shrugged and spoke while looking at the other three on the island. He could not think of anything else to do on the island. The octopus walked towards the ocean and entered the comforting safety of saltwater.

Sandy walked up to the yellow square. She was dumbfounded after witnessing the recent sequence of events. "What in tarnation just happened?" She asked a crucial question that had been stuck in her mind ever since SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward began to communicate with the Guardian Spirits.

"I'll explain when we get back." SpongeBob delayed the answer to Sandy's question. He did not want to dehydrate again. He walked towards the ocean. The sponge looked at Patrick while walking and signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him. "C'mon, Pat."

Patrick followed SpongeBob. He could not wait to return to the ocean and become immersed in life-giving water. However, he was a little bit disappointed since he did not recieve the magical page.

The three entered the Pacific Ocean.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy were sitting at a table in the Krusty Krab's dining room. The yellow sponge and the octopus had resumed their normal working duties. Patrick was back at his rock since he had finished his breakfast.

SpongeBob just finished his explanation of the magical pages and how he had found them.

"Now everything's starting to make sense." Sandy nodded. The sponge's explanation was decent enough for her to comprehend the chain of events that had happened at the island. "It's crazy to think that stuff like that actually exists. I bet nobody from my hometown would believe a word about them pages. I'm not too surprised, though. I know that there are gods, ghosts, and other things like that roaming around the sea." The squirrel was talking about the difficulty of wrapping her mind around the fact that SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick were capable of magical powers.

"Is there magical stuff in the surface world?" SpongeBob asked out of curiosity. He was wondering about how humans and other land animals could use magic and other mysitc powers. He did not know anything about the religious beliefs of humans.

"Yep." Sandy nodded. "But to a lesser degree when compared to the stuff I've seen here. Back in Texas, we've got spirit possessions and stuff like that. Most humans are kinda afraid of magic since they think it's 'evil' and all that jazz." The squirrel explained the paranormal occurrences that had occurred at her hometown. "Scientists have confirmed paranormal stuff is legit anyway, just in case you didn't know."

SpongeBob laughed. "Paranormal things had been considered scientific a long time ago. I think they had been confirmed before I was even born." The sponge remembered obscure facts that he had learned in science classes during his high school days. "Anyways, what's a spirit possession?" He had never heard about such a paranormal occurrence before. The paranormal occurrences that he was familiar with were all directly related to Neptune and a few other gods.

"It's when a spirit takes over your body and controls it. It's super unpleasant so people try to make the spirit leave the possessed person's body. We usually use spells that require local herbs for getting rid of those spirits." Sandy explained a more strange aspect of her childhood at Texas. She was glad that the sponge was interested in her roots, it kept her connected to her true home.

"Why do humans think magic is evil? I know that you can use stuff like the pages for bad purposes but they can be used for good as well." SpongeBob could not understand the alien view of magic being evil. He had learned through history classes about the gods and goddesses doing many miracles with their magical powers. His view on the paranormal were innocent and untainted of the dogmatic beliefs of a majority of humans.

"It's just part of the teachings of their religion." Sandy answered SpongeBob's question. She knew a lot about the religion of humans since she had to live near them and even had to interact with them on a daily basis.

"What's a 'religion'?" SpongeBob scratched his head and gestured air quotes when he said "religion". He found the concept of human religion to be even more alien. What he and other sea creatures considered to be religion was far different and less restricting than human concepts of religion. Since the evidence for the existence of the Greco-Roman pantheon was blatant, the human views of religion never passed through his head.

"A religion is a system of belief about the existence of a god, gods, or other divine superpowered things. Only humans do that stuff though. Even land creatures are aware of Neptune's and other gods' existences." Sandy answered the question with her own definition of religion (which was the definition for human religion). She also implied that humans had stark contrasts when their views on spirituality was compared with the animals' spiritual views.

"Do they think that Neptune and other gods exist?" SpongeBob was now like Squidward during the island event. Questions multiplied as fast as cancer in his head. His curiosity spurred him to gain more insight about the mysteries of the surface world.

"Nope. All humans either believe in one god called God, don't believe in Him at all and live secular lives, or think that no evidence that proves or disproves God's existence can be found. The believers are called Messians, the non-believers are called atheists, and the other ones are called agnostics." Sandy dug even deeper into, from the sponge's perspective, the alien views and beliefs of humans.

The sponge was quite surprised by the squirrel's vast amount of knowledge about humans. However, he found the human-conceived idea of religion to be ridiculous since the Greco-Roman pantheon was apparent for all living things to see. He also found the name of the human's deity to be humorous since it was so plain. "God." He said the deity's name to himself and then giggled. He could not take the name seriously. "Why can't humans make up more creative names for their gods?"

"I dunno." Sandy shrugged. "Plus, I don't think you should joke about their god like that in their presence. Some of them can get really pissed off. I've seen it happen." The squirrel gave the sponge a warning in case if the sponge ever went to the surface world again and encountered humans.

A pause.

Squidward did not pay attention to and consequently could not understand the apparent nonsense that SpongeBob and Sandy were talking about. He was too busy reading his novel. 'Texas must be a strange place.' He made an assumption. However, that assumption did not mean that he was ignorant when it came to facts about the United States in general.

Sandy reflected on the whole chain of events that had led to the island incident. She knew that she had started it by attempting to protect her pride. She realized that the entire argument would have never happened if she had just accepted the strengths that sea creatures had. The squirrel then came to another realization, she had let her pride take control of her actions and that consequently opened up opportunities for harm against her, her friends, and her associates. She got insulted by her aquatic associates while they also had an opportunity for possible harm by walking up the mountain to the island. "SpongeBob, I'm sorry for what happened. I think I became a little too arrogant and got carried away by my loss in the running race. I also think that I've taken how you said how you were a good climber the wrong way." She spoke sincerely.

SpongeBob smiled widely. "That's okay, Sandy. Some people have bad days and can get pretty mad and cocky anyway. It's also kinda hard moving from two totally different places like the ocean world and the surface world." The sponge easily forgave the squirrel. He understood where the squirrel was coming from since she had moved in to Bikini Bottom instead of being raised there, he viewed Sandy's land creature pride as another string that kept her connected to her true home. He had such a deep understanding since he had viewed almost everybody in the school as strangers whenever he moved into a higher phase of school (e. g. middle school, high school etc.).

Sandy shook her head. "SpongeBob, I can't just let an incident like the recent one slip by. I endangered all of you by making you guys survive on that island. If those seagulls were normal ones, they probably would've killed you all once they get a hold of you. I promise that I won't let my pride put all of you in danger ever again." The squirrel made a highly sincere promise. She was very serious about abiding by it since her caring and considerate side of her personality took over her mind and actions. The argument over land creatures and sea creatures reminded her of the prideful mistakes that she had committed in the past.

A pause.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled. He had rarely seen the squirrel express such concern over others before. Although her care for pets revealed her caring nature, the sponge was also aware of her countering competitive nature. "I guess land creatures and sea creatures are equals. We both got our benefits and disadvantages." The sponge commented on the argument that he and his friends with Sandy. "Maybe we should focus more on how we're the same instead of different." The next comment he made revealed his thoughtfulness.

The sponge's final comment reminded Sandy of the karate match she had with SpongeBob earlier in the day and how all of the shenanigans started. "Yeah." Sandy slowly nodded. She completely agreed with the statements that SpongeBob just said. She was glad that the recent argument finally became sealed with some closing statements.

S-S-S-S-S

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was around 11:00 AM.

There were a plenty amount of customers sitting at the tables in the dining room and eating their ordered food. Unlike yesterday, business was now running smoothly in the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs was standing and walking around the dining room. He had just finished counting all of the noteworthy profits of his business and had nothing else to do. He was making sure that his employees were not slacking off.

A pause.

A customer who just finished his meal walked up to the boat and gave the proper total amount of money for his ordered food to Squidward.

**CHA-CHING**

Squidward opened the cash register's drawer and properly put the given dollar bills and coins into the drawer. He then closed the drawer.

The customer walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM  
**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs noticed something odd about the amount of money that the customer had given to Squidward. He had seen the combination of food that the customer had ordered and was also familiar with that combination's price. He walked up to Squidward. "Mr. Squidward, how much did the customer that just left pay?"

"Forty-nine dollars and eight cents." Squidward droned and put his hand on his cheek out of boredom. Prices, from his perspective, were not one of the most thrilling topics for conversations.

"That's a penny short..." Mr. Krabs figured out what was strange about the given money. He then looked at the floor and his eyes moistened slightly. He thought about how many inaccuracies in payments that Squidward overlooked and how much profits he lost over time because of that. Preventable losses of money always broke Mr. Krabs' heart.

SpongeBob saw what was happening by looking through the ordering window. "It's just a penny, sir." The sponge wanted to change Mr. Krabs' view on the lost penny, he wanted his boss to think about the triviality of just one penny. He merely tried to help his boss get over unnecessary sadness. "It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?" Mr. Krabs looked up at SpongeBob. His eyes were no longer moist. "It's money that makes the world go round, boy!" Greed and business conquests was what drove Mr. Krab forward throughout his life. "It's money that keeps your pants square." His greed was so profound that he saw certain products or items as not the same without it being paid for. He knew that someone had to hand over money in order for SpongeBob's squarepants to be sewn into such a shape. "It's money that paid for all them renovations we did!" He pointed at several features in the dining room. It was ironic that the dining room had not received a repair or renovation in several years, the crab thought that the most recent renovation had been a bit too expensive for his taste. "Oh, nothing in all the seven seas could matter more. Not even..." A certain woman entered Mr. Krabs' vision and he suddenly became captivated by her physical appearance. "...that scrumptious curvy cutie." His word choice revealed his fondness for that woman. His view of money being more important than anything immediately began to change. He sunk into the sweet bliss of infatuation. Such occurrences were quite rare since the crab was very picky when it came to women.

SpongeBob thought that Mr. Krabs was looking at something else instead of a woman. "I see her, Mr. Krabs." The sponge smirked at his own apparent cleverness. "A Krabby Patty with cheese. The classic." The sponge was looking at a Krabby Patty on a plate that was on a table. According to his aesthetic tastes, properly cooked and prepared Krabby Patties were beautiful since they provided a more powerful effect when eaten; that effect was their taste.

Squidward began to laugh by honking his nose. The sponge's aesthetic views on Krabby Patties revealed, from the octopus' perspective, the ridiculous and even comical loyalty and love that the yellow square had for his job. Squidward found what SpongeBob thought that Mr. Krabs was seeing to be absolutely hilarious. Another reason for his laughter was that he considered his aesthetic tastes to be superior than all other sea and air creatures' tastes.

"Not the sandwich, boy!" Mr. Krabs loudly whispered to SpongeBob and shook his head. "The curvy cutie holding the sandwich!" The crab pointed at the women that he had just caught a glimpse of. He corrected the yellow square.

SpongeBob immediately recognized who that woman was. "Hey, that's my driving teacher, Mrs. Puff." He grinned. He was not aware of her presence beforehand since he had not looked through the ordering window when she had stated her order and received her food.

"Mrs. Puff?" Mr. Krabs frowned in disappointment. He had desired to hang out with Mrs. Puff and see what type of woman that Mrs. Puff was like. He had been divorced with his most recent wife a long time ago, it had happened a few months before he adopted Pearl as an infant. "Aw... she's married." He assumed that the apparent marriage that Mrs. Puff was in was sealed and any opportunity of polygamy was not possible. Unlike human civilizations, polygamy and other types of marriages that a large majority of humans would consider unorthodox or strange was legal in aquatic civilizations. The legality of such marriages was caused by the very different moral and religious views of aquatic peoples, even though their views were very slightly influenced by humans; such as the necessity of money. Land creatures also had similar moral and religious views although their views had been slightly more influenced by humans when compared to sea creature views.

"Oh, no, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob giggled. He found Mr. Krabs' assumption of her relationship status due to her name to be a bit funny. "She's single." He knew her relationship status since he had visited her house a few times in the past.

"Then what happened to Mr. Puff?" Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and scratched his head in confusion. His assumption became obvious.

"She doesn't like to talk about it." SpongeBob bit his lip. He had made a correct assumption in the past about Mrs. Puff's former spouse being dead (how he died was unknown to the sponge), he had assumed since he had asked a similar question about Mr. Puff to Mrs. Puff and got a negative response. The unfortunate Mr. Puff had gotten killed by an infamous sea creature hunter known as the Cyclops during a business trip to a sea near Australia.

"Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a lass like that on me claw." Mr. Krabs smiled and fantasized about the possible fun and pleasurable times that he could have with Mrs. Puff. His words only confirmed his desire to hang out with her. He looked up to the ceiling as he fantasized.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Hey, I know!" He raised his index finger to express that he had a good idea. "Why don't I take you over and introduce you?" He was aware of the crustacean's crush on Mrs. Puff.

Mr. Krabs blushed slightly, it looked like it was non-existent due to his red shell. Over the fifteen years of not having a spouse or even dating other women, the crab had lost his ability to lure desirable women with his masculine charms. Raising a daughter and owning a successful fast-food business consumed major portions of his free time. "Oh, no, no, no, I-I'm too old, boy." He made an excuse. "Too hard-shelled for love. Besides, I ain't properly dressed." He made another excuse, which was about his 'toughness', and also said an (unintentional) lie. His current low confidence when it came to dating women consequently worsened his self-image whenever it came to approaching attractive women.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes slightly and smirked. He knew for certain that Mr. Krabs was lying and making excuses since Mr. Krabs looked slightly nervous. He then smiled normally. "Oh, come on, Mr. Krabs. You look great!" He spoke honestly. The sponge did not see a single stain on Mr. Krabs' shirt and pants. Contradictory to Mr. Krabs' claims, the crab actually looked decent. The crustacean had wanted to look clean and proper since he was an owner of a professional business. "You wait here while I go break the ice." He walked towards Mrs. Puff, he knew that the crab needed some assistance.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped. "SpongeBob, no, wait! I'm too nervous!" He revealed his hesitance and grabbed SpongeBob's shoulders. "Ooohhhh..." He began to sweat profusely. Instead of stopping the sponge, the crab simply became dragged along by the sponge's walking.

"Hi, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob waved at Mrs. Puff to catch her attention. He tried to act casual.

Mrs. Puff saw SpongeBob from the corner of her eye and nearly fell off of her seat in fright. In almost every circumstance and occasion, seeing the sponge outside of boating school triggered acute panic attacks about possible boating accidents. She eventually calmed herself down and sat up. She took a deep breath. "I didn't expect to see you here..." She had forgotten that SpongeBob works at the Krusty Krab.

"I work here, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob reminded Mrs. Puff about his job. "Wanna meet my boss?" He tried to sound as natural as possible. However, even he knew that the question came out in a strange manner; he asked it too soon.

"Well, I'm not-" Mrs. Puff entered a deep state of thought. She could not figure out a way to answer SpongeBob's question. She could not come up with any possible motives for the yellow square asking that question either. The yellow square interrupted her in the middle of her sentence.

"Don't move!" SpongeBob held out both of his hands to signal Mrs. Puff to halt what she was saying and doing. He was cutting right to the chase. He then grabbed Mr. Krabs by one arm and dragged him over to Mrs. Puff's table. "Mrs. Puff, I'd like to introduce you to Mr.-"

**THUD**

Mr. Krabs fell to the floor in a nervous attempt to stand up and look confident. He then slowly and shakily stood up. His nervousness made his limbs move like they were suffering a severe case of arthritis.

"Mrs. Puff, I'd like to introduce you to my boss, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob finished his sentence and made a crooked smile. He found the current turn of events to be awkward. He then crossed his fingers behind his back in the hope that the conversation between the pufferfish and the crab will go on smoothly. The only reason why he was helping Mr. Krabs break the ice between him and his crush was because of his loyalty to his boss; he felt a sense of obligation to help the crab in times of need.

Mrs. Puff sweatdropped and looked at Mr. Krabs. "Uhh... hello." She was becoming uncomfortable. She found Mr. Krabs' sudden introduction and entrance into the conversation to be strange.

By that point, Mr. Krabs was standing before the table. "Gla-gloo!" The nervousness caused by his own doubt made his mouth possess a mind of its own. He could not speak any comprehensible words because he was too afraid of saying something hurtful or stupid.

"No, no, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob shook his head. "Just say hello." He assumed that his boss was confused about what to say and also consequently spoke in baby-talk.

Not a single word could come out of the crab's mouth. The rivulets of sweat that was wetting his shirt became obvious.

"Hmm..." Mrs. Puff bit her lip and decided on what she considered to be the best and wisest thing to say. "Perhaps another time would be-" She became interrupted by Mr. Krabs.

"No!" Mr. Krabs managed to say a comprehensible word. The worst-case scenario in his mind was him through his own spoken words and actions making Mrs. Puff uncomfortable and her leaving the Krusty Krab as a result.

SpongeBob held out his hand towards Mrs. Puff as a signal for the teacher to continue halting her current activities. "Wait, he's trying to tell you something!" He whispered loudly. He kept giving his boss many chances to make a move on Mrs. Puff.

"Dah me nam do um dah um!" Mr. Krabs once again became unable to speak anything comprehensible. He was becoming both frustrated and embarrassed.

Some people began to giggle after hearing Mr. Krabs' baby-talk. They thought it was funny since it was unexpected and sounded silly.

Mrs. Puff tilted her head to the side. "I don't understand." She stated the obvious. That was the only somewhat positive reply that she could think of. The conversation was simply too awkward for much thought into words.

"Bo a blum, uh, do a blugh eh ou a blaugh!" Mr. Krabs was trying to speak normally but his words became filtered by his nervously shaking mouth. The filter that was blocking his intended words began to frustrate him even more.

SpongeBob felt pity for his boss, he could not bear to watch his boss embarrass himself. "Uh, I think Mr. Krabs is saying that he'd like to... hit you with a rake!" He tried to interpret Mr. Krabs' words in an attempt to translate their actual meaning to Mrs. Puff.

Mrs. Puff's face slightly drained of color and she covered her mouth with both of her hands. "Goodness!" She did not expect to hear such words from the crab at all. She was acting like she had suddenly gotten hit by a rake.

Mr. Krabs made eye contact with SpongeBob and shook his head to indicate that SpongeBob was not saying the correct interpretation. "Gla-goo, meep bo blargh uh hee!" He looked at Mrs. Puff and then pointed at himself and then at Mrs. Puff in an attempt to convey the meaning of his alien words.

SpongeBob scratched his head, he decided to make a wild guess.. "I think he wants to... try to guess your weight." He shrugged.

Mrs. Puff raised her brow and folded her arms. "Well!" She became offended by the crab's inappropriate words.

"Rraugh, glorg mic floraug!" Mr. Krabs was becoming desperate. He was playing a game of charades by pointing at several things in the dining room in the hopes of SpongeBob or Mrs. Puff catching the intended meaning of his words.

SpongeBob thought about what Mr. Krabs would say to Mrs. Puff in the current situation. "He wants to take you..." He began his interpretation.

Mr. Krabs grinned. 'C'mon, boy! You're almost there!' He thought with optimism. He became hopeful since the sponge was beginning to say the correct meaning of his words. "Ca ca boom a lom!" He repeated the same sentence but it ended up sounding different.

SpongeBob realized what Mr. Krabs was trying to say and then snapped his fingers. "He wants to take you on a date!" He pointed at Mr. Krabs and then at Mrs. Puff. He was grinning as well.

Mr. Krabs' nervousness vanished since the anticipated words had been said and understood. He gasped in happiness and fell to the floor as his body adjusted to the normal sensations of calmness and bliss.

Mrs. Puff stood up from the table, walked up to Mr. Krabs, and pulled the crab up by his claw. "Is that true, Mr. Krabs? Do you want to take me on a date?" She was delighted. Men had rarely asked her on a date in the past, she did not fit every male Bikini Bottomites' tastes.

Mr. Krabs was smiling in a calm manner. "Aye. What do you say?" He wanted to hear a final verdict from his crush. He was the one who pursued her in the first place.

Mrs. Puff giggled. She had already decided during the moment that SpongeBob said his correct interpretation. She was not going to let such a rare opportunity pass by; she had gotten over her grief for her former husband a long time ago and was ready to find a new partner. She had always accepted any date proposals from men anyway since it happened so rarely. "What do I say? I say, you have a way with words, Mr. Krabs." She then laughed. The pufferfish thought that Mr. Krabs had been trying to be humorous by speaking in baby-talk. A sense of humor was certainly a trait she desired in a man.

Mr. Krabs chuckled. 'I still got it.' He thought that he still had a trace of his former masculine charms. His nervousness had unintentionally lured Mrs. Puff into becoming interested in him. His goal of getting a date was successful.

"So when and where are we gonna have this date?" Mrs. Puff asked out of curiosity. She certainly had to know where Mr. Krabs was going to be or else the date would be a disaster.

'Barnacles! I haven't dated a woman at a decent place in twenty years!' Mr. Krabs thought in frustration. He had not dated at fancy restaurants or other nice places (he dated at his own home) during the period of dating that lasted between the divorce of his former wife and the adoption of Pearl. He totally forgot about which places in Bikini Bottom were the best to date at. He then looked at SpongeBob and whispered: "What's a good place to date at?"

A fancy restaurant immediately popped into SpongeBob's head when he thought about decent dating places. "Le Fancy." SpongeBob whispered back to Mr. Krabs. The restaurant he just said was the same restaurant that his parents had dated at before he was born.

Judging by the restaurant's name, Mr. Krabs considered the restaurant to be decent. He did not have time to know for certain if the restaurant was desirable. "Le Fancy." Mr. Krabs partially answered Mrs. Puff's question. "I'll call you once I choose a time for our date." He indirectly asked for Mrs. Puff's phone number.

"You'll need my phone number." Mrs. Puff took out her cell phone and turned it on. She inputted the password and tapped on the phone's contact list. She then showed the phone number to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs took out a pen that was in his pocket. However, he did not have anything to write on.

SpongeBob took out his notepad. "I'll do it for you." He snatched the pen from Mr. Krabs' claw and jotted down Mrs. Puff's phone number. He then ripped the page out and gave it to Mr. Krabs. "You should write your phone number too." He also gave the notepad and the pen to the crustacean so the crustacean could jot down his phone number.

Mr. Krabs folded the ripped paper and then put it away. He jotted down his own phone number, ripped out that page from the notepad, and gave it to Mrs. Puff.

"See you later." Mrs. Puff waved at Mr. Krabs with enthusiasm. She could not get rid of the smile on her face. Since she had finished her meal and had already paid for it, she walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK  
**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob could only think of a few words to say to his boss. Such a monumental victory for his boss would make the boss reach the next step in the developing relationship between him and Mrs. Puff. "Congratulations, Mr. Krabs." The sponge smirked. "She's you're girlfriend now." The sponge unintentionally revealed his ineptitude when it came to romancing and dating women, his childish nature naturally caused such incompetence.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "That lass ain't mine yet. That's why we have to date." He assumed that the sponge did not know the purpose of dating. He then walked to his office and...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen door to resume his normal working duties. 'Can't wait 'till I tell Nick about this.' The sponge thought about telling Nicholas about Mr. Krabs' success in getting a date with Mrs. Puff. Two days ago, he had told Nicholas about the argument he had with Sandy and the crazy events that had happened on the island.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen through the door in the kitchen that led to his office. "SpongeBob, do you know Le Fancy's phone number?" He wanted to call the restaurant so he could arrange a schedule.

SpongeBob nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly nine hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was fifteen minutes before 8:00 PM. The time of the date was drawing near. The crab had set up a schedule for his and Mrs. Puff's visit to Le Fancy and also had informed Mrs. Puff about the schedule and how they were going to meet.

Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob were standing inside the living room of Mr. Krabs' anchor. They were making sure that the crab was prepared for the date. The crab was currently wearing a tuxedo. The sponge had came to help Mr. Krabs since he did not have much to do at home and had a desire to continue helping his boss.

SpongeBob smiled in satisfaction. He was holding a list of things that Mr. Krabs needed in order to be properly prepared for the date. "Are you ready for your date, Mr .Krabs?" He wanted to see how confident his boss felt.

"I"m always ready when it comes to datin', lad!" Mr. Krabs flexed his muscles to show his manliness. What he said was always true.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He crossed out with his pencil the word 'CONFIDENCE' which was an item on the list. "Breath spray?" He went to the next item on the list.

Mr. Krabs picked up a small bottle of breath spray from a table and sprayed it into his mouth. "Check!" He spoke with confidence. The crab was excited to go on his first date in over a decade.

SpongeBob crossed out 'BREATH SPRAY'. "Lucky hankie?" He said the next item.

Mr. Krabs took out a handkerchief from his pocket and showed it to SpongeBob. "Check!" He put it away.

SpongeBob crossed out 'LUCKY HANKIE'. He then giggled and smirked. 'Mr. Krabs won't expect this one.' He thought about making a joke. "Giant rusty anchor?" He actually crossed out every item on the list, the item he just asked for was made-up.

"Anchor?!" Mr. Krabs raised his brow and dug into his pockets for it. Once he figured it out that it was not nearby or in any of his clothes, he assumed that he forgotten to buy it or bring it with him. "I can't find me giant rusty anchor!" He sweatdropped as he began to panic. He was taking the preparation for his date very seriously.

SpongeBob crumpled the paper and then tossed it into an open trash container. He laughed as he did that. "Relax, Mr. Krabs. Just a little joke." He revealed his humorous motives. "Good luck with you know who." He traced a circle in the air and moved his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive manner. His spoken words were honest.

"Who's that?" From Mr. Krabs' viewpoint, the sponge's circle trace was too vague for it to be a clue for what SpongeBob was suggesting.

SpongeBob giggled. "Mrs. Puff." He said what he thought was an obvious answer.

Mr. Krabs now understood why SpongeBob had traced a circle in the air. Mrs. Puff was a pufferfish after all. "Right." He nodded. "Well, wish me luck, lad." He walked towards the front door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

...exited the anchor.

A pause.

SpongeBob felt like his duty for assisting Mr. Krabs with romancing with Mrs. Puff was fulfilled. He strolled towards the front door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

...exited the anchor as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A building that looked identical to an old-school pirate ship was becoming larger and larger as Mr. Krabs walked towards it. The building was inside a giant glass bottle whose top was covered by a wine bottle cap, the bottle was also laying on the ground instead of standing. The building had been built inside the bottle so the restaurant could look extra-fancy. A boardwalk had been built through a perfectly measured square hole on the glass bottle. Beyond the hole and the end of the boardwalk, there stood a double door that led to the dining room of the restaurant. A sign that had red text in cursive font saying 'LE FANCY!' was on top of the glass bottle. Judging by the external appearance of the restaurant, Mr. Krabs could tell that setting up a schedule and ordering food was probably going to be expensive. He had not asked about the prices during his phone conversation with Le Fancy's staff. He had assumed that SpongeBob carefully picked Le Fancy out of consideration for his own cheapness (he was consequently assuming that the restaurant had low and affordable prices). However, doubts about his assumptions formed in his mind as he walked towards the restaurant. Those doubts began to worry him because he did not want to hand over a massive amount of his precious money. He had another 'lady' that he was going to 'date'.

Mrs. Puff was standing before the restaurant. She was patiently waiting for Mr. Krabs to arrive. Once the crab entered her vision, she smiled in relief. She had came a few minutes earlier than the crab and had begun to get worried over the crustacean's whereabouts. "Thank goodness." She wiped some sweat from her brow.

"Ready to go?" Mr. Krabs smiled widely. His physical appearance boosted his confidence and that confidence gave him a calm demeanor as a result.

"Absolutely." Mrs. Puff nodded without hesitance.

The pufferfish and the crab walked across the boardwalk and entered the giant bottle.

S-S-S-S-S

A security guard was standing before the double door. He was holding a customer list in the form of a notebook with a large amount of pages. Customers who wanted to eat at Le Fancy had to schedule themselves into the reservation list. "Who are you?" He looked up at Mrs. Puff and Mr. Krabs who were standing before him.

"I'm Eugene Krabs." Mr. Krabs pointed at himself.

""I'm Mary Puff." Mrs. Puff answered the security guard's question as well.

The security guard skimmed through the list and found both of their names. "Very well. You may go right ahead." He stepped out of the way.

Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

S-SLAM

...entered Le Fancy.

S-S-S-S-S

The dining room was so spacious that children or teens could run several laps in the path of its perimeter and get tired easily. The dining room was what most of the chamber inside the ship consisted of.

The far smaller half of the ship's chamber was the kitchen and storage rooms. That smaller half was protected by security guards who stood near the doors. Those guards were keenly watching the dining room to prevent any suspicious activity and to also keep the peace.

Many tables filled the room and many people occupied those tables. Chatter that was three times as loud as the normal chatter heard in the Krusty Krab's dining room filled Le Fancy's dining room. Nearly all of them were older adults, a minority of them were families with children. Regardless of age or bloodline, they all wore clothing that was appropriate for the fanciness of the restaurant. The name of the restaurant and its expensive food commanded such an unspoken clothing norm.

A pianist was playing a musical composition on a classic piano. The composition sounded pleasant to everybody's ears and brought a relaxing air to the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs sweatdropped when he began to hear the pianist playing. In the back of his mind, he thought that hefty prices were awaiting him in the restaurant.

An awkward pause.

Mrs. Puff was bewildered by the number of tables and seats in the dining room. She was not sure about which table that she and Mr. Krabs was supposed to sit at. "Do you know where we're sitting at?" She looked at Mr. Krabs from the corner of her eye.

"They did say that our table has some doohickies that have our names printed on them." Mr. Krabs recalled an important spoken piece of information from the phone conversation with the staff. He navigated through the jungle of seats and tables in search of nametags on tables that had the words 'KRABS' or "PUFF'. He eventually found a table that had two nametags that had the words 'EUGENE KRABS' and 'MARY PUFF' respectively. "I found it!" He looked at Mrs. Puff and signaled with his claw for the pufferfish to come to the table.

Mrs. Puff walked up to Mr. Krabs.

The couple sat down in the table. There were only two seats on the table since the table was specifically reserved for them.

The crustacean noticed two menu cards on the table and picked one of them up. He then looked through the menu in search of some items that he liked. He had dined at many places when he was a pirate so he was quite experienced when it came to tasting and criticizing the flavors of food. However, the menu items made him sweatdrop since he recognized some of them as a few of the most notoriously expensive items found throughout restaurants. He began to believe that the expenses caused by visiting here were inevitable. In spite of the troubling signs, the crab tried to calm himself down by paying attention to the soothing piano music. He had to focus his attention on the present and with Mrs. Puff instead of distant and unknown prices.

He was unaware of the fact that the food prices were on the other side of the card. However, the crab now cared less about looking at the menu card's back since he was trying to maintain his calm demeanor. He assumed that the card's backside was blank anyway.

A waiter walked up to Mr. Krabs and Mrs. Puff. "What would you like to order?"

S-S-S-S-S

Almost two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs' date with Mrs. Puff was going smoothly as planned. The two were talking about how SpongeBob played a role in their lives.

Mr. Krabs had been talking about how SpongeBob made his business become extremely successful and consequently made his business receive profits that other rival restaurants would become jealous of. Throughout his words of praise, he treated the yellow square with adoration like the yellow square was his own son. His words revealed the fatherly relationship that he has with SpongeBob. The crab also talked about some tales about his pirate days.

Mrs. Puff's talk about SpongeBob was the exact opposite of Mr. Krabs' view of SpongeBob. She had told nightmarish tales about SpongeBob causing accidents during boating exams and him constantly getting retained and ending up failing the next exam anyway. She viewed the sponge more like a parasite or pest than an innocent child, she had that view since the sponge had caused much suffering in her life. However, she became fascinated by how Mr. Krabs talked about SpongeBob. She was also interested in the many pirate feats the crab had done, she had never met a man that made such brave acts. The crab's tales also revealed a side of SpongeBob that Mrs. Puff had rarely seen. Mr. Krabs was also interested in Mrs. Puff's tales since it revealed that the sponge was not a perfect and innocent child and had flaws as well. He also sympathized with her struggles since it reminded him of the harsh pirate journeys that he had embarked.

The crab and the pufferfish were currently talking about the food and other services of the restaurant since they had just ate or received them.

"Oh, Mr. Krabs, this dinner had been so wonderful. The coral was cooked to perfection. I don't think I could eat another bite." Mrs. Puff commented on her favorite dish that the restaurant offered. That dish had coral as its main ingredient. She loved that dish so much that she had ordered for some more quite a few times.

"I doubt that, my little shrimp boat." Mr. Krabs had became comfortable enough to call Mrs. Puff affectionate nicknames. He still had an appetite for the delicious food that was served in the restaurant.

Mrs. Puff chuckled. She felt like the child of wealthy parents. "You're spoiling me, Mr. Krabs. I mean, foot rubs between courses..." Her feet had been professionally massaged by a professional, that professional had walked up to the two of them. The pufferfish obviously had accepted the offer while Mr. Krabs had declined. "Imported music..." She recognized the compositions being played on the piano, she confidently knew that all of those compositions had been written by famous humans. "The atmosphere..." She had rarely visited a restaurant as fancy as Le Fancy.

"Nothing's too good for you, my prickly peach." Mr. Krabs smiled warmly. He allowed Mrs. Puff to have as much food and receive as much services as she wanted, he did not argue about it at all. He allowed the pufferfish to put heavier amounts of debt on his bill since he wanted to leave an amazing impression on her; the years spent on business growth, business maintenance, and profit-gaining made him forget how to properly treat and date women.

Mrs. Puff thought that Mr. Krabs was too overbearing for her. His past was far more rich and elaborate than hers and she felt like dating at such a fancy restaurant was a little bit too much and unnecessary for her. The pufferfish thought that she was being put on a pedestal and could not form a true connection with Mr. Krabs due to hundreds of spoils being dropped to her feet. She felt like she was being treated more like a child or pet instead of an actual person. The ways that the couple could relate to each other were being bogged down by Mr. Krabs' excessive treatment. "Uh, what I'm trying to tell you, Mr. Krabs, is..." The pufferfish was trying to say how she felt in a kind manner. However, she did not felt like breaking up with Mr. Krabs yet.

A waiter walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Your bill, sir." He gave the bill to Mr. Krabs. The crustacean was going to pay the expenses for visiting the restaurant, as he had said during the phone conversation with the staff.

Mr. Krabs looked at the total amount due which was on the bottom of the bill. "What? A thousand dollars?! This can't possibly be correct!" The crab was utterly shocked by the amount that he had to pay. The restaurant's services and food were more expensive than he thought.

The waiter who gave Mr. Krabs the bill walked up to the crab. He looked at the handed bill and realized the mistake that he had made. "Oh, my mistake, sir. Thank you for pointing that out." He took the bill and gave Mr. Krabs the actual bill for him and Mrs. Puff.

Mr. Krabs looked at the total amount due that was on that bill. The total amount that was due was $10,000. The crustacean's eyes then bugged out. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" **The crab yelled as an anxiety attack set in. He was horrified by the amount of money that he had to pay, he felt like he had just witnessed someone 'murdering' his precious money.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING **

The shell-phone in the pineapple's living room rang.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the shell-phone's ringin and woke up from his slumber. He wiped his eyes, stood up from his bed, and walked towards the right door. The phone had rung at one of the worst times since he had been in the middle of deep sleep.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the ringing shell-phone and picked it up. "Hello?" He tried to speak in a lively manner since he was particularly drowsy.

"_SpongeBob, c-come to me home. I have something to tell you." _Mr. Krabs electronic voice was heard. He was struggling to control his sobbing.

SpongeBob immediately became concerned for Mr. Krabs' well-being. He found Mr. Krabs calling him at such an hour to be both strange and alarming. "What happened?"

"_It's something about me m-money..." _Mr. Krabs could no longer control his sobbing. He began to sob after saying the word 'money' since it reminded him of the financial burden that he put on himself.

SpongeBob quickly put the shell-phone down and ran towards the front door.

**CREAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran towards Mr. Krabs' anchor in his pajamas. He did not care about changing his clothes since he wanted to help his boss as soon as possible, his loyalty did not falter when it came to inconveniences. He assumed that something had went wrong during the date.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the anchor's front door open and entered the anchor. He saw Mr. Krabs sobbing while covering his face by laying down on the couch's rough and old surface. He made a solemn facial expression and knew with certainty that something had terribly gone wrong during Mr. Krabs' almost perfect date with Mrs. Puff. "Mr. Krabs, can you tell me what happened?" He spoke in a gentle voice, he did not want to speak harshly since it might worsen his boss' sadness.

Mr. Krabs sat up and wiped the tears from his face. He had been crying over the 'murder' of a chunk of his money. "The total amount I have to pay is ten-thousand dollars. I'm gonna have to give that money from my bank account in a few days." The crab spoke as he looked at the floor. He was ashamed of himself for making the foolish mistake of not researching Le Fancy before visiting that restaurant.

SpongeBob eyes bugged out. When his parents had told them about their date at Le Fancy, they had said that it had not been too expensive (the total amount for them was a couple thousand dollars). He could certainly tell that the debt Mr. Krabs had to pay was excessive. "I don't understand, Mr. Krabs. How can you spend ten-thousand dollars in one night?" Mr. Krabs' debt also boggled his mind.

Mr. Krabs sighed. "I couldn't help but spend every cent I had on her. I wanted to leave a good impression on her and I couldn't control myself 'cause of that. I wanted to look like the ideal man." The crab spoke the bitter truth. It was so bitter that it made his eyes moisten as he said those words. Love had transformed his parasitic greed into excessive charity. The composition of the crab's mind did not entirely consist of greed; its two great enemies, love and family, were also locked inside the crab's mind.

SpongeBob could not think of an appropriate or effective solution. However, he became aware of the crab's switch from intense greed to an equally intense charity. Since greed was the driving force of the crustacean's live, the sponge also considered his boss' sense of charity to be unstoppable as well. "What're you gonna do?" The yellow square optimistically thought that Mr. Krabs might already have a plan.

A promise that he had made to Mrs. Puff at the end of their tragic date was what currently occupied Mr. Krabs' mind. "I don't know, boy! I've got another date tomorrow." He revealed the promise he had made with his love interest. Like SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs considered any attempts to stop his charity to be futile. The thought about how much money he might spend tomorrow made him realize something far more tragic than the debt he had to pay. "I'm caught in the middle of me two great loves! Sweet Mrs. Puff and the rest of me money!" He sobbed again. He fell into the depths of despair since he felt like he was trapped. In his mind, Mrs. Puff and a group of dollar bills were having a match of tug-of-war over the crab's body.

SpongeBob looked at the floor and noticed that Mr. Krabs had dropped his wallet to the floor. He then picked it up and looked at it as he critically thought about Mr. Krabs' dire situation. "I wish there was some way I could help." He sincerely desired to alleviate the pressure that his boss was suffering through. His kind nature and loyalty to his boss could not make him back away from the daunting task of solving Mr. Krabs' problem.

Mr. Krabs looked up at his wallet which SpongeBob was holding. A light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. "Perhaps there is, boy!" He smiled widely as hope filled his heart like a waterfall. He had quickly climbed out of the abyss of despair by following the light of a bright idea. "I'm puttin' you in charge of me money!" The crab stood up and announced his idea with renewed liveliness. He wanted to put immediately put his idea into action since SpongeBob was responsible and trustworthy when it came to Krusty Krab duties.

SpongeBob scratched his head in confusion. He did not know how to properly spend Mr. Krabs' money. "I don't get it, Mr. Krabs."

"You come with me on the date and don't let me spend any money." Mr. Krabs attempted to make the instruction as simple as possible. He planned out the idea in his head within several seconds.

"Okay." SpongeBob nodded. He glanced at the wallet he was holding. "Should I give this back to you?"

"Yep." Mr. Krabs took the wallet from SpongeBob's hand. "When the date starts, I'll give you the wallet and you'll be in complete charge." He became more specific with his instruction.

SpongeBob nodded to show his understanding of the command. "Aye, aye, sir." He then walked towards the opened doorway. "See ya tomorrow." He grabbed the front door's knob.

"G'night, me lad." Mr. Krabs gladly said a farewell to his yellow fry cook. The sponge was the hope that protected him from wasting all of his money on spoiling his love interest.

**CRRREEEAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was more than ten minutes past 6:00 PM.

Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob were walking towards Mrs. Puff's house.

The crab had found out where Mrs. Puff lived by asking for her address during yesterday's date. Like yesterday's date, in spite of the risk of spending all of his precious green 'children', he anticipated today's date. The thought of deepening his relationship with Mrs. Puff gave him new energy. The crab thought that he and Mrs. Puff had too much in common in terms of struggles for him to give up on her quickly.

Mr. Krabs had been lecturing to SpongeBob about the actions that he and the yellow square should do during the date. "Now remember, we keep it cheap by going to the park. And no matter how much I ask you, don't give me any of me money." He was finishing the lecture. "Now, give me a dollar." He held out his claw towards SpongeBob. He offered a temptation to see if SpongeBob learned anything or not.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head. He firmly held the wallet and moved it away from Mr. Krabs' claw. The crustacean had given him the wallet during their walk. He was resolute in abiding by Mr. Krabs' advice and instructions.

"Good boy!" Mr. Krabs made a thumbs-up. "You'll do fine." He was confident in SpongeBob's ability to protect his own money. He then walked up to the front door of Mrs. Puff's house and...

**DING DONG**

...rang the doorbell.

S-S-S-S-S

"Who is it?" Mrs. Puff answered the ringing of the doorbell. She was sitting at a table in the living room and was looking over the paperwork of her boating school students.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs noticed that he did not bring a bouquet of beautiful flowers for Mrs. Puff. He then thought about buying and bringing a bouquet since he considered it to be a proper gift for Mrs. Puff. He also thought that giving a gift would properly start the date. His urges for charity took over his mind. "It's me, my beautiful belle buoy." His affection nicknaming for Mrs. Puff began, it was a sure sign of his charity urges' influence on his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Mrs. Puff giggled. "Just a minute." She was also anticipating her date with Mr. Krabs. She hoped that the crustacean would not spoil her as much with excessive money-spending and gifts.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs turned around and looked at SpongeBob. He was worrying over bringing a bouquet for Mrs. Puff, his charity was leading to desperation and anxiety. "Flowers! Flowers, boy! Go get flowers!"

SpongeBob raised his brow. He found Mr. Krabs' sudden command to be strange and too sudden. "But you said-" He became interrupted by the crab.

"SpongeBob, you can't call on a classy lady like Mrs. Puff empty-handed!" Mr. Krabs gave an excuse for his demand that SpongeBob could agree with (the sponge would have also started a date by bringing a bouquet). "We ain't talking about this..." He traced a square in the air with both of his claws. "...or this..." He traced a triangle in the air with his claws. "...we're talking about this!" He traced a circle in the air. He was trying to show that Mrs. Puff deserved special treatment since she was his love interest.

S-S-S-S-S

Mrs. Puff was getting close to finishing her paperwork. "Almost ready!" She announced her progress.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hurry, boy! Get the flowers!" Mr. Krabs whispered loudly to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob nodded in compliance to Mr. Krabs' demand. He could not find any flaw with giving a gift to one's love interest when starting a date. His dating and romancing abilities were just as good as Mr. Krabs' since he had never dated before. He ran towards a nearby store that he was familiar with, that store sold bouquets and other pretty knick-knacks.

Mr. Krabs crossed his fingers in the hopes of SpongeBob quickly returning with the gift he desired.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running back to Mrs. Puff's house as fast as he could. He was holding a bouquet of zinnias in one of his hands (those flowers were imported from the surface world). He had picked that bouquet since his favorite type of flower was any type of sunflower.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mrs. Puff exited her house. She was finished with her boating school paperwork.

"Mrs. Puff, you're most beautiful as ever." Mr. Krabs spoke with complete sincerity. From his perspective, there was no use in speaking through a filter since he desired to get close with Mrs. Puff. He wanted his love and affection to be reciprocated.

Mrs. Puff heard the panting of a certain yellow sponge. She smiled nervously. "That's funny, I thought I heard SpongeBob's voice." She was not too thrilled with the idea of encountering SpongeBob during her date with Mr. Krabs.

"You did. He's coming here right now." Mr. Krabs pointed at an incoming SpongeBob. "He's our personal assistant for the day." He was proud to have such a loyal employee and how he spoke revealed that.

Mrs. Puff suddenly realized something. "Oh, e-excuse me. I have to call my insurance agent." She turned around unceremoniously and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered her own home.

"Of course, my beautiful Mrs. Puff." Mr. Krabs did not mind waiting for Mrs. Puff some more. His date with her was certainly going to happen anyway. Knowing that Mrs. Puff will not return to the outside world for the next few moments, his urges for charity shrunk and his greed increased to its normal amount.

SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs and held out the bouquet towards Mr. Krabs. "I got the flowers you wanted." He stated the obvious so the crab would know for certain that the task was completed.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at SpongeBob. When he saw the bouquet, there was no doubt that SpongeBob had just spent some of his money. "We had an agreement, boy!" He began to scold SpongeBob. "You ain't supposed to spend any of me money!" His charity and greed created a cognitive dissonance in his mind. He wanted to buy nice things for Mrs. Puff and not spend any money as well.

"But you said-" SpongeBob was going to remind Mr. Krabs about the crab's previous words but got interrupted by the crab.

Mr. Krabs heard Mrs. Puff's footsteps and his mind quick;y switched into charity mode. "Here I come!" He snatched the bouquet from SpongeBob's hand. By that point, the date was going to begin.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Mrs. Puff exited her own house again.

"For you, Mrs. Puff." Mr. Krabs gave Mrs. Puff the bouquet. His tone of voice gave an air of calmness, confidence, and kindness. For the current moment, Mr. Krabs felt like the ideal man for a date since his voice revealed such desirable traits.

"Oh, flowers!" Mrs. Puff viewed the bouquet as a delightful surprise. She looked at the bouquet for several long seconds, she was admiring the zinnias' beauty. "How thoughtful." The pufferfish loved decorating her garden and the exterior of her house with flowers. Such decorations would look especially beautiful during spring or summer.

Mr. Krabs' charity desire made his mind go on a specific train of thought. "And here's a box of chocolates!" He held out his claw but noticed that he did not bring any box of chocolates. "SpongeBob, where's the chocolates?" He turned to look at SpongeBob, he began to panic. He wanted Mrs. Puff to have something to eat since he assumed that she did not eat at all during her time working on the paperwork.

"Mr. Krabs, the budget doesn't allow for-" SpongeBob said something but got interrupted by Mr. Krabs.

"SpongeBob, you can't go to Mrs. Puff's house without chocolates!" Mr. Krabs made another excuse. "Hurry! Hurry!" His charity urges made him forget that he had just scolded SpongeBob for spending his money.

SpongeBob could not help himself, he agreed with Mr. Krabs' excuse. He ran towards a nearby store that he had heard rumors of, that store sold chocolates and other sweets.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at Mrs. Puff. "He'll be back in a jiffy. He's gonna get the chocolates." He gave an explanation for their date's delay.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran back to Mr. Krabs with a large box of chocolates in both of his hands. "I bought the biggest box they had!" He gave the box of chocolates to Mr. Krabs.

The wait for SpongeBob made Mr. Krabs think too much about money and subsequently made the crab worry about how much of his money SpongeBob was spending. His greed took his mind's reigns. "Buy, buy. buy! Spend, spend, spend! Is that all you can think about?" He scolded the yellow square again. The crustacean then looked at the box of chocolates in his claws and his mind switched back to charity mode. "Here's those chocolates I bought for you." He spoke in a sweet tone. He gave the box of chocolates to Mrs. Puff. "What're we doing today, Mrs. Puff? Dinner? Dancing? A trip to the moon?" His charity-stricken mind made him sink into expensive fantasies.

"Psst, Mr. Krabs, we're just going for a walk in the park, remember?" SpongeBob whispered a reminder to Mr. Krabs' ear.

Mrs. Puff overheard SpongeBob's whisper. "Actually, a walk in the park sounds perfect." The season was currently summer so the weather was ideal for outdoor activities. "It's a beautiful day. I'll just need to get a sun hat and-" She became interrupted by Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at SpongeBob. "Mrs. Puff needs a sun hat, SpongeBob!" He had jumped to a wild conclusion. He thought that Mrs. Puff did not have a sun hat and spoke to him instead of herself.

SpongeBob looked at Mrs. Puff and was thinking that she did not need a sun hat. "Well, I think she-"

"The sun's beatin' down on poor Mrs. Puff's head!" Mr. Krabs gave a convincing excuse for such an unnecessary purchase. His excuse was based on fear over Mrs. Puff's health.

SpongeBob tried to think rationally. He was beginning to question his current loyalty and obedience to Mr. Krabs since Mr. Krabs was being a hypocrite. "As your financial adviser, I suggest that-"

"There's no time for suggestions! Go buy a hat!" Mr. Krabs barked an order. He pointed at elsewhere. He was panicking over Mrs. Puff's well-being.

"But-" SpongeBob raised his index finger.

"JUST DO IT!" Mr. Krabs yelled at SpongeBob. From his charity-filled viewpoint, SpongeBob was being too hesitant.

SpongeBob felt the ground and noticed that it was particularly hot. Mr. Krabs loud demanding was further delaying the date and SpongeBob used that and today's high temperature as an excuse for buying a sun hat. He ran towards the knick-knacks store.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob came back with a sun hat in his hand. "One shady hat." He gave the hat to Mr. Krabs. He hoped to the limits of his mind that Mr. Krabs would stop demanding for unnecessary purchases, he wanted the date to resume and Mr. Krabs to stop scolding him for obeying.

"Good job, lad." patted the sponge on the head and put the sun hat on top of Mrs. Puff's head. However, his charity refused to leave his mind's reigns.

"Well, thank you. But you didn't need to buy one. I have a hat in the closet." Mrs. Puff was initially going to go to her closet to retrieve her sun hat. However, Mr. Krabs' charity-filled mind was faster than her.

Mr. Krabs wore a smile. "Didn't need to buy one?" He repeated Mrs. Puff's statement so he could accept what his love interest just said. He slowly turned around to look at his financial adviser. "You hear that, boy? We didn't need to buy a hat." He spoke in a high-pitched voice to express his shock over the truth. "Aren't you supposed to be saving me money?!" His voice sharply changed to show his disapproval of SpongeBob's spending.

"I'm trying, Mr. Krabs!" SpongeBob answered Mr. Krabs' question. "But you keep telling me to buy things for Mrs. Puff! It's all really contradictory or confusing." He somewhat exposed the greedy and generous forces battling inside his boss' mind. Spending money or not spending money both led to Mr. Krabs either demanding or scolding. Mr. Krabs' reactions was blurring the line between loyalty and disloyalty from the sponge's perspective.

A pause.

Rationality and realism took control over Mr. Krabs' mind. The crab realized that he had committed hypocritical actions by demanding and scolding the yellow square. He then frowned in remorse for his previous foolish actions. "SpongeBob, I'm sorry. This is my fault. I'm not thinking clearly." He put a claw over his heart. "I'm making a sailor's promise, boy. From this moment on, I won't ask you to buy anything for Mrs. Puff." He spoke solemnly and sincerely. However, words could not seal his generous urges from being unleashed again.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen agonizing minutes of deliveries, yelling, and scolding later...

S-S-S-S-S

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

"_**SpongeBob!"**_

Mr. Krabs' yelling of his first name was constantly rewinding in SpongeBob's mind. The crab was yelling and calling him so many times that it was beginning to drive him towards losing his temper. The yellow square desperately wanted his boss' hypocrisy to end. Unfortunately, Mr. Krabs seemed to be brainwashed by his own charity since he constantly forgot his previous actions. It will take burning words of annoyance or anger or any other significant event in order for some rationality to brought back into the crab's contaminated mind.

SpongeBob's legs were aching from the numerous sprints. They soon wobbled and lost sensation.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground of Mrs. Puff's garden. Not even the sweet smells of the flowers on the garden could alleviate his fatigue. The sponge was panting and rivers of sweat covered his body. He felt like a slave who had worked long and excessive hours on a plantation, his loyalty was waning with each further demand from the crab.

Mr. Krabs ran up to SpongeBob with a sincere smile on his face. Another reason for his continuous demands was that Mrs. Puff was not directly responding to Mr. Krabs' gift-giving, such silence from Mrs. Puff kept him sliding across the rainbows of a world covered in the yellow fog of delusion. The gift-giving was occurring too quickly for the pufferfish to think straight and say what she truly felt in a kind and respectful manner. "SpongeBob, I'm glad I caught you. I want you to buy Mrs. Puff a jellyfishing ne-" He spoke in a manner just like SpongeBob when the sponge would anticipate the beginning of his workday. However, he became quiet once he saw SpongeBob raise his hand.

Mr. Krabs said one demand too many. "WAIT!" SpongeBob had enough of the crustacean's 'generous insanity'. Now was the time to say the truth bluntly. The yellow square stood up with a facial expression that expressed both fatigue and a lost temper. The sponge had transformed to a different person between his fall and rise. "You want me to run down to the store and buy Mrs. Puff something she doesn't need! Then you want me to run back here so you can say," He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "'Arrgh, SpongeBob! You're spending all me money!'" He imitated Mr. Krabs' voice and a pirate accent. "And then I'll say 'But Mr. Krabs, I'm only doing what you said!' And then you'll say," He spoke in his normal voice. "'We're not talking about this...'" He imitated Mr. Krabs voice and accent again as he quoted the crab. The sponge traced a square in the air with his index finger. "'Or this...'" He traced a triangle in the air. "' We're talking about THIIISSS!" He traced a random shape in the air that would not look like a polygon at all if drawn on paper. The sponge was saying the scene that had occurred a ridiculous amount of times over the past fifteen minutes to reveal the ridiculousness of Mr. Krabs' emotion-driven actions. Anger and grumpiness seethed into his words. The yellow square knew for a long time that the crab was not the ideal person that he constantly hoped for, it made him question his loyalty to his boss a few times. However, he did not complain or show indifference to Mr. Krabs' orders unlike Squidward since the crab had hired him into the job he loved anyway. He had also respected the crab for being a retired pirate and being more experience in business matters than the sponge.

"But lad, this time's different! Mrs. Puff needs this!" Mr. Krabs could find no end to his excuses. His self-defeating generosity viciously crushed any rationality or critical thought.

Mrs. Puff was staring at the pile of unnecessary gifts in front of her. Some of them were extremely unnecessary and over-the-top such as satin pillows. The pufferfish was trying to gather her words for her date but her date's argument with SpongeBob was too loud to be ignored. "Are we going to the park soon?" She managed to ask.

Mr. Krabs' charity urges were becoming extreme. The crab thought that not showering his love interest with love would end up making her break up with him, the yellow fog of delusion became blue and blinded him from his love interest's true feelings for Mr. Krabs. "Please, lad! I'm begging you!" He fell to his knees before his yellow assistant. "I'm a lonely old crustacean who found love!" He indirectly told SpongeBob about how his life was before he caught a good glimpse and subsequently dated Mrs Puff.

SpongeBob was totally shocked at the fact that Mr. Krabs had swung to another mood so quickly. "Mr. Krabs, don't cry." His kind nature could not allow him to be idle. He wanted to support the crab out of sympathy instead of loyalty. The yellow sponge hugged Mr. Krabs and patted him on the back. "Come on..."

A pause.

Mr. Krabs was still sobbing. The blue fog in his mind was unrelenting.

"Okay, I-I'm going to get it..." SpongeBob stopped hugging Mr. Krabs and walked towards a nearby store. He was going to satisfy Mr. Krabs' demand so the crustacean would stop crying. He also made a last hope for the crab to resume his date with Mrs. Puff after the pufferfish's receiving of the gift.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards a still sobbing Mr. Krabs. He was holding a jellyfishing net that he recently bought. "Cheer up, Mr. Krabs. Here's the jellyfishing net you wanted."He held out the jellyfishing net towards Mr. Krabs with an optimistic grin.

The jellyfishing net reminded the crab of SpongeBob's draining of the money in his wallet. His greed kicked his charity out of his mind's reigns. "Cheer up? How can I cheer up when you're spending al me hard-earned cash?!"

SpongeBob dropped the jellyfishing net to the ground. Repressed anger rose up in him like he was a volcano that was about to erupt.


	57. Procrastination

**I couldn't help myself, I had to make another double post. This chapter just took such a short time to write.**

* * *

**Chapter 57: Procrastination**

* * *

"SEE?! YOU DID IT AGAIN!" SpongeBob yelled at Mr. Krabs and pointed at the crab. The lava of anger was beginning the erupt from him.

"Lad, I can't help it if you're loose with other people's money." Mr. Krabs stood up. His greed refused to abandon its control over his mind. The fog was blinding him from seeing his past contradictory actions.

SpongeBob's anger culminated inside the bottle to a breaking point. Numerous moments of frustration took a toll on the sponge. "Well, Mr. Krabs, do you wanna know what I think?" He then cursed like a sailor, some of his curse words were obscure and highly vulgar. As he cursed, he stomped towards the pile of bought items and kicked them to the ground. The sponge was acting more like Squidward than his actual self. After several long seconds, he stopped cursing and getting into a fit.

Mr. Krabs' jaw dropped and left the crustacean's mouth agape. The crab could not believe that his kind, enthusiastic, and childish employee had transformed into a cursing and grumpy yellow monster. He then thought about the cause of such a shocking transformation and rationality consequently returned to his mind.

SpongeBob sat on a rock and waited for his seething anger to cool off.

"I didn't know SpongeBob had such a colorful vocabulary." Mrs. Puff commented on SpongeBob's angry act. She also felt like now was the appropriate time to tell Mr. Krabs about how she truly felt about the gifts. "Actually, there's something I'd like to say too, Mr. Krabs." The pufferfish walked up to the crab. "I'm afraid I just don't feel comfortable accepting all these gifts. I find them to be a distraction during our dates and I can't really build a relationship with you if you keep pampering me every moment of every date." She spoke the truth without any filter. She took out her wallet and gave some money from that wallet to Mr. Krabs. She wanted Mr. Krabs to regain some of the money he lost by spending them on gifts. "I'd rather go Dutch, if you don't mind."

Mr. Krabs sighed and turned to face Mrs. Puff. He was looking at the ground and was frowning. "Mrs. Puff, I've got a confession to make. I wanted to give you so many gifts because I couldn't help myself. I hadn't dated for more than fifteen years and I thought that giving you alota gifts would impress you. I've ran me business and took care of me daughter for so long that I forgot how to really date, me mind was just too focused on money. I'm sorry for screaming at the restaurant during yesterday's date and I'm sorry for delaying today's date." He confessed and apologized for what he had done. He then turned to look at SpongeBob. "Lad, I'm sorry for being a jerk to you and also for being a hypocrite. As a matter of fact, bring back all of that stuff I told you to buy. We don't need any of that junk anyway. I couldn't think straight 'cause it seemed like two different people, greed and kindness, were controlling my body, that was why I scolded at you for doing what I asked for." Mr. Krabs looked at Mrs. Puff again. "All of that foolery I did in the past will stay in the past." He concluded his confession.

Mrs. Puff was surprised by what Mr. Krabs said. Except for her former husband, she had never met a man that honest before. The other men she had dated in the past usually covered up any embarrassing or shameful aspects of themselves. Mr. Krabs and her former husband were different because they flat-out apologized for making any mistakes. The pufferfish knew for certain that Mr. Krabs had a trait she desired in a man, hard-working. She thought that Mr. Krabs must have worked rigorously and was dedicated to his business if he did not date in more than a decade. Another thing that she liked about Mr. Krabs was his capability for generosity in spite of his greediness. "You're a very sweet man, Mr. Krabs." She kissed the crab on the cheek. For having the guts to say such a confession, the pufferfish thought that Mr. Krabs deserved it.

Mr. Krabs smiled and blushed.

**THUD**

The crab collapsed to the ground. What he had striven for during his dates with Mrs. Puff finally became reality and he could not believe it. He had finally formed a bond with his love interest.

"Mr. Krabs, are you okay?" SpongeBob quickly became concerned for his boss. He revered back to his kind and caring nature. He ran up to Mr. Krabs and looked down at him.

"I'm fine, me boy." Mr. Krabs sat up. "My body's just getting used to all this... love." He had collapsed since he became delightfully surprised by Mrs. Puff's kiss.

Mrs. Puff laughed. She found the crab's honesty to be just as funny as the incident when the crab was baby-talking.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Mrs. Puff, when's our next class?" The sponge looked up at Mrs. Puff.

"This Saturday." Mrs. Puff answered.

"'kay." SpongeBob nodded.

S-S-S-S-S

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday.

It was past 7:00 PM.

SpongeBob was sitting in his desk in Mrs. Puff's classroom. He was taking one of the boating school's evening classes. The current evening class was a few minutes away from ending.

"Okay, class, quiet, quiet." Mrs. Puff held out her hand to signal for silence.

The classroom became quiet. The students (including SpongeBob) obeyed so (SpongeBob obeyed for another reason) they could leave class faster. Mrs. Puff usually delayed the class by a few minutes if people kept talking and not paying attention to her.

"Now get out your pencils and notebooks and write down the assignment." Mrs. Puff said another command. She also could not wait to leave the evening class since not teaching in boating school meant less torture from SpongeBob.

SpongeBob became excited. He loved doing homework assignments from boating school since it would improve his driving skills in the long-run and eventually give him higher chances of passing the exam. "Did you hear that? We get an assignment." He expressed his excitement to a male student who was sitting next to him. That adjacent student was struggling to stay awake.

"Everyone must write an essay on what not to do at a stoplight in no less than eight-hundred words." Mrs. Puff stated the homework assignment. She found the work she received from such essay assignments to be amusing since she can tell that some people wrote it at the last second. She even giggled in anticipation of receiving her class' work. ''Due tomorrow. And remember class: work hard and no goofing off." She was aware of the fact that her class had another class session tomorrow.

A pause.

SpongeBob had rapidly jotted down the assignment.

"You are now dismissed." Mrs. Puff announced the end of the evening class session.

SpongeBob was the first to stand up. He then dashed out of the classroom and eventually exited the school. He wanted to go home and start the essay right away so he could get it over with.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

"Hey." Gary greeted his owner. He was kind of bored since there was no current program on the TV that was interesting.

SpongeBob marched towards the kitchen. "Gary, I'm not gonna goof off." He spoke in a firm yet silly manner. "I am about to write the greatest essay of all time." His confidence and determination made him feel like he was going to achieve a grand feat. The sponge walked through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

Gary became curious and decided to follow SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on a chair in the table. "Like most great essays, it will be written on paper." The yellow square ripped off a piece of paper from his notebook and put it on the table. He was announcing what he was doing like he was lecturing about how to write a good essay. "Even more important than the paper is the pencil." The yellow square held out the pencil towards Gary and then firmly grasped it. "A pencil as sharp or as dull as I like." The sponge was now saying his thoughts out loud like he was unable to remain silent. "Hmm... funny... as my ideas grow, you shrink." He said a fact that even children knew. He was saying his thoughts out loud so his confidence in his writing could be boosted. "Well, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to write an essay." He had admired the orange sky as he had walked to his home. "Okay, here we go." He put his pencil on his paper. "What. Not. To do. At. A. Stoplight. By SpongeBob SquarePants." He said what he was writing out loud. He wrote the title of the essay. "This essay is gonna be pure gold." He smiled in optimism as he let the words flow into the paper. However, he was letting the words past through a filter of critical and deep consideration. He wanted to try his complete best on the essay.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Someone knocked on the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dropped his pencil and stood up from the table. He made a slight stretch so his muscles could relax from all of that sitting.

Ten words were on that ripped piece of paper. The sponge's consideration only allowed the words that showed the sponge's full potential to be on the paper. At that rate, it was going to take a whole night to complete the essay.

SpongeBob walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

...opened it.

Patrick was standing before the front doorway. "Sponge, what happened? I thought we were gonna jellyfish today." The sea star informed the sponge of what seemed to him to be a strange occurrence. He assumed that the sponge was going to jellyfish with him after the sponge's work since they had did it in the morning.

"I'm sorry, Pat. I can't jellyfish with you right now. I had to go to boating school after work. Mrs. Puff assigned me an essay to do for homework and I'm working really hard on it right now." SpongeBob spoke honestly and eyed the table through the open doorway to the kitchen. "But I can probably jellyfish with you tomorrow and do other fun stuff if I can finish my essay before the morning comes." The sponge was placing his education above hanging out with his friends. When it came to serious tasks, the sponge gets it done most of time. In the current case, he was fiercely determined to write an excellent essay. What he had said to himself earlier in an attempt to boost his confidence had ended up becoming his goal.

Patrick was not oblivious to SpongeBob's multiple boating exam failures. What the sponge had told him reminded him of his failed plan to make SpongeBob pass the boating exam. "Oh. I see." He completely understood SpongeBob's situation. 'One's gotta work hard next time after failing a test, I guess.' He thought as he turned around and walked towards his rock. His blank face showed his deep thinking about the sponge's situation.

SpongeBob felt a little bit bad for his best friend. He just denied the sea star from having a fun evening with him. However, the yellow square quickly let go of that sympathy, a rocky and challenging road laid ahead of him.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat down at the table and picked up his pencil. "It should be against the law to have to write an essay on such a super terrific day." The sponge sighed. He still could not stop thinking about that missed opportunity with Patrick. "But I must press onward, because with this pencil, and the completion of this essay, I'll be one step closer to my driver's license!" He narrowed his eyes in determination. However, his dramatic narration of what he was doing was becoming a distraction from his actual writing. His gathering of proper words required a large portion of time and narrating assisted him in gathering those words.

A very long pause.

SpongeBob wrote one word on the paper. "Oh, yeah. This'll be no problemo." He smirked and stuck out his tongue slightly to express his confidence. "Why, I've got plenty of time. It's only eight o'clock!"

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was starting to become drowsy. Staying up past his normal sleeptime was taking a toll on the sponge's mind. Only several more words were written into the paper. However, the sponge had an idea that might minimize his drowsiness and possibly boost his productivity. "I just need to get a little blood pumpin' in the old noodle." He stood up from his seat, put his pencil into his pocket, and did a few stretches. "Some calisthenics will do me good." What the sponge secretly desired was a break from the dull and grueling work of writing that essay to the best of his ability. His own determination was creating and encouraging procrastination. SpongeBob then laid on the floor and began to do some crunches, which was a calisthenics exercise.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later..

S-S-S-S-S

Once the sponge was sweating profusely, tired, and his abs could no longer handle the pain; he stood up and sat back in his seat. "I can feel those juices pumpin' now!" His mind had been reenergized by the crunches since it had been allowed to flow through ideas during the exercise. The yellow square took out his pencil and wrote a few more words into his essay.

Gary slithered up to SpongeBob. "I'm kinda hungry here." He informed his owner of his negligence. The snail's stomach then grumbled in emptiness.

SpongeBob looked at Gary and smiled in relief. In the back of his mind, he was glad that he found another excuse to delay his essay writing. "Hey, hey, hey, Gary! How's my favorite mollusk?" He spoke with the enthusiasm of a TV host. He hopped out of his seat and looked down at Gary. "You want me to fix you up something to eat?"

Gary nodded with his eyestalks.

SpongeBob ran up to a cabinet and took out a can opener and a can of snail nip from it. He opened the can of snail nip with the can opener and took out Gary's bowl from the same cabinet. He poured the snail nip into the green bowl, put the bowl on the floor, and slid the bowl towards Gary.

Gary slithered up to his food bowl and began to eat the snail nip.

SpongeBob tossed the empty snail nip can to the trash can. He walked back to the table and sat back in his seat. However, one he sat down, a repressed drowsiness crept up through his body. The crunches that he had did made his body more tired and consequently made him more sleepy. He had done too little for him to stay energized for a long time. He slowly closed his eyes and the table was the shroud that made him enter the sweet and relaxing world of dreams.

S-S-S-S-S

In SpongeBob's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

"Never mind." Gary shook his head.

SpongeBob was sitting in a normal position at the table. His pencil was touching his paper. "What do you mean you're not hungry?" He raised his brow. 'Didn't Gary's stomach just growl?' He had heard the sounds of Gary's empty stomach.

"I think I'll leave now." Gary slithered to the living room.

SpongeBob looked at the paper in front of him and made a facial expression of burning determination. 'I know I have an essay to write!' He narrowed his eyes, grit his teeth, and began to write some carefully considered into this essay.

A pause.

SpongeBob noticed that an opened can of snail nip was on the kitchen floor. The opened can was spilling an amount of snail nip that seemed to be much more than it can normally contain. 'My environment gotta be suitable for writing. I'm not gonna have any smells distract me.' He thought of a valid excuse for cleaning his kitchen instead of essay writing. He stood up from his seat and grabbed a mop that was leaning on the wall. He grabbed a bucket that was on the floor, went to the sink, and filled that bucket up with water from the sink. SpongeBob walked up to the opened can, put the bucket on the floor, dipped the mop into the bucket's water, and then mopped the spilled snail nip. One he finished mopping the snail nip, he dipped the mop into the bucket again but left it there. The yellow sponge picked up the snail nip can and threw it into the trash can. When he picked up the bucket and the mop in tow and walked up to the sink, he noticed that there were stacks of dirty dishes near the sink. 'These dishes need to be cleaned!' The yellow square thought and then began to wash the dishes. He once again satisfied his true desire to procrastinate .

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had finished cleaning dishes and had just put the dishes into the lower cabinets. "Well, that didn't take too long and it's only..." He walked to the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stepped into the living room, glanced at the clock that looked like a snail, and saw the time it was showing. "Ten o'clock!" The yellow square bit his lip. 'No more fooling around! I've gotta get back to work!" He ran back into the kitchen. His determination became temporarily stronger than his procrastination

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat back in his seat and grabbed his pencil. "Okay, Mr. Essay, I say... prepare to be written!" He announced his concentration on his main task so that he would not procrastinate again. The sponge then wrote at a relatively fast pace, words were flowing into the paper without being filtered too much. "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Hope filled his mind with optimism and that provided enough fuel for him to keep writing.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah!"

"And some of these, and some of these..."

"Almost there..."

He spoke as he wrote.

S-S-S-S-S

"Done!" SpongeBob dropped his pencil to the table. His dominant hand was quite tired from all of that quick writing.

Three paragraph had been written into the paper. The sponge had finally made some significant progress with writing that essay.

SpongeBob felt like he finally deserved a break. "Break time!" The sponge had been announcing so many things so his mind could quickly adjust to different modes for the different tasks that he had did. 'Pacing and slowing down always helps me think' Just like the calisthenics, taking a break helped SpongeBob's mind with recharging. He stood up and exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the living room and walked up to the shell-phone. He picked it up, dialed Patrick's number, and put the phone near his ear. He wanted to have a phone conversation with Patrick out of impulse.

A pause.

S-S-S-S-S

**RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone in Patrick's rock rang.

Patrick heard the ringing and stood up from his bed. He wiped his eyes as he walked up to the shell-phone. "Who is that?" He said a thought of his out loud. The sea star picked up the shell-phone.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Hello?" _Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

"Hey, Patrick, watchya up to?" SpongeBob leaned against the wall as he spoke into the shell-phone. He was curious to know what Patrick was currently doing since the conversation was not serious.

"_Sleeping." _Patrick droned and a yawn from him was heard through the phone.

"That's really fascinating, are you having a good sleep? Any dreams you'd like to discuss?" SpongeBob did not want the conversation to end so quickly. He was beginning to procrastinate again since his brain was not fully recharged and he was prolonging his break time. "I remember on the-" He became interrupted by Patrick.

"_SpongeBob, you and I both know that you're just choosing me as a distraction so you don't have to write your essay." _Patrick said a very harsh truth. For a very strange reason, he knew what SpongeBob had been doing.

SpongeBob gasped and quickly jumped into a state of denial. "Th-that is not true! I called to have an engaging conversation with you." He did not have the courage and strength to look at himself honestly. In his mind, he was simply viewing what he was currently doing as a break instead of a form of procrastination. The procrastination was also subtle enough for him to not notice until Patrick told him about it.

"_Well, I'm listening." _Patrick spoke in an unenthusiastic manner. He thought that he was wasting his time.

A light bulb for a conversation starter lit up in SpongeBob's head. The yellow square giggled and smirked. "Marco!"

"_Polo!" _Patrick assumed that SpongeBob was announcing the end of the conversation.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the shell-phone down and laid on his bed. The sea star resumed his slumber.

S-S-S-S-S

"Yeah, well, I gotta get going, Patrick, got an important essay to write." SpongeBob then put his shell-phone down when he noticed that Patrick had hanged up. "Sheesh, what a chatterbox. Can't he see that I'm busy?" He considered writing three good paragraphs within a few minutes to be 'busy'. He currently viewed Patrick as a chatterbox since the sea star was unenthusiastic throughout the whole conversation. By the acutal definition of chatterbox, SpongeBob was more of a chatterbox than Patrick. The yellow square walked back to the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat at the table and noticed that there were some eraser shavings on the paper. He then blew at them to make them go away. However, the particles floated above the paper instead. The yellow sponge tightened his grip on his pencil in irritation. He took a deep inhale and blew as hard as he could on the particles.

The eraser shavings flew to elsewhere in the kitchen.

"So long, pesky particles..." SpongeBob muttered a comment. Nothing could currently annoy him more than unexpected distractions or obstacles that prevented him from writing. The sponge quickly resumed his writing of his essay.

A stray eraser shaving flew into SpongeBob's slightly opened mouth.

SpongeBob felt the particle inside his throat. The suddenness of such a sensation made him grab his throat with both of his hands. He thought that he was choking. SpongeBob stood up from the chair and walked towards the refrigerator. "Water, water!" He raspily cried for what he needed. He grabbed the handle of the refrigerator's lower door.

Gary heard SpongeBob's raspy yell and slithered into the kitchen. "You're being too dramatic." He noticed the eraser shavings floating in the air and came to a correct assumption. The snail thought that swallowing just one particle was not so bad.

SpongeBob turned to look at Gary. "What do you mean by 'too dramatic'?" He found Gary's comment to be too vague. The sensation he felt from swallowing the particle disappeared since the eraser shaving completely went down his esophagus. The sponge then felt an empty sensation in his stomach, he had not eaten in a while. "All that choking sure made me hungry." He walked up to a cabinet.

"Shouldn't you be writing?" Gary realized that SpongeBob was unintentionally procrastinating.

"I can't write on an empty stomach, Gary." SpongeBob said another excuse for another delay. "I gotta have my brain food!" He opened a cabinet and took out three plastic bags of three different loaves of bread. "Now let's see..." He put the bags on the table. 'White or rye bread... or pumpernickel...' He thought about which bread would give him the most energy.

A pause.

"I guess it depends on the meat inside.. and the cheese..." SpongeBob considered the other ingredients for the sandwich to be the most important parts of the sandwich when it came to getting energy.

S-S-S-S-S

**DING DONG**

The doorbell rang.

S-S-S-S-S

"A visitor?!" SpongeBob smiled in excitement and ran into the living room through the open doorway.

Gary started to become irritated by SpongeBob's constant announcements and narration. The snail thought that the announcements and narration were symptoms of the sponge's procrastination.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...opened it.

A mailman was standing before the open doorway. He was holding a somewhat small box.

"Hello!" SpongeBob greeted the mailman with enthusiasm. He then eyed the box that the mailman was holding.

"Package for Mr. SquarePants." The mailman put the box on the mat.

"Great, thanks!" SpongeBob picked up the box. "So, uh, do you like delivering mail?" He asked a question that he always had in mind when he saw mailmen.

"It puts bread on the table." The mailman shrugged. He had a decent annual salary from his job as a mailman so he did not care if he liked doing his actual job or not. His job also did not take too many hours of leisure away from his day.

A light bulb for a joke lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Rye or pumpernickel?" The yellow square laughed at his own joke.

"Oh brother..." The mailman rolled his eyes. He was not very fond of having to deliver mail or packages to annoying or crazy citizens.

"So, do you deliver your own mail or do you have your own mail person? But then who delivers his mail? Is there a never-ending chain of mailman delivering mail to other mailmen? Well, I guess a P. O. box could in theory break the chain-" SpongeBob asked another question but then said his entire train of thought out loud until he got interrupted by the mailman.

"Don't you have a paper to write?" Like Patrick, the mailman knew what SpongeBob had been doing. He then walked away to deliver mail or packages to other citizens.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and he gulped nervously. 'How did he know I'm supposed to be writing an essay?' He thought of how that mailman found out about his current situation. He did not have similar thoughts when Patrick informed him of his knowledge about the sponge's situation since Patrick was his best friend and probably knew many unexpected things about him.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door. An assumption grew into a paranoia over strangers possibly stalking him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat down in the red chair in the living room. He found it odd that the TV was turned on since he could have sworn that Gary had been watching it as he had written his essay. He wanted to watch the TV for a while so the paranoia could leave his mind and make him able to resume his essay writing. The sponge grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

The 'Bikini Bottom News' channel was the current channel on the TV.

Johnny Erain was reading a news report about a strange occurrence in Bikini Bottom._ "In other news, local resident SpongeBob SquarePants only has a few hours left to complete his essay, and yet he continues to goof off or try too hard." _Johnny Erain unintentionally sounded ominous.

The news report made SpongeBob feel like the news reporter was speaking directly to him.

Johnny Erain's head popped out of the TV screen and looked directly as SpongeBob. _"When will he learn?" _For some illogical reason, he spoke directly to the sponge as if the news station and the pineapple did not create any distance between them.

SpongeBob's face drained of color. The omnipresent news reporter frightened the soul out of him. "HI-YAH!" He karate-chopped the TV as a reflex.

The TV broke into many pieces. Under normal circumstances, it would be highly difficult for SpongeBob to successfully karate chop a TV in one try.

**FLICK**

The lights in the living room suddenly flickered to darkness.

SpongeBob took out a candle that for some odd reason was in his pocket. He also took out a lighter and lit up the candle. He had forgotten how or why he brought a lighter with him.

The living room became slightly lit up in the orange candlelight.

"_**Hey, SpongeBob?" **_

A demonic voice was heard. Someone else was in the room.

SpongeBob's face became pure white in fright. His eyes bugged out to the point of ridiculousness. He turned to look at the red chair that he no longer sat on and noticed that it now had a face.

The red chair had normal eyes. However, its mouth looked like the dirty bubble's mouth in terms of shape. "Over here! Come on, take a seat, put your feet up and relax." The chair spoke in a normal voice. The sponge's fear seemed to have made its voice sound demonic. The chair was making a sinister smile as it said those soothing words.

SpongeBob shook his head. He was sweating profusely. He knew with confidence that a mysterious outside force was out to snatch him into the clutches of peril.

The candle's flame was blown by a wind that came out of nowhere and that wind cooled the flame into nothingness.

The living room was dark again.

The sound of a church bell rang throughout the pineapple. A circle of green light was shining on SpongeBob.

SpongeBob turned and looked up at the source of the green light.

That source of light was the clock on the wall that looked like a snail. For some bizarre reason that SpongeBob will never comprehend, the clock's eyes were real and it also had a moving mouth (the black outline of its interior white circle was the mouth). "_**Time's up, SpongeBob..." **_It spoke in a phantom-like voice.

"M-midnight..." SpongeBob looked at the hands of the clock and came to a realization. The yellow square then dashed towards the open doorway to the kitchen in a desperate attempt to resume his essay writing.

The living room enlarged to make it more difficult for SpongeBob to reach the kitchen table.

SpongeBob bit his lip in determination and dove through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the kitchen door. However, the kitchen was now enlarging as well. "Must... get... back... to table!" He crawled as fast as he could in a race against the enlarging floor.

The floor stop enlarging. SpongeBob shrunk into a miniature size instead.

SpongeBob leaped to the chair. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow. "That was a close call." He spoke in relief. His hope had been beginning to flicker and fade like the living room's former lights when the floor had begun to enlarge. He looked down and noticed that he was only wearing his underwear and his normal shoes. "My pants!" He looked around in a search for his pants and noticed that he had shrunk.

"Yoo hoo! Down here!" SpongeBob's squarepants was standing below the chair. Like the clock and the red chair, it had came to life through illogical means.

SpongeBob became irritated. He viewed his alive squarepants as an annoying obstacle to his goal. "You get up here! I've got to get back to work!" He pointed at the squarepants and then pointed at the now seemingly large paper.

The squarepants ran through the open doorway. "FREEDOM!"

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes, his determination gave him a passionate fury. He leaped to the floor and chased the squarepants. He eventually ran through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's squarepants slid through the slit below the front door.

"Stop, pants! You get back here this instant!" SpongeBob gritted his teeth and slid through the front door's bottom slit as well. He was becoming frustrated as the pants kept running away from him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dove towards his squarepants and managed to catch it. He then put it on and smiled in relief. He strolled towards the front door and grew back to his normal size as he walked. He grabbed the front door's handle with both of his hands.

Unfortunately, he could not open the door.

S-S-S-S-S

The now dropped candle flickered back to life. Limbs grew out of its body and it also developed a face. "Only about five-hundred something words to go!" It spoke in a childish voice and then giggled in an evil manner. It ran through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

The candle leaped to the table and ignited the paper with the flame on its head. It then jumped into the flame so it could be dissolved and can consequently fuel the fire. It eventually melted and provided fuel for the growing fire inside the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Within several seconds, SpongeBob's pineapple was suffering from a very severe fire. Flames across the pineapple's exterior wall were glowing in the darkness of night.

A long pause.

SpongeBob fell to his knees and put his hands over his face. He began to regret taking a break after a major essay writing streak. "What have I done...?" He was reflecting over the chain of events that caused such a major fire.

A piece of burning wood landed right in front of SpongeBob. It reminded the sponge that the fire was still occurring.

SpongeBob jumped to his feet out of right and then decided to take drastic measure to prevent the fire. "**HELP! HELP! MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!**" He yelled to the limit of his vocal cords in the hopes of gathering neighbors' or nearby citizens' attention.

Gary dove out of a burning hole on the pineapple's exterior wall and landed on the ground. SpongeBob's yelling attracted the snail's attention instead. He slithered up to his owner and became relieved. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Me too, Gary, but we gotta save our house from the fire!" SpongeBob pointed at the still raging fire before them. He thought about the possible homelessness that he and Gary would have to suffer through if the fire devours the pineapple.

The burning pineapple became anthropormosized. "SpongeBob, why? Why did you set me on fire, SpongeBob?! Why didn't you go with the flow and write your essay?!" He sounded like a young man who was on his last breaths of life. His voice was an indicator that the pineapple was going to collapse from the fire. "**STOP WASTING **_**TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMME!**_" It spoke its last words, those words were out of desperation since the fire, like a cancer, spread to the last remaining parts of its body.

**CRRRRRAAAAAAASSSSSH**

The pineapple collapsed into burning rubble. Without enough time for SpongeBob and Gary to react, it...

**BOOOOM**

...exploded. Pieces of wood that were burning intensely flew towards SpongeBob and Gary and hit them.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" **SpongeBob started to become burned by the flames. The fire that burned his essay was now also going to take his life.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

7:08 AM.

The foghorn was not blowing since it had been turned off by Gary.

SpongeBob opened his eyes wide as he woke up. He sat up in his seat and looked at the paper before him. "I must have dozed off..." The yellow square spoke while giggling nervously. 'Let's see, where are we?' He grabbed the paper and saw three paragraphs written on it. The yellow sponge then stood up from his seat and walked into the living room. He wanted to check the time.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV on the couch as usual. However, something seemed odd about the snail. The snail was laying his body to the side on the couch instead of 'laying' upright with his slimy underside on the sofa. His eyes also made the snail look like he was drowsy.

SpongeBob glanced up at the clock and saw the time. "Fish paste! Class is gonna start in less than an hour!" He loudly whispered to himself. He then ran back to the kitchen so he could immediately get back to work.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob quickly sat in his seat and grabbed his pencil from the table. 'How am I going to write this whole paper in less than an hour? How am I gonna know enough things about what not to do at a stoplight?' Doubts filled SpongeBob's mind. However, his determination began to feed him ideas as a consequence. 'Feeding your snail is something not to do at a stoplight.' The yellow square smiled at the lit-up light bulb in his head. He wrote that idea into his essay. 'And making a sandwich, and lighting candles, and drinking water, and calling your friends, and karate chopping the TV, and shootin' the breeze with the mailman; and falling asleep...' He used his dream as a source for ideas. He wrote some paragraphs at a very quick pace thanks to those ideas.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running towards the boating school campus. He eventually ran through the gate and ran along the boardwalk to the main building.

**SLAM**

Mrs. Puff closed the main building's front door and locked it. She was about to take out a notepad so she could write a notice on a sticky note and stick it to the front door. However... "Mrs. Puff! Mrs. Puff! I am finished! All eight-hundred words!" ...she heard SpongeBob's voice and saw SpongeBob run and then stop before her. "Oh, there you are, SpongeBob." She spoke to the sponge. She kind of expected the yellow square to come early since he always gets his homework assignments done.

"Here you go, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob held out the paper towards Mrs. Puff. "All eight-hundred words! All about stoplights and what not to do at 'em." He spoke with pride over his work.

"I'm sorry, SpongeBob. I tried to call you and the other students. I have to go to a workshop for boating teachers." Mrs. Puff shook her head. She felt a little bit bad for SpongeBob since she assumed that the yellow square worked really hard to write that essay. She could tell right away that the essay was decent since the first paragraph alone was lengthy and had correct grammar.

"But what about my essay?" SpongeBob looked at the paper he was holding. He became concerned for the status of the assignment.

"I decided to cancel the assignment. We're just gonna take a field trip around stoplights in the city next week instead." Mrs. Puff told SpongeBob about the change in the class schedule. "There's no school today." She then walked along the boardwalk and exited the campus.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped. He could not believe that he had just wasted a beautiful evening and almost an hour of his morning for an assignment that was not even going to get graded. The sponge slowly turned around and walked at a snail's pace towards the campus' gate in acceptance of Mrs. Puff's words.

Patrick quickly ran up to SpongeBob. He had silently followed SpongeBob so he could know why SpongeBob was delaying their session of jellyfishing. However, when he had went into the pineapple to check on the sponge before following him, he had seen something that had made him concerned. Him being concerned was a sign of an increase in intelligence overnight. "Sponge, I was gonna tell you 'bout our jellyfishing today but I got something more important to tell you. I think something's wrong with Gary. He seems sleepy but he's telling me that he's not tired and even feels quite a bit hot."

SpongeBob immediately became concerned for his pet. He then ran towards his pineapple as fast as he could so he could confirm if what Patrick said was true or not.


	58. Sailor Mouth

**WARNING: There is swearing in this chapter. Read at your own risk. **

* * *

**Chapter 58: Sailor Mouth**

* * *

SpongeBob ran to his pineapple's front door and...

**SLAM**

...barged it open. The yellow square then stepped into his home.

Patrick followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Gary, crouched on one knee, and felt the snail's body for an abnormal amount of warmth. After a few seconds, he knew with certainty that Gary had a fever. "Don't worry, Gar-bear. We're gonna bring you to the vet right away." He picked up the snail and put him on his head. The yellow square exited the pineapple at a jogging pace.

Patrick turned around and followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

"Is he sick?" Patrick asked while scratching his head. He was not sure about why SpongeBob put Gary on his head and was jogging.

"Yeah. I'm taking him to the vet right now." SpongeBob spoke as he jogged.

Patrick had never been to a veterinary hospital before. His curiosity could not be controlled and he continued to follow SpongeBob out of impulse. He wanted to support his friend during his visit to the veterinarian and see how the hospital was like. He did not even think about interfering anything going on in the hospital since he assumed that he would surely get kicked out for interfering.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to a somewhat large white building. Its logo above the entrance had several types of pets that sea creatures own to indicate that it was a veterinary hospital.

An automatic glass double door opened before the friend duo.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary entered the veterinary hospital.

The automatic double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick directly walked up to the main desk. There was not a single line in front of them since they came early.

"Your name?" A female employee in the main desk looked at SpongeBob.

"My name is SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob answered solemnly. His concern for Gary's health made him unable to smile.

The female employee searched through the database on the computer before her and found SpongeBob within the files. "Your pet's name is Gary, right?"

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

"You can wait in those chairs." The female employee pointed at the chairs that nearly made a perimeter around the walls of the main room.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the chairs and sat in two of them.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Someone else sat next to them. He was a high school student that, from SpongeBob and Patrick's viewpoints, looked familiar. The high school student's pet was a blue worm who was on a leash. He came to the veterinary hospital for an annual checkup for his pet. He looked at SpongeBob and Patrick. "Don't you remember me?" He smiled.

SpongeBob searched through his library of memories and eventually recognized the high school student. "Oh yeah!" He raised his index finger and grinned. "You were that guy at the library. You were from Pearl's high school, right?"

"Yep." The high school student nodded. "You also remember what I told you about the yearbook?"

"Mm-hm." SpongeBob nodded. "Am I in it?"

"Hell yeah!" The high school student took out his own bought copy of the yearbook. He took it out of one of his hoodie's pockets. His high school year was over a few days ago so the yearbook was still on his person. He had kept it with him just for the opportunity to show it to SpongeBob. He opened the yearbook and showed two photos of SpongeBob and Pearl.

The left photo had the title 'Prom King' beneath it. Below that title was the name 'SpongeBob SquarePants'. The photo itself was that of SpongeBob wearing his black hair wig while his suit had been ruined and him holding his fake legs. The sponge remembered himself posing for that photo shortly before returning back home. The right photo had the title 'Prom Queen' beneath it. Below that title was the name 'Pearl Krabs'. The photo was of Pearl in her prom dress.

SpongeBob marveled at the two photos in the yearbook. His teenage self would have only dreamed of being that popular in a high school. "How popular am I now?" He made eye contact with the high school student.

"You're pretty much a legend now. People are now calling you Mr. Swag or King Coral Yellow or stuff like that." The high school student spoke with a smirk. He spoke the truth but wanted to see how SpongeBob was going to react.

Patrick snickered. He found those names to be somewhat humorous.

SpongeBob began to feel bashful. He only knew a handful of people in his life who gave him names that signified respect or affection.

Gary's veterinarian walked up to SpongeBob. "You must be..." She glanced at a list on a clipboard. That list consisted of names of pet owners that were awaiting appointments for their pets. "..SpongeBob SquarePants, am I right?"

"Yep." SpongeBob stood up and made sure that Gary was balanced on his head.

"Follow me." Gary's veterinarian walked towards her inspection/appointment room.

SpongeBob followed her.

Patrick looked at the high school student. "I know SpongeBob told me that he beat up some meanies at a high school but he didn't tell me the full scope." He informed the student about his knowledge about the prom incident at Pearl's high school. "Can you tell me 'bout the whole thing?" He was dying to exactly know the cool things that SpongeBob did at Pearl's high school.

The high school student cleared his throat. "It all started normally. The school was having a prom..." The teenage male began to tell the tale.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the veterinary hospital. Gary was still laying on SpongeBob's head. The appointment had been finished and Gary's veterinarian had said some advice for treating Gary's symptoms. The veterinarian had diagnosed Gary with a summer strain of flu.

"Just some sleep and a little medicine will make you all better." SpongeBob smiled warmly and gently patted Gary. He summarized the veterinarian's advice.

"Meow."

"Don't sweat it, Gar-bear. You can watch TV if you want." SpongeBob assured his snail.

Patrick remained silent. He was thinking deeply about the tale that the high school student had told. He could not believe that the sponge was able to beat the thugs and survive the assault of the thugs by himself for a while without assistance. 'I guess SpongeBob's more stronger than I think.' He had initially underestimated the sponge's potential in karate.

The two were walking back to their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 6:00 PM.

Mr. Krabs flipped the sign on the double door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. The crab was satisfied with the profits that he had earned today. It was not like last week's Monday. He then turned around and announced: "Closing time!".

Squidward was already finished with cleaning the dishes. He had been sitting at a table while he had waited for SpongeBob to finish his assigned chore. He stood up and walked towards the double door in relief. Closing time was his favorite part of the working day.

SpongeBob had been finished with his chore as well, that chore was cleaning the tables. He had just tossed the wet towel to the trash and cleaned out the bucket of water.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the kitchen. He walked up to the double door. "Well, see you in the A. M., Mr. Krabs." He waved at his boss.

"Hold on there, SpongeBob." Mr. Krabs stopped SpongeBob by holding one of the sponge's shoulders. "Take that pile of filth out with you." He pointed at a neglected trash bag in a trash can.

"Aye, aye, sir." SpongeBob nodded, walked up to the trash can, and picked up the trash bag. "Takin' out the trash, takin' out the trash." He quietly sang a made-up tune to himself as he walked to the kitchen door.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the kitchen.

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

The yellow square exited the Krusty Krab through the back door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob through the trash bag into the dumpster.

A pause.

The yellow sponge noticed something odd about the dumpster's surface. He stepped up to the dumpster to take a closer look. "Hmm... dumpster writing." The yellow square then saw words and phrases that had been finger-written on the oily substance that leaked slowly from the dumpster. However, some of the oily substance had dried and that allowed some of the words or phrases to remain for a long time. "The voice of the people!" He snickered. He was curious to know what strangers had written on the dumpster. He was aware of the probability that the people who wrote that stuff were troublesome teenagers or were bored individuals. "Up with bubbles, down with air!" He read a written phrase out loud. He then laughed at the phrase's silliness. "Nematodes are people too." He read another phrase. "Ha, those nematodes..." He remembered the time when he nearly moved out of his home due to those hungry nematodes. "Squidward smells..." The sponge narrowed his eyes and put his hand on his chin. "Someone didn't finish this." He then finished it by adding 'good' after 'smells'. He felt like Squidward should not be treated poorly by customers or strangers since Squidward was his 'friend' after all. "Hmm, what's this one?" Someone had written a phrase with a word that he had never heard before. "Krabs is a... bitch?" He scratched his head in confusion. He found the word 'bitch' to be bizarre.

A garbage man walked up to the dumpster to bring some trash bags to the garbage truck. "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" He raised his brow at SpongeBob. He completely heard what the yellow square said and was disgusted by the sponge's language. In aquatic civilizations, using human curse words was far more powerful and taboo than normal sea curse words like 'barnacles' or 'fish paste'. The garbage man then picked up some trash bags and walked back to the garbage truck.

Patrick walked up to the yellow sponge. He had went to the Krusty Krab in search for his best friend. The sea star wanted to go jellyfishing with the yellow sponge immediately after the sponge's work day. "Hi, SpongeBob. You ready?" He held out his jellyfishing net.

SpongeBob was still confused. "Patrick, do you know what this word means?" He pointed at the phrase with the human curse word.

Patrick took a close look at the indicated sentence. "Krabs... is a... bitch..." The handwriting of the stranger made the sentence somewhat difficult to read. The sea star then immediately recognized what type of word that 'bitch' was. "Oh, hey! I know what that means. That's one of those sentence enhancers." He had encountered such human vocabulary while researching some things on the computer at the library during his college years.

SpongeBob crouched and saw another strange word written on the dumpster's surface. "Hey, Pat, I found another one." He then tried to read it out loud. "Fuck... you..."

"Yep. That's a sentence enhancer too." Patrick also recognized the human curse word that SpongeBob said.

"Anyways, what are sentence enhancers?" SpongeBob had never heard such a term from Patrick. He did not know the term's definition.

"You use them when you want to talk fancy. You just sprinkle it over anything you say, and wham-o! You've got yourself a spicy sentence sandwich!" Patrick answered SpongeBob's question with a misconception about human curse words.

"Oh, I get it!" SpongeBob snapped his fingers. "Let me try." He stood up and coughed. "Hello, Patrick. Lovely fucking day we're having, isn't it?" The sponge was smirking as he spoke. He thought the word 'fuck' sounded kind of silly.

"Why, yes it its, SpongeBob. This fucking day is particularly fucking lovely." Patrick tried to sound casual. He then began to giggle. He thought that he and SpongeBob were 'coral' since they were using human curse words.

"How fucking right you are, Patrick." SpongeBob giggled as well. He could no longer suppress his giggling since, from his viewpoint, using human curse words felt strange. "Ooh, you're right, Patrick. My lips _are_ tingling from the spiciness of the conversation." His curiosity over adding human curse words to his everyday vocabulary grew.

"Mine too!" Patrick snickered.

The two friends then laughed. They found human curse words to be quite hilarious. They were oblivious to those curse words' extreme vulgarity among undersea civilizations.

A long pause.

SpongeBob turned to look at the Krusty Krab. He then chuckled nervously. "I almost forgot." His experimental cursing had distracted him from his initial task. He walked around the Krusty Krab and noticed that the lights had been turned off. He also noticed that Mr. Krabs was no longer in the building's vicinity and had went to his anchor.

Patrick followed SpongeBob. "What happened?"

"It's nothing. Mr. Krabs just went back to his home. He probably thinks I took out the trash already." SpongeBob looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. He then began to walk towards his neighborhood. "C'mon, Pat. Let's go home."

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "You wanna watch TV and learn more fancy words?" He thought that watching adult human TV programming might give him the opportunity to learn more human curse words since swearing was common in undersea adult TV programming.

SpongeBob smirked. The sea star's question gave him a similar idea. "Sure!" He predicted that the activity was going to be fun and amusing.

The two friends walked towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

9:36 AM.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window and became self-assured that all of the customers in the dining room had their orders served. He wanted to reveal a special surprise for the customers and had waited since the beginning of the workday for an opportunity for such an action. His human curse vocabulary had expanded after watching human adult TV programs. Undersea TV broadcasts did not exclude TV programs from other parts of the globe. Once he felt like the time was right, he walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to and stood in the center of the dining room's floor. "Hello, customers. Nice fucking day we're having, huh?" He spoke in a causal manner like the word 'fuck' was not even vulgar at all. He expected the customers to laugh.

All of the customers in the dining room including Squidward gasped. Sea creatures using human curse words was very rare and when such occurrences happened, it was a sight and sound to behold.

A young man who was sitting down and had been eating a Krabby Patty Deluxe put a hand over his mouth in total disbelief. "Did he just say?" He spoke in a very quiet voice, it was almost like a whisper.

An old man who was wearing a black eyepatch and was a retired pirate looked at the shocked young man. "Aye, he did." He immediately recognized the curse word that SpongeBob uttered.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

Patrick entered the restaurant. He came to the Krusty Krab to satisfy his brunch appetite.

As if on cue, SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick. "Hey, Patrick, how the fuck are ya?" He spoke with a suppressed giggle. He found the phrase to be extremely silly since it seemed nonsensical with 'fuck' added to it.

Patrick decided to play along with SpongeBob's game. "Pretty fucking good, SpongeBob. Today's been a bitch though." He spoke as he walked up to the cash register to say an order.

An offended old man who held a cane stood up from his seat. "I thought this was a restaurant, not a gutter mouth convention." He expressed his disgust over SpongeBob and Patrick's taboo profanity.

SpongeBob jumped to an empty table and stood on it. "Attention, customers, today's special is a bigass Krabby Patty served in a greasy fucking sauce and grilled to bitchin' perfection. And don't forget to ask us to fry up those kickass fries. It will be our fucking pleasure." He then laughed since he could not take his own swearing seriously at all. He found the customers' shock to be hilarious since he assumed that they were shocked out of surprise instead of disgust.

"Nice fucking day we're having, isn't it Squidward?" Patrick spoke to Squidward. He continued to experiment with human curses. "Don't be a dickhead to me though." His stupidity did not stop him from learning more human curse words yesterday.

A mother had covered her son's ears from hearing SpongeBob and Patrick's profanity. She and her son had already finished their meals anyway. "Let's go somewhere more family oriented." She hastily walked towards the double door while still blocking her son's ears.

**C-CRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The mother and her son exited the Krusty Krab.

"I'm never eating here again."

"Those foul-mouth bottom feeders."

Parents, their children, and a few other disgusted or offended customers exited the Krusty Krab as well. The offended or disgusted customers no longer wanted to eat at the Krusty Krab for the moment since they found the vile profanity to be a distraction from their meals and also to be disrespectful towards them as customers since SpongeBob was an employee.

S-S-S-S-S

**FLUUSSSSSSSH**

Mr. Krabs flushed the toilet as he cleaned his rear with toilet paper. He was in a stall in the bathroom and was taking a bathroom break. Once he was finished with cleaning his rear, he stood up and exited the stall.

A pause.

The crab noticed something odd. The sounds of conversation in the dining room had decreased to just a few people. That immediately raised a red flag for something going wrong since he could have sworn that the dining room's tables were full of people a few minutes ago. Mr. Krabs then ran towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs' fears became confirmed. There were currently only a few customers sitting and eating inside the dining room. A massive exodus of customers from the Krusty Krab had occurred a few minutes ago.

"AHH! The Krusty Krab, she's almost empty!" The crustacean's eyes bugged out and he stated the obvious. He looked at Squidward as he began to sweat in anxiety. "Squidward, where have all me money-paying customers gone?"

"Apparently, the two barnacle-mouth brothers just learned a few new words. SpongeBob said some as announcement to other customers. I don't think the two are even aware of their swearing." Squidward reported on what had just occurred and also added a comment and assumption here and there. Like the customers, he was not too pleased with the sponge and the sea star's swearing.

"Well, what was it? What'd he say?" Mr. Krabs crossed his arms. Squidward's report was a little bit too vague for the crab to get a complete understanding out of it. He knew many curses; his swearing vocabulary varied from something as minor as 'darn' to something as vulgar as 'fuck'.

Squidward whispered to Mr. Krabs' ear. "They said words like fuck, bitch, and dickhead." The octopus was whispering since he did not want to take the risk of making the restaurant lose even more customers.

"Huh?" Mr. Krabs could not really hear Squidward's whispering.

Squidward whispered the same sentence he had just said but louder to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs gasped. He then became irritated and tightened his claws into fists. "SpongeBob and Patrick! Front and center!" He yelled at SpongeBob and Patrick who were now lounging at a table as they continued to experiment with human swearing.

SpongeBob and Patrick quickly walked up to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes at the yellow square and the pink starfish. "Why, I oughta make the two of you paint the Krusty Krab for using such foul language!" He scolded/ threatened the two young adults like he was their father. He was saying such a rebuke for the sake of his business and for the friend duo's benefit since saying such curse words out in the public will make them gain a bad reputation.

"But, Mr. Krabs, we were only using our sentence enhancers." SpongeBob said an excuse in the form of his gained ignorance from Patrick.

"Yeah, it's fancy talk." Patrick said a short version of his assumption about human curse words.

"There ain't nothing fancy about those words! It's only acceptable to say them in super-extreme situations." Mr. Krabs removed the shroud of illusion that Patrick had created.

"You mean human words like fuck, bitch, or shit?" SpongeBob wanted Mr. Krabs' statements to be clarified.

"Yes, words like those! Now quit saying them. Those are bad words." Mr. Krabs revealed what he thought was a glaring fact.

"Bad word?!" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke in unison. They then began to wipe their tongues to show their regret over saying those words. The two felt filthy since they had recently said such nasty words.

"Yes siree, those just a few of the bad words that humans say. I could go on all day with saying all of them but I think you two get the point." Mr. Krabs stopped folding his arms and became less irritated. The sponge and the starfish's wiping of their tongues was enough for the crab to be satisfied. "There's probably even more if you're a sailor." He then made a pirate laugh.

"You must know a lot of fuckin' bad words, Mr. Krabs." Patrick was quite surprised. He initially did not know that Mr. Krabs knew so many bad words even though he knew that the crab was a retired pirate.

"Okay, boys. I want you to promise me you'll never use those human words again." Mr. Krabs wanted to solidify what he had teached to SpongeBob and Patrick. He was satisfied but he also knew that his job was not complete.

SpongeBob and Patrick made military salutes. "We promise." They spoke formally and simultaneously.

"Well, carry on, me lads." Mr. Krabs turned and walked towards his office door. He trusted SpongeBob and Patrick.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

The boss entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

More than eight hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was past 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob had already returned to his home. He was in his garage and was searching through some piled stuff out of boredom. He wanted to do something else for an after-work activity instead of jellyfishing. The sponge did not want to jellyfish since there was a shortage of jellyfish yesterday and a shortage occurring today had been referenced in Bikini Bottom's weather forecast on TV.

Knock Knock Knock

Faint knocking sounds from the front door were heard.

SpongeBob stood up and exited the garage. He then walked down the hallway and entered the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was sleeping on the couch. A blanket was over the snail's body. The sponge had given the snail his medicine immediately when he got home from work.

SpongeBob tip-toed across the living room so he would not disturb Gary from his slumber. Once he reached the front door, he stopped tip-toeing.

**CRRrrreeeaak**

SpongeBob gently opened the front door.

Patrick was standing before the doorway. "Sponge, I'm kinda bored. I don't wanna jellyfish today." He informed his best friend about something he thought was important.

"Me too." SpongeBob glanced at the TV. "I wish I had a console and some video games with me. It's been a long time since I played any of them." He remembered the time when he used to play a lot of video games with Brian back at his parents' house.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "You got any board games?" He remembered when he used to play board games with friends at lunch during his elementary school days.

SpongeBob quickly smiled widely. "Yeah!" He nodded and then rapidly tip-toed across the living room. Once he reached the hallway, he ran back to the garage to retrieve a board game that he had recently found.

A long pause.

SpongeBob came back with a board game case being held by both of his hands. The name of the game was 'Eels and Escalators'. "Don't you remember this?" He held out the case. He and Patrick used to play that game at his parents' house when they were kids. The sponge did not throw that game away and kept it with him for nostalgic reasons.

Patrick gasped and clapped his hands together in joy. He had not played Eels and Escalators in years. "Oh my gosh! I thought we were never gonna play this game again!" The sea star jumped into the living room out of excitement.

"Patrick, don't move too much!" SpongeBob became alert and held out his hand towards Patrick. "Gary's still sick and needs some sleep. I don't want to make his illness any worse."

Patrick nodded and complied to SpongeBob's demand out of respect for his best friend.

SpongeBob sat in the center of the living room's floor. He opened the case and prepared the board and pieces for a gaming session.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were now both sitting on the floor and were absorbed into their session of Eels and Escalators.

"Gee, I'm glad Mr. Krabs told us those words we were using were bad words." SpongeBob moved on to another topic in their conversation. He was thinking of all of the embarrassing situations that could occur if he said human curse words in the public.

"Yeah, me too, because classy sophisticates like us shouldn't stain our lips with cursing." Patrick thought that he and SpongeBob were 'coral' for not cursing. By cursing or not cursing, his ego had been boosted either way. He considered following Mr. Krabs' advice to be 'coral' since he viewed being a pirate as 'coral' (the crab was a retired pirate).

SpongeBob shook the two dice in his hands. "Come on... Gary needs a new pair of.. shoes!" He nimbly rolled the two dice to the board.

The dice's top faces showed a two and a four.

SpongeBob moved his piece, which was orange, by six tiles. Unfortunately, he landed on a se til

Patrick looked at the tile that SpongeBob's piece landed on. "Oh, eels. Too bad, SpongeBob. You gotta ride the eel." He shrugged. Riding an eel was a very common occurrence in Eels and Escalators.

"Darn." SpongeBob moved his piece down the eel. The eel's head had white text saying 'Go back seven tiles.' The sponge obeyed the eel's instruction by moving his piece back by seven tiles. The sponge then passed the pair of dice to Patrick.

"My turn!" Patrick quickly shook the dice and rolled it to the board.

The dice's top faces showed a 'one' and a 'three'.

Patrick moved his piece, which was blue, by four tiles and landed on an escalator tile. "Hooray! Escalators!" He fistpumped and moved his piece up the escalator. "Up, up, up!" He spoke as he moved his piece. He then put his piece on the tile that was below the end of the escalator.

In Eels and Escalators, the eel tiles act as penalties while the escalators act as rewards.

Patrick passed the dice to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and stuck his tongue out to the side as he rolled the two dice. "Come on, escalators, escalators, escalators!" He begged the forces of luck for a dice roll that allowed him to go up an escalator. He then rolled the dice.

The two die landed on a 'four' and a 'five' respectively.

SpongeBob moved his pieces by nine tiles. He landed on another eel tile. The sponge then sighed. "Eels again." He spoke with a frown and moved his piece to the eel's head. He then followed the eel's instruction by moving his piece back by five tiles. He passed the dice to the sea star.

"My turn!" Patrick shook the dice within a second and rolled them to the floor.

The dice landed on a 'two' and a 'three'.

Patrick moved his piece by five tiles. He landed on another escalator tile. "Escalators!" He fistpumped again and grinned. He moved his piece up the escalator and put it on the tile below the escalator's end. Patrick grabbed the dice and tossed it to SpongeBob.

The yellow square narrowed his eyes and caught the dice. He shook it the dice as hard as he could. "Escalators, escalators, escalators!" He expected to land on an escalator tile that time. He then threw the dice to the floor.

The dice bounced several times before landing on a 'one' and a 'three'.

The yellow sponge moved his piece by four tiles. To his dismay, his piece landed on an eel tile. "Eels?" SpongeBob became disappointed. He tossed the dice back to Patrick and then moved his piece back by four tiles.

Patrick rolled the dice and dropped them to the floor.

The dice landed on a 'six' and a 'two'.

Patrick moved his piece by eight tiles and landed on another escalator tile. The amount of times that he was landing on escalator tiles and the amount of times that SpongeBob was landing on eel tiles was becoming ridiculous. "Es-kee-lators!" The starfish moved his piece up the escalator and eventually put it on the tile below. He noticed how close his piece was to the 'FINISH' tile. "Well, this is your last chance, SpongeBob. If you get eels again, you will lose." He did not intend to brag, he merely spoke those words to inform his friend about the status of his own piece. He passed the dice to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and narrowed his eyes in concentration. He was about to make the decisive roll for the game session. He pressed the dice into his hands, looked up to the ceiling, and shook the dice in a manner like he was begging to the pantheon for a miracle. "Escalators, escalators, escalators, escalators, escalators, escalators, ESCALATORS!" He begged for getting an escalators roll like he was chanting in a magical invocation. The sponge then threw the dice to the living room floor like a pitcher pitching a fastball.

The dice bounced and tumbled across the floor.

SpongeBob and Patrick closely watched the dice. The fate of the game was hanging on the balance of the two bouncing dice.

The dice rolled and eventually stopped on a 'five' and a 'three'.

SpongeBob moved his piece by eight tiles. He noticed that his piece had landed on another eel tile. Without even following the instructions of that tile's eel, SpongeBob knew with certainty that he lost the game.

Patrick looked at the tile that SpongeBob's piece landed on and bit his lip. "Eels..." He spoke out of pity for his best friend. What he just witnessed was one of the most pathetic losses in Eels and Escalators that he had ever seen.

SpongeBob had to find a way to express his frustration over his loss. However, the only way that was available and easy to do went against the promise he had made to Mr. Krabs earlier. "Aaah, fuck!" He jumped back to his bad habit. The sponge then slapped his mouth shut.

"Oooooooooohhh..." Patrick pointed at SpongeBob and made a sound that a kindergartener would say when he/she caught a peer doing something naughty or against the rules. He was doing such a childish act since he remembered the promise they had made to Mr. Krabs. "You said a bad word." He stated what was completely blatant.

SpongeBob's heartbeat quickened and he began to sweat. Now it was only a matter before Mr. Krabs was going to find out about the human curse word that he blurted out. "I didn;t mean... you gotta understand, Patrick, I was trying... what I meant to say was... some things just slip out. You gotta understand!" His nervousness flowed into his words through the constant self-interruptions.

"Don't worry, SpongeBob. I understand." Patrick spoke sincerely. He thought that he 'understood' SpongeBob by assuming that the sponge was regretting over the curse word that he just said. He also assumed that negative reinforcement may get rid of SpongeBob's bad habit completely. He stood up from the floor and ran towards the front door. He wanted to snitch on SpongeBob to Mr. Krabs so the crab could punish SpongeBob for his crime, he wanted that to happen as reminder for SpongeBob to stop swearing with human curses. HIs intention was, from his point of view, for the sponge's benefit instead of his.

**CREAK**

SLAM

Patrick exited the pineapple.

SpongeBob tried to figure out a reason for Patrick's sudden exit from his own home. He then to an assumption that Patrick was heading to Mr. Krabs' anchor. The thought scared him so much that he jumped to his feet and...

**CREAK**

SLAM

...quickly exited the pineapple as well. He could only imagine the punishment that his boss might give him for his recent usage of 'f*ck'.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was walking back to his anchor. He was holding Mr. Bubbles on a leash. The crustacean had reached the end of his walking of his pet worm.

SpongeBob was running towards Mr. Krabs at an athlete's speed. During his race to the anchor with Patrick, he had eventually outran the sea star. "Mr. Krabs, Mr. Krabs, Mr. Krabs!" He waved his hand frantically in an attempt to catch his boss' attention.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at an incoming SpongeBob. "What?" He stepped out of the way so SpongeBob would not accidentally bump into him.

SpongeBob stood before his boss. He was sweating profusely from all of that running and his own anxiety. "Mr. Krabs, P-Patrick is going to-" He wanted to confess his crime so he could receive a less harsh punishment from his boss. However...

**T-THUD**

...Patrick bumped into him from behind. The two friends fell to the ground.

Mr. Krabs and Mr. Bubbles took a moment to observe the scene that had just occurred before them. It took them quite a bit to realize that SpongeBob and Patrick had been racing to the crab's home. The nervous look on SpongeBob's face indicated that the best friend duo were racing for a serious reason.

"He said-" Patrick tried to snitch as he began to stand up but SpongeBob blocked his mouth with one of his yellow hands.

"Out with it, boys!" Mr. Krabs folded his arms and became a bit irritated. He was not too fond of childish people suddenly surprising him for no good or serious reason. Due to his age, he was often the victim of this due to the pranks of early-stage teenagers and tweens.

SpongeBob hopped to his feet while still blocking his friend's mouth. "Me and Patrick were playing Eels and Escalators and Patrick was going up-up-up and I had to ride the eel and then I got angry and-" The sponge spoke as fast an auction announcer. His anxiety over Patrick snitching and Mr. Krabs punishing him for his crime made him lose control over his speech. However, Patrick blocked his mouth with his pink hand.

Patrick removed the yellow hand blocking his mouth. He wanted to save SpongeBob from the 'burden' of giving such a long and fast explanation. "SpongeBob said a bad word." The sea star kept it short and sweet.

SpongeBob bit his lip and shook in anxiety. He closed his eyes as he awaited the now 'inevitable' barking from his boss.

"What kind of bad word?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow. He was wise enough to know that a bad word was completely relative to a person; different people find different words offensive.

"I said one of the words that we shouldn't say!" SpongeBob blurted his confession out so Patrick would not bury it with an interruption. The sponge had already removed the starfish's hand from his mouth.

"The word started with an f." Patrick quickly spoke after SpongeBob. He did not want to say the word since he was worried about getting in trouble as well.

The two best friends then tried to bury each other with facts that revealed their current situation. They were speaking at nearly the same time and that made their words nearly incomprehensible.

Mr. Krabs gently closed both of SpongeBob and Patrick's mouths with both of his claws. He had enough of their babbling.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes to express his intolerance over the friend duo's foolish behavior. "Now, I'm gonna let go of yer lips, and when I do, I want you to calmly tell me what you need to tell me, understand?" He wanted SpongeBob and Patrick to make the words they desired to say short and sweet.

SpongeBob and Patrick silently nodded.

Mr. Krabs' released their mouths from his grasp.

"I said fuck!" SpongeBob pointed at himself. There was no point in sugarcoating the truth any longer.

"He said fuck!" Patrick pointed at SpongeBob. He thought that he was going to get in trouble for lying or for sugarcoating/stretching the truth. His increased intelligence was showing through his wise decisions.

The two best friends said those statements at the same time.

Mr. Krabs gasped. "Do my ears deceive me?!" He then made a solemn face and folded his arms. He knew right away that the two friends had to be appropriately punished for swearing with human curse words. "You two should be ashamed. Time to take out the trash." The crab picked them up by their underpants to make them feel the shame they had brought on themselves. He thought that embarrassing them would make them stop saying human curse words for good. He then walked up to his anchor and put SpongeBob and Patrick down before the front door.

SpongeBob and Patrick stood up and adjusted their pants.

Mr. Bubbles was watching the scene out of curiosity.

Mr. Krabs glared at SpongeBob and Patrick. "You two need to be taught a lesson. I thought I made it clear. Never, and I mean, never use any human curse words!" He spoke in a firm and authoritative voice. "Now the both of youse wait right here."

**CRRREEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the front door. He looked at the best friend duo from the corner of his eye. "I'll be back."

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his home. At that moment, he began his search for a tedious task/chore that SpongeBob and Patrick could do as a punishment for their swearing.

"What's gonna happen to us?" Patrick asked. He began to sweat from nervousness. Since Mr. Krabs was a retired pirate, he assumed that the crab might give him and SpongeBob a cruel or brutal punishment.

"We'll probably get forty lashes..." SpongeBob shook in anxiety again. He assumed the same thing that Patrick was assuming. He imagined some painful punishments that Mr. Krabs could inflict on him and Patrick.

Patrick's intelligence decreased by several degrees. "Oh, no..." He imagined himself with forty lashes on his face and body. He took SpongeBob's sentence word-for-word. When the yellow square said "lashes" he meant 'whiplashes'.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and frowned. "Patrick, I'm sorry for saying that bad word." The sponge felt remorseful for doing the foolish action of saying a human curse word in frustration. He also felt a little bit guilty since he had dragged Patrick into a punishment that only he deserved. Patrick was in trouble too since he cursed as he snitched on SpongeBob while the sponge snitched on himself. "Mr. Krabs was right. There's no need for words like that." He respected his boss' wisdom.

"I'm sorry too, SpongeBob." Patrick felt like a jerk for informing SpongeBob during the Eels and Escalators game since he now thought that he had intimidated SpongeBob instead of informing and consequently had encouraged the sponge to curse. The sea star was not so stupid that he forgot what recently had happened.

"Let's make a vow, Patrick." SpongeBob made a solemn facial expression. "From this day forth, a foul human word shall never pass our lips. We'll be decent people, just like good ol' Mr. Krabs." The sponge held out his hand. The vow he said only further proved his respect for the retired pirate's wisdom.

"Agreed!" Patrick grinned and nodded. He found no flaw in the vow and agreed to it wholeheartedly.

SpongeBob and Patrick shook hands to solidify the vow.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his anchor. He was holding two brushed and four sealed buckets of black paint. "Alright, you two foul mouths. As punishment for fouling the air in me home with yer foul words, you're gonna give me anchor a fresh coat of paint from top to bottom." He gave them the brushes and put the four buckets of black paint on the ground. He decided on painting his home as a punishment since it was both embarrassing and tedious, it would certainly reinforce his lesson about human curse words. The crustacean then walked up to Mr. Bubbles so he could bring the worm back home.

Unfortunately, Mr. Krabs tripped on a sharp rock. It was one of the most unexpected and sharpest rocks that he had ever tripped on and caused an immense amount of pain on his tripped foot. "OW, OOH! OW! MY FOOT!" He grabbed his tripped foot with both of his claws and hopped on one foot. "WHICH FREAKING GENIUS PUTS A FUCKING ROCK IN A FUCKING PATH?! CAN'T YOU SEE I GOT A FUCKING FOOT HERE?! OH, NEPTUNE DAMMIT!" The crab was swearing like a true sailor. He only said human curse words when it came to extremely unexpected or severe situations. The retired pirate continued his sailor swearing as he hopped on one foot.

SpongeBob and Patrick tried to count Mr. Krabs' swearing mentally. They were shocked by the amount of human curses that Mr. Krabs was exclaiming.

A pause.

SpongeBob knew with confidence that Mr. Krabs cursed more than thirteen times. "He said more than thirteen, Pat!" He quickly informed his friend. "Maybe we should tell his mom about this." He wanted Mr. Krabs to be a well-mannered person as well. He did not want to snitch on Mr. Krabs out of revenge. He thought that a punishment from the mother would make Mr. Krabs embarrassed enough to stop using human swears. The sponge was also aware of the fact that human swearing made the Krusty Krab lose customers so the business would benefit from a lack of human cursing regardless.

Mr. Krabs gasped and looked at SpongeBob and Patrick with bugged-out eyes. "No, please, not me mommy!" He ran up to the best friend duo. "Please don't tell me mother! I don't think her little old heart can take it!"

To Mr. Krabs' dismay, his mother was walking down the street nearby. She was holding a bag of groceries she recently bought from Barg'N-Mart.

Patrick dashed towards Mr. Krabs' mother and explained the entire situation to her through whispering. He did that out of impulse and also out of following SpongeBob's suggestion.

Mr. Krabs' mother put a claw over her chest area. "Oh, dear! My poor old heart." She became so shocked that she became close to fainting. However, the old crab managed to stay conscious. She had thought that her son stopped using human curse words after he retired from the pirate business.

"Oh, dear Mother!" Mr. Krabs quickly became concerned for his mother. He could tell that she was close to becoming ran up to the old crab. "What has that foul-mouthed heathen done to you?" He asked while looking at Patrick with narrowed eyes. He then glared at Patrick. "You should be ashamed. Making an old lady nearly faint with your sailor talk." He wanted Patrick to feel remorse for doing such unnecessary snitching. Even though Mr. Krabs contradicted the advice he told the best friend duo by using human curses, he still wanted the best friend duo to follow his advice.

Mr. Krabs' mother eventually fully regained consciousness. For several seconds, she had been in some sort of trance. " You should all be ashamed!" She looked at Patrick, Mr. Krabs, and SpongeBob respectively. "And if you're gonna talk like sailors, then you're gonna work like sailors." She spoke in a firm voice. She wanted to punish the other three with her own punishment so they would stop cursing with human swears. The old crab thought about inflicting them with a version of Mr. Krabs' punishment. She could benefit from such a punishment after all.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dipped his brush into an opened bucket of pink paint. He then painted the pink wall before him with a new coat of pink paint. His strokes were moderate.

Mr. Krabs was making big and wide strokes with his brush. He wanted to paint the anchor's exterior as quickly as possible. He then dipped his brush into his bucket of pink paint so he could make even bigger strokes.

Patrick made strokes all over the exterior wall, they were not orderly or in a pattern at all. He was deep in his own thoughts and that consequently distracted him from his chore.

Mama Krabs' home was a pink anchor. SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs were currently giving it a new pink coat as a punishment from Mama Krabs for their human swearing.

Mama Krabs was drinking a glass cup of lemonade as she watched them paint her home. She was making sure that they were not procrastinating or goofing off. "I guess you three scallywags earned a glass of lemonade." She tried to make a joke and then made a pirate laugh that sounded similar to Popeye's laugh. The old crab then walked to her lawn chair but tripped on a sharp rock along the way. "YEEOOW!" Her tripping made all of the remaining lemonade in her cup spill to the ground. "MY FUCKING FOOT!" She used a human curse word since tripping on that sharp rock was completely unexpected. Her lawn was quite clean from such obstacles after all.

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped and looked at Mama Krabs. They were completely shocked since they did not know that old ladies said such profanity as well.

"Mother!" Mr. Krabs spoke with bugged out eyes. That was one of the few times in his life that he had heard his mother curse like that. His mother was now in the same contradictory situation that he was in. However, there was no authority above Mama Krabs that he and the other two could snitch to.

"Oops." Mama Krabs smiled nervously. She felt like a hypocrite since what she just said contradicted the punishment that she had given to the other three.

What Mama Krabs just said reminded SpongeBob of his couch-ridden pet. "Maybe I should go back home soon." He spoke to himself. He then looked at Mr. Krabs. "My snail's sick." He wanted to inform his boss about the health of his snail.

"You better work more quickly then." Mr. Krabs gave some excellent advice to SpongeBob. "I bet you got some medicine that needs to be given." He made a correct assumption. The crab then resumed his painting of the exterior wall.

SpongeBob quickly resumed his painting. He made more broad strokes like how Mr. Krabs painted so he could get his work done faster.

"Y'know, if you were a pirate, swearing pretty much becomes a part of life." Mr. Krabs decided to talk to SpongeBob to make the time spent on painting fly by faster. "Back in me day, me crewmates used to sweat at least ten times a day each. Not all of them used human bad words though." He decided to talk about the days when he was a young pirate. "As a matter of fact, one time one of me crewmates cursed so much that he made up a curse word."

SpongeBob and Patrick were closely listening to Mr. Krabs' words since they were interested in Mr. Krabs' pirate tales.

"Can you tell me more stories?" Patrick was the most interested out of the two since he had not heard many pirate tales from Mr. Krabs. Him not being part of the Krusty Krew was the reason why he lacked much knowledge of the crab's pirate days.

Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. "I could make a whole novel if I wrote all of 'em. Anyways..." The retired pirate decided to begin the telling of another tale about his pirate days. The tale was about how he found his very first treasure and how he shared it with his crew.

* * *

**Remember kids, don't cuss. :)**


	59. Bossy Boots

**Before this chapter actually begins, I would like to respond to Mouth's review of Chapter 58. Since the review was anonymous, I feel like posting a response on a chapter for all to see would be most appropriate. I have not deleted Mr. Sailor Mouth's flame of my story (the very first flame I received as a matter of fact) even though it was anonymous since I feel like everybody had a right to respond to my story without any form of censorship (regardless if they were criticizing, praising, or downright flaming). Anyways, on to the deconstruction of the flame. The pieces of the flame that I will be analyzing are in italics. The commentary I provided below each piece of the flame are directed at Mr. Sailor Mouth or anybody else who has a similar opinion about Chapter 58.**

**(WARNING: For those who haven't read the flame, it is quite vulgar.)**

_**"Holy shit! You crazy son of a bitch! You actually used all the fucking curse words. God damn you got a lot of balls." **_

**In the last statement of this piece of your flame, you definitely have a point. I knew that Chapter 58 was going to shock or surprise some people and posting it would make me have to tread through a possible minefield. But guess what? I left a blatant warning in the summary so anybody reading Chapter 58 would be aware of its content. However, I'm not certain about what you intended with your first few statements. I'm gonna assume that it's scorn/sarcasm since that seems to be the most likely intention.**

**I also find it laughable how you're freaking out over the curses that characters said in this chapter. Have you ever read the lemons in the SpongeBob section of this site? This fic is nothing in terms of vulgarity when compared to them.**

_**"But you made an asshole and dick of yourself."**_

**As I stated before, I left a warning in the summary about the profanity used in Chapter 58. I left such a warning so people would not become too shocked by the profanity and would not consequently assume that I was trolling. Does that sound like a jerk to you?**

**By the way, this person's complaint about the swearing in this fic was not the first one. Someone a while back left a review saying that I should bump this fic to a T. I then bumped this fic to a T out of following that person's advice (I also bumped the rating partially because of the violence in Chapter 10). **

**If the bumped-up rating, Chapter 10, and Chapter 39 (Arc 1 Finale) did not ring a bell to you; this fic is a darker and more mature version of the SpongeBob SquarePants TV show. Probably for some people, this is extremely obvious.**

**Unlike many of the immature people on this site, I do not call anybody who criticizes or flames my story as haters or jealous people. I follow the given advice if I feel that it will benefit the story and if their reviews are constructive criticism. **

_**"Now all the little bastards that read this story are going to cuss too."**_

**First of all, how do you know that the kids who are reading my story are copying or mimicking the behavior they are reading? **

**Second of all, this fic is rated T. As Fictionratings. com states for the T rating: "CONTAINS CONTENT **_**NOT**_** SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN"**. **It also states that: "Suitable for teens **_**13 years**_** or **_**older**_**," Need I say more?**

**Third of all, (WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!) SpongeBob and Patrick get punished by Mr. Krabs for saying such vulgar words. The taboo of saying human curse words in undersea civilizations also gives a major hint for the moral in Chapter 58 (this moral is aimed at the twelve-year olds or other kids on this site or who watched the TV show, regardless of how silly it sounds). This moral is: Do not curse or else you will get punished by your parents or will get called out by other adults. I believe the little author's note at the end of Chapter 58 pretty much makes this children's moral blatant. Even with the censored words in the original episode, that episode also conveys the same moral and is just as obvious. **

**If kids come to this site, read my story, and curse anyway. This is not my fault since Chapter 58 was not intended to encourage such a response. This is just like how little kids play M-rated video games like Call of Duty regardless of the ESRB rating. There will always be kids and tweens infesting the internet no matter how many times people call them out for being annoying.**

_**"You even said cock for Christ's sake."**_

**If this was not obvious for you; in Chapter 58, SpongeBob and Patrick did not know the meaning of the human curse words that they were saying. They did not intend to elicit responses from the Bikini Bottomites who heard their cursing. They were innocently experimenting with the words that they discovered. Patrick even said that such swear words were "sentence enhancers". That's a dead giveaway of SpongeBob and Patrick's childish ignorance over human curse words.**

_"__**In the name of Mary the Virgin Mother of God, what were you thinking? What the Hell is wrong with you?"**_

**What's wrong with writing this fic in the way that I want it to be? It's MY story. So far, this fic has not broken any of Fanfiction. net's rules so it will stay on the website and continue to flourish, if you like it or not. By the way, several lines of actual cursing is only the VERY tip of the iceberg when it comes to the deep, dark glacier of disturbing fanfiction throughout the internet. If a chapter in a fanfic like this shocks you, I recommend that you should end your tread through the murky waters of fanfiction. As I asked before, have you read any lemons? Have you read any poorly-fanfiction with a thin substance for a plot and riddled with atrocious grammar? Any Gary Stu/Mary Sue fanfics?**

**You don't like the content in my fanfic? Very well, that is your opinion and I have nothing to truly say against it. When consuming any type of media, it's different strokes for different folks.**

**"**_**You just pissed all over this story like a cunt with big tits."**_

**This one is another opinion. If you feel like this chapter has ruined the story for you, then so shall it be. As I said before, different strokes for different folks.**

_**"You motherfucking cocksucking sailor mouth. Now start writing something more family based and next time censor all those goddam bad words! FUCK YOU!"**_

**That above piece of the flame, right there, reveals that you are a COMPLETE hypocrite. Although the second sentence of the above piece was hinted at when you stated an assumption about kids learning curses from my fic and using them, the piece above fully clarifies this. Why are you telling me to stop using uncensored curses in my fic when you are cursing to a ridiculous amount in your "review"? If your assumption was completely true, I bet the kids who read the review section are going to learn a few more curses thanks to your "review". Look, if you are going to convince anybody with any argument that you make, it would be best if you would practice what you preach. **

**...**

**If you are a troll (which is extremely unlikely due to your flame's perceived sincerity), you have done quite a good job. :) If you continue to flame this story or other stories, you will definitely receive what you desire; attention to yourself. However, I must warn you that more polite people like me are quite rare on the internet and you might be flamed back if you put such a flame on other stories. **

**If you are being sincere or honest, your flame will ultimately be ineffective. I am not a people-pleaser and will only follow people's advice if I think that it will benefit the story. If you want to continue flaming, go on right ahead. No one is going to stop you. Most flamers like you usually don't stop anyway. This deconstruction of your flame was meant to discourage you from "reviewing" my fic in such a ridiculous and hypocritical manner. However, if you continue to flame my story, your flames will be completely ignored in spite of them not being deleted. I am not joking around.**

**To wrap this excessive commentary up, and this goes for all of you reading, you cannot satisfy everybody when it comes to what you write or creating any other type of fiction or entertainment in general. As long as we are all individuals, we will all have individual tastes. For the writers of this site who have not encountered a flame directed at them before or are still relatively new, do not respond to flames with your own flames. Doing such an action will only strengthen the flamer's desire to continue flaming. You either have to make a calm or polite response such as the one I did or just ignore them. I hope that the response I made serves as a good model for those who have never responded to a flame before.**

**Folks, I could ramble all day about a flame like this and end up making a chapter that completely consist of this but I think I'm gonna end this author's note. I believe I have said what I needed to say. Anyways, we will now go back to the chapter.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

**Chapter 59: Bossy Boots**

Less than an hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking back to their neighborhood. They had finished their painting of the exterior wall of Mama Krabs' anchor.

The sea star was reflecting on the tale that Mr. Krabs had told. He tried to imagine how it was like to be an actual pirate and go on perilous adventures. The crab's tale reminded him of the hunt for the Flying Dutchman's treasure that he had embarked on with SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. However, after hearing Mr. Krabs' tale, he now thought of that treasure hunt as only a taste of the adventures that an actual pirate had to go through.

The crab's tale echoed in Patrick's mind.

"_Anyways, it began one mornin' in '71. I was still in me teens and had only been a pirate for a few years. As you probably know, I've started me pirate career quite early. I had adjusted to me crew quite well by that time and really got to know some of 'em. Our ship was heading to a distant island where a foolish crew had accidentally left their booty. The winds were decent so we got to the island pretty quickly. However, the other crew's ship had came too so they could retrieve their booty. Me crew's ship was the first one to fire their cannons and that was what started a major fight. A cannon ball almost injured one of me crewmates while a few other fired cannon balls killed a few people from the other crew. Me and me crewmates were quite skilled with the ship's cannons since we had fought in a lot of battles even during those early times. Since I was moving the fastest from cannon to cannon, me captain ordered me to snatch the treasure chest before the other crew got it. I then dove out of me ship and landed on the island before a cannon ball could've hit me. I grabbed the chest and then dodged a few more cannon balls before I swam back to me ship with the chest. With the help of the ship's anchor, I managed to reach the deck. However, since I wasn't manning the cannons, some of the rival crew got into me ship. I was the one who had been keeping the other crew from reaching the island since I was shooting cannon balls the fastest like I stated before. We managed to kick them out of our ship and then continued to fire our cannons at the other ship until they gave up. We then went home and I managed to get a larger share of the treasure than the others 'cause I was the one who found it as I stated before." Mr. Krabs told his tale. He enjoyed telling it since it gave him a sense of nostalgia. Telling the tale made him remember the many nights of storytelling during his pirate career._

"Oof!"

**THUD**

Patrick tripped on a rock and fell to the floor. He had been so absorbed into his thoughts that he was not aware of his surroundings and where he was going.

"Pat?" SpongeBob turned around and saw Patrick lying on the ground. He had assumed that Patrick had been walking behind him. The sponge noticed the sea star's fall when he heard the sea star's "Oof!". The yellow square then walked up to Patrick and raised him up by grabbing one of the starfish's arms. "You okay?" He was becoming concerned for Gary since he felt like he had left the snail alone for too long. Such a concern became a concern for the well-being of the people around him.

"Yep." Patrick nodded and simpered. He found the fall to be a bit awkward since it was caused by his own daydreaming and also made him aware of his own daydreaming.

The two best friends then resumed their walk towards their neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the pineapple's front door.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

"Gary, are you feeling better?" SpongeBob walked up to Gary who was still laying on the couch. He asked a question that entered his mind the moment he began to paint Mama Krabs' anchor.

"A little." Gary was starting to notice the effects of the medicine. The medicine's effects did not kick in immediately since he had a severe strain of the illness. The road to recovery was going to be a long one.

SpongeBob considered what Gary said to be troubling. He quickly jumped to a conclusion by thinking that he was not taking care of the snail enough for the sickness to go away. 'Maybe spoiling him will get him better faster. Positive emotions could build up his immune response.' The yellow square then ran through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the refrigerator in search of some healthy food that he could feed to Gary. He saw a bottle of lemon iced tea that he had bought with his groceries recently. He had thought about drinking it when he had bought it but he now changed his mind. The sponge took the bottle and closed the fridge. He then walked back to the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the bottle. "I bet you're thirsty, Gar-bear." He tried to persuade his snail into drinking the sweetened iced tea by making the snail think that he needed it. The sponge had positive intentions regardless of the questionable methods he was using. The yellow square then held out the opened bottle towards Gary.

Gary slithered up to the bottle and began to drink from it.

That began a long series of indulgence givings from SpongeBob. However, Gary's illness only showed a few signs of improvement unlike SpongeBob's optimistic prediction.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 9:43 AM.

"You're gonna be working here full-time?" SpongeBob looked at Nicholas who had came to the Krusty Krab at 9:00 AM like a normal employee instead of 3:00 PM. "How're you allowed to be here anyways? Don't you have school?" The sponge assumed that the school year for high school students was not over.

"I'm gonna be working here like how you guys do it; from nine to six. The school year's over so that's why I could now go to this place whenever I want to." Nicholas answered all three of SpongeBob's questions. He decided to work at the Krusty Krab full-time without any hesitation or doubts since he was planning on landing a job in the restaurant anyway. It was ideal if he got as much experience as possible before getting an actual position in the business.

"You think you're ready?" SpongeBob asked out of curiosity and smiled. He was glad that he could now work with Nicholas for the whole workday. He optimistically predicted that Nicholas will quickly adjust to the major change in his schedule.

"Yeah." Nicholas nodded confidently. If he could go to school for seven hours, he thought that he could certainly work at the Krusty Krab for nine hours.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door to his office that was inside the kitchen. "Attention! Attention! All Krusty Crew employees, attention!" He yelled to get his employees' attention. "Get the anchors out of your pants and report to me office! That will be all." The crab then entered his office and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door. He wanted to have a meeting with his employees since he had a very important topic to discuss about.

SpongeBob and Nicholas quickly walked towards the door to the office and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

...entered Mr. Krabs' office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Nicholas sat in two of the three chairs that were facing Mr. Krabs' desk. The crab had bought a chair that was the same type as the other chairs in the office for Nicholas.

**CRRREAAK**

SLAM

Squidward entered the office and sat in the remaining seat. He had his usual deadpan face. However, he had overheard SpongeBob and Nicholas' conversation and had become relieved since the daily workload will now be lightened by Nicholas.

"You may know me daughter Pearl. She's growing up fast." Mr. Krabs took hold of a framed photo of Pearl that was on his desk. It was one of the few framed photos on the crustacean's desk. The photo was of Pearl during her mid-childhood. "It seems like it was just yesterday I was teaching her how to breach. Me mammalian angel..." A wave of nostalgia flooded his mind. "Oh..." He then looked at the three employees before him and ceased his nostalgic daydreaming. The crustacean quickly put the framed photo back on the desk. "Anyway, uh, so she's going to be working here during her summer vacation. She's got a lot of fresh ideas to bring in some hungry customers." The crab informed his employees about some very important news. Pearl only wanted to work in the Krusty Krab so she could earn some extra money.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Pearl entered the Krusty Krab. "Hello? Daddy?" She looked around the dining room in search for her father.

S-S-S-S-S

"Thar she blows!" Mr. Krabs stood up from his desk and briskly walked towards the door to the dining room.

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his office.

Squidward made eye contact with SpongeBob. "SpongeBob, do you realize what this means?" He had a pessimistic prediction about the outcome of Pearl's managing of the Krusty Krab. He had seen and met Pearl before and did not like her since she was spoiled and quite bratty.

"New spatulas?" SpongeBob shrugged. He was not sure about what was going to happen once Pearl becomes a sub-manager in the Krusty Krab. No amount of optimism could clear the fog of mystery that was blocking the sponge from the future.

Nicholas shrugged as well. He considered assuming or guessing to be useless since he could not predict any outcome for the restaurant either.

"No." Squidward shook his head. "It means some bratty teenager's coming in here to tell us what to do." He assumed that Pearl was going to be some sort of manager since Mr. Krabs said that she had some ideas for the restaurant. The octopus viewed his boss hiring such a manager as disrespectful towards him and the other employees because of the personality and age differences between the Krusty Crew and Pearl. "We can't have that. We have seniority, right?" He wanted to have a strong resistance against the whale's future temporary rule over the business.

"Right." SpongeBob nodded. He wanted to assist in the resistance since he thought that he was obligated to helping his 'friend' like he does with Patrick and Sandy.

Squidward stood up and made an actual smile. He was glad that him and SpongeBob were on equal footing since the sponge could be a big help in making sure that his workdays over the summer would not become significantly worse. The octopus held out his hand.

SpongeBob stood up.

The two shook hands and a temporary alliance between them immediately formed.

Nicholas did not nod or shake his head. He was hesitant in deciding if he should resist Pearl's management or go with the flow. He wanted to weigh both options so he could pick the one that was the best. His indecisiveness allowed him to think the most rationally since that trait made him unbiased.

"We'll now work together to protect our pathetic positions." Squidward stated his and SpongeBob's main goal throughout the summer workdays. His statement was based on the assumption that Pearl was going to change their roles in the business.

"Okee-dokee, Squid." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. Teamwork was certainly not an alien concept to him.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and stepped into his office. He had a short discussion with his daughter about what her temporary role in the business was going to be. "Alright, men." He stepped out of the way to reveal Pearl. "Say hello to me Pearl."

Nicholas stood up from his seat. "Hi." He greeted the whale in a friendly manner. Despite his nerdy looks, he was not an introvert. Such a difference in his looks and his actual personality could be seen through the confident smile on his face.

"Hi, Pearl." SpongeBob waved and greeted her with a vast amount of positive energy. He was certainly familiar with the whale, especially after the prom that the thugs had nearly ruined.

Squidward continued to make a deadpan face and remained silent. Before today, he had a neutral view of Mr. Krabs' daughter. However, he now currently saw her as an enemy since she might worsen the octopus' situation in what he called a pathetic excuse for a job.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at Pearl. "It makes me jolly as a roger to have you finally aboard the family business." He spoke from the bottom of his heart. He was glad that Pearl was now a temporary member of the Krusty Crew so he could now view the Krusty Crew as a true family. Without Pearl, the Krusty Crew was merely part of the Krabs family in spirit (as Mr. Krabs had stated when he had told the secret formula to SpongeBob).

"That's great, dad." Pearl smiled widely. She was not trying to deceive anybody. "'Cause I have so many new ideas." Most of those ideas were related to renovations or reforms in the restaurant that could attract a more younger audience. She then held out a box that she had been carrying ever since she had left from Mr. Krabs' anchor to go to the Krusty Krab. She had thought about being a temporary member for a long time and had virtually planned everything out as a consequence.

Mr. Krabs looked at Pearl's box and imagined the possible sea of green riches that he could earn thanks to Pearl's possibly innovative ideas. "I can smell the money already!" He looked up to the ceiling in a dream-like state. He then pushed Squidward, Nicholas, SpongeBob, and Pearl out of his office. He wanted to count yesterday's profits in peace. "I want all of you to start working! I'll be in me office if you need me."

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the door to the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob became curious as he looked at the box. He wondered what hidden contents inside the sealed container were awaiting to be used by him and the Krusty Crew. "What's in the box?" He looked up at Pearl.

"It's a surprise." Pearl smirked. She was anticipating how the Krusty Crew was going to react to the contents inside the box.

SpongeBob began to jump up and down in excitement. The fact that the box''s contents were a surprise only made the sponge more curious to see what they were. "I like surprises!"

"Great, then close your eyes." Pearl wanted the revelation of the box's contents to be somewhat dramatic. She said such a command so she could further enjoy the Krusty Crew's reactions. However, she did not expect to receive negative reactions. She was simply excited for how the Krusty Crew was going to react in general.

SpongeBob closed his eyes. His smile stretched from ear to ear as he waited for the surprise to be revealed.

'Might as well get this over with.' Squidward thought and then closed his eyes as well. He was waiting for the moment where SpongeBob can become assertive with his opinion. He and SpongeBob are highly aware of the alliance they made.

Nicholas shrugged and closed his eyes. He saw no point in keeping his eyes open since Pearl wanted the crew's eyes closed and would probably not open the box if at least one member keeps his eyes open.

Pearl opened the box. "Ta-dah!" She spoke in a louder voice to signal that it was okay for the Krusty Krew to open their eyes.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward opened their eyes. They then walked up to Pearl and looked inside the opened box.

Inside the box were three identical suits. They were pink, had purple floral designs on them, and had red Ks that were made out of clay and were smoothened to perfection on springs. The Ks on the springs were on top of the head areas of the suits like they were antennae.

"It's the new Krusty Krew uniform. I designed it myself." Pearl explained what the clothing in the box was. She had to spend a moderate amount of her father's money in order to pay the clothes designer to make those clothes in the box. By how the clothes looked, she certainly did not make them all by herself.

Nicholas was trying to resist the urge to cringe. He had nothing against uniforms since they gave him a sense of pride for participating in what he was wearing a uniform for most of the time. However, in the current case, the green fish thought that the new Krusty Krab uniforms looked more like costumes that children wear in plays. "Umm..." He tried to mentally form the right words.

'You've gotta keep kidding me.' The octopus narrowed his eyes at the clothes, he did it just enough to show that he was not going to wear the new uniform without some sort of resistance. Squidward became repulsed at the idea of the Krusty Krew wearing those clothes as uniforms. He considered them to be insults since he had a opinion that was similar to Nicholas'. He thought that the new uniforms were clothes that only children would wear. A light bulb then lit up in his head. "Okay, this is it, SpongeBob. Now tell her how you really feel about that uniform." He looked at SpongeBob. However, his command had a fatal flaw. It was based on the assumption that the Krusty Krew all had the same opinion.

"Okay, Squid." SpongeBob made a normal smile and winked at Squidward to show his obedience. "Pearl... this is one of the greatest uniforms that I've ever seen!" The childish sponge loved the bright colors of the new Krusty Krab uniforms.

"Fish paste..." Squidward muttered. He had unintentionally made the Krusty Krew wearing such embarrassing uniforms a certainty.

Pearl could not help herself and grinned. The sponge's bright nature was rubbing off on her. The sponge's enthusiasm made her think that her new ideas for the restaurant were going to make the business a bigger success. "Alrighty. SpongeBob, put this on really quick!" She spoke in an enthusiastic manner. The whale handed a uniform to the yellow square.

SpongeBob ran towards the bathroom and...

**CREEAAAK**

SLAM

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the bathroom. He was carrying his normal clothes on his shoulder. He liked how the uniform turned out on his body.

The dangling Ks combined with the sponge's smiling made SpongeBob look very cute in Pearl's opinion. "Oh, SpongeBob, you look so adorable." The whale said her opinion without any hesitance. The sponge had broken the ice between her and the Krusty Krew. "I could just eat you up."

"Sorry, Pearl, but this item's not on the menu." SpongeBob joked about Pearl's comment and giggled at his own joke. He walked towards the kitchen door.

Nicholas snickered. Since he knew a lot about food and cooking in general (even without being a Krusty Krab employee or intern), he found SpongeBob's joke to be quite funny.

Squidward took a deep breath. He thought that SpongeBob looked incredibly silly with that uniform on. "Well, I didn't think this was possible but, SpongeBob, you look even more ridiculous than usual." He viewed the sponge's normal attire as somewhat strange clothing. A chill then ran down his spine when he thought about how he was going to look once he puts the uniform on. A fear about people laughing or making fun of him over the new uniform began to grow. Such an embarrassing scene would have been almost exactly like the many instances of bully directed at him in high school.

Pearl was very aware of Squidward's bitter and lazy attitude towards his job. "Don't feel jealous, Uncle Squiddy." She gave the octopus a dose of his own sarcasm. "I made one for you too." She took out another new uniform from the box.

Squidward shook his head in disapproval. "Only a fool would wear that." He muttered again to hide his fear of embarrassment over wearing that new uniform. 'I should write about this in my journal later.' The octopus had become accustomed to writing in his journal often. He wrote in it almost everyday and such a habit assisted him in decreasing the amount of angry reactions towards his neighbors' annoying behavior or minimizing those reactions.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his office. He finished counting yesterday's profits and wanted to see how many customers were currently in the dining room. The crab saw SpongeBob in the new uniform instead and then smiled. He thought that the new uniform's silliness was going to attract more customers. The crab turned to look at the box Pearl was holding and noticed that there were more of those suits. "Avast, ye shipmates." He walked up to Pearl and took out a uniform from the box. "Don't these just shiver your timbers?" He held out the uniform towards the Krusty Krew. The crab then walked up to Pearl and put the uniform back. As he walked towards his office, he looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye. "Get that suit on, sailor. It's already been paid for." He could tell by the octopus' facial expression that the octopus did not want to wear the new uniform.

Squidward sighed and took a uniform from Pearl's box. He then walked towards the bathroom door while looking down at the floor in embarrassment. The octopus thought that the uniform looked so silly that even carrying it was a feat of its own.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus entered the bathroom to change his clothes.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the bathroom with an extremely grumpy face. The possible insults from the coerced wearing of the uniform made the octopus sink into an ill mood. His brown shirt and his hat was being carried on his forearm. He then stomped towards the kitchen door.

SpongeBob had stood before the kitchen door so he could see how the uniform turned out on Squidward. "Not too bad, Squid." The yellow square smiled sincerely and walked around Squidward to see how the suit swallowed the octopus' figure. "It's a nice fit too."

Squidward narrowed his eyes. Instead of muttering or yelling to vent his grumpiness and fear, he vented those emotions through other means. "Rage. Fury. Irritation. Humiliation. Dread." He spoke what he felt in a stern voice. It showed that he was not going to give up his last shred of dignity.

Pearl gave a disapproving look at Squidward and then gave a normal look at SpongeBob. "Squidward is such a barnacle." She commented on the octopus' attitude towards the uniform and work in general.

SpongeBob had a different opinion about Squidward. "That's only if you get on his bad side. He's not grumpy all the time during work as long as he reads something." The sponge said tried-and-true facts about Squidward's behavior during his workday. He said such facts in defense of his 'friend' against Pearl's negative comment.

A pause.

SpongeBob glanced at the clothes he was wearing. "Where do we leave our stuff?" He assumed that Pearl was now the manager of the Krusty Krab and could order him, Squidward, and Nicholas as a result.

Pearl looked through the ordering window and saw a cabinet inside the kitchen. "You can just leave it on the cabinet's top in the kitchen." She noticed that the cabinet's top was empty.

SpongeBob nodded and...

**CRREEEAAK**

...entered the kitchen.

Squidward walked through the open doorway and entered the kitchen as well.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward put their own clothes on the cabinet's top.

"SpongeBob, don't you see how silly you look? How can anybody take you seriously?" Squidward tried to make SpongeBob understand his point of view. He thought that SpongeBob still remembered the alliance.

"But being silly attracts the kids y'know." SpongeBob said another tried-and-true fact. When he was a kid, the restaurant that he always loved to go to were ones that were colorful and had rides and many other opportunities for fun activities (except for the Krusty Krab). More kids coming to the restaurant meant families would come too, and larger customer groups meant more profits for the Krusty Krab.

The conversation ended there. Squidward thought that there was no hope in persuading SpongeBob. He now considered Pearl's innovations to be irresistible for the sponge. He would now have to tackle the behemoth of Pearl's tyranny by his lonesome.

SpongeBob and Squidward exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas walked up to the box and took a uniform. 'As long as I land that job.' The green fish viewed wearing such a girlish and colorful uniform as an obstacle to his goal of getting an actual job in the Krusty Krab. Embarrassing situations in the restaurant would not stop him from his pursuit of excellence. He walked to the bathroom and...

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered it.

Pearl looked at SpongeBob and remembered the prom that had been interrupted by a fight between SpongeBob and the thugs. She specifically remembered the fancy outfit that the yellow square had worn. "SpongeBob, I gotta say, you're full of style." She said her opinion without hesitance.

SpongeBob had never heard such a comment about him before. "Me? Really?" The yellow square smiled widely in delight. Hearing such a comment and looking at Pearl became a combined trigger that made him remember the outfit he had worn at the prom. He now saw where Pearl was coming from.

"Totally, S. B. You ooze fashion. And I've got some completely coral concepts for this old joint, and I'm going to need someone with your kind of talent to help me." Pearl made an assuring smile. She did not underestimate SpongeBob's potential and viewed him as a reliable person due to his visit to the prom and the soaring profits that he allowed the restaurant to earn.

"You're the manager now, right?" SpongeBob wanted his assumption to be assured. "Are you allowed to boss us around?" He said a more specific question. Since the specific question sounded strange, he said a disclaimer. "No offence."

"Yep." Pearl nodded. "I'm pretty much the boss now. My dad'll just maintain the money." She answered both of the sponge's questions. She was not offended by SpongeBob's questions at all.

"Anyways. I've always been thinking 'bout making a few changes around here." SpongeBob spoke honestly. When business was slow, he often thought about crazy ideas that could be implemented into the restaurant that would be amusing.

"Why, with my girlish instincts and your um... sponginess." Pearl could not pinpoint an exact term for SpongeBob's overall talent. "We'll turn this worn-out lunch wagon into a teenage paradise." The whale grabbed SpongeBob by the shoulder and pointed at the whole dining room like she was showing it to the sponge for the first time. Her spoken words hinted at what she wanted the target audience of the Krusty Krab to be.

'Neptune, have mercy.' Squidward folded his arms. He could not imagine the horrors he would have to endure in order for the Krusty Krab to be more 'teenage-friendly'.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Pearl and SpongeBob were sitting in a table that was not occupied by customers.

The whale was thinking of a new name for the restaurant. She had wrote some of her ideas into a notepad that she had brought. Renaming the Krusty Krab was going to be one of the first of many steps towards transforming the restaurant and the business. Pearl glanced at the ideas on her notepad. "SpongeBob, what do you like better? The Kutie Krab or the Kooky Krab?"

Squidward was sitting in the boat and was reading a novel. He had not been paying attention to SpongeBob and Pearl's conversation but overheard what Pearl just siad. "For what, dare I ask?" He hoped that what he was assuming was not true.

"Our new name for our new look." Pearl looked up at Squidward. "I mean, 'the Krusty Krab' has got to go. Who wants to eat at a place they think is crusty?" Her negative opinion about the style of Mr. Krabs' business began to make her become condescending. Her bratty nature fueled such an ascension to tyranny.

"Well, sure it's a terrible name, but this is a terrible place." Squidward had an equally negative opinion of the Krusty Krab. However, he wanted to preserve his dignity as much as possible by preserving his working environment. "Therefore, the name should be left alone."

Pearl decided to ignore Squidward. 'There's no point in asking for his input, he'll probably fight with me all day.' The whale made a wise decision to not further accept any comments from Squidward. She had to do that in order for her restaurant transformation to be successful.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Nicholas exited the bathroom.

Pearl made eye contact with Nicholas. "What took you so long?" She raised her brow.

"I just wanted to make sure that it fit good." Nicholas said an excuse for his time spent in the bathroom. He had tried and successfully made his suit perfectly fit him. His perfectionist tendencies prevented him from doing many simple tasks quickly.

A pause.

"So, what're guys doing?" Nicholas was not as lazy or rebellious as Squidward. Although he was hesitant to work for the restaurant that Pearl was transforming, he decided that he should continue to contribute and work anyway.

"Coming up with names for our new restaurant." Pearl pointed at her notepad with her pencil. She made a slight smile.

Nicholas walked up to Pearl and SpongeBob's table and sat in it. 'Might as well get used to it before I freak out.' The green fish tried to imagine what the Krusty Krab was going to be like once all of Pearl's changes become implemented.

Another pause.

"I got it!" SpongeBob raised his index finger. His brain became clogged with ideas for the Krusty Krab's new name. "How about the Kayate Krab?" He spoke in a silly manner.

Pearl jotted the name down. "Hmm... how about the Kissy Krab?" She read a name from her list.

"The King Krab?" SpongeBob said what he thought was an excellent idea. He spoke in a fancy manner like he was part of a royal family.

Pearl jotted 'King Krab' into her notepad. She then took out a wrapped lollipop from her pocket nd held it out to SpongeBob. "The Kandy Krab!" She said what she thought was both an amusing and appealing name.

"The Kool Krab." SpongeBob snapped his fingers to make himself look 'coral'. "Ooh, or the Kowboy Krab!" He sat on his seat like it was a saddle on a horse. "The Kurly Krab." The sponge wrapped himself with his own arms since it made his arms look circular. "The Kreepy Krab." The yellow square held out his arms in a manner similar to a serial killer's. "Or, THE KILLER KRAB!" SpongeBob jumped to the table's top and made a pose like he was a caveman. He was doing such acts to show the vibe that he wanted to accompany each name with.

Nicholas winced and fell to the floor.

"No!" Pearl's face drained of color slightly. The sponge had scared her a little bit.

SpongeBob sat back in his seat. "You're right, too scary." He looked at the table's top and put his hand on his chin as he thought of a perfect name for the new Krusty Krab.

Nicholas was hugging his seat in anticipation of SpongeBob doing another scary act. He could get easily frightened, even more than SpongeBob.

The yellow sponge saw what Nicholas was doing and a giant light bulb lit up in his head.

Pearl saw what Nicholas was doing as well and then saw an item on her list. She then smiled widely.

"The Kuddly Krab!" SpongeBob and Pearl both stated the name with enthusiasm.

A pause.

Nicholas sat in his seat. "So that's gonna be the name?" He scratched his head. He felt slightly embarrassed for having to work in a restaurant called the Kuddly Krab. He hoped his assumption was proven to be false.

"Yep." Pearl nodded.

Nicholas wore a smile. However, his mental self bit his lip in disappointment.

S-S-S-S-S

Four and a half hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Krusty Krab had underwent a nearly total transformation. The only remnants of its previous state were the old building itself and the main layouts of its rooms. Everything else had been changed under Pearl's strict rule.

The building was painted in rainbow colors. Balloons of a variety of bright colors were tied to its ceiling. A rainbow had been painted on its left front window. The ship flags hanging above the windows were replaced by heart flags of different colors.

The sign of the former Krusty Krab now had the name 'The Kuddly Krab' on it. The clam which the top of the sign consisted of was decorated with pink on its lower and upper lips. The pole which the clam was supported by was decorated by a pink spiral

Many decorations covered the dining room. The tables all had white cloths covering their tops like they were from fancy restaurants. Those white cloths also had rainbow stickers on their perimeters. Some stuffed animals and other candy-themed decorations littered the dining room. A radio that had been turned up to nearly the max volume was playing pop music that Pearl, her friends, and other female teenagers loved.

Such a renovation to the building costed a large amount of money. The only reason why Mr. Krabs paid for all of that (even though he had been hesitant) was that he had predicted that he will earn a large amount of profits from the new targeted audience.

To Squidward's dismay, his resistance was futile. He was too embarrassed to say that he worked in such a girlish restaurant out of his own choice. The octopus would rather say that he was enslaved to working in such a restaurant due to his inability to find any other job. He was currently standing with SpongeBob and Pearl, the three were looking at the result of the whale's implementation of her ideas to the restaurant.

SpongeBob was giggling. He loved how the new Krusty Krab looked and he could not hide his delight. The new atmosphere in the Kuddly Krab fit his personality perfectly. Clever, enthusiastic, and cheery.

Pearl began to giggle as well. The sponge giggled in such a manner that it became contagious.

Squidward was so grumpy that he was immune to the giggling. He was glaring at the 'horrifying mess' that Pearl created. 'Oh, Neptune. I'm gonna have to work in this hell for the whole summer.' He thought in despair. His workdays in the Krusty Krab have now became ten times worse due to Pearl's changes. He also imagined how the teenagers (the new target audience) were going to negatively react to his attitude towards work.

SpongeBob and Pearl walked towards the double door and...

**C-CRRREEEAK**

S-SLAM

...entered the Kuddly Krab. They had other business to take care of.

Squidward looked at the sign and a light bulb lit up in his head. He had been searching for a whole hour for a way to vent his frustration and grumpiness without getting in trouble. He stomped up to the sign's pole, grabbed it, and shook it as hard as he could.

The pole barely moved. It made Squidward's attempt to vent his grumpiness look pathetic and silly.

A pause.

**Bam**

Squidward punched the sign's pole in frustration. His grumpiness was somewhat satisfied thanks to that release of emotions through the shake of that pole. He stomped towards the Kuddly Krab's double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the Kuddly Krab.

A long pause.

Bubble Bass was walking towards the former Krusty Krab. He was coming to the restaurant for an afternoon meal. He then stopped before the former Krusty Krab and stared in shock at what it had become. It took him a full minute for him to fully absorb what had happened to the Krusty Krab. The obese fish then slowly walked towards the Kuddly Krab and...

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...entered the Kuddly Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubble Bass looked around the dining room and heard the pop music being played. From his viewpoint, the dining room had been 'vomited' with excessive bright and cheery decorations. "What kind of blasphemy is this?" He narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. He thought about criticizing the Krusty Krab's new look in the same way that he criticizes food. The dark green fish thought that whoever renovated the Krusty Krab was disrespecting the business. He felt like he had just stepped into a playground instead of a respected restaurant for adults.

Squidward turned around and saw Bubble Bass. He overhead the dark green fish's question. "You just read my mind." He had a deadpan face.

"Who did this? There's no way that Krabs could've done such... destruction." Bubble Bass struggled to grasp a term for how terrible the decorations looked when put on the former Krusty Krab.

"Mr. Krabs' daughter. She's called Pearl." Squidward droned an answer and walked towards the boat. He wanted to escape from reality as quickly as possible so he would not have to deal with the pain of working in the Kuddly Krab. He then sat in the boat, took hold of his opened novel, and resumed his reading of it.

Bubble Bass turned to look at SpongeBob and overheard a conversation between the sponge and the whale.

"Pearl, you're a genius. All these young, hip new customers." SpongeBob pointed at the female teenagers who were now sitting at the tables and were socializing. "It's too bad Squid can't keep up with the times. You're a true visionary, Pearl." He could not express his liking of the Krusty Krab's new atmosphere in any other way but through a compliment.

"Thank you, SpongeBob. I do have 20/20 vision." Pearl did not know what 'visionary' meant although she could tell that SpongeBob gave her a compliment.

"Well, hip people have to eat too. Back to the grill." SpongeBob walked towards the kitchen door to resume his normal working duties. He assumed that the Krusty Krab's menu had not changed.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered the kitchen.

'Might as well take a Krabby Patty on the go.' Bubble Bass walked up to the boat. He did not look up at the new Galley Grub since he assumed that the items on it did not change at all. "I would like a Krabby Patty to go." He looked at Squidward.

"We don't serve Krabby Patties anymore. Apparently, when I had asked Pearl about this, she said that it's not 'hip' anymore." Squidward said a reason for why Bubble Bass' order could not be fulfilled. He looked up at Bubble Bass.

"WHAT?!" Bubble Bass eyes bugged out. He then looked through the ordering window. "Mr. SquarePants, is this true?!" He hoped that what Squidward said was not the truth.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was staring at the space where the grill used to be at. He was completely shocked by what he was seeing. Pearl had not told him about all the changes that the Krusty Krab had went through. He considered cooking and flipping patties to be a major component of his work and was also one of his favorite parts of the workday. Without the grill, SpongeBob thought that the Krusty Krab lost a key 'personality' trait. He also overheard what Squidward said to Bubble Bass and his throat became a bit heavy. The sponge felt like working in the Krusty Krab would not be enjoyable without making Krabby Patties. "I think Squid's right." He answered Bubble Bass' question without looking at the obese green fish. Squidward had sounded serious enough for him to believe what the octopus said.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubble Bass tightened his fists and gritted his teeth. What Pearl had done to the Galley Grab outraged him. He stomped towards the office door and...

**SLAM**

...barged it open. The obese fish then stomped into the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs looked up and recognized the former customer before him. "Whaddya want, Bubble Bass?" He was slightly annoyed since he had been using a calculator to estimate the increase in profits from the teenagers eating at the restaurant.

Bubble Bass put both of his hands on Mr. Krabs' desk. "Mr. Krabs, if you're going to allow appalling managers like Pearl to stay in your business, I cannot eat here anymore. The removal of the Krabby Patty and the new atmosphere have completely ruined the Krusty Krab for me." He then turned and walked towards the open doorway. "I'll come back when things return to normal."

**SLAM**

Bubble Bass exited the office and closed the door.

Mr. Krabs looked at his desk's surface and entered a deep state of thought. 'If I don't do something soon, I'm gonna risk losing more money and gaining less than before... but if I stop Pearl from managing, I'm gonna break her heart. What's the point?' The crab sighed. The two choices he had to pick from were both going to lead to negative consequences. The crab cared enough for his daughter that he did not want to hurt her feelings. Like spoiling Mrs. Puff, Mr. Krabs treated Pearl preciously as if Pearl was an actual pearl.

A pause.

It was still too early to make any drastic decisions. The Krusty Krab had been renovated an hour ago so the long-term effects had certainly not been seen yet. 'I should wait this out. Maybe I'm thinking ahead too much.' The crab decided to wait so he can see what was going to happen to his business throughout the day.

S-S-S-S-S

Hanging from the ceiling. the new Galley Grub was above Squidward for all to see. Instead of having a yellowish oak tag color, it had a light purple because of a suggestion from Pearl. The items on the menu had been significantly reduced to what Pearl considered to be hip and 'coral' or anything else that teenagers like. The whale had also made some additions to the menu.

Two female teenagers who were best friends walked up to Squidward.

The orange one looked up at the Galley Grub. "I would like a salad." She quickly decided on what to eat. She had not ate in a while.

"Me too." The blue one also found a salad to be desirable.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward looked through the ordering window. "SpongeBob, two salads." He said the order in a louder voice and then turned his head away from the ordering window.

SpongeBob sighed and nodded. The fact that he will not be making any Krabby Patties for the duration of Pearl's summer vacation was almost unbelievable. He walked to the table, took a plate, took the vegetable ingredients for the Krabby Patties, and made two salads in the same way and order that he would make Krabby Patties. The two salads on the plate ended up being like Krabby Patties but without the buns, patty, mustard, and ketchup. 'These are the coolest meals I've ever seen.' The sponge tried to think positively in an attempt to change his mood. However, it failed since he was only deceiving himself. The sponge then walked up to Squidward with the plate and gave the plate to the octopus. The sponge could not remove his facial expression of disappointment.

A long pause.

SpongeBob walked towards the door to the dining room. He had a question that he desired to ask Pearl about.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Pearl who was talking with her friends. He then gently poked Pearl on the shoulder. He was frowning and was looking at the floor.

"Hm?" Pearl turned to look at SpongeBob.

"Why did you take out Krabby Patties from the menu?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Pearl. He could not hide his upsetness in the slightest. The sponge did not understand why Pearl found Krabby Patties to be not hip.

"Come on, SpongeBob. You're a hip guy. You know that fried foods are O-U-T, out." Pearl said her reason for removing Krabby Patties from the Galley Grub. That reason was completely based on her negative opinion of fried food since fried food was actually quite popular among teeanagers.

"Uh... right on." SpongeBob slowly nodded. Pearl was the manager so he thought that it was futile to resist her unless he wanted to get fired by Mr. Krabs.

"Check out this new menu I came up with." Pearl gave SpongeBob a mini-version of the new Galley Grub for the Kuddly Krab. Those mini-versions were on every table in the dining room. The whale gave that min-version so SpongeBob could be informed of all the changes to the menu.

SpongeBob looked at the menu and he immediately did not like the changes that he was seeing. Many foods that he loved to make such as the Krabby Patty Deluxe had been removed from the Galley Grub.

Pearl noticed that SpongeBob still had his spatula on his person. "You won't be needing that thing anymore." She then took the spatula out of SpongeBob's pocket. Since burgers no longer needed to be cooked, the spatula was now useless.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-..." SpongeBob stuttered heavily. He was trying to form the right words to say to the whale. He treated his spatula like a dear companion during work and not having it takes away another level of enjoyment from his job.

**CRRREEEAK**

SLAM

Nicholas exited the bathroom with a mop and a bucket of water. He had been cleaning the bathroom under Pearl's orders.

Pearl saw Nicholas and a light bulb lit up in her head. "I've got something more fun for you to do." She wanted Nicholas to be responsible for the kitchen and the making of the food since she did not want the green fish to be an unimportant intern. The whale wanted all employees to have equal roles. "Wait right there. I'll be back in a sec." The whale then...

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Pearl walked up to a cabinet and opened it. She took out a crab suit that had been stored inside the cabinet during the Krusty Krab's suit had eyestalks, a face hole between its eyes and mouth, and a grinning face. She had bought such a suit for advertising reasons. The whale then closed the cabinet and...

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Pearl walked up to SpongeBob while carrying the crab suit. "I want you to stand outside and wave at any passing customers or cars. This restaurant just needs a few more people so we can get enough cash." The whale desired to gain extra profits for the business. She did not want to get fired by her father due to a decrease in profits.

SpongeBob blushed and the nodded in obedience. When working in the Krusty Krab, he considered doing something, even if it was mundane, to be better than being idle since he was highly devoted to his job. He took the crab suit from Pearl's hands and walked towards the bathroom.

**CRRREEAAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob entered the bathroom.

"Nick, I've got something for you to do." Pearl turned to look at Nicholas.

Nicholas immediately smiled. He was glad to have some sort of role since in previous days, he did not feel as important as other employees due to his intern status.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, while wearing the suit, was waving both of his red claws at nearby pedestrians and passing boatmobiles. It was highly embarrassing since the sponge found the costume to be ridiculous and he was also trying his hardest not to blush. The yellow square was not smiling at all and was biting his lip instead.

A boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob. The window closest to the driver's seat lowered to reveal a red young man. The man assumed that SpongeBob was too dumb to be aware of the ridiculousness of the suit or the silliness of what he was doing. "Hey, buddy. You need a ride? I was just on my way to the big doofus convention." He then laughed and raised the window until it covered the opening. The boatmobile then resumed its drive down the street.

SpongeBob took a glance at the Kuddly Krab. Through one of the large windows, he saw Pearl sitting with her friends and casually talking to them like they were talking in the cafeteria of their high school.

Sandy was walking towards the former Krusty Krab so she could get a Krabby Patty and bring it home to eat it. The squirrel immediately saw the changes that happened to the restaurant and saw SpongeBob in the crab suit.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and stood straight.

Sandy walked up to SpongeBob. "What happened? I reckon this place was way different a week ago." The squirrel was asking out of concern. She noticed how the sponge's face was indicating his embarrassment over wearing the crab suit.

"Pearl, Mr. Krabs' daughter, is the manager of the Krusty Krab now. I'm out in the open with this suit 'cause she wants more customers to come here." SpongeBob explained what had happened to the Krusty Krab business. "The worst part is that Krabby Patties are no longer served here. That was all part of Pearl's changes to the restaurant." The sponge went in-depth into his situation by saying how he truly felt about some of the changes in the restaurant.

"No Krabby Patties? What were they thinkin'? Krabby Patties are like the only reason some people come to the Krusty Krab." Sandy had been to the Krusty Krab quite a few times so she knew plenty of information about the restaurant.

"Pearl thought that Krabby Patties were not hip." SpongeBob shrugged. "She's the manager and since it's her first time doing this stuff, I want to make her happy. Plus, I don't want to upset Mr. Krabs either." The sponge was starting to enjoy the conversation. It distracted him from the embarrassing role that

"Sponge, I know you love your job but has it always been this bad? Back in Texas, some people work whole days in fields and get less pay than you have." Sandy became more concerned for her friend. Her caring side could not swallow the idea of SpongeBob having toughen up through harsh working conditions.

"Nothing's too harsh most of the time. Things get a little bit challenging here and there. However, without my spat and patties, I'm not sure about how things'll turn out." SpongeBob was thinking critically about his situation. "How tough's your job?"

"Mine's not easy either. I end up spending long hours of research and it can get quite dull when there's no updates from my boss." Sandy explained her job as a scientist to SpongeBob. "But, Sponge, don't just let Pearl keep tellin' you what to do. If she takes things too far, you should be assertive and tell her. That's what I do with my boss." The squirrel gave SpongeBob some advice before turned around to walk back home. "Tell me when Pearl decides to bring Krabby Patties back, 'kay? Anyways, see ya." She then began her walk back to her treedome.

SpongeBob had ideas that were battling inside his head. He did not like the role he was given by Pearl and he also wanted to help out Sandy by persuading Pearl to change the menu. However, he did not want to get fired either by upsetting Pearl. His mind became filled with conflicting predictions of the consequences of each choice.

A words from a certain octopus echoed in SpongeBob's mind.

"_It means some bratty teenager's coming in here to tell us what to do. We can't have that. We have seniority, right?"_

SpongeBob remembered the former alliance that he had with Squidward for a very short time. Those words also reminded the sponge of Pearl's brattiness, the removal of Krabby Patties from the Galley Grub came to his mind when he thought of the whale's brattiness. The yellow square then predicted the future of the Kuddly Krab; the working conditions were going to miserable at the current rate. The sponge then narrowed his eyes and turned to face the Kuddly Krab. He was going to follow Sandy's advice by being assertive. He then stomped up to the restaurant's front door. 'This is humiliating. I'm a fry cook, darn it! You can take away my spatula, but when you take away my dignity, that's when I get mad! I'm gonna march up right to Mr. Krabs' office and tell this is just too much!' The sponge thought in a righteous anger. He now understood why Squidward initially desired to resist Pearl's rule over the business and the changes she brought.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob briskly walked towards the door to the office.

**CRRREEEAAK**

The sponge opened the door and stopped narrowing his eyes to reveal a neutral facial expression. "Mr. Krabs, can I talk to you?" He made eye contact with his boss. He showed his seriousness by not smiling.

S-S-S-S-S

The office was just as heavily decorated as the dining room.

Mr. Krabs smiled. Staying in his office was starting to become boring since there was nothing else to do. He was glad that his favorite employee was willing to talk to him. "Come on in, me boy. Have a seat." He pointed at one of the three chairs in front of his desk.

SpongeBob smiled in relief. "Thanks, Mr. Krabs." He was glad that his boss was not busy since he wanted to resolve his situation as quickly as possible. He walked into the room and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door. The sponge then sat in the center chair.

"Don't you just love me new office?" Mr. Krabs pointed at all of the decorations in his office, especially the stuffed animals sitting against the walls. Like SpongeBob, the crab loved the new decorations. However, he loved them because they were planned by his daughter and, in his opinion, were refreshing for the restaurant's atmosphere. "Pearly designed it for me."

SpongeBob sat to the edge of his seat. The possibility of Mr. Krabs becoming upset over the words he was about to say began to reveal itself before SpongeBob through the crustacean's delight. "Mr. Krabs, um, I think we have a problem." He tried to arrange his words in a kind manner.

Mr. Krabs pointed at the chair that SpongeBob was sitting in. "Isn't that the neatest forty-dollar chair you ever sat in?" The three chairs before him had been bought from a store by Pearl a while ago. Even though they were expensive, the crab liked how they looked.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "Sure, Mr. Krabs, but I've got some bad news." The sponge began to fiddle his fingers. He was thinking about how he was going to say his complaint without being too blunt. He was being considerate for his boss. However, a yearning for a return to normality in the Krusty Krab began to grow inside him. The yellow square was beginning to lose his tolerance for the changes in the business, his thinking over what he was going to say made the sponge realize how much he disliked some of the changes that Pearl made.

Mr. Krabs smirked at a blue stuffed animal that resembled a bunny. "How about my cuddly executive buddy?" He picked up the stuffed animal and squeezed it with both of his hands. The stuffed animals were his favorite decorations since the crab had a soft spot for cute knick-knacks. "Reduces stress for only five easy payments of nine ninety-five." He then made a pirate laugh as he repeatedly squeezed the stuffed animal. The doll made a **SQUEAK **every time it got squeezed.

SpongeBob realized that Mr. Krabs will continue to stay off-topic as long as he does not interrupt the crab bluntly enough. The rising desire to say what was exactly on his mind could no longer be controlled. "Mr. Krabs, Pearl is ruining the Krusty Krab!" The sponge finally released his bitter feelings that he had bottled up. The yellow square then slapped his mouth shut with his hand. He now expected his boss to freak out.

What SpongeBob said was like a verbal sucker punch to Mr. Krabs' face. "What? Why, Pearl is saving the Krusty Krab!" The crab dove into a state of delusion. He did not want to accept the truth since he did not want to make his daughter upset. "I mean, the Kuddly Krab." He stood up and walked up to a framed picture of an artist depiction of a seahorse. "What would we do without these beautiful twenty dollar sea unicorn hangers?" He pointed at the framed picture. relied on the decorations to keep him in the gray fog of delusion. " The crab the pointed at the new light bulbs in the room. "How could we ever survive without these thirty-five dollar art lights?" However, his blurts of delusion made SpongeBob's bitter statement look more true. "How could we go on without a cloth on every table? It's hip! It's coral! It's..." His eyes moistened and he looked at the floor. He could no longer hide himself from the truth by that point. "...it's losing money!" The crab began to sob. What saddened him was that he had to preserve his money through one way, firing his own daughter. Doing such an act would be painful for both him and Pearl.

A pause.

The crab wiped his tears. His eyes were still moist from sadness. "You're right, SpongeBob." He spoke solemnly. "But I can't fire me pride and joy, it'll break her fragile little heart. What am I gonna do?" He walked back to his seat and sat in it. By allowing Pearl to be part of the Krusty Krew, he had trapped himself into a tough situation.

SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs and patted him on the shoulder. "There there, Mr. Krabs. I'm sure there's another way." He tried to console his boss.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. The crab then widened his eyes, grinned, and snapped his fingers at the opportunity that knocked on his door. "That's it, boy! You could fire her." He pointed at SpongeBob. "It'll be okay if she starts to hate you or gets upset, at least she won't do it 'cause of me." The crab explained how his idea was effective by saying how Pearl's negative emotions were going to be redirected.

SpongeBob thought that Mr. Krabs was misinterpreting his words due to the crab's word choice. "That's not what I said, sir." He spoke as Mr. Krabs was pushing him towards the door to the dining room. However, when he got close to the door, he knew that it was too late. The crab had already decided what the plan was going to be.

"Great then, it's all settled. You fire Pearly. I'll wait in me office." Mr. Krabs...

**CRRREEAAAK**

...opened the door and shoved SpongeBob out of the office. The crab then...

**SLAM**

...closed the door. The crab walked back to his desk, kicked back on the seat, and put his claws behind his head in a relaxed pose. He was relieved that he would not have to suffer through the torture of breaking his daughter's heart.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a deep breath. By executing Mr. Krabs' plan, he did not know for sure about how Pearl was going to react. Out of consideration for the survival of the Krusty Krab and also because the crab's orders were superior to Pearl's, the sponge decided to bring the plan to fruition. The yellow square began to walk but...

**BAM**

...bumped into Pearl.

Pearl stepped back and gave SpongeBob a funny look. "Totally rude, SpongeBob." He blamed the sponge for not paying attention to where he was going.

SpongeBob quickly seized the opportunity that burst through his door. "Pearl, can I see you in the kitchen for a second?" He asked in a somewhat nervous manner. Just like his conversation with Mr. Krabs, he was worried about hurting Pearl's feelings too much. Even his innate desire for the restoration of the old Krusty Krab could not defeat his consideration for others.

"Sure, Sponge." Pearl nodded. Due to the sponge's trustworthiness, she considered the sponge to be worthy enough for her to comply to any suggestion from him.

The two walked towards the kitchen.

'How am I going to break it to her? I've never fired anybody before.' SpongeBob's inner voice rambled about the crucial words that he was about to say to Pearl. The inner voice revealed his true nervousness over what he was about to do. 'I just got to say it. Pearl, you're fired. Okay, here it goes.' His sense of obligation to Mr. Krabs lessened his nervousness and consequently silenced his mental voice.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

They entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

"Nick, can you leave for a sec? I wanna talk to Pearl for a bit." SpongeBob looked at Nicholas who was inspecting the cabinets to make sure that all the ingredients were in place.

Nicholas silently nodded and walked towards the door to the dining room. Like Squidward, he did not like the changes to the restaurant at all. He viewed the new atmosphere as a perversion to the nostalgic cheapness and pirate themes of the old restaurant. Like SpongeBob, he thought of the removal of the Krabby Patty as a removal of part of the Krusty Krab's core.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

Nicholas exited the kitchen.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and cleared his throat. He was preparing himself for the monumental sentence. "Pearl, you're fi-" His sentence was interrupted by a sudden burst of bawling.

Pearl fell to her knees and bawled. "I can't take it anymore!" She struggled to speak. She knew from the beginning that her innovative ideas were going to end in failure. "Nothing I do is working..."

Even though SpongeBob disliked the changes, he did not see them as complete failures. "Not really, Pearl. Have you seen all the hip, young people eating salads?" He pointed through the ordering window at the teenagers eating the food from the renewed Galley Grub.

"No," Pearl shook her head and stood up. She was still crying. "don't you get it? Less customers have come here than before. I even saw a few of them leave when they found out what happened. If I keep going, this business'll shut down in no time. Plus, this job is starting to majorly cut into my social life." The whale revealed her true thoughts to SpongeBob. She was starting to dislike her job since she was aware of the damage she was doing. Without the business, she and Mr. Krabs would certainly become poor short after since the whale would spend all of the money for bratty reasons.

A pause.

"Should I just quit?" Pearl made eye contact with SpongeBob. Her emotions made a temporary wall that prevented her from thinking clearly. Since the sponge was the best employee in the restaurant, she hoped that the sponge had at least a kernel of wisdom.

SpongeBob thought critically and objectively. He put his hand on his chin and after several seconds of thought, he concluded that Pearl was ill-equipped to be a manager due to her bratty nature. He thought in such a manner for the sake of the business instead of personal gain. "Yeah. I'll just fire you to make it easier."

"'kay." Pearl wiped her tears and stopped crying. However, she did not smile since she had not been kicked out of the business yet.

SpongeBob smiled and walked up to whisper into Pearl's ear. "Okay, Pearl. We've got to make this convincing. I want your dad to know for sure that you'll be outta here." He wanted to solidify Pearl's leave from the business.

Pearl winked and made a thumbs-up.

SpongeBob stepped back and made a solemn face. "Pearl, I need to have a word with you." He spoke in a louder yet more formal voice like he was the boss of the business.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs overheard what SpongeBob said and then sweatdropped. "Oh no, here it goes." He whispered to himself in anxiety. He greatly feared that his daughter was going to burst into tears. Even if she did not cry, making Pearl leave the business was still painful since that would be the equivalent of giving up a large amount of money. "I don't know if I can bear to listen." He took a deep, futile breath.

S-S-S-S-S

"It's not that you haven't done a good job around here, it's just that your ideas have significantly made the Krusty Krab's profits drop. If this business shuts down due to such a drop, the entire Krusty Krew will be out of work and will struggle to get money and another job." SpongeBob continued to speak in a formal manner. His hands were behind his back so he could look and act more like a boss.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was standing next to the door to the kitchen. He was shaking in anticipation for Pearl's explosion of sadness. "Don't be too hard on her, now." He whispered to SpongeBob even though such an effort was futile. "Why does it have to be this way?" He put his back against that door and allowed his body to sink until he was sitting. The crab wished that there was a less painful method for getting rid of Pearl from the Krusty Krab.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs took another deep breath to calm himself down. "It's for the best." He spoke in a stern voice. 'Business is business.' He remembered that he should not allow his personal life to invade his professional life.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was about to deal the verbal finishing blow. "Well, we feel it might be in everybody's best interest if you were to leave this business and undo the changes you have done."

Pearl was smiling by that point. She could not wait to undo the damage she had done and restore her social life to normality.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs covered his face with his claws. He could tell that SpongeBob was about to light the fuse for the bomb of tears that was Pearl. "Get on with it, SpongeBob!" He whispered loudly even though nobody was going to really hear him. He was whispering simply for a sound state of mind and satisfaction. Some of his thoughts had to be released in some manner.

S-S-S-S-S

"Pearl, you're fired." SpongeBob folded his arms and smiled widely as he said that sentence. He was glad that the Krusty Krab was going to return to normal, he was especially happy for the restoration of Krabby Patties to the Galley Grub.

"Thanks, SpongeBob." Pearl made a wider smile and kissed SpongeBob on the cheek to show her gratitude for SpongeBob's assistance.

SpongeBob immediately blushed. He rarely got kissed on the cheek by a girl who was not part of his family.

Pearl walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRRREEEEAAK  
**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

A pause.

SpongeBob realized something and dashed to that door.

**CREAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the kitchen as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Pearl walked up to her friends' table. "C'mon, gang. The mall awaits." She spoke with enthusiasm but noticed that SpongeBob was poking her shoulder. She then turned to look at SpongeBob. The whale had assumed that "you're fired" was the last that she was going to hear from the sponge for today.

"What're we gonna do with all these decorations and changes?" SpongeBob pointed at the decorations in the dining room and the new Galley Grub above the boat. He was not sure about which method he should use to get rid of them.

"You can sell them back, tell those construction workers to restore the place, and just change the menu back to what it was." Pearl said three simple solutions/answers for SpongeBob's question. She turned around to look at her friends.

Pearl's friends stood up from their seats and walked towards the double door. They had not ordered anything so they could leave at any time that they wished.

Pearl followed them.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

S-SLAM

Pearl and her friends exited the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob walked up to Squidward. "She's gone now. I fired her." He stated the obvious since Squidward was uninformed about Pearl's status.

Squidward looked up at SpongeBob from the novel he was reading. "Seriously?" Hope filled his heart until it reached the heart's rim. He imagined himself wearing his normal clothes again.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded.

Squidward smiled in relief and stood up from his seat. He...

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered the kitchen to get his normal clothes.

"Can I go back to the kitchen now?" Nicholas walked up to SpongeBob. He had been sitting at an empty table during his wait for SpongeBob and Pearl.

"Yeah but Pearl just got fired. She wasn't upset though." SpongeBob spread the news to Nicholas. "You can change back to your normal clothes if you want."

"Sweet!" Nicholas grinned. He could not wait to wear his nerdy attire again. The green fish briskly walked towards the kitchen door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

...entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

By that point, Squidward and Nicholas had changed back to their normal clothes.

However, SpongeBob was still wearing his colorful uniform. The sponge liked it too much to let it go so easily. The yellow square walked towards the office to inform Mr. Krabs about his successful firing of Pearl.

**CRRREEEAK**

SLAM

The sponge entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Hey, Mr. Krabs I di-" SpongeBob suddenly stopped talking when he saw what Mr. Krabs was doing.

The crab was hiding under his desk and was shaking in anticipation for an explosion of bawling. He thought that SpongeBob and Pearl were still talking in the kitchen.

SpongeBob walked up to the desk and took out $20 bill from his pocket. The yellow fry cook then waved the dollar bill before Mr. Krabs.

The dollar bill caught Mr. Krabs' attention like how a chew toy or bone catches the attention of a dog. "Is that a twenty?" He stood up from his desk and his greed began to compel him to snatch the dollar bill.

SpongeBob quickly put the dollar bill away so his boss does not steal it.

The dollar bill's absence made Mr. Krabs resume his thinking about Pearl getting fired. "Is me precious Pearl fired?" He asked with a facial expression of concern.

"Mm-hm." SpongeBob nodded.

"Oh SpongeBob, how could I have done such a thing to me own flesh and blood?" Mr. Krabs looked at the ground and frowned. Since he did not know Pearl's actual reaction to SpongeBob's verbal finishing blow, he thought that Pearl was currently upset.

"There, there, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob gently patted Mr. Krabs on the shoulder. He did not want his boss to cry again. "Pearl took it just fine, in fact, she seemed sort of happy." The sponge spoke honestly.

Mr. Krabs widened his eyes a bit. "Really?"

"She's off to bigger and better things." SpongeBob tried to make Pearl's future without the Krusty Krab look decent by adding his optimism into his prediction. The sponge did that so the crab would not have to worry about his daughter as much.

"That's me old girl, tough as nails, just like her old man!" Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. From his viewpoint, he viewed anybody who could abandon their own major endeavors in business as strong people. Another worrying thought abruptly entered his mind, however. "But how am I gonna get my money back from all this stuff?"

"Pearl told me something about that. We can sell the stuff, restore the restaurant, and change the menu." SpongeBob told Mr. Krabs the solutions that the whale had told him. However, the sponge thought that the adjustment back to the old restaurant was going to be easy.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was standing before the front door of the Chum Bucket. Through a high-tech telescope, he saw what the Kuddly Krab's dining room looked like. "Heh." He smirked. Due to the decorations on and throughout the Kuddly Krab, he saw today as a perfect opportunity to steal the secret formula. From his point of view, the decorations were weapons/tools that will open the path to the formula.


	60. Gary Takes a Bath

**Chapter 60: Gary Takes a Bath**

* * *

With the idea still fresh in his head, Plankton turned and hopped towards the front door.

Creak

Slam

He entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton briskly walked across the dining room.

Creak

Slam

The plankton entered the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton ran towards Karen and leaped to her keyboard. "Make a new journal entry." The plankton quickly stated.

A blank journal entry was created and opened.

Plankton hopped from key to key like he was jumping across multiple hurdles as he typed the journal entry quickly. He wanted to execute his plan as soon as possible since he believed that it was just a matter of time before the Krusty Krab removes its decorations.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton stopped hopping from key to key. He was finished with the journal entry. The plankton leaped from the keyboard and landed on the floor. He ran to several areas in the laboratory and took the robot parts that he needed. He put the parts he took on a large table. The plankton grabbed the tools he needed from drawers that were at one side of the room. He then immediately began his work on building the robots.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

Plankton worked at a very fast pace. He did that because he found the robots' designs to be simple yet effective. Since making such robots was easy, Plankton did not have any time to waste.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton took a newly-made remote and hopped away from the table and took a quick look at the fruits of his labor.

An army of fifteen robots stood on the table. They were standing in a completely organized manner. Each row had five robots and each column had three robots. Their two arms could turn into laser guns, tasers, or flamethrowers with just a press from a certain button in the remote. Their hands could turn into mini-versions of those weapons. Their pair of blue eyes were specially made for locking-on to targets. Their shells of metal armor were slightly weak since the robots had been built to cause as much damage as possible instead of fulfilling a plan. Their legs were normal ones but could make them run at the speed of a squirrel climbing. The sizes of their bodies were those of toddlers.

The robots were built to be perfect or near-perfect vandals. They were the robots Plankton had in mind for his plan.

Plankton pressed a green button on his remote.

The robots' eyes became a bright blue. The robots became turned on and functioned normally, just as Plankton expected. Plankton had been slightly worried that something might go wrong since he had worked a little bit too quickly for the building of the robots to be completely safe from mistakes.

"Follow me." Plankton looked up at the robots. The robots had been built to recognize Plankton's voice and obey voice commands. The plankton then ran towards the laboratory's exit and...

Creak

Slam

...exited the laboratory.

The fifteen robots hopped to the floor and...

**C-CRRREEAAK**

S-SLAM

...quickly followed Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton ran across the dining room and...

Creak

Slam

...exited the Chum Bucket.

The robots ran at an equally fast pace and...

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Chum Bucket as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton aimed his remote at the Krusty Krab once all fifteen robots were outside. He then pressed a red button on the remote that had the word 'ATTACK' typed on top of it. "Burn all of the decorations in the Krusty Krab. Defend yourselves if needed."

The army of robots charged towards the Krusty Krab like a stampede.

**S-SLAM**

They barged into the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CTHUNG**

All of the robots' arms changed into flamethrowers. The robots then ran into scattered directions across the dining room as they...

**PHOOOOOOOOMM**

...fired their flamethrowers at the decorations. They did not care about which decoration they were burning with their flamethrowers.

**C-C-CRACKLE**

Some of the decorations, especially the table cloths, were getting rapidly consumed by the flames.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" **Customers screamed in mass hysteria and ran for their lives towards the double door.

**S-SLAM**

They pulled the double door open and all of them exited the Krusty Krab within seconds.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the door to the office open. He saw the robots that were causing havoc throughout the dining room. 'Plankton must've caused this.' The sponge made an inference. He saw the robots as part of another of Plankton's schemes to steal the formula. However, he had to think quickly since...

**CTHUNG**

**SLAM**

ZZZAAAAP

...a robot pushed him out of the way and zapped him with a mini-taser so he would not get in its way again.

SpongeBob was falling to the floor from the shock of the zap but he put both of his hands on the floor and broke his fall. He had been stung by jellyfish and got damaged enough times by electrical equipment before that the mini-taser zap only caused a sharp amount of pain.

**C-C-C-CTHUNG**

Four robots changed each other arm into tasers. They ran towards SpongeBob and...

**Z-Z-Z-ZZZAAAAAAAAP**

...electrified SpongeBob from all four directions.

Squidward and Nicholas were watching SpongeBob from the ordering window. Squidward had dove through the ordering window out of fear of the dangerous robots. Nicholas was shaking in fright as he watched the robots burn down the living room's decorations. He was far more of a coward than the childish SpongeBob and Patrick; he could not imagine the idea of fighting dangerous robots, entities, or people. In dangerous or frightening situations, he would be the one to hide in the corner.

_**ZZZAAAAP**_

_**ZZZAAAAAAAAP**_

_**ZZZZAAAAAAP**_

_They electrified the civilians that they had targeted._

_"DEAR NEPTUNE!"_

_"SOMEONE HELP US!"_

_"AAAAAHHHHH!"_

_"MOMMY, I SEE MONSTERS!"_

_Numerous civilians panicked and ran in several directions as they were chased by the robots. A massive commotion began in Goo Lagoon._

A memory of the robotic assault in Goo Lagoon appeared in SpongeBob's mind. His current situation was reminding him of that time when Plankton had tried to manipulate him but did a surprise robot attack instead.

_SpongeBob flew through the double door and crashed into a locker. The shape of his body was pressed into the door of the locker due to the force of Marcus's throw. His vision was very hazy and he was clinging to consciousness._

_**CRRREEEAAAK**_

_Someone with a baseball cap opened the double door and walked up to the SpongeBob. He was holding something that was giving off sounds of electricity._

_**ZZZZZAAAAAAAP**_

_Ricky thrust the taser into SpongeBob's stomach and electrified him._

_"__**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!**__" SpongeBob yelled in agony. However, he didn't became unconscious._

The next memory that passed by SpongeBob's mind reminded the sponge that he had endured such electric pain before. That memory gave him the determination to fight against the robots. The yellow square shakily stood up and regained a normal posture. The yellow square then ran towards a table which had its cloth burning. He reached the table tossed the burning cloth off the table without burning his hands. The sponge then grabbed the table and...

**C-CLANK**

...swung it at a pair of nearby robots.

The robots flew across the dining room and...

**T-THUD**

...landed on the floor.

Five robots saw what SpongeBob did and charged towards the sponge with...

**C-C-C-C-CTHUNG**

...their laser guns.

SpongeBob twirled the table like a wrestler twirling a body and then threw it at the incoming robots.

**C-C-C-C-CLANK**

**CCRRRAAASSH**

The robots got hit by the table and crashed into another burning table.

Slam

A plank from the ceiling fell to the floor. The fire burning the decorations had spread to the roof.

**CREAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs quickly exited his office while holding an all-purpose fire extinguisher. His experience as a pirate and his experience with dealing with Plankton's schemes made him brave enough to step up against the robotic menaces. The crab aimed the fire extinguisher towards the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

**SSSSSIIIIIIZZZZZLE**

The exhaust soared towards the ceiling in a cloud-like column and seized the fires occurring up there. The fog then spread to the windows and walls and shrinked but not destroyed the fires occurring in those places.

Mr. Krabs bit his lip and ran around the dining room while he...

**SIIZZLE**

**SIIIIIIZZZLE**

**SSSSIIZZLE**

**SSIZZLE**

**SSSSIIZZLE**

**SSIIZZLE**

...fired exhaust at burning decorations that were scattered throughout the room. He was doing that quickly since he was aware of the robots' presence.

A fog of fire extinguisher exhaust consumed the dining room.

A pause.

SpongeBob managed to find the thrown table and picked it up again.

Robots were running towards Mr. Krabs.

**CLANK**

Mr. Krabs swung the fire extinguisher like a baseball bat on a robot's head.

**CLANK**

The robot hit a wall.

The other robots were about to fire their laser guns when...

**C-C-C-CLANK**

...they got hit by the table which SpongeBob swung.

SpongeBob raised the table and...

**SLAM**

**BAM**

**CLANK**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

**BAM**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

**CLINK**

...repeatedly hit the four fallen robots with the table. He hit them so hard that he made two of the robots lose an arm.

The robots managed to stand up. The two robots who had lost their arms charged towards SpongeBob.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob karate-chopped a robot and...

**BWOK**

...kicked the other armless robot.

SpongeBob twirled the table in front of him like a fan. The intense and rapid movement was straining his arm muscles. It was not like the usage of the prosthetic limbs during the fight with the thugs since those artificial limbs were rather lightweight. The table he was holding weighed a significant amount. Regardless of the muscle strain, SpongeBob managed to dash towards the other robots.

**C-CLANK**

BAM

SLAM

CLANK

CLANK CLANK CLANK

C-CLANK

He knocked all the incoming robots out of the way with the table like they were lightweight knick-knacks.

**CTHUNG**

A robot stood up, changed its weapon on its left arm to a flamethrower, and leaped towards SpongeBob from behind.

Nicholas, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs gasped.

**PPHHHOOOOOMMM**

It unleashed a large flame towards SpongeBob while it was in midair.

SpongeBob heard the Krusty Crew's gasps, felt incoming heat, and saw a quickly growing light below his shadow. He instinctually blocked himself from behind by putting the table before his back like a shield.

The flame hit the table and was unable to do any damage to SpongeBob. It ended up slightly damaging the 'shield' instead.

SpongeBob turned around and jabbed the table at the robot.

**CLANK**

The table made the robot bump into a table.

**C-C-CTHUNG**

Six robots changed all of their arms into laser guns, ran towards SpongeBob, and aimed their laser guns at the sponge. A few of them had stood up since they had fallen to the ground while others had to change their arms to laser guns since they had been burning the decorations.

**ZZZZAAAP**

**Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAP**

**ZZAAP**

**ZZZZAAAP**

**ZZAP**

They fired their laser guns at the sponge.

The yellow square dropped the table he was holding. He made its top face the incoming bullets in the hopes that it would reflect the lasers. The sponge then rolled out of the way.

The lasers ate through the table. They did not hit SpongeBob since the sponge rolled far away enough.

SpongeBob grabbed a seat and threw it towards one of the six firing robots.

**CLUNK**

The seat hit the robot's head. It caused major damage to its chip's circuitry and made the robot go erratic.

**ZZZAAAAP**

**Z-Z-Z-Z-ZZAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZZZZZZAAP**

**ZZ-ZZ-ZZAAP ZAP ZAP ZAP**

It began to fire numerous green lasers randomly. Many laser-holes began to appear throughout the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was standing before one of the front windows of the Krusty Krab. He was closely watching the massive fight between SpongeBob and the robots. He felt like the yellow sponge was too much of a pesky obstacle for the robots to waste their energy on. He pressed a blue button on the remote that had text on it saying 'REVERT'. The plankton wanted the robots to resume doing their main task.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CTHUNG**

The other fourteen robots changed all of their arms to flamethrowers. They then moved away from SpongeBob and...

**PPPPHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM**

...unleashed large snakes of flames from their flamethrowers. The fire then quickly spread around some of the remaining decorations in the dining room. The robots were firing flames at all decorations in sight. Some even went into the office to destroy any decorations inside of it.

**PEW**

A lightning-fast green laser hit the kitchen door.

Squidward and Nicholas flinched and then ducked to the floor. They anticipated more incoming lasers to burst through the kitchen.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**P-P-P-P-P-PEW**

**PEW**

**PPPPEW**

**PEW PEW PEW**

**P-P-PEW P-P-PEW P-P-PEW P-P-PEW**

The haywire robot fired green lasers more rapidly. It was firing so fast that its laser guns seemed to be more like machine guns.

Many lasers hit the crates on the storage area above the other rooms in the building.

The crates became tipped over due to the constant impacts from the lasers.

**CLACK**

**CRASH**

**CLACK**

**CRASH**

**CLACK**

**CRASH**

The crates fell to the floor.

Mr. Krabs pulled the trigger of the fire extinguisher as hard as he could, he aimed the extinguisher at the raging fires surrounding him. The more the robots destroyed, the more money being wasted.

**SSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZLE**

A fog of exhaust enveloped the dining room. It was thicker than before.

The flames died out.

There were still some stray flames in Mr. Krabs' office.

The crab turned to his office and pulled the trigger again.

**SSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZLE**

A large cloud of exhaust entered the office. That cloud then killed the flames in that room.

An eerie silence. The robots were unable to release any flames since they were not programmed to see through extinguisher exhaust.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton bit his lip. He was aware of the slight flaws in his recently created robots. 'Maybe I made them too quickly.' The plankton began to have doubts about the future success of those robots. However, he eventually shrugged it off. 'No point in abandoning this mission. I bet those decorations won't come back later.'

S-S-S-S-S

Once the fog of exhaust began to fade...

**PEW PEW PEW PEW **

**P-P-P-PEW**

**PPPPEEEW **

**P-PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**PPPHHHHOOOOMMM**

**PPPPHHHOOOMM**

...the robots resumed their attack on the building.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes on the erratic robot. He wanted to take it down first since it was the biggest current threat. He walked up to Mr. Krabs and whispered to the crab's ear. "When you blow more of that fog stuff, I'll attack the robots."

Since the current situation was perilous, Mr. Krabs nodded. He the aimed at the growing fires and pulled the trigger.

**SSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZLLE**

Another exhaust fog was released into the dining room. It seeped through openings, regardless if it was big or small, to other rooms and cooled down fires through the restaurant.

The robots became blinded by the heavy fog and stopped shooting lasers or releasing flames.

SpongeBob ran up to the haywire robot and...

**BAM**

...karate punched it in the chest. His fist had knife-like precision.

The malfunctioning robot flew to the other side of the room like it was being blown by a gust.

**SHATTER**

It flew through a large window and landed on outdoor ground. The large windows in the dining room had numerous laser-holes on them, there were so many holes that they were like polka-dots. Those holes weakened the windows enough for them to be broken by almost any object.

"Uh oh." SpongeBob sweatdropped. He had unintentionally assisted the haywire robot.

S-S-S-S-S

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**P-P-P-P-P-P-PEW**

**PEW PEW P-P-PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW P-P-P-PEW**

**PEW PEW**

The malfunctioning robot resumed its rampage.

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Krabs, quick!" SpongeBob pointed at the haywire robot.

**SSSIIIIIIIIIIIZZZLE**

Mr. Krabs aimed the fire extinguisher at the shooting robot and pulled the trigger.

S-S-S-S-S

A thick fog flew through the large hole on the large window and covered the erratic robot's vision.

The robot stopped shooting.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a deep breath and tightened his fists. He then dashed towards the large hole on the large window, leaped, and dove through it.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the ground. He then stood up, ran towards a medium-sized rock, and picked it up with both of his hands. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" The sponge then charged towards the robot and screamed to give himself courage and to also make himself run faster. The yellow square lifted the rock and...

**SMASH**

**CLANK**

**CLUNK**

**SLAM**

**CLINK**

**SMASH**

**SHATTER**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CRACK**

**SHATTER**

...repeatedly and furiously smashed the robot to pieces with the rock.

The robot was broken into several pieces; it was also decapitated. Its jaw had been separated from the rest of its broken and squished head. Its other body parts had wires sticking out and pieces of its metal armor were littered around it. The arms were separated from its torso and all of the weapons on its arms were smashed into uselessness.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and wiped some sweat from his brow. He dropped the rock, walked to the large hole, and hopped through it.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

The yellow square landed on the floor inside the dining room.

The exhaust fog was beginning to fade again.

**PHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOMMMMM**

**PPHHHHOOOOMMMMMM**

**PPPPPPHHHHHHHHHOOOOOM**

The robots released large amounts of flames from their flamethrowers. The new fires were just as strong as the previous ones and began to consume the decorations inside the kitchen.

Nicholas and Squidward screamed in terror and dove out of the ordering window. One of the last things that they wanted was the fires to enter the kitchen.

**T-THUD**

The green fish and the octopus landed on the floor.

S-S-S-S-S

"Now's my chance." Plankton whispered to himself and smiled. He thought that he truly had a chance at seizing the Krabby Patty secret formula. He hopped to the ground and...

Creak

Slam

...entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs aimed the fire extinguisher at the fires in the kitchen and pulled the trigger.

**SSIIIIIIIIIIZZzzzzz...**

The fire extinguisher ran out of exhaust. However, the released exhaust was enough to cool down the flames inside the kitchen.

The crab sweatdropped and began to panic. Without a functioning fire extinguisher, he will not be able to kill the fires in time unless he gets assistance.

SpongeBob ran up to Mr. Krabs. "What happened?" He saw what happened to the fire extinguisher's exhaust.

"It ran out of juice." Mr. Krabs held out the empty fire extinguisher towards SpongeBob and shook it to show how it ran out of exhaust.

Plankton ran through the open doorway and entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked up to the robots burning the decorations inside the room. "Break the safe open." He pointed at the hidden safe in the office. The plankton had entered the office enough times in the past for him to know the safe's location.

The robots inside the room stopped burning decorations and...

**C-C-CTHUNG**

...changed their arms into laser guns. They aimed their laser guns at the perimeter of the safe and...

**ZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP**

...traced an outline on the safe's door with prolonged green lasers.

The safe door fell to the floor and revealed the bottle that contained the Krabby Patty secret formula.

"Come to papa!" Plankton whispered loudly in delight and smirked in an evil leaped to the desk and then leaped to the safe. He snatched the bottle and...

Plop

...leaped to the floor. "Resume the burning." He said a command and then ran towards the restaurant's front entrance like his life depended on it.

S-S-S-S-S

The fires erupting in the dining room distracted SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs from seeing the fleeing plankton.

SpongeBob grabbed a table and swung it down on a nearby robot.

**CLUNK**

**THUD**

The robot got hit on the back. tripped on a chair, and fell to the floor.

The yellow square ran to another robot and...

**KLOK**

...kicked it in the rear.

The robot twirled in the air and...

**THUD**

...landed on the floor. One of its legs became broken. Regardless of its current condition, it resumed its burning of the Krusty Krab's decorations.

**SHOOP**

SpongeBob karate chopped the robot's broken leg.

The broken leg became separated from the robot's body.

The robot struggled to stand on one leg.

SpongeBob raised the table he was holding as he stood behind the robot and...

**CLANK**

**SLAM**

**CRASH**

**THUNK SHATTER**

**CRACK SHATTER**

...smashed the robot into pieces with the table.

The blaring of a firetruck alarm could be heard.

S-S-S-S-S

**SCCRRRRRRRRRREEEEECH**

A firetruck parked in front of the Krusty Krab.

A customer who had ran away from the Krusty Krab during the beginning of the robotic assault had came back and had seen the fire that was occurring inside the building. He was currently still watching the fire and was also crossing his fingers (the Krusty Krab was his favorite restaurant). He had called 9-1-1 as he had watched the ongoing fire grow and shrink. That 9-1-1 call had been responded by the firemen.

The doors of the firetruck opened and firemen ran out of the truck with a few hoses that were connected to the truck's large water supply.

**S-SLAM**

They barged into the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton gasped as a stampede of firemen feet got in his way. He then began to get stepped on and dropped the bottle as a consequence. However, he managed to escape the stampede of feet by crawling away as fast as he could from the firemen.

S-S-S-S-S

A fireman who was still in the truck turned on the hoses by pulling down a lever.

S-S-S-S-S

**S-S-SPLAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSH**

The hoses released a large amount of water into the robots and the fires that they were producing.

**T-T-T-T-THUD**

Some of the robots slipped on the wet floor and fell to the floor.

Plankton was unable to stand up since he kept slipping on the floor.

**SMASH**

**CLANK**

**CLUNK**

**CRASH**

**SHATTER**

**CLINK**

**CRACK**

**SHATTER**

**SHATTER**

**SHATTER**

**C-CLINK**

**C-CLUNK**

**CRACK**

**SHATTER**

SpongeBob broke five robots (all of them had slipped and lied on the floor) into many pieces with the table. He did that very quickly since he assumed that the robots were going to stand up soon. He wanted to destroy all of the robots as soon as possible.

**PPPPHHHHOOOOMMMM**

**PPPHHHOOOOMMMM**

**PPPPHHOOOOOMMM**

The other robots resumed their burning of the decorations.

**SSSPPPPPPPPLLLLAAAAAAAAAAASSSSH**

The firemen aimed their hoses directly at the robots and the fires.

The robots were pushed to the metal wall by the torrents coming from the hoses. The fires they created ceased to exist. within seconds.

SpongeBob dropped the table, grabbed two seats, ran up to the pushed robots and...

**CRACK**

**SMASH**

**CLANK**

**CLUNK**

...began to tear the robots into pieces by repeatedly assaulting them with the seats. However,

Clank

...a robot blocked an incoming seat with its laser gun. It was about to fire a laser at SpongeBob within point-blank range when...

**KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK**

**CLANK**

**SMACK**

**BAM**

**CRACK**

...the yellow square furiously karate kicked and punched the robot. He then landed a finishing blow by swining a seat on the robot's head.

**THUD**

**SHATTER**

The robot fell to the floor and broke into several pieces.

**C-C-C-C-C-C-CTHUNG**

**ZZZZZZZAAAP**

**Z-Z-Z-ZZAAAP**

Several robots changed their laser guns into tasers in less than a second and then continuously jabbed SpongeBob with their tasers.

SpongeBob struggled to remain standing. He had soaked the water from the hose and that made the electricity from the tasers worse since the water was conducting the electricity through nearly his whole body. However, the sharp pain did not deter the sponge from finishing the fight.

**CRASH**

CLANK

CLUNK

CLUNK

CLUNK

The sponge pushed an attacking robot to the wall with one of his seats and then rapidly pummeled the robot with the seat. The yellow square finished the combo by... **BAM CLANK CRUNCH KLOK BAM **...punching and kicking the robot.

The robot flew to the cash register.

**CLANK**

Both the cash register and the robot fell to the floor.

**CHA-CHING**

The cashier's drawer opened. Dollar bills and coins spilled to the floor.

"Cashy!" Mr. Krabs yelled and ran towards the opened cash register. From his greedy viewpoint, profits getting burned or destroyed was almost just as bad as the Krusty Krab burning down. He enjoyed receiving profits so much that he personified the cash register by giving it a name and other affectionate traits.

**C-C-C-CTHUNG**

The robots aimed their laser guns at Mr. Krabs.

"MR. KRABS, WATCH OUT!" SpongeBob held out his hand towards his boss. He knew that his boss had made a foolish mistake by endangering himself in an attempt to save the money.

Plankton still could not stand up. There was simply too much water on the floor for him to stand without slipping again.

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

The robots fired a few lasers at the crab.

Mr. Krabs luckily dove out of the way in time after he hugged the cash register and quickly picked up all of the fallen money.

**SHOOP**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

**CRASH**

**KLUNK**

**CLACK**

SpongeBob rapidly assaulted the remaining robots with punches, kicks, seat jabs, seat swings, seat trips, and seat uppercuts. He was using seats as weapons in so many different ways that they were almost like substitute karate gloves.

Clunk

Two robots bumped into each other.

**CRASH**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

**CLANK**

SpongeBob smashed the robots with both of the seats. He was hitting them so rapidly with the seats that his movements made it seem like the seats were drumsticks and the fallen pair of robots were the drum.

**SHATTER**

**SHATTER**

The two robots broke into pieces.

SpongeBob threw the two seats towards the other robots like the seats were boomerangs.

**CLANK CLANK CLANK**

**KLUNK KLUNK**

**CLANK CLANK SHATTER CRACK CRUNCH**

**KLUNK KLUNK SHATTER**

**THUD CLANK CLANK CLANK**

**THUD**

**T-THUD**

The two seats rapidly bounced off the robots' heads and eventually broke the robots by decapitating their heads. The seats had been thrown too fast for their metal armor to handle.

The lying robots' limbs separated from their bodies and several bolts from their bodies rolled across the floor.

SpongeBob won the massive battle against the robots.

Plankton was astonished by the battle he had just entirely witnessed. He could not believe that the yellow sponge was able to break his robots into pieces without any assistance from the magical pages. However, the sponge's triumph also left the plankton in a bitter mood. He grumpily wondered about the other ways that SpongeBob could foil his plans without any magical assistance.

A long pause.

SpongeBob looked around the dining room so he could absorb the destruction that had occurred inside the restaurant. The entire inside of the restaurant had transformed into what seemed to be a site from a battlefield. Large marks of burned wood littered the ceiling. Numerous bulletholes were still on the large windows and some parts of the windows were so damaged that they were almost non-existent. Thrown tables and seats littered the floor like they were gravestones for the fallen robots. The floor was still wet from the blasts of water from the firemen's hoses. All of the other rooms in the Krusty Krab had glaring traces of former fires.

The yellow square realized that he had attacked the robots out of impulse. He had barely put any thought to his actions during the fight. However, the consequences of that fight were not severe since it ended up saving the Krusty Krab from an otherwise certain destruction.

The firemen turned around and walked towards the double door. The silence in the restaurant assured them that any fire or source of fire had been eliminated.

**C-CRRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The firemen exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs put all of the released money back into the cash register's drawer and then closed the drawer. The crab stood up and then put the cash register back to its place on the boat. He looked around, noticed that all of the decorations had been ruined or damaged, and sighed. "There goes all me money." He spoke with a frown and looked at the floor. "I'm gonna have to spend more if I wanna fix this place." He was speaking to himself, it helped him with coping over the grief of spending so much money.

Squidward laid down in the boat and closed his eyes. He was emotionally exhausted from that ordeal with Plankton's robots.

Nicholas walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Well, what're we gonna do now?" He currently could not predict any immediate course for the restaurant. He needed to reflect on what recently happened in order to fully comprehend the ordeal that had just ended.

Mr. Krabs ignored Nicholas' question since he was not sure about which answer he should sau. He saw something from the corner of his eye. He then walked up to what he saw and picked it up.

It was the bottle that contained the Krabby Patty secret formula.

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He looked around and eventually spotted Plankton who kept slipping on the wet floor. "Ah-hah!" He walked up to the plankton and picked him up by his antennae. "I bet you were trying to steal me formula again. Think you can get away by using those silly robots? Nice try, Plankton." He walked towards the double door and...

**C-CREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

"Dammit..." Plankton cursed under his breath in frustration. His closeness to victory only made his mood even more bitter.

Mr. Krabs twirled the plankton and then pitched him towards the Chum Bucket.

Plankton flew across the street and...

Thud

...landed on the ground before the Chum Bucket's front door.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs re-entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked down and noticed that he was still wearing his Kuddly Krab uniform. He grinned and walked up to his boss. "Mr. Krabs, we could still sell this." He pointed at his own uniform. The sponge felt bad for his boss and tried to help out.

Mr. Krabs smiled slightly. He was glad that the yellow employee wanted to give the business some extra money. "Very well. Just change to yer other clothes real quick and bring it back to the shop." The crab walked towards the door to his office. He was going to call some construction workers so they could repair the damaged building.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was past 6:00 PM.

SpongeBob was walking towards his pineapple. He was wearing his normal attire. The Krusty Krab had been repaired to its state before it became the Kuddly Krab. He was thinking about the massive chain of events that had occurred today. Squidward was ahead of him, the octopus could not wait to enter his home and retreat into the comforts of leisure and music for the rest of the day. After several seconds of deep thought, SpongeBob noticed that Sandy was walking by. The sponge and the squirrel were going to pass by each other.

Sandy stopped walking and stood before SpongeBob. "Are they serving Krabby Patties again?" She had waited such an opportunity to come by. It had been a long time since she last ate a Krabby Patty.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. "The Krusty Krab has also been restored to normal. You won't be seeing those cuddly things anymore." The yellow square spoke with a smirk. The idea of having dolls or other girly things in a pirate-themed restaurant was silly from his viewpoint.

Sandy noticed something odd about SpongeBob. "Sponge, you tired?" The squirrel could tell that her yellow best friend was exhausted by paying attention to the subtle signs that SpongeBob was unintentionally showing. She thought such tiredness was strange since the sponge loved to work at the Krusty Krab and never seemed tired when entering or leaving the restaurant.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. "A little bit. Alota crazy stuff happened today." The sponge was tired from doing so many tasks and thinking about how all of today's events affected each other.

"But you didn't look that tired when you were wearing that suit. I know that the Krusty Krab becoming the Kuddly Krab is one crazy thing, but what other stuff happened?" Sandy became curious. She wondered about what events or tasks that could make SpongeBob exhausted, especially during work.

"Plankton used some robots to try to steal the formula. I took down all of them. Those robots had caused massive damage to the Krusty Krab and it took a long time to fix all of that." SpongeBob decided to tell Sandy what happened today. It was also a good way to release his emotions. "Before that, I had to fire Pearl. She didn't get upset or anything since she knew she was messing things up anyway."

"Who's Plankton?" Sandy had heard SpongeBob talk about Plankton but always wondered who that 'villain' was.

"He's the owner of the Chum Bucket, a rival restaurant to the Krusty Krab. He's also my boss's arch enemy. He's kinda mean and always tries to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula so his business could become successful. If you're part of the Krusty Krew, you're gonna have to deal with him all the time." The sponge explained who Plankton was. He had a solemn face.

"Anyways, you must've improved your karate skills, Sponge. How many of those robots attacked the Krusty Krab?" Sandy's interest in the hardships of SpongeBob's job grew.

"Fifteen of 'em. They had three different types of weapons that they can convert their arms into." SpongeBob held out his arms to show how the robots took out their weapons. "They almost shot Mr. Krabs when he tried to save the cash register."

"Damn." Sandy thought that SpongeBob made an amazing feat. "Did you use any of those magical pages?" The squirrel remembered the incident at the island like it happened yesterday.

"Nope. I had to use my environment for weapons. The robots ended up destroying all those things Pearl put in the building." SpongeBob spoke with a bit of pride. Sandy's admiration of the sponge's martial art prowess made him proud of his triumph over the robots. "I kinda practice karate during work by chopping patties and ingredients before serving them." He revealed his training secret to the squirrel and smirked.

"How long did it take for the Krusty Krab to get repaired?"

"It took a really long time. They just finished repairing an hour ago." SpongeBob felt like the four hours the constructions workers spent on repairing the building was actually five years.

"My job can get dangerous too, but, wow, I never knew you had to go through that stuff. Does this happen everyday?" Sandy could not stop asking questions. She was becoming concerned for the safety of her friend. She knew that Mr. Krabs was greedy and she was also beginning to fear that the crab was taking advantage of the sponge by making him work in poor conditions.

SpongeBob laughed. He talked enough about what he had been thinking about for him to return to his normal self. "It depends. It usually happens every week or two weeks but it usually isn't as bad as what Plankton did today."

A pause.

SpongeBob wondered about the ordeals that Sandy had to go through for her job. He knew right away that moving to Bikini Bottom and getting used to the new environment was the squirrel's first major obstacle. "What tough job stuff did you go through?"

Sandy smiled widely. She was pleased that she and the sponge were focusing again on how they were the same instead of different. "Well, I had to get away from some sea snakes while studying the plant life in Kelp Forest. I also almost got stung by a giant jellyfish when I was collecting some grass samples at Jellyfish Fields." She remembered many instances where she had to endure tough situations. "There was a time when one of my computers in my lab got hacked. "

SpongeBob widened his eyes. Sandy was now the second person he knew that got hacked. Brian was the other person. "But why would someone hack your stuff? I don't see much of a benefit from hacking a scientist's stuff." The yellow square tried to think like Mr. Krabs. He did not see an immediate financial benefit from hacking Sandy's computer.

"He tried to steal my research agency's funds. He got caught before he spent anything." Sandy said the outcome of the hacking incident.

SpongeBob looked at his watch. "Woah!" From his perspective, time flew very quickly. It was already seventeen minutes past 6:00 PM. "Sorry, Sandy, but I gotta go." The yellow square resumed his walk towards his home. "I gotta feed Gary."

"Alright. See ya later, Sponge." Sandy was satisfied with the conversation. She learned a lot about SpongeBob's weekly struggles when it came to work. The squirrel understood the sponge's determination a bit more since her job as a scientist was not quite as dangerous as SpongeBob's job. The squirrel then resumed her walk towards her treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to his pineapple. He was walking at a brisk pace since he had an urgent task to do. The memory of the firemen spraying the fires in the Krusty Krab with water reminded the sponge about a certain hygienic thing he did with Gary every week to maintain the snail's cleanliness.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was napping on the couch. The TV was turned off. He was still sick but his symptoms have gradually improved, his body was close to completely eliminating the illness. However, during the duration of his sickness, SpongeBob spoiled him to the point of ridiculousness. The sponge often spoiled the snail by making him eat more since the yellow square believed that the snail needed to eat more food to fight off the illness. Such spoiling put tension in the relationship between him and SpongeBob. The snail wanted to be kept alone until his sickness wore off. From his current viewpoint, the spoiling was torturous.

"Gary!" SpongeBob enthusiastically tried to reel in Gary's attention. "Looks like it's that time of the week again: bath time." The yellow square walked into the hallway. "C'mon, let's go get the water started." He stopped walking when he reached the middle of the hallway and noticed that his pet was not following him. He then turned around and looked at Gary. "You're gonna have to get in that tub, Gary." He spoke in a more serious tone.

Gary heavily desired to resume his slumber. His owner had disturbed his pleasant nap. The snail stood up straight on the couch and simply stared at the sponge. The snail did not say a single word. He was waiting his owner to stop annoying him and leave.

SpongeBob walked up to Gary and entered the living room. "Now, Gary, we can do this the hard way, or the easy way, or the medium way, or the semi-medium-easy-hard way, or the sorta hard with a touch of awkward-easy-difficulty-challenging way." The sponge tried to motivate his snail to get off the couch. He had several possible outcomes in his head for the current scenario. However, stating the possible outcomes made him sound silly due to the ridiculous amount of adjectives used.

Gary continued to give SpongeBob the silent treatment. He clung to the hope that his owner would go away out of consideration for his illness.

"So that's how you wanna play it, huh?" SpongeBob raised his brow and folded his arms. He had some strategies and methods that he had came up with on the way home just in case if Gary was stubborn. He was aware of the snail's dislike of baths, he noticed that Gary's sickness worsened such a dislike. The yellow square then ran down the hallway and...

**CRRREEAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes of searching later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited the garage and walked down the hallway while he carried some objects from the garage with both of his hands. Once he reached Gary, he dropped the objects to the floor. He then picked up a ball from the dropped objects. "Gary, check out this new toy!" The sponge smiled widely and held out the ball towards Gary. "Fetch!" He threw the ball to the other side of the living room.

Gary did not budge. His patience was as durable as steel.

The ball bounced back to the sponge and landed in the same hand that had picked it up and had thrown it. It was a boomerang ball that SpongeBob had bought for Gary a long time ago.

'That didn't work.' SpongeBob tossed the ball to the pile of objects. 'But I'm not gonna give up just yet.' The yellow square still had a few chances left. He picked up a belt with a turned off large red light on its buckle. SpongeBob then dashed through the open doorway and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dove into the living room and hopped to his feet before Gary. He had put on the belt and had turned on its large red light. He had bought that belt in the past so he could play with Gary by making the snail chase the red light. "Gary, there's a bomb strapped to my chest! It's gonna explode in three seconds unless you take a bath!" He tried to sound like he was desperate and sincere. He was trying to push the limit of his acting abilities. SpongeBob then crossed his fingers behind his back in the hopes that Gary was going to fall for his trick.

Gary was too smart to fall for his owner's silly attempt. He also thought that SpongeBob went to too much of an extreme with his attempt. He laid down on the couch again to indicate his refusal to take a bath. He slowly closed his eyes as he began to resume his nap.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob took a deep breath so he could prevent himself from expressing any frustration. He feared that getting too angry or frustrated will only make Gary more hesitant and resentful of taking a bath. He took off the belt and threw it to the floor. SpongeBob then picked up three chew toys that were in the shape of worms. The sponge tossed the chew toys to the air, clapped his hands, and then began to juggle the chew toys. His prowess in karate gifted him with the timing and balance needed for juggling.

The clap caught Gary's attention. Gary stood up to watch what his owner was doing.

"I am now going to assault your mind with subliminal messages." SpongeBob tried to speak like a psychic to the best of his ability. He then made strange faces and changed the direction of his juggling of the chew toys. He was trying to make his face and his juggling look like a shower head, his holes made such an illusion even more likely to succeed.

Gary could not figure out what SpongeBob was trying to 'send' to him. He just gave the yellow sponge a blank look.

SpongeBob stopped making silly faces and sighed. He dropped the chew toys to the floor. The sponge saw the shell-phone from the corner of his eye. A light bulb lit up in his head. He walked up to the shell-phone, picked it up, acted like he was dialing a phone number by lightly tapping number keys on the phone randomly; and put the shell-phone near his ear. "Hello, fancy French restaurant?" He tried to fool Gary into thinking that he was having an actual phone conversation with a restaurant. "I've got a naughty snail here who won't take a bath." The sponge looked at Gary from the corner of his eye.

Gary was laying on the couch and his eyes were closed. The snail could not be fooled so easily.

"What? Can you say that again? Slow down. It's like you're speaking some other language." SpongeBob pretended that the 'person' on the other end was speaking French. He wanted to give a plausible end to his act. The yellow square then put the shell-phone down and walked up to Gary. "Hey, Gar. How 'bout some leap frog?" He crouched like a frog. "Weehee!" He then hopped to another side of the room. He was trying to show Gary how to play 'leap frog'. SpongeBob stood up. "Okay, your turn." He pointed at the bathroom door down the hallway. "Try to leap over there." He thought that play was more effective than deception.

Gary slithered out of the couch. However, he slithered into the kitchen instead of hopped to the bathroom. The snail wanted to eat a snack.

SpongeBob took out his wallet from his pocket and took out a dollar bill from that wallet. "I've got a crisp dollar bill for the next fella to take a bath in this house!" The sponge was becoming desperate. He waved the dollar bill in the air. He waited to see if the dollar was going to attract the snail.

A pause.

Gary was still inside the kitchen.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and tried to calm down. However, he could not bottle up his frustration forever. He put the dollar bill back into his wallet and put the wallet into his pocket. He stepped through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in the kitchen.

Gary was trying to reach a cabinet so he could eat some peanut butter directly from the jar.

SpongeBob walked up to Gary and began to tap dance. "Ya-da-da-da..." His shoes did their normal squeaking instead of doing 'tapping' like tap dancing shoes do. He tried to see if dancing was going to make Gary go to the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was still tap dancing. He was sweating and was becoming a little bit tired.

Gary kept watching. He thought that SpongeBob's dancing ability was impressive. However, such dancing would not make him take a bath. He began to slither away from his owner.

SpongeBob stopped dancing, took a deep breath, and wiped some sweat from his brow. "That didn't work either, huh?" He looked at the slithering snail.

"Nope." Gary looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. The sponge's obvious question had an obvious answer.

The yellow square put a hand on his chin as he thought critically about the situation with Gary. 'Looks like you're gonna have to step up your game, Sponge. Gary isn't gonna fall for those classic tricks.' After some more thought, a giant light bulb lit up in his head. The light of the bulb gave him hope that Gary was going to fall for such a trick. He then walked towards the staircase so he could get the necessary items.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was napping on the couch.

"Gary! Gary! Look what I found!" SpongeBob ran up to Gary. He was wearing a red pirate bandanna and an eyepatch. He was holding a rolled piece of lined paper. If he wanted to fool Gary into doing what he wanted, he had to dress up convincingly for the act.

Gary opened his eyes and yawned. He stood up to see what trick SpongeBob was going to pull off that time.

SpongeBob unrolled the piece of lined paper and held it out towards Gary. It had been carefully drawn on so it could look like a map for pirates to use. "It's an old, pirate treasure map revealing a location of buried treasure in this very house. C'mon, boy, let's go get that treasure." He walked towards the kitchen and motioned with his free hand for Gary to follow him.

The snail was satisfied with the duration of his nap. 'Ah, what the heck. A little adventure wouldn't hurt.' He moved his shell up and down once as a way of shrugging. Gary wanted to embark on the adventure since he had nothing else to do. He slithered out of the couch and followed his owner.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking across the kitchen. He saw Gary following him from the corner of his eye. He then fist pumped. "Yes!" He loudly whispered to himself. He was overjoyed over the success of his latest trick.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary were outside of the pineapple. They were near the garage door.

"Okay, Gary, now forty paces to the left." SpongeBob turned to face his left while he was looking at the map. He and Gary were midway through the map's instructions. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..." He stepped forward for every number that he said.

Gary slithered forward for every number that SpongeBob said.

S-S-S-S-S

Four minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary were in the living room.

"Twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty, thirty one," SpongeBob was taking steps to his right as he continued to look at the map. He and Gary were close to reaching the end of the map (the treasure's location) .

Gary simply slithered forward as he followed the sponge regardless if the sponge said a number or not. He was doing that since it was easier for him to do.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Forty." SpongeBob stood before the door to the bathroom. "The treasure chest must be in here." He acted like he did not set up the whole adventure at all. The bathroom was the location of the 'treasure'. He and Gary had reached the end of the map. By that time, the yellow sponge was confident about Gary entering the bathroom.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door and entered the bathroom.

As his owner expected, Gary slithered into the bathroom as well.

S-S-S-S-S

"Wow, Gary, look!" SpongeBob pointed at the treasure chest. He had brought the treasure chest from the bedroom and had cleaned it out and put new things in it before bringing it to the bathroom. "A real pirate treasure chest." He grinned. He then pointed at the bathtub. "There's another one here too!" The tub had been painted to look like a treasure chest.

Gary looked at the tub and became highly skeptical of his owner's claim. "Isn't that the bathtub?"

"Why, no, Gary. That isn't the bathtub." SpongeBob continued to pretend that the tub was another treasure chest. He moved a paint bucket out of the way and opened the actual treasure chest. "Look," He took out a pair of soap bars. "dabloons." He put the soap bars on the floor. "Don't drop 'em." He tried to make a joke since he was confident in the success of his plan. He imagined how Gary would slip on the soap bars if they were left on the floor.

Gary's eyes bugged out. The joke his owner had just said had a much more darker connotation. He had watched enough surface world TV programs to know that the joke referenced one of the most gruesome acts in prison. "Excuse me?"

SpongeBob looked at Gary from the corner of his eye. "What's wrong?" He could not figure out why his joke offended the snail. He was too childish to know the actual meaning of his joke.

A pause.

"Nothing." Gary wanted to forget anything about SpongeBob's joke as quickly as possible. He stopped bugging his eyes out.

SpongeBob took out a rubber duck from the treasure chest. "Look at this broach." He made himself look like he was marveling at the rubber duck. He was pretending that the tools and other objects found in the bathroom were treasure.

"Why would I need a broach?" Gary asked that question on purpose. He wanted to let SpongeBob know that he was not getting fooled at all by the sponge's scheme.

What Gary said made SpongeBob lose his composure. The bottle that contained his frustration broke into many pieces. "I don't know what a snail would want with a broach!" He raised his voice. He threw the rubber duck across the room and **SLAM**med the treasure chest shut. "Get in the tub!" He grabbed Gary and threw him towards the tub. The tub already had been filled with water.

Gary dove towards the floor and landed on it. He then slithered towards the bathroom's exit as fast as he could. The snail hated taking bathes since he had to hold his breath for the majority of the time spent bathing.

"Get in the tub..." SpongeBob grabbed the snail again and tossed him towards the bathtub. He was beginning to grit his teeth as he became more and more impatient.

Gary dove towards the wall and landed on it. The slime coating his bottom allowed him to slither across the wall. He almost reached the doorway when SpongeBob grabbed him by the shell.

"In the tub." SpongeBob threw Gary towards the tub for the third time.

Gary dove to the treasure chest and landed on it. He then hopped to the floor and tried to hop to the open doorway.

SpongeBob tightened his fists in immense frustration. He then grabbed Gary by his eyestalks and pitched a fastball towards the bathtub. However, he carefully aimed the throw so he would not accidentally injure the snail.

**SPLASH**

Gary finally landed in the tub. However, he swam up to the water's surface and quickly glided across the water until he reached the tub's edge. The snail then leaped to the floor and slithered in a circle so he could dry himself.

"Now, Gary, are you gonna get in this tub or am I gonna have to-" SpongeBob stomped up to the stubborn snail. He then ceased his sentence. He tried to grab Gary again by the shell but could not pull the snail off of the floor.

Gary was pressing his weight down on the floor so he could get picked up, his slime's stickiness assisted him in staying on the floor.

SpongeBob tried to pull Gary off of the floor with all of the strength in his arm muscles. He eventually managed to pull Gary out of the floor but the snail then jumped to the wall while SpongeBob was still holding on.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in Gary's head. After looking at the tub below him, Gary figured out a way to escape the bathroom and prevent his owner from grabbing him again. The snail jumped to the ceiling.

SpongeBob looked down and bit his lip. He quickly switched his grasp to Gary's eyestalks so he could hold on to Gary for a longer time.

Gary shook his eyestalks rapidly so he shake SpongeBob's grasp off of him.

SpongeBob lost his grip on one eyestalk. The eyestalks' rapid shaking prevented him from grabbing that eyestalk again. "Gary, could you..." He interrupted himself so he could form his words into a more polite manner. However, he was losing his grip on the other eyestalk. By that point, no amount of convincing was going to stop the snail's shaking. "Gary, no!" He flailed his free limbs in desperation. As he continued to look down, a few sweatdrops of anxiety ran down his brow.

SpongeBob's hand was eventually shaken loose from the other eyestalk.

"GARY!" SpongeBob yelled out of fright and flailed his arms rapidly. He was falling to the bathtub like he was making a 'cannonball' to a pool.

**SSPPLAAASSH**

The yellow square landed in the tub. A giant wave of water caused by the sponge's fall poured out of the tub and made the bathroom floor wet. The sponge then looked up at his snail. He was not angry at the snail since there was no way that he could change the snail's dislike over bathing. 'I guess I'm gonna have to use brute force.' SpongeBob thought with narrowed eyes. "Alright, Gary, you have duped and frustrated me for the last time." He spoke in a very serious tone. "So, if I can't get you to come to the bath," He stood up and tightened his fists. "I'll just have to bring the bath to you." He then sank into the water, contracted and then widened his holes, and made a sucking motion with the holes. Unlike popular belief, sponges voluntarily absorb liquid in large amounts. The yellow square eventually absorbed all of the water in the tub. "Bath delivery." He spoke in a more light-hearted tone. However, he did not smile. The absorbed water slightly altered his voice.

Gary become horrified by the yellowish water balloon monstrosity. He imagined the horror of having to hold his breath while gallons of water was getting spat on him. The snail quickly slithered to the floor and exited the bathroom.

SpongeBob followed Gary as fast as he could. He managed to exit the bathroom by squeezing as hard as he could through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary rapidly slithered down the hallway. He wanted to leave the pineapple as quickly as possible.

"Not so fast!" SpongeBob was chasing Gary. He did not want the snail to go to any other part of the pineapple without getting a good rinse.

**SSSSPPPLLAASSSH**

He spat a torrent at the snail. The sponge was careful with the amounts of water that he spat so he would not use up all of the water in one try and end up missing.

Gary entered the living room and took a turn towards the front door. He continued to slither at his maximum speed. Sweat began to run down from his shell.

SpongeBob dove towards Gary and...

**SSSPPLAAAAASSSSH**

...spat more water at the snail.

Gary ducked from the torrent by lowering his eyestalks. He then jumped to the front door's handle, opened the door, and then leaped out to the outside world.

SpongeBob jogged towards the front door. The living room's floor had became mostly covered with water so a moderate walking pace was needed to prevent any slipping.

**CRREEAAK**

The sponge opened the door some more and squeezed out of the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary slithered quickly towards a giant piece of coral that was across the street. He slithered across the street within several seconds and then slowed down his speed slightly so he would not get too tired. He eventually reached the piece of coral and began to climb it.

The amount of water in his body was slowing the sponge down. He eventually reached the piece of coral as well and looked up at Gary who by that time was at the top of the coral piece. "It's time to clean up your act, Gary." SpongeBob made a deep inhale so he could spit a tsunami at Gary. The sponge felt confident for his current attempt since the snail's current ways of escaping were severely limited. He climbed the piece of coral with ease due to his size. He held his breath for the duration of the climb. Once he reached the top, he was like a yellow tower from Gary's point of view.

Gary leaped off the coral's surface and slid down a side of the coral piece. He eventually reached the ground and slithered towards a large puddle of mud. He would rather get more dirty than take a bath.

"Do not go near that mud puddle!" SpongeBob pointed at the snail. One of the worst things that his pet could do in the current situation was to get even more dirty. "Gary, do you hear me?!" He glared at the snail and folded his arms.

A long pause.

Gary leaned closer to the mud puddle. A light bulb had lit up in his head. The execution of the idea might end his current predicament.

"I'll give you three seconds to get away from that mud puddle." SpongeBob made another deep inhale. The next spitting of water that he was going to make was going to use up all of the remaining bathwater in his body. "One." He leaned towards Gary.

Gary leaned even closer to the mud puddle.

"Two." SpongeBob crouched and locked on to the snail. The next torrent was going to be a precise hit if spat.

Gary slithered towards the mud puddle. He was getting close to the mud puddle's edge.

"Two and a half..." SpongeBob leaned even closer towards Gary. He gave his snail an opportunity out of mercy. However, he was very close to accidentally falling off the coral top's edge. If he maintained his current position, such a fall would be certain.

A pause.

"Three!" SpongeBob opened his mouth and...

**SSSSPPPPLLLAAAAAAAAAAAASSSH**

...spat a giant torrent of water towards Gary. However, he spat so hard that he fell off the cliff as the torrent of water was coming out of his mouth. As he fell, he was shrinking as more water got out of his mouth.

Gary slithered out of the way in time.

**THUD**

SpongeBob hit the ground. He then bounced, tumbled across some pieces of coral and rocks, slipped and slid across the ground that was now wet with the bathwater, and...

**SPLASH**

...eventually rolled into the puddle of mud.

SpongeBob's body became covered with the mud. The sponge now looked like he was made out of chocolate.


	61. Dumped

**Chapter 61: Dumped**

* * *

A few days later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sunday morning.

The extra long shower that he had taken was still a fresh memory in SpongeBob's mind. He remembered spending at least an hour in the bathroom getting rid of all of that mud. It was a victory for Gary on that day since he did not have to take a bath because of the sponge's long shower. However, the day after that, he ended up taking a bath out of force anyway. That Thursday's fight between over forcing Gary to taking a bath and that bath Gary took on Friday put even more strain in SpongeBob and Gary's relationship. The snail felt like his owner was worrying about him too much and was being too restrictive as a consequence. He yearned for a moment where he could just enjoy a day without anybody having to spoil him in the hopes of curing his own illness.

SpongeBob and Gary were currently playing outside. The sponge decided to do that since Gary had not went outside in a long time due to the snail's illness. The snail had no objections to the sponge's decision. By that time, Gary no longer had symptoms and his illness had vanished.

SpongeBob giggled and tip-toed to a rock. He then crouched behind it and looked closely at Gary who was slithering towards a very large piece of coral. "Oh, I've got ya now, Gary." They were playing a game of tag.

"Huh?" Gary looked at his surroundings. However, he did not look closely enough to see his owner hiding behind a rock.

SpongeBob dove from the rock, somersaulted towards the snail, sprinted towards the snail, and then touched the snail's shell. The sponge did all of that within six seconds. The snail did not have time to get away due to the speed of his slithering. "Tag, you're it!" SpongeBob grinned and ran towards his pineapple.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his home.

Gary slithered towards the front door and...

**CRREEEAAK**

...entered the pineapple as well. He was beginning to enjoy the game since he had not been 'it' until now.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was hiding under the couch. 'Gary will never find me here.' The sponge thought optimistically with a silly smile on his face. He tried to make his body sink to the floor as much as possible so his body would not make his hiding spot become too obvious.

Gary saw a yellow body under the couch. The strange increase in the couch's height was also another sign for the couch being the sponge's hiding spot. The snail smiled and slithered up to his owner. He then touched his owner by slithering to the sponge's skin a little bit. "Tag."

SpongeBob smiled widely and quickly crawled out of the catch. "Now I'm it!" He spoke with excitement. He could not wait to 'tag' Gary again.

Gary quickly slithered through the open doorway.

SpongeBob jogged after his snail and exited the pineapple as well.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He had woken up after hearing strange sounds that were coming from SpongeBob's premises. The sea star walked up to the running yellow sponge. What the sponge and the snail were doing intrigued Patrick. "Hi, SpongeBob. What're you doing?"

SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick. "Gary and I are playing tag, wanna join us?" He thought that the game of 'tag' would be even more fun if three people participated.

"Oh boy, would !" Patrick made a thumbs-up. He wanted to immediately start his Sunday with fun activities.

"Okay." SpongeBob made a slight smile. He poked Patrick on the stomach in an attempt to surprise the sea star. "Tag, you're it!" The sponge then ran away from the sea star as fast as he could. Surprises were quite useful in the game of tag since it will delay reactions for the hunter or the prey.

Patrick could not contain his high amounts of energy. He had a very refreshing amount of sleep. "I'm it, I'm it, I'm it, I'm it, I'm it!" His word completely captured his current enjoyment of the game. He ran towards SpongeBob and stuck his arms out so he could 'tag' the sponge as soon as possible. However, he saw Gary from the corner of his eye and then tagged the snail instead. "Tag, you're it!" He pointed at Gary. The sea star then jumped up and down in his apparent victory. "I win, I win!" Due to his poor memory, he forgot some of the rules for 'tag'.

Gary immediately became interested in Patrick. He was very aware of Patrick's varying levels of intelligence and also always wondered about the sea star's daily life inside that rock of his. After some thought, the snail considered the starfish to be a gateway to the freedom that he heavily desired. The snail wanted to move away from SpongeBob's pineapple for a day or two so he could delve into the new and strange ways of the starfish, he wanted to have a bit of an adventure instead of getting spoiled and watched over constantly by his overly caring yellow owner.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Gary tagged Patrick by touching the sea star's leg with a closed eyestalk. "Meow." It spoke with a wide smile. By that point, he was as enthusiastic as SpongeBob about the game of 'tag'.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick. He felt satisfied with the amount of time that he, Patrick, and Gary had spent playing 'tag'. "Well, I guess it's time for me and Gar-bear to get going. C'mon, Gary." He walked towards the pineapple. The sponge did not want Gary to get too tired from all of that exercise. "Boy, I can't wait to jellyfish." He spoke with a larger smile. "How 'bout you, Gary?" He looked from the corner of his eye but did not see Gary. The sponge then turned around and saw Gary slithering up to Patrick's head.

Gary wanted to go with Patrick as he walked back to his rock. The snail was serious about staying away from SpongeBob for a while. However, he was not going to abandon his owner.

"Gary?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He could not figure out why his snail wanted to be with Patrick instead of him. The sponge put a hand on his chin and thought deeply about what could have caused Gary to do such a thing.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick and Gary in tow entered the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick sat in the couch, picked up a remote made of hardened and polished sand, and turned on the TV. He then changed the channel until he found a channel that was showing reruns of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The sea star then laid back so he could enjoy the TV show.

A pause.

Patrick felt a strange sensation on his head. He then tried to touch his head but ended up touching a shell instead. He looked up and saw Gary on top of his head.

The snail was looking down at Patrick.

"Gary?" Patrick raised his brow for a second. He picked up Gary, held him out before him while still making eye contact, and smiled. "Why're you here?"

"Meow meow meow." Gary answered the question. He was no longer smiling.

Another pause.

Patrick shrugged. "Oh well." He put the snail on the floor. "You can roam around my house if you want." The sea star did not mind letting the snail visit his rock for a while. "Just don't break anything." His intelligence was high enough for him to know some of the risks for Gary staying in his home.

Gary nodded and then began to roam around the living room. He was trying to become familiar with his new surroundings. He rarely visited Patrick's rock until now so the home was still unfamiliar to him.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the rock. He looked around the living room until he found Gary. His conclusion after much thought was that his snail wanted to visit Patrick's rock out of curiosity. The sponge then waited for his snail to explore the whole living room. Once Gary was done with that, he walked up to the snail. "Come on, Gary. I can't let you roam out of the house for too long." He was concerned over the possibility that Gary was going to leave the rock and slither elsewhere.

Gary shook his head. He was certainly not going to miss his current opportunity for more freedom. The snail slithered towards Patrick and then laid on the sea star's lap. He purred to show how he liked Patrick's carefree attitude towards him more than SpongeBob's excessively caring attitude towards him.

Patrick had forgotten about what purring was. Like most mornings, his memory decreased to a pathetic level during his sleep. "What's with Gary? He sounds like a motor boat." The sea star laughed. From his perspective, Gary's purring sounded silly.

"That's just a snail's way of saying he likes you." SpongeBob explained what purring was with a gentle smile. He always loved Gary's purring since it did not happen often.

Patrick was snickering. He no longer found Gary's purring to be funny but was laughing for another reason. "It tickles." He was not used to the sensation of purring.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Why don't Gary just stay over at my place for a while? Me and him can have some fun." Patrick looked at Gary and smiled widely. He was thinking about some indoor and outdoor games that he could play with the snail. The starfish also wanted to get to know Gary a little bit better.

After some careful thought, SpongeBob allowed Gary to stay in Patrick's rock. The shake of Gary's head was already enough to inform him that Gary did not want to leave yet. A visit to such a home was also new to the snail so SpongeBob did not really see anything wrong with it. "Alright, Gar-bear, you can stay here." He nodded. "On one condition," He raised his brow and made a facial expression of caution. "don't wander from Pat's home unless you're going out with Pat, okay?"

"Meow." Gary nodded. He fully understood what his owner had said. He was going to abide by that condition as long as that kept him in Patrick's custody.

"Okay, you two have a good time." SpongeBob smiled slightly and made a thumbs-up. He walked towards the wall. He then climbed the wall and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the rock.

Patrick began to pet Gary as the snail continued to purr. He also kept his eyes on the TV screen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards the pineapple. It took him a while to come up with some fun activitiies since his mind had been focused on planning a jellyfishing session with Patrick.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the shell-phone. He had a good idea that he desired to realize. The activity was about him going to a certain place with a certain person. He dialed that person's number and put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

"_Hello?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"Hey, Sandy. Wanna go to Goo Lagoon with me?" SpongeBob smiled confidently.

_"Sure! I had been thinkin' 'bout that a while ago. Anybody coming with ya?" _Sandy became eager. It showed through the shift of her voice's tone. The squirrel had not visited Goo Lagoon in a while since she had been more busy than usual with her job. However, her workload had been slightly reduced recently and that opened up her schedule enough for more leisure time.

"Nah. It'll only be me." SpongeBob shook his head and smiled even more. That was going to be his first time visiting Goo Lagoon just with Sandy.

_"When'll you come?"_

"I can go to there right now if you want." SpongeBob grinned by that point. His enthusiasm for his visit to the beach grew as he continued to talk with Sandy. He was imagining all of the fun he was going to have with the squirrel.

_"Alright. I'll see ya there." _Sandy was looking forward to the visit to Goo Lagoon. She put her acorn phone down on her end.

SpongeBob put down the shell-phone on his end. He then walked to the closet and opened it. He then took out a pair of blue shorts that he usually wears when going to the beach. The sponge then briskly walked towards the bathroom so he could change.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. He had worn the blue shorts enough times for him to walk around with confidence despite his chest being exposed. The yellow square walked towards Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob arrived at Goo Lagoon. He walked past the 'WELCOME TO GOO LAGOON' sign and searched around the beach for Sandy. The sponge walked past a group of bodybuilders who were lifting weights during one part of his search. A memory abruptly entered his mind.

_SpongeBob noticed that large amounts of air was coming out of the holes of his back. He then looked down and realized that his anchor arms were shrinking. "Uh oh."_

_**P-POP!**_

_The anchor arms exploded into pink shreds and was blown away from the beach by the wind._

_SpongeBob fell to the ground due to the force of the explosion._

_Everybody in the bleachers and in the field became silent._

The yellow square bit his lip but resisted the urge to cringe. Those bodybuilders reminded him of the time when he tried to impress Sandy with fake muscles. It also reminded him to not impress Sandy through deception or other means that hid his true self. He eventually spotted Sandy taking a surfboard from a bunch of surfboards leaning against a lifeguard tower. SpongeBob then jogged up to Sandy. "You're gonna go surfing?" He began to jump up and down in excitement.

"Yeah!" Sandy nodded enthusiastically. She then eyed the ocean and the waves coming to the shore. She was waiting for a good wave to surf on. The squirrel felt like today was a great day to surf since it was currently early summer.

"Then count me in!" SpongeBob grabbed a surfboard. He certainly had surfed before and had became quite good at it after a while. When he thought about his surfing skills and doing some surfing tricks, another memory popped up.

_"I need... I need..." SpongeBob opened his eyes even more. The rays of the sun seemed to have created a divine light._

_"W-what do y-you n-need?" Tears formed in the lifeguard's eyes._

_Tears formed in Sandy's eyes._

_Larry put a claw over his mouth. His eyes were wide in shock._

_"A tailor..." SpongeBob patted the lifeguard on the shoulder._

_A pause._

_"Because I ripped my pants!" SpongeBob stood up and released himself from the lifeguard's grasp. He laughed. It was as if all life was put back into his body._

_The lifeguard narrowed his eyes. He made a serious glare._

_The crowd that was watching glared._

_Larry and Sandy glared._

_Squidward crossed his tentacles._

_A long, silent pause._

_The crowd marched off, their faces showed expressions of anger. Larry walked away with them._

_The lifeguard returned to his tower to continue his duty._

_Sandy was still remaining. "That wasn't funny, SpongeBob! Y'all had me worried sick!" She marched off with Larry._

The memories of his foolish actions in Goo Lagoon were coming back to haunt him. The yellow square made a poker face to hide any signs of embarrassment or shame.

Sandy snapped her fingers. "C'mon, Sponge!" The squirrel then ran towards the ocean. She was seeing an incoming wave that was big enough to be surfed on.

"Oh, snap!" SpongeBob sweatdropped and quickly followed Sandy. He saw how big the wave was and immediately thought that it was his first opportunity for surfing for today. The yellow sponge eventually sprinted past Sandy, held out his surfboard, and dove into water while his face was on the surfboard. His body was then kept afloat by the surfboard. SpongeBob looked up at the wave and rapidly paddled towards it.

Sandy was not too far from SpongeBob; she was paddling two feet behind the sponge.

SpongeBob soon reached the wave and stood on the surfboard. He held out his arms and carefully balanced himself on the surfboard as he surfed the wave. Once his footing was decent, he began to make some karate poses as he surfed to show off his surfing skills; it showed how confident SpongeBob was in his abilities.

People were looking up at SpongeBob and were impressed by the sponge's ability to make those strange poses while surfing.

Larry was among those people. 'He wants a challenge, eh?' He thought and smirked. His competitive streak would not allow someone like SpongeBob to show off without him trying to overthrow the sponge's impressive status with even better tricks and moves. However, he was not jealous. He merely saw SpongeBob's surfing as an opportunity for friendly competition. The lobster walked up to the surfboard bunch near the lifeguard tower and took a surfboard. He then dashed towards the ocean, held out the surfboard, and dove into the water. He paddled towards the wave until he was surfing it. The lobster's surfboard was right next to SpongeBob's. Larry then made some poses of his own as SpongeBob continued to make his karate poses.

"Hey, Larry." SpongeBob waved at the lobster. He was acting like he was not even surfing at all. The sponge did not feel any sense of impending danger since he was used to surfing large waves.

"Try to beat this!" Larry smiled, jumped, and landed on the surfboard with his dominant hand first. The lobster then made a handstand with only that claw. The lobster then twirled while jumping up and down on the surfboard.

People watching from the shore began to clap when they saw what Larry was doing.

SpongeBob made a handstand with both of his hands and karate kicked with both of his legs quickly and continuously. The sponge then 'walked' to the tip of his surfboard with his hands and began to twirl with only one of his index fingers making him stand.

The people clapped furiously when they saw the move SpongeBob was pulling off. The yellow square was not going to get beaten so easily.

Sandy could not help herself; she had to join the stunt leaped and landed headfirst on her surfboard. She then twirled by making her glass helmet spin. She then did a rapid succession of karate punches, chops, and kicks as she twirled. She did all of that and even managed to jump if she was close to falling off the surfboard.

Within minutes, the fun activity SpongeBob and Sandy were doing evolved into a competition to see who could make the most outrageous stunt.

"**SANDY! SANDY! SANDY! SANDY! SANDY!"** People were loudly chanting Sandy's first name. The squirrel was clearly the victor in the competition since she made the most impressive surfing trick.

SpongeBob did not initially notice that the wave was about to crash into the shore. He stopped his twirling and stood on the surfboard. The yellow square looked down and realized that it was too late for him to paddle back to the coast.

**SSSPPPLLAAASSSSH**

The big wave came into the shore.

SpongeBob became enveloped by the ocean water. He closed his eyes and desperately struggled to hold his breath. Unfortunately, the yellow square barely knew how to swim. He only knew the basics and that was how he was able to paddle himself while on the surfboard. Now that his surfboard was far from his grasp, he was doomed to drown unless he received assistance from someone else or nature itself.

He was surrounded by dark blue shadows. Rays from the sun that was piercing the oceanic darkness could also be seen. The yellow square stretched his arms out in search of a stray object to cling on. To his dismay, the darkness concealed such life-saving objects.

_"SPONGEBOB! C'MON BUDDY!" Patrick was screaming at the body, he was holding it tightly._

_The body was not making a reaction. "STAY. WITH. UUUSSS!" Patrick shook the body furiously._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward jolted in his seat. He heard Patrick's panicky voice. He stopped reading his novel, he put the book on the chair. "What in the world is going on?" He stood up. The octopus walked towards where he saw the sea star. *sighs* "I wonder what drama is going on this time..." Squidward was somewhat crossed._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_The body was not making a reaction._

_People began to look at Patrick and the lifeguard. The two were creating a commotion._

_Patrick made a deadpan face. He let go of the body. He fell to the ground back-first._

_A pause._

_Tears formed in his eyes. One went across his cheek._

_The lifeguard fell to his knees. He lifted his hands towards the sky. "Why?! WHY?! WHHHHHYYYY?!" The lifeguard screamed in despair. It was heard throughout Goo Lagoon._

Another awful memory sneaked into SpongeBob's head. It was a glimpse into his possible future if he did not get out of the water in time. That memory fueled the sponge's instincts and it transformed those instincts into a determination for survival. The sponge flailed his limbs in a futile attempt at swimming. That flailing was making him move slightly towards the shore. However, a rip current could easily undo all of SpongeBob's efforts.

A long pause.

A white hand grabbed SpongeBob's wrist. It then began to pull SpongeBob up.

The yellow square looked up and saw a white body. The darkness of the ocean concealed what the body truly looked like. For a second, it looked like a ghost. However, after a few seconds of scrutiny, the sponge noticed that the 'ghost' had a brown tail. As he got closer and closer to the ocean's surface by the 'ghost's pull, he could see more and more of the 'ghost's physical features. He only saw those features for a few seconds since the rays piercing through the rippling oceanic surface were now the ones that were concealing things.

**SSSPLASH**

SpongeBob broke through the surface of waves. He was right next to the shore. He turned to see who was holding his wrist and saw Sandy. He then widened his eyes slightly in astonishment. He had expected Larry to save him.

The squirrel smiled warmly. She had rescued the yellow square since she was the closest person near the sponge who could swim. "I had to give it back, Sponge." She had done such an act since she felt indebted to the sponge's kindness. "You did so many nice things for me that I had to pay it back somehow." The squirrel decided that saving SpongeBob's life was a decent return for the sponge's acts of ceasing his saying of squirrel jokes and his persuasion of Sandy to stay in Bikini Bottom. It was also a return specifically for making her get to know sea creatures better and his assistance in her lab experiments.

SpongeBob could not suppress his true emotions. He began to blush. A girl had never done such a profound act for him or had cared for him so much before. It reminded the yellow square of when he first saw Sandy, when he bravely attacked the giant clams in an attempt to protect the 'damsel in distress'. In the current situation, like that incident, he ended up in being the one who was in danger. Sandy's exoticness, shared interest in karate, caring attitude, competitive streak, and overall intelligence made the squirrel very alluring to the yellow sponge. He had learned to hide such attraction in the past but his experience failed him in the current case.

An awkward pause.

The yellow square made a crooked smile in a futile attempt to hide his blushing. It ended up making him look even more silly.

Larry quickly swam up to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob saw Larry from the corner of his eye and managed to make a poker face since he was now focusing his attention on someone other than Sandy.

Larry had a solemn face. The carefree and competitive attitude he used to have was completely washed from his face by that wave crash that nearly drowned SpongeBob. "SpongeBob, I'm really sorry for what I did." He was sincere. "After seeing those sick moves you were doing, I thought I could beat you by making some of my own fun moves. But that was a mistake, I got too reckless with letting you guys fool around on those boards. If it wasn't for her," The lobster patted Sandy on the shoulder. "you would've been a goner." The lobster did not reference the fact that he would also get fired from his job if the employer found out about SpongeBob's drowning. He considered that saying something like that would sound too selfish. "Y'know what? Sorry ain't enough. I'll make it up to you guys by allowing you to drink as many drinks as you want from the juice bar. The money'll be on me." Larry then swam towards the shore.

SpongeBob looked down at the seawater that his legs were submerged in. He then made eye contact with Sandy, blushed again, and giggled nervously. "I need a little help here." The water was too deep for him to swim through.

Sandy's smile lessened very slightly. She could immediately think of only one way that she could transport the sponge back to the beach. "Just get on my back. I'll swim real quick." The squirrel tried to hide her displeasure. She viewed SpongeBob being on her back as an embarrassing physical position to put herself through. The squirrel did not want to be rude to the yellow square so suddenly.

SpongeBob blushed even more and got on the squirrel's back as if the squirrel was a horse. The yellow square was aware of how mammals mated (he learned about that in biology class during high school) and that was why he was blushing even more. He wanted such a 'close' moment to pass by as quickly as possible.

Sandy swam towards the shore like she was an Olympic swimmer. The squirrel saw the physical position as equally as embarrassing as the sponge saw it. However, she did not blush at all. She felt like she should not how emotions like that, she was within the Goo Lagoon bodybuilders' sight and did not want to look 'weak'.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy reached the shore. She allowed SpongeBob to hop off of her and she then stood up.

SpongeBob did not feel thirsty yet. The seawater he had inhaled quenched any thirst he had. The sponge picked up a volleyball that was nearby and tossed it towards Sandy.

Sandy saw the incoming volleyball from the corner of her eye and caught it. She smirked and walked towards a volleyball court. 'A game or a dozen wouldn't hurt.' She thought in anticipation of the first volleyball game between her and SpongeBob for today.

SpongeBob followed Sandy by skipping merrily. He was also excited for the volleyball game.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours of fun later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick's rock. He was finished with his visit to Goo Lagoon with Sandy. The squirrel had to go back to home so she could begin to do her assignments for her career. The yellow square wanted to check Gary's status in Patrick's custody, he was crossing his fingers in the hope that Patrick was taking good care of the snail. The sponge was aware of his best friend's occasional neglectfulness. Patrick's poor hygiene and the pigsty he called a living room made his negligence very obvious.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered Patrick's rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was running around the living room while Gary was quickly following him. The two were playing some sort of chasing game. The sea star saw SpongeBob entered his home and made a wide smile. "Hey, Sponge. Wherever I go, Gary follows."

Gary slithered up to Patrick's head. He began to really like his temporary owner. He and the sea star had played games that SpongeBob would have thought would be too dangerous for him. The snail felt like by being in Patrick's rock was like moving out of civilization and into the wilderness, the freedom in the starfish's home was a vast improvement over the freedom in the sponge's pineapple.

"Watch this." Patrick grabbed Gary by the shell and put the snail on the floor. The sea star then ran around the living room, entered the kitchen, and came back to the living room.

Gary followed Patrick through the same path; he entered the kitchen and then re-entered the living room. The snail eventually caught up with Patrick and slithered up the starfish's back.

"See?" Patrick pointed at Gary who was now on top of his head again.

SpongeBob wanted to join the fun. "C'mon, Gary. Try and catch me!" The yellow square ran around the living room. He assumed Gary was chasing him since he did not look back. "Isn't this great, Gary? Me running around and you chasing me." He wanted to verbally express his enjoyment of the foolish behavior. However, he noticed that something was odd. The sponge turned around and noticed that Gary had not followed him at all.

Gary did not want to follow SpongeBob since he was afraid of the possibility that the sponge was trying to trick him into coming back to the pineapple. The snail was still very resistant to any threats to his freedom.

SpongeBob sighed and frowned in disappointment. Instead of wandering away from the rock, Gary grew attached to Patrick and put a temporary strain on his and SpongeBob's relationship. The snail's 'attachment' to Patrick took a toll on SpongeBob's feelings.

"C'mon, Gary. Let's play a different game." Patrick walked towards the wall and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited his rock.

SpongeBob's optimism did not die. He saw what Patrick and Gary were about to do as another opportunity to catch the snail's attention. He simply wanted to loosen the tension between him and Gary, he did not desire to bring the snail back to the pineapple yet. The sponge jogged towards the wall and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the rock as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put Gary on the ground. The sea star then took out a bouncy blue ball that he had taken from the living room floor before SpongeBob came to his home.

SpongeBob jumped towards Gary and landed in front of the snail. "Woa-ho-ho-ho! Look out! I'm right in front of..." He tried to play around with Gary but the snail ignored the sponge. Gary was still paranoid about the sponge secretly trying to bring him to the pineapple. "...you..." The sponge looked at the ground. He walked towards a rock and sat on it. He continued to look at the ground. "What's wrong with me?" He began to talk to himself. "Do I offend?" He smelled his armpit but did not detect any bad smell. The yellow square certainly did not forget the incident when he had a nasty breath caused by that 'sundae'. SpongeBob was completely unaware of the fact that he had caused the snail to stay away from him by worrying too much about his pet and consequently spoiling the snail.

A pause.

The sponge saw Gary catch the blue ball from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to look at the game that Patrick and Gary were playing.

The sea star and the snail were playing 'catch'.

Gary threw the ball towards Patrick by using his mouth.

Patrick hopped and caught the ball in mid-air. The sea star then threw it directly towards the ground.

The blue ball bounced off the ground and flew towards Gary at a slower speed.

Gary caught the blue ball with his mouth.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. 'Two could play at that game.' He made a normal smile. He had been with Gary for too long for him to give up on the snail so easily. The sponge ran towards his pineapple and...

**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. He was holding a red ball. "Hey, Gary!" The sponge grinned in hopefulness and ran towards Gary. "Gary, look! It's your favorite ball." He held out the red ball towards the snail. He then stood before Patrick and Gary.

Gary was trying his best to ignore SpongeBob. He was becoming worried about the possibility that his owner was going to try so hard to bring him home that he will end up kidnapping him back to the pineapple.

Patrick threw the blue ball towards the sky, stepped back, and waited for the ball to succumb to gravity. He was experimenting to see if Gary had quick reflexes.

SpongeBob resisted the urge to sigh. His determination to succeed in entertaining Gary became stronger and stronger with each failure. He refused to break the bond between him and Gary. The yellow square ran towards the pineapple.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The sponge entered his home.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Gary were playing some form of soccer with the blue ball. The pace of the game was slow since Gary's slithering made him take longer than Patrick to 'kick' the ball.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob walked up to Gary while holding the snail's bowl with both of his hands. The bowl was filled with snail nip, several cans of it had been poured into the bowl. "Gary, snail nip!" He held out the bowl towards Gary.

Gary sweatdropped as his mouth began to water at the smell of snail nip. He had not eaten in a long time and could not wait to have another meal. His true owner's offering was highly tempting. After several seconds of intense struggling, he could no longer control himself for much longer. He looked at the bowl of snail nip. After another second, he slithered towards the bowl.

SpongeBob's smile slowly transformed into a grin of delight. His determination was finally paying off.

Patrick put his foot on top of the rolling blue ball and made the ball stop rolling. The sea star stepped back, moved his foot so his kick would he aimed at Gary, and kicked the ball towards Gary.

Gary saw the incoming ball from the corner of his eye and rapidly slithered towards it. He was relieved since a distraction had came to free him from the chains of temptation and his subsequent imprisonment inside SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob's grin shrunk to a neutral facial expression. 'Alright. I'll try ONE more time.' The sponge thought in a combination of desperation and determination. He felt like if he was unable to bring Gary back home and subsequently entertain the snail, then he would have to take drastic measures. The yellow sponge walked towards the pineapple.

**CRRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the dining room and entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge walked up to the refrigerator, opened the bottom door, and managed to fit the bowl into the fridge. He was going to serve the bowl of snail nip to Gary as the snail's dinner if Gary came back today. However, as he closed the fridge, the sponge realized that there was another major force pushing him towards attempts at entertaining Gary or catching the snail's attention. That force was loneliness. When Gary began to ignore him, loneliness began to bite his heart. That loneliness had made him imagine a future without Gary and that was a major motivating factor into his increasing desperation at repairing the bond between him and the snail. Things simply would not feel right if he lived in his pineapple without his snail companion. Even if Patrick became more involved with his daily life, that sea star would not replace the joyful moments he had with the snail when they were watching TV or were playing games. Extra moments with Patrick could not replace the day when SpongeBob adopted Gary.

SpongeBob was sitting in the table by that time. His mind became bombarded by memories of Gary. It only fueled his will to reconnect the bond. With a tightening of his fists, the yellow square stood up from the table. His brows were furrowed in seriousness. He had an idea for a trick that might just work, it may also Gary's true loyalty towards his owner. SpongeBob...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the room with the staircase.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up the staircase silently. He cleared his mind and filled it with focus on how he was going to execute the trick. Once he reached the top of the staircase...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...he entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the window. He opened it, put his head on the windowsill, and then almost completely closed the window while his head was sticking out. His spongy skin allowed him to have his head out the window while the window was almost entirely shut.

S-S-S-S-S

"HELP, GARY, HELP! HELP ME! OH MERCIFUL NEPTUNE! I CLOSED THE WINDOW ON MY HEAD!" SpongeBob yelled towards Gary like he was actually panicking. He tried to look anxious so his acting would see more convincing. Once he finished his lines, he crossed his fingers behind his back.

Gary looked up and saw what happened to his true owner. The snail then sweatdropped in concern; he fell for the trick. The snail certainly did not forget the friendship he still had with SpongeBob. The sponge's cry for help reminded him that the break from daily life with the sponge was only temporary, the snail planned on returning to the pineapple by the end of the day anyway. The snail quickly slithered towards the pineapple and...

**CRRREEAAK  
**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAAK**

Gary entered the bedroom and pulled SpongeBob out of the window by biting one of the sponge's socks. Once he was certain that his owner was safe from harm by the window, he slithered out of the bedroom. He did not want to become locked inside the pineapple and wanted to resume his playing with Patrick. In spite of leaving the pineapple, he was glad and relieved that his owner survived the 'ordeal' of the closed window.

SpongeBob turned around and noticed that Gary was immediately leaving. The faint sounds of the opening and closing of the pineapple's front door confirmed that. The yellow square tightened his fists again and lost his temper. Such a short miss from victory was simply too frustrating for SpongeBob. He stomped through the open doorway and...

**SLAM**

...barged the door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open. He exited the pineapple and stomped towards Gary. "Gary, you stop this foolishness right now!" He commanded in a very serious voice. He wanted to interrogate the snail for why the snail was trying to stay away from him. He was now desiring answers instead of attention. The sponge then grabbed Gary by the shell and turned around towards the pineapple. "You are coming home with me this instant. I want to ask a few questions." The yellow square walked towards his home.

Gary struggled to get out of SpongeBob's grasp. "C'mon, Sponge, let go. You don't understand me! That pineapple isn't a paradise." He spoke words of wisdom as he continued to struggle. The snail still thought SpongeBob was going to lock him into the pineapple.

SpongeBob eyes widened very slightly when he heard the second sentence that Gary said. That sentence accurately summarized the entire situation. The sponge sort of detected how that sentence applied to the situation but he did not think critically about it. He continued to walk towards his home.

Patrick became ill-tempered. He viewed SpongeBob's interruption of the game between him and Gary to be too abrupt. "Hold it right there, DadMom AngryPants!" He pointed at the sponge. He name-called his best friend out of impulse.

SpongeBob turned around and walked up to Patrick. "What's that supposed to mean?" He did not understand why Patrick called him that name in the insult. He also stood before Patrick to hear what the starfish had to say.

"I dunno," Patrick shrugged. "but I do know Gary knows who he wants to go with." He understood Gary more than the snail's actual owner. However, both he and SpongeBob did not fully understand the snail. The sea star wanted to play with Gary again and was also being considerate for Gary. A small bond of friendship formed between the starfish and the snail during their short time together. "So I suggest that you put him down and let him choose." Patrick tried to stay calm and also folded his arms.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and put Gary on the ground. The sponge agreed with Patrick. The yellow square then looked down at the snail. "Gary, just to remind you, it was I who fed you, and housed you, and sat on your bedside when you were sick and massaged your eyestalks when your eyes were sore." He was trying to kindly state that he felt like he had a right to temporarily bring Gary back home. He was trying to sway the snail's opinion.

A pause.

Gary slithered towards Patrick.

"Well, I guess that answers that question." Patrick grinned, picked up the blue ball, and threw it towards his rock. He had been playing 'fetch' with Gary.

SpongeBob did not whine or complain. It was Gary's decision and he ultimately had to respect that. Even if he forced Gary back to his home, the snail would have probably fought until he was free again. The sponge walked towards his pineapple. He had to wait until Gary wanted to come back home if he wanted to ask the snail any questions.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat in the couch and thought deeply about why Gary did not want to be with him. He thought that the spoiling he did to the snail was proper care for the snail's illness. The yellow square was still stuck in the fog of his own concern for his pet, it prevented him from realizing that he was worrying too much about Gary and that he was also being too clingy.

A long pause.

SpongeBob could not cut through the fog. He thought that there was nothing else to do so he stood up from the couch and...

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen. He was going to go upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the library. He slid down the slide, walked towards a certain shelf, and took out his photo scrapbook. He sat on the brown chair and scanned through the large book in search of early photos of Gary. Once he found them, he looked through them and smiled. It filled him with the early days of living with Gary. He remembered how the first sparks of their friendship formed; how they played together in site of SpongeBob's lack of experience with snails, how SpongeBob fed him and brought the snail to ideal health, how they relaxed together at home; the sponge also remembered when he brought Gary to Jellyfish Fields for the first time.

A pause.

SpongeBob closed the book and closed his eyes so he could cling to the memories for as long as possible. Once he was satisfied, he opened his eyes, sat up from the couch chair; and put the book back into the shelf. A light bulb then lit up in his head. SpongeBob then slowly formed a grin.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through binoculars that he had brought from the garage. He was leaning through the window in the bedroom. He had opened the window. The yellow square was patiently waiting for a stray animal to come near the neighborhood.

A feral green worm slithered towards SpongeBob's neighborhood. Her species was domesticable. She was quite hungry since she had made a long journey from New Kelp City to Bikini Bottom, she made such a trip just so she could find some food.

"Aha!" SpongeBob stopped looking through the binoculars and smiled widely. He then quickly exited the bedroom and went downstairs. He considered a worm to be a suitable temporary replacement for Gary. He wanted a domesticable animal to keep him company during Gary's absence from the pineapple. Having such animal companions prevented him from being lonely.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open. He was holding a normal bowl of Kelpo cereal (he did not know what worms ate). He had not poured milk into the bowl since it was faster to make the meal without milk. The yellow square then walked towards the worm at a brisk pace. "Hey there, worm." He tried to speak in a gentle voice. He then held out the bowl of cereal towards the worm.

To the sponge's dismay, he had walked too fast for the worm's liking. The worm became frightened and then quickly slithered away from the yellow sponge. She had never seen a yellow sponge before and rarely contacted or communicated with civilized sea creatures in general.

SpongeBob sighed, turned around, and walked towards his pineapple. He had became excited over something that just slipping out of his grasp.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ate the dry cereal in the bowl with his free hand as he walked across the living room. He was going to wait for another stray animal to pass by his neighborhood.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the window with his binoculars once again. He eventually spotted a snail with very pronounced black eyebrows, pink skin, and a light brown shell. A light bulb then lit up in his head. He still had the bowl of snail nip inside the refrigerator. The sponge **SLAM**med the window shut and ran downstairs to retrieve the bowl of snail nip.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open and stepped out of the pineapple while holding the bowl of snail nip with both of his hands. He walked up to the stray snail and held out the bowl towards the snail. "Here you go, little fella." Like his previous attempt, he was trying to speak in a gentle and friendly manner.

The snail looked up at the yellow square and narrowed his eyes. He had never seen a civilized sea creature give him such an offering before. He was closely looking at the sponge in search of any indicators that the sponge was dangerous.

A pause.

"C'mon, don't be shy." SpongeBob made a friendly smile and crouched. He assumed that the stray snail was afraid of him.

The snail moved his shoulder up and down as a way of shrugging. He could not find any signs that indicated that SpongeBob was a threat. "Grub is grub, I guess." He slithered up to the bowl and began to eat the snail nip. 'Might as well stay with this sponge for today, I'll probably get enough for tomorrow's trip' The snail merely viewed himself as a guest in the sponge's property. Like the worm, he was also a traveler.

SpongeBob grinned in delight and stood up. He then walked backward towards his pineapple while he still held out the bowl towards the snail.

The snail was indifferent to what the sponge was intending or where the sponge was going. He followed the bowl until the two of them were inside the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door. The yellow square then turned around and looked at the stray snail. He pretended that he partially forgot who Gary was so his loneliness could fade into oblivion quickly. "You remind me of someone I once knew. A certain someone who's name will not be spoken in this household." The sponge felt like just saying Gary's name would trigger a period of longing for the snail's return. "As a matter of fact," SpongeBob crouched before the stray snail and put his hands on his lap. "I'll call you Lary." What had happened today at Goo Lagoon gave SpongeBob an idea for a pet name. The similarities between 'Lary' and 'Gary' in terms of pronunciation and spelling were coincidental.

After hearing what SpongeBob said, Lary knew immediately that the yellow square was trying to make him his pet. "Listen up, bub." He became irritated. He had heard rumors from other stray snails about the horrors of forced ownership. "I ain't gonna be one of your little 'pets'. I'm just here for food, you understand me? This place you got here is nothin' but a shelter to me. I'm not a bottomfeeder and I'll never will be, you hear?" He furrowed his brows to show his seriousness. He also slithered away from SpongeBob a little bit.

SpongeBob nodded in complete compliance to what Lary said. "It's alright. I didn't even plan on making you stay for more than a day anyway. I just want you here 'cause some other snail is out playing with a friend of mine." The yellow square said his reason for keeping Lary with a shrunken smile. Any slight or subtle reference to Gary made him at least slightly less happy.

An awkward pause.

"C'mon, I'll show you around." SpongeBob signaled with his hand for Lary to follow him. He walked through the open doorway and walked across the kitchen.

Lary took a deep breath. He knew that he had to be patient since the adjustment to living in the pineapple may be quite difficult. He slithered up to SpongeBob at the same pace as the sponge's.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Lary entered the bedroom. They reached their final destination for their tour of the rooms in the pineapple.

Lary was extremely bored. Taking a tour around what he thought was a normal house was not the most exciting activity in the world. The snail was so bored that he even felt like taking a short nap.

"This is where you sleep, Lary." SpongeBob pointed at the pile of newspapers next to the bed. The sponge could tell that Lary was drowsy so he decided to make the bedroom the last destination so the snail could have a decent nap.

Lary quickly slithered towards the pile of newspapers and closed his eyes. Within a few seconds, he fell into the sweet darkness of sleep.

SpongeBob walked towards the right door.

Crrrreeeaak

Slam

He slowly opened and closed the door so he would not disturb Lary's nap.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on the couch and was watching TV. He was deeply immersed into the series of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes that they were showing. The sponge was enjoying the episodes that were being shown since they were all some of his most favorite episodes. His eyes were so focused on the TV screen that he did not notice any changes in his surroundings.

The sponge was subconsciously trying to hide from his loneliness by trying to cover himself in the fog of the TV world. Lary's napping had left the sponge by himself in the pineapple and reminded the sponge that Gary was still avoiding him.

A pause.

SpongeBob's stomach gurgled. He had not eaten in a few hours.

The yellow square stood up so he could go to the kitchen and eat a snack. The sponge walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the refrigerator and opened the bottom door. The sponge then noticed something very strange about the bowl in the fridge.

The green bowl was completely cleaned from any snail nip. Lary had eaten it all.

'I guess Lary must've been really hungry.' SpongeBob thought. Lary certainly must have ate the snail nip in the bowl because he was the only other person in the pineapple. 'Better go check on him.' He walked up to the next door.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the room that had the staircase.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked upstairs. He was beginning to assume that Lary was still napping since he did not find him in the kitchen or in the room he was currently in. Once he reached the top of the stairs...

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...he entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at the pile of newspapers and noticed that Lary was not inside the bedroom. 'He probably went somewhere else' The sponge continued in trying to think rationally. He did not want to panic over trivial things right away.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the left door, slid down the slide, and stepped into the library. That began his search throughout the pineapple for Lary.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-one minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob re-entered the bedroom. He was sweating in anxiety since he could not find Lary or any other signs of the snail's presence in all of the other rooms (except the kitchen) at all. The yellow square came back to the room to find any signs of the snail that he had missed.

A pause.

The yellow sponge noticed that the window in the room was open. SpongeBob walked up to the window and looked at the ground below him while looking through the window. The sponge saw a faint path of snail slime and immediately realized that Lary had eaten the bowl of snail nip and ran away from the pineapple after that. SpongeBob could still see Lary who was at least seventy feet away from the pineapple and was still slithering. SpongeBob then...

**SLAM**

...barged the right door open and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

More than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open. He then ran towards Lary until he caught up with the snail. "Why did you leave so early?" The sponge only wanted to ask the most crucial of questions.

"I didn't feel like staying. I couldn't find no more snail nip in your place so I packed my bags and left. It was getting really boring and I have much more miles to cover anyways." Lary bluntly answered. The snail could not resist his urge to roam the streets of cities and find more food. Since he was raised in the streets with other stray snails, he wanted to stay in the streets.

"Oh... okay." SpongeBob made a neutral facial expression and wiped some sweat from his brow. Like bringing Gary back home, there was no point in bringing Lary back to the pineapple since the snail will fight back. Lary would probably be more vicious than Gary when it came to fighting since he was a stray. SpongeBob then turned around and walked towards his pineapple.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on the couch and tried to resume his TV watching. However, Lary's leave from his home reminded him too much about Gary's leave and the snail's new bond with Patrick. The yellow square slowly formed a frown and his eyes moistened. His loneliness relapsed almost immediately. "Oh, Gary, why did you have to go?" A tear ran down his cheek and landed on the floor. "Why, Gary? Why..." He covered his face with his hands and wept. His loneliness transformed into sadness and he forgot the questions he wanted to ask to Gary as a consequence. He forgot that Gary's motives for 'abandoning' him were still covered by a thick fog.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Someone knocked on the front door.

The yellow square wiped his tears and stood up. He walked up to the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

...opened it.

"Hi, SpongeBob." Patrick greeted his best friend. He was holding a clothes basket that was full of his own laundry. He did not have a washing machine at his home. He wanted to wash his dirty clothes because Gary complained about the odors coming from them.

"Hey, Pat." SpongeBob smiled widely and stepped out of the way. He did not harbor any negative feelings against Patrick since it was not the sea star's fault that Gary liked the sea star.

"Meow." Gary was next to Patrick. He was not worried or anxious about entering the pineapple since Patrick was with him.

"Hello, Gary." SpongeBob looked down at Gary. His smile shrunk to a normal one. He did not become upset again since Gary was going to have to enter the pineapple anyway.

"Would it be alright if me and Gary did some laundry around here?" Patrick knew that there was a washing machine in the pineapple's garage. The starfish tried to be polite.

"Sure." SpongeBob nodded.

Patrick and Gary entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

An awkward pause.

"Sponge, can you tell me where's the washing machine?" Patrick scratched his head. He forgot where the pineapple's washing machine was. Once again, his poor memory became an obstacle to a task.

"It's in the garage." SpongeBob pointed down the hallway. He was patient since he felt obligated to help out his friend when needed.

"Thanks." Patrick entered the hallway and walked until he reached the first door.

**CRRREEEAAK**

Patrick opened the door and looked inside. He realized that the door he opened was the one for the bathroom. "Oh." He...

**SLAM**

...closed the door and continued to walk down the hallway. He eventually reached the other door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

...opened it. He looked inside and smiled since the room before him was the garage. The starfish then stepped into the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Unfortunately, he encountered another problem. There were so many piles of items, objects, knick-knacks, and other unknown things that they made it very difficult for Patrick to find the washing machine.

"Um, Sponge, can you help me out here?" Patrick spoke in a louder voice so SpongeBob could hear him a few rooms away.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard Patrick's question and walked down the hallway. He then entered the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

"I can't find the washing machine." Patrick turned to look at SpongeBob. He then pointed at the piles of objects in the garage and shrugged.

SpongeBob walked around a certain cluster of piles and pointed at something that was behind them. Whenever he needed to wash his laundry, he always found the washing machine with ease.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob and noticed that the yellow square was pointing at the washing machine. "Thanks, buddy." The sea star made a wider smile and stepped up to the washing machine.

An awkward pause.

Patrick scratched his head. "How do you use this thing again?" His memory refused to end its role as a major impediment.

SpongeBob smiled warmly to show that he was patient. "First, you've got to..." He began a lesson on using the washing machine.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the garage. He was finished with the challenging of teaching Patrick about using a washing machine. The yellow square walked along the hallway and stepped into the living room. He was seriously considering the option of jellyfishing with Patrick at Jellyfish Fields later on in the day.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on the couch as he thought deeply.

A pause.

The yellow square looked at his surroundings and noticed that Gary was also sitting on the couch.

Another pause.

"Gary, can I ask you something?" SpongeBob made a solemn face. He was making complete eye contact with Gary. The sponge felt like now was a better opportunity than ever to ask Gary about his motives for leaving the pineapple and staying away from him.

Gary nodded. He felt safe and comfortable enough to talk with his true owner.

"Why do you want to stay with Patrick instead of me?" SpongeBob asked in a calm manner. He did not want his emotions to burst out since it might make his question hard to hear or understand.

"I'm not gonna stay with him forever. It'll only be for a day. I wanted to stay away from you because you were worrying about me too much and became really bossy and restrictive as a consequence. Ever since I got sick, you've been spoiling me for whole days and I could barely do anything else without you telling me that it's too dangerous. I had to always follow your 'safety' rules and that ended up making life here really boring 'cause there was almost nothing to do. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm only being honest. You understand?" Gary answered without any filter. He felt like telling the whole truth would be best.

SpongeBob nodded to show that he understood what Gary said. "But why Patrick?" He did not want to interrupt the snail since he did not want to look or sound 'bossy' or 'restrictive'. The sponge's desire for Gary's return to the pineapple influenced his behavior.

"He's more carefree and relaxed. Whenever we chill out at his home, he usually just watches TV and let's me do whatever I want, like he said before." Gary spoke with a smile.

"Why do you wanna stay at Pat's place for just a day? Can't you stay for two, three, or four days there? I'm not saying you should, though." SpongeBob was curious. He found Gary's perspective on the situation to be very interesting.

"Because it's just a break from life at the pineapple. I thought a little separation between us might cool you down from being such a worry-wart." Gary made a crooked smile and sweatdropped. "I don't think that worked. I've seen the worm and snail you brought in." The snail revealed his knowledge about SpongeBob's coping methods for the 'loss' of the sponge's pet.

A long pause.

SpongeBob reflected deeply on what had occurred in the pineapple during the duration of Gary's sickness. The pieces suddenly began to come together and form the light that pierced and destroyed the fog of mystery and confusion. "Y'know what, Gary? You're completely right. I shouldn't have been too controlling or 'considerate' for you. Like me and other sea creatures, you snails are people too." The sponge took a deep breath. "Gary, I'm sorry for the silly things I did last week." He spoke sincerely.

Gary nodded in acceptance of his owner's apology.

SpongeBob felt like a barrier between him and Gary had been shattered. An apology between him and Gary as serious as the one that just occurred had never happened before. His temporary transformation into a snail and the discovery of his remaining ability to understand snail language was just part of breaking that barrier. The sponge was now understanding the mindset of domesticated snails. It only strengthened the bond between him and his pet. The sponge was also starting to realize that him and Gary were acting more like friends than the cold and stale roles of 'owner' and 'pet'.

A pause.

"Gary, you wanna go to the park later?" SpongeBob had an idea that had suddenly popped into his head. He wanted to focus his Sunday on nurturing the friendship between him and Gary.

"Sure." Gary nodded with a bigger smile. He had not visited the local park in a long time and started to become eager to go. He imagined the fun activities he could do with his friend while being protected by the shades of the large coral pieces. Today's temperature was quite hot.


	62. The Secret Box

**Chapter 62: The Secret Box**

* * *

Exactly a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open and exited the pineapple.

**SLAM**

The sponge closed the door with the same amount of force. The sponge had just played with Gary a few minutes ago. He and the snail had done amusing activities every morning for the whole past week. As they had played with each other, a bond of trust over: their safety, the dangers of the games, and their actions, strengthened. The two had moved on to more fun and dangerous games as they became experienced. The games he had played last week with Gary would have been something he would never allow if he had not been 'abandoned' by Gary last Sunday. The yellow square was surprised by how much he learned about Gary by just playing childish games with him. The only drawback was that he ended up spending less time with Patrick and Sandy. However, the drawback was not severe; it only took away an hour or two from time he usually spent with Patrick or Sandy. However, the sponge would gladly sacrifice those hours to explore the unknown world of the mindset of a snail, his curiosity had almost overwhelmed him throughout the week.

The sponge was holding Ol' Reliable and was wearing glasses. To make up for last week's lost hours, he was going to do a certain activity with a certain friend for a longer time than usual. The yellow square ran towards Patrick's rock and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

...knocked on the rock.

A pause.

"Patrick! Patrick! Oh, Patrick! Are you ready to go jellyfishing?" SpongeBob called out for his best friend. He assumed that the pink star was oversleeping since the starfish did not immediately open the rock.

Another pause.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened. Patrick was sticking to its bottom. He was holding a jellyfishing net. He did not open the rock right away since he had been searching for his jellyfishing net. "Oh, boy, am I!" The sea star spoke with excitement, pulled his body off of the rock's 'ceiling', and...

**THUD**

...landed on the ground.

Patrick turned around and glanced at a certain object that was laying on the living room's floor. He then made a neutral facial expression; he unintentionally made a sign of slight anxiety. An irresistible urge to hide the object rose like lava in a volcano in Patrick's mind. His mind then jumped to the possibility of people not discovering the object's secret if he closed the rock. A battle between the urge and the prediction erupted in the sea star's mind.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob stepped up to Patrick and tapped on the sea star's shoulder. "C'mon, Pat. The jellyfish don't catch themselves." The sponge then tugged his friend towards Jellyfish Fields. He was too eager and excited for his visit to Jellyfish Fields.

"I gotta put away my secret box." Patrick pulled his arm out of SpongeBob's grasp and leaped to the rock's living room.

'Secret box?' SpongeBob raised his brow. He knew so much about his best friend that it could fit a whole novel. However, the object laying in the rock's living room was unknown to him. Its name also gave it an allure that, just like Patrick's urge to hide the object, was irresistible. SpongeBob turned around, stepped up to the border of the living room's circular wall, and looked down at Patrick. "You never told me about your..." The sponge hopped to the living room's floor. The yellow square felt like taking a little peek inside the box would not harm anyone.

S-S-S-S-S

"..secret box." SpongeBob finished his sentence. He walked up to the secret box which Patrick was holding with both of his hands. The sponge then tried to peel the box's lid very slightly. The box was light brown and was relatively small, it was ideal for storing photos, tiny knick-knacks, and folded pieces of paper.

"Hey, hands off, PeepingBob!" Patrick scolded the curious sponge. He became irritated and pulled the box away from SpongeBob's grasp. He wanted to maintain the secrecy of what was contained in the box. "This here is my _secret _box. Besides, if I showed you what was inside, it wouldn't be a _secret_ anymore. Duh!" The sea star then opened the box towards himself and giggled at what he saw in it. He then quickly closed the box. "Sponge, if you saw what's in here, you'll never think the same way ever again."

SpongeBob's desire to see the object inside the box grew tremendously by Patrick's unintentionally inviting words. The yellow square wished he could pry that box open once and for all so he could satisfy his appetite for a revelation. "It's okay, Pat. I know all about secrets." The sponge decided to try making Patrick comfortable so it would be easier to discover the secret.

"You do?"' Patrick became curious.

"I've got a gazillion secrets." SpongeBob said a blatant lie. He could not hide his silly smile. He felt clever since he thought that his deception was working. He simply desired the box and did not lie to spite his best friend.

"Like what?" Patrick now had the desire that SpongeBob had. 'A secret from him wouldn't hurt. I could know him better that way.' The sea star thought that SpongeBob revealing his secrets would increase the quality of their friendship since he assumed that secrets revealed the flaws in people.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge thought that confusion was just as effective as deception in making Patrick comfortable with revealing the secret object in the secret box. "Well, it's not a secret that the best thing about a secret is secretly telling someone your secret, thereby secretly adding another secret to their secret collection of secrets. Secretly." The sponge said his statement in a intentionally confusing manner.

Patrick stared blankly at SpongeBob and scratched his head. Like many mornings, he woke up with his fair share of forgetfulness and relatively low intelligence.

A pause.

SpongeBob changed his mind; he decided that confusion was not an effective way of making Patrick comfortable. "You wanna hear one of my secrets?" The sponge decided to feed Patrick's curiosity instead.

Patrick began to jump up and down in excitement. "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" The sea star knew a lot about his best friend so he assumed that the secrets SpongeBob was about to reveal were really juicy.

"Uhh... let's see..." SpongeBob was carefully considering what secrets he should reveal. He needed some time by himself for such thinking. "...do you know that you're my best friend?" He said something extremely blatant as an acceptable way of escaping Patrick's curious grasp. The yellow square then climbed the wall, reached the outside ground, and jogged towards his pineapple.

"C'mon! I wanna hear another one!" Patrick's appetite for secrets became stronger. He knew immediately that the 'secret' SpongeBob said was not a secret. The sea stat climbed the circular wall as well and quickly followed his best friend. "Tell me more secrets!"

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stepped up to his pineapple and grabbed the front door's handle. However, he saw Patrick stand next to him from the corner of his eye. The sponge then decided that he was going to mix some secrets with obvious truths so as to make them all seem like secrets, the yellow square knew that he was using deception again. "Okay. I love my job at the Krusty Krab, I sleep with my shoes on, I like jelly on both sides of my toast, I've got an overdue library book, I think jellyfishing and bubble blowing are the…" He began to say all the truths and minor secrets that. came into his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"...overbite. I've rarely been late for work. I've said the word 'fancy' in a conversation. I like to dance to loading zone announcements at airports. I still don't have my driver's license. I'm a little bit on the short side. I'm also wearing one pair of underwear right now." SpongeBob finished his massive reveal of secrets and truths. The yellow square had enough secrets and truths for him to continue talking for ten more minutes but he decided to cut the duration short. SpongeBob could tell that his deception had worked since Patrick was once again staring blankly at the sponge.

"Now will you show me what's inside your secret box?" SpongeBob asked the crucial question he had been waiting to ask ever since he exited Patrick's rock.

"No!" Patrick shook his head and hugged his box tightly. The sea star now realized what SpongeBob had been trying to do the whole time. "It's for me to know and for you to never find out. You may be an open book for that box, SpongeBob, but I'm a bit more complicated than that when it comes to this box." The sea star stepped back a few steps and held out the box towards SpongeBob. The starfish felt like revealing the secret may negatively affect SpongeBob and consequently damage their friendship. "The inner machinations of my mind that are in this box are an enigma." His intelligence suddenly increased and he used big words in an attempt to intimidate his best friend. His appetite for secrets became replaced by an urgently to protect the box's secret.

SpongeBob became frustrated. He then desperately tried to show that he and Patrick were on equal footing. The sponge's desire to know the box's secret grew to a ridiculous level. "Well, I got plenty a secrets stuff, too! Uhh… I've got secret socks on." The sponge remembered that he had accidentally put on an extra pair of socks when he woke up. He pulled the exterior socks to show the extra layer of socks. "And my secret bowl for Gary!"

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open and ran into his pineapple.

Patrick made a deadpan face and calmly waited for his best friend. He was thinking about the time he and his friend could have spent jellyfishing at Jellyfish Fields instead of arguing over a silly secret in a box.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob exited the pineapple and held out the green bowl with Gary's name on it. It was a spare bowl that was going to be used if the other one breaks or gets too damaged. "My secret TV!" The sponge ran back into his home.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow sponge walked up to the closet and opened it with force. He then dug very deep into the closet and pulled out a spare TV. Like the spare bowl, he was going to use the spare TV if the other one broke. SpongeBob then put the TV back once Patrick saw it. The sponge closed the closet and ran through the open front doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

By that point, SpongeBob had calmed down somewhat. "Well, what do you think, Pat?" The sponge was trying to show how he was worthy of knowing the secret object in Patrick's box. The spare TV and the spare bowl were certainly secret since very few people are aware of their existence, not even Gary knew about or seen them.

Patrick was sitting on the ground and was laughing at what he was seeing inside the box. He then closed the box and took a deep breath. The sea star stood up when he saw SpongeBob. "Maybe if you saw what was inside, you'd know why it has to be secret. Inside this very box is the most secret-y secret of all secret-dom and I am its sole witness." The sea star verbally expressed how crucial he thought the box's secret was. However, his words once again increased the secret's allure. "It's a heavy burden, SpongeBob, but nobody must know the secret of the box." He hugged the box more tightly when he noticed that the yellow square had stepped up to take a tiny peek inside the box. "It's a full-time job. I'm constantly on the alert. You never know when someone's gonna-" SpongeBob suddenly snatched the box from his arms. "SpongeBob, what do you think you're doing?!" He furrowed his brow in anger and chased the yellow square. "That's MY secret box! Hand that over!" He held out both of his arms so he could catch his naughty friend.

SpongeBob sprinted away from Patrick while he held the box with both of his hands. "But, Patrick, I must know the secret!" The yellow square could not help himself. The secret of the box was too alluring for him to control himself. The sponge began to lift the lid off the box when...

**T-THUD**

...Patrick tackled SpongeBob to the ground. "For the last time, SpongeBob, NO!" He snatched the box out of SpongeBob's hands. The starfish then stood up and tightly hugged his precious box.

SpongeBob frowned in disappointment. His close victory at discovering the box's secret did not settle too well with his growing desire for the revelation of the secret. "C'mon, Pat, just a peek?" The sponge heavily wanted his desire to be satisfied.

"Never!" Patrick shook his head.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob's body shook as the sponge looked at the box. He was feeling the thrill of finding out what the box's secret was before he even took a good peek inside the box. The yellow square stood up and tried to pull the box out of Patrick's grasp. His desire was overpowering his willpower and rationality.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. "So, it's come to this. And to think that we were gonna jellyfish today." The sea star looked at the dropped glasses and jellyfishing nets from the corner of his eye.

A long pause.

Patrick's words made SpongeBob realize the harsh truth. That realization shrunk his desires and urges to a controllable level. The yellow square looked at the floor and made a slight frown. 'I feel so filthy' He was ashamed of himself for focusing more on a secret in a box than spending quality time with his best friend. "I have soiled our friendship garden." He spoke solemnly and did not make eye contact with Patrick, he felt like he did not deserve to look at Patrick in the eye. "I just couldn't help myself... I'm sorry, Pat. Will you please forgive me?" Every word he said was honest and came from his heart.

"Very well, SpongeBob SecretStealerPants." Patrick nodded. The sea star forgave the sponge but name-called the yellow square so the sponge would know the crime the had committed. "But don't you ever come close to my secret box ever again, got it?" He made a very serious facial expression.

SpongeBob nodded and looked at Patrick. He was not offended by the name given to him by Patrick at all. For the foolish mistake of allowing his impulses to consume his mind, the sponge felt like he deserved that minor insult.

A pause.

"You still wanna jellyfish?" SpongeBob was now thinking about jellyfishing. His agreement to the condition set by Patrick gave him satisfaction and consequently removed the secret box from his mind.

"Yep." Patrick smiled. He acted like nothing had happened. The sea star felt like it was best if the recent incident was kept in the past. Referring to it might trigger another bout of snatch attempts from the sponge.

SpongeBob grabbed Ol' Reliable and put on his glasses.

Patrick grabbed his jellyfishing net.

The two walked towards Jellyfish Fields.

S-S-S-S-S

Sixteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick released a batch of jellyfish from their nets. The two were currently on a spree of catches.

S-S-S-S-S

A young man was writing down the number of jellyfish that the nearby jellyfishers caught. SpongeBob and Patrick were dominating the competition as always. He had to constantly erase and rewrite the best friend duo's scores since they were catching many jellyfish at a quick pace.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob rolled down a hill and caught a jellyfish without even looking at it. He then hopped to his feet and released the jellyfish with a single twirl of his net. The sponge then skipped from place to place, catching jellyfish with ease wherever he went. The yellow square did that for several minutes when...

**SLAM**

...he hit a large rock.

SpongeBob became dizzy for several seconds but shook back to his senses. He looked up and saw a very rare type of jellyfish. That jellyfish was blue. Blue jellyfish were rare since the recessive genes that caused a blue pigment in their skin were scarcely distributed among the population. The yellow square then rapidly climbed the rock, his eyes were locked-on to the jellyfish.

The blue jellyfish darted out of the way.

SpongeBob flipped in the air and landed on the rock with both of his feet. He then hopped like a rabbit across nearby rocks as he made several attempts at catching the jellyfish.

The blue jellyfish dodged every swing of SpongeBob's net. It was correctly predicting the directions of the swings. It had dealt with many jellyfishers before so it was very experienced when it came to avoiding and dodging them.

Patrick was running along the path that the blue jellyfish was flying in. The sea star leaped to a rock that was in front of the blue jellyfish and he then leaped towards the jellyfish. He held out his net and put some weight into his body like he was going to tackle the jellyfish.

The blue jellyfish darted to its left.

Patrick directly flew through the former location of the jellyfish.

**THUD  
**

Patrick landed on top of the rock and tumbled to the ground. He shakily stood up and walked towards the jellyfish in spite of his dizziness. For such a rare jellyfish, the starfish would not give up on catching it so easily.

SpongeBob twirled his net with both of his hands and threw it towards the blue jellyfish like a boomerang.

**SWISH**

**SWISH**

**SWISH**

**SWISH**

**SWISH**

**SWISH**

The jellyfishing net twirled in midair as it honed in on the blue jellyfish.

The blue jellyfish flew in a spiral pattern and avoided the net through that flying pattern.

The jellyfishing net landed on the ground.

SpongeBob sprinted towards his net and picked it up.

The blue jellyfish flew as fast as a bullet towards an area in Jellyfish Fields that was densely covered in large rocks. The jellyfish wanted to remain hidden until its pursuers decide to give up.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran towards that area.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were searching through the boulder-like rocks for the blue jellyfish. However, the jellyfish continued to be illusive. No matter how thorough they searched through each part, they could not find the blue jellyfish.

Such an awkward predicament reminded the sponge about the secret inside the secret box. In the current situation, the dense rock area was the box and the blue jellyfish was the secret. He and Patrick were struggling to open the lid due to the blue jellyfish's excellent hiding spots and silent movements. With a sudden urge to discover the 'secret' within the forest of rocks, SpongeBob ran rapidly around the area and took a quick glance at each rock, his eyes were shifting their places so quickly that they looked like those of robots.

A pause.

"Sponge?" Patrick looked around but could not find the yellow square. He then scratched his head. The yellow sponge had ran too suddenly and quickly for the sea star to notice him immediately.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running directly through a path between rows of rocks. He stumbled on a small rock and then kicked it out of the way.

The small rock hit a larger rock. The blue jellyfish had been hiding in its spot for so long that the sound of the small rock's hit frightened it. Since it was hiding behind that larger rock, it had heard SpongeBob's rapid footsteps but did not knew where the sponge was coming from. The blue jellyfish flew out of its hiding spot and unintentionally let its guard down.

"Aha!" SpongeBob grinned and threw the jellyfishing net like a boomerang again. He was confident enough to predict that the net was going to nab the blue creature.

**SWISH**

**SWISH **

**SWISH **

**SWISH**

The jellyfishing net spun like a wheel towards the blue jellyfish and caught it. SpongeBob's optimistic prediction ended up being correct regardless of the odds against it. The net then twirled back to SpongeBob.

SpongeBob caught the net with ease. "VICTORY!" The sponge announced his success to the sky so his best friend could know what had just happened. "OHLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOLOOOLOO!" He made a victory cry by sticking out his tongue and moving it in a circular motion.

A very long pause.

Patrick ran up to SpongeBob. "I... finally... found you..." The sea star had been rapidly running all over the area for his best friend. He was panting and sweating heavily. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow. The sea star leaned back on a large rock in relief. He took a few deep breaths.

The force of his leaning made the rock move by two feet.

Unfortunately, a very large jellyfish was sleeping behind the rock that Patrick was leaning on. It was not as large as the jellyfish that electrocuted Squidward and consequently made him end up in a cast at the hospital. It was approximately as big as the nearby rock. The moving of the rock disturbed the jellyfish's nap and made the jellyfish wake up. "**BUUUZZZZZZZZ!**" It was in a grumpy mood and soared until it was above the rock. It then scanned at its surroundings in search of the person or people who moved the rock.

SpongeBob looked up at the large jellyfish and his eyes bugged out. That jellyfish reminded him of an angry Patrick during the time when he snatched the box from him. "P-Pat..." He sweatdropped and rapidly poked his best friend as he continued to look at the jellyfish.

"What?" Patrick stood up straight. He had finished regaining his breath. He was thinking about catching more jellyfish and was also ready for doing that.

"L-look up..." SpongeBob was nearly at a loss of words. Sessions of jellyfishing rarely had dramatic shifts as sudden as the one occurring right now. He pointed at the large jellyfish.

Patrick looked up and saw the jellyfish. His face then became deadpan in shock. The pink star began to back away from the jellyfish, the speed of his backing up increased every second.

SpongeBob did the same and caught up to Patrick.

The jellyfish spotted SpongeBob and Patrick. It then considered both of them to be the ones who committed the moving of the rock. "**BUUUZZZZZ!**" Anger pumped throughout its body and it flew towards the best friend duo. Numerous volts of painful electricity became charged in its stingers.

"**AAAAAAAAHHH!**" SpongeBob and Patrick screamed in terror and dashed away from the jellyfish.

The large jellyfish quickly followed them.

As the two friends ran, a light bulb lit up in the sponge's head. "Pat, I'll take the right, you take the left. Keep running in different paths so the jellyfish can't get us." SpongeBob quickly explained his idea to Patrick.

"Gotcha!" Patrick nodded and ran towards his left.

SpongeBob ran towards his right.

The two ran through the left and right rows of rocks. They then ran through their paths in a zig-zag pattern as they avoided rocks in front of them. After several minutes, they ran through their paths in more bizarre directions and patterns.

The large jellyfish became confused. It stop flying towards the two running friends and hovered before the ground as it thought of where the two went. The jellyfish then desperately tried to chase SpongeBob and Patrick. However, the two were too spread apart from each other for the jellyfish to follow them quickly. The large jellyfish eventually gave up after a while and flew towards elsewhere.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to each other. The two were smiling in relief.

"Thank, Neptune." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. "That was really close. Right, Pat?"

"Yep. Who knew that there were some jumbo jellyfish roaming around here?" Patrick made a nervous smile and looked at his surroundings. His increased intelligence made him more cautious of his surroundings. From now until the end of the jellyfishing session, he was always alert for any signs of large or giant jellyfish.

The two then walked out of the forest of rocks and resumed their catching of the jellyfish.

S-S-S-S-S

Many hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was 9:00 PM.

Patrick put his secret box under his bed. He was highly paranoid about somebody trying to look inside it or steal it. His increased intelligence was causing his paranoia. After what happened in the morning, the sea star had a good reason to suspect that SpongeBob was going to attempt to steal his box again very soon. The starfish took a deep breath and laid down on the bed. He put the blanket over himself. Such a wall of mistrust between him and SpongeBob was caused by the new situation and the lack of time spent together due to SpongeBob's playing with Gary last week. The last time a situation like the secret box occurred was during elementary school.

A long pause.

Patrick closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking at Patrick's rock from the window in the bedroom. His reflection on the jellyfishing session with Patrick had reminded him of the secret box. His impulses and desires had then quickly consumed his mind. In order for these urges to go away, the secret had to be revealed. The sponge thought that he should get it over with since he predicted that these urges will simply reappear if he does not act on them. The yellow square simply could not take it anymore and meant no harm to his best friend. "What could be in that box that Patrick doesn't want me to see?" He was wondering about the box's secret. "Maybe it's the world's only albino jellyfish. Or maybe Patrick's a master jewel thief and it's full of diamonds. Or maybe Patrick's a deranged maniac who keeps his victim's severed heads in a box." His imagination was running wild around the expansive plain of his mind. The sponge then took a deep breath and locked-on his eyes to the rock. 'I've gotta find out what's in that box. I'm not gonna rest until I do.' He mentally spoke his final decision on the matter. The sponge opened the window, sat on the windowsill, and then gently slid across the pineapple's surface until he reached the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

'How do you look into a secret box? Secretly, of course!' SpongeBob made a wide smile as he thought about his method of discovering the secret. The dark thrill of opening that box made him excited. 'I'll just take the box while Patrick's sleeping, look in that box,and before Patrick even has time to notice, I'll slide it back.' He was also being considerate for his best friend. The yellow square eventually reached the rock and...

CCrrrrrrrreeeeeaaaaaaaak

...opened the rock very gently. The sponge then slid into the living room.

Slam

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw a sleeping Patrick.

The sea star was drooling and snoring as he slept. He was dreaming about himself as a child having adventures in a world made out of candy.

'I gotta be more quiet. I don't want to wake Patrick up.' SpongeBob looked up at the ceiling and sweatdropped. The rock had closed a bit too loud for the sponge's taste. The sponge then tip-toed towards the bed that Patrick was sleeping in.

To his dismay, he tripped on the TV remote.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor. His face became pallid as he winced and covered himself with his arms. He was anticipating the waking of Patrick and the subsequent defensive beating or interrogation.

A long pause.

Patrick tossed to the other side of his bed. The loud sound of SpongeBob's fall barely affected his sleep.

"Phew..." SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow, smiled slightly, and stood up. 'I was almost a goner.'

"Duh... who's there?" Patrick somewhat sat up from his bed with half-closed eyes. The loud exhale of breath from the yellow square roused the sea star. However, his vision was not clear since he just woke up.

SpongeBob had a heart attack. He nearly pratfalled but made his hands break the fall at the last second.

Patrick could not see SpongeBob due to the darkness in the living room and his poor vision. The sea star laid down on his bed again and fell asleep.

A very long pause.

SpongeBob stood up and waited until Patrick was sleeping in the manner that he did when the sponge entered the rock. The yellow square then resumed his tip-toeing towards the bed. The sponge eventually hit a side of the sofa by accident. He then gasped and broke his fall again.

"EH?!" Patrick sat up from his bed. He heard the gasp and woke up again. "Who's there?"

SpongeBob hid behind the couch and shook in anxiety. The sponge bit his lip. 'C'mon... c'mon... c'mon... c'mon...' He was crossing his fingers as he nervously waited for Patrick to go back to sleep.

Patrick fell back to his bed and fell asleep again within five seconds.

SpongeBob stood up, wiped some sweat from his brow again, and took a deep breath to calm himself down. The yellow sponge then slowly tip-toed towards the bed. He was as fast as a snail since he barely covered an inch every ten seconds. "Gee, Patrick sure is a heavy sleeper..." The sponge whispered to himself so quietly that the whisper was almost non-existent.

Patrick still heard the whisper. He shot up from his bed and stood up. His eyes were still half-closed. For the previous times that he woke up, he assumed that something else was making the sounds. This time, he was certain that someone was making those sounds. "Who said that? Who's there?" He looked around the living room.

SpongeBob's body shook heavily. The anxiety was almost overwhelming. The sponge could not imagine what the sea star was going to do to him once the sea star spots him. He remembered the time when Patrick assaulted him with the bed since the sea star had thought that SpongeBob was a group of spiders in his dreams.

Patrick spotted the yellow square. However, his hazy vision made SpongeBob look like someone else. "It's the Clam Burglar! And he's trying to steal my secret box." He jumped to a wild conclusion. He grabbed the pillow from his bed and stomped up to SpongeBob. He grabbed the sponge by his shirt collar and lifted from the floor. "Hand over the goods, Secret Box Bandit, and prepare for the most unpleasant pillow fight for your life." He assumed that the sponge already stole the box. He dropped the sponge and prepared his pillow so it can be used as a weapon.

SpongeBob backed up to the wall out of fear. "Wait, wait, wait, Patrick! Stop! It's me, SpongeBob!" The sponge tried to make Patrick snap out of his 'craziness'.

Patrick did not bother to clear his vision so he still did not see SpongeBob as SpongeBob. "Nice try, burglar, but SpongeBob's my best friend, and he'd never steal from me." The sea star also thought that the 'burglar' was acting too much out of character for him to be the yellow square. He raised his pillow so he could pummel the sponge with it,

A pause.

SpongeBob covered himself with his arms. He was anticipating a very severe beating with the pillow.

Patrick's vision was clearing up. The sea star was now seeing the specific physical features of the person in front of him. He then widened his eyes at SpongeBob and dropped the pillow to the floor. "H-how could you do this...?" The sea star was heartbroken by the discovery of SpongeBob's betrayal.

SpongeBob sighed, looked at the floor, and his eyes moistened. He began to feel a heavy amount of remorse for attempting to find out the box's secret. Patrick's distraught face was all that the sponge needed for him to know that his decision would not come without consequences. "If it makes you feel any better, I haven't looked inside." The sponge spoke in a quiet manner. He wanted to think deeply about what he was going to say next. He wanted to go home since that place was most appropriate for him to think things over.

A long pause.

_Balance is like raising the sea level. The two separated bodies of water will have their levels raised and flood the lands. Their sea levels will eventually be higher than the dam and they become one sea for a while but the dam is still beneath them. Once the weather or climate becomes warm enough temporarily, the sea levels will shrink back to their normal levels and the bodies of water will become separate once again. In order to find a solution to this problem, we will have to destroy this dam and combine the bodies of water without raising the sea level._

Advice he had said to his best friend long ago echoed in his mind. He remembered saying that advice to the sponge at Goo Lagoon when the sponge was having trouble with making Krabby Patties. 'I can't keep this up anymore.' The starfish stopped frowning and made a serious face. 'I have to reveal the truth to him. There's no point in hiding it. I've been with him for too long to hide so many things.' The sea star thought heavily and his true intelligence shined in the process. "Y'know what, SpongeBob? That secret in my box will be a secret no longer. What was I thinking? I've trusted you since we were kids." He revealed a hint of regret in not revealing the secret any sooner. He sensed the wall of mistrust, like the one that had formed between SpongeBob and Gary, that had been formed between him and the yellow square when he decided to not satisfy the sponge's desire. However, he was going to learn from his mistake. The sea star decided to unlock a door into a new level of their friendship. "You've always went to work and still helped me out when you could." The starfish walked towards his bed. "You've been open with your secrets but I wasn't." He spoke a harsh truth. He had sometimes used his ignorance to hide the inner wisdom and secrets that he had. He had felt like his harshly observations should be kept to himself in fear of ridicule or harassment. "I'm sure you can keep secrets, right?" He crouched next to the bed and pulled out the box from under the bed.

SpongeBob silently nodded. He eyed the box with wonder. His imagination ran wild again as he thought about what secret that the box contained.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob as he held the box. The sea star then opened the box and took out a photo that was in it. He flipped the photo around so the actual photo was shown before SpongeBob instead of its backside.

SpongeBob dropped his jaw in horror. The embarrassing photo being shown before his eyes was one that was taken of him during the Christmas party at his high school when he was a sophomore. The party left a scar in his memory due to one embarrassing incident that was completely summarized into that one photo. That party had went smoothly until they began to put large servings of ice cream on the tables for dessert (the food during the party had been served in courses). After the younger SpongeBob had ate a few servings, the sugar made him go wild with energy. He had then ate a ridiculous amount of ice cream so that 'high' could be preserved for as long as possible. The sponge had enjoyed that 'high' too much for him to control his eating. Between those bouts of ice cream eating, he had done crazy and ridiculous acts such as: hopping from table to table, trying to stand on the rim of a basketball net in the gym, or running around and scaring people who were using the bathroom (including the girls). The funniest crazy act he had did was when he ran around the school while solely wearing underpants that was soaked with soda (he had accepted a dare from one of his peers). During that running, he had been making one of the silliest laughs that he had ever done. He had not even wore his socks or shoes. The yellow square eventually had to be stopped by security guards so he would not end up damaging property while still being hyper by the excess sugar.

The photo had been taken by Patrick with a camera that he used to own (it became broken a few years after the party). The photo was showing a hyper SpongeBob running down a hallway while wearing his soda-soaked underpants.

Patrick laughed super-hard as he watched his best friend's reaction to the photo. He was laughing so hard that tears eventually ran down his cheeks. The sea star had not laughed that hard in more than a year. The face SpongeBob was making instantly became the most memorable moment of the day. The drama over the box that had recently occurred became somewhat flushed from his mind by his own purifying laughter.


	63. The Smoking Peanut Part 1

**Chapter 63: The Smoking Peanut Part 1**

* * *

Patrick eventually stopped laughing. He did that so he would not suffocate from his laughter. The pink star then put the photo back into the box and closed it. That photo was the biggest secret in the box. The other objects in the box were minor secrets. Patrick walked towards his bed and slid the box to the floor that was under his bed. He then walked back to SpongeBob. "Remember that Saturnalia party? What you were doing out in those hallways was priceless." He was giggling. Saturnalia was an event similar to Christmas that sea creatures and very few humans celebrated. It went from December 17 to December 23 and many festivities and wild celebrations occurred during those dates.

"Yeah..." SpongeBob bit his lip and looked at the floor. His embarrassment was heavily weighing his mood down to the negative side. "I don't know what I was thinking. I think all of that sugar got into my brain too much and messed it up." He said an assumption that he had made soon after that and had kept to the present day.

"It's okay, Sponge." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "You don't have to be down in the dumps 'bout it. I've done things that were way more stupid than what you did. Everybody makes mistakes from time to time, right?" The sea star tried to cheer his best friend up. He did not use his stupidity and calm demeanor to hide what he was truly feeling.

SpongeBob smiled and made eye contact with Patrick. He appreciated Patrick's willingness to make him look at the silver lining on the cloud. "Right." He nodded and made his normal smile. "That party wasn't totally embarrassing. We had fun dancing when they put the music on." The sponge countered his embarrassing memory with a completely pleasant memory. He was trying not to dwell too much into the past.

A pause.

SpongeBob thought that now was the right time to ask a question that he had waited a long time to ask Patrick. "Pat, what exactly happened to your sister?" He asked solemnly. He was aware of the seriousness of the topic.

Patrick sighed and made a face that hinted sadness. "Come outside. I'll tell you over there." The starfish walked towards the circular wall and climbed it.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the rock.

SpongeBob climbed the wall and...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the rock as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked away from his rock until he was quite far from the neighborhood. He then laid down on the ground and looked at the stars on the night sky.

SpongeBob laid down next to him.

"It began one morning during that huge typhoon. Me, my sis, and my parents were trying really hard to stay in our house since we didn't want to go outside and get hit by debris from the storm. We managed to stay in the house for a few hours before some debris managed to break the walls of our home and bring the wind and rain in. During those few hours, I was napping so when the debris came in I became really scared. Once those winds came in, they began wrecking everything in the house. My sis wanted to save our house so she did this really brave thing where she tried to cover the holes in the wall with some furniture. My parents were screaming at her when she was doing that and after a few minutes the winds became so strong that it took her away to some place far away." Patrick told the full story to his best friend. It was somewhat therapeutic since it made him accept the events that happened in the past. It lessened his sadness since it allowed him to reflect on that source of sadness. Ever since that day when his sister got taken anyway, he very rarely talked about her in fear of causing a bout of depression. This was the first time in years when he talked about his sister more than merely referencing her.

SpongeBob did not comment on the story. He did not want to hurt Patrick's feelings and also wanted to respect the sea star. He had not truly experienced grief yet so he thought that Patrick deserved respect for walking down the path of grief by himself. The yellow square allowed Patrick to ramble to his heart''s content. He carefully listened to the starfish's words.

Patrick took a deep breath. "I keep secrets like the one I told you 'cause I'm afraid people are gonna make fun of me. Too many people in this town know how stupid I can be so it's sometimes really hard to talk about anything without somebody giggling at me, especially those teenagers. But you know what? I know you keep your promises." The sea star smiled and patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "You'll keep those secrets I said to you secret, right?"

"Absolutely." SpongeBob nodded with total seriousness. He did not or intend to deceive his best friend in the slightest.

Patrick stood up and walked towards his home. "I think that's enough talking for tonight. Gotta get my Z's, y'know. Good night, Sponge." He looked at SpongeBob for one last time and then looked at his rock. He eventually reached his rock and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

SpongeBob stood up and walked towards his pineapple with a satisfied smile. He knew with absolute certainty that he and Patrick had became closer friends. The sponge would not have believed that Patrick was mostly hiding his true thoughts until what happened today occured. The sponge walked towards his pineapple. Sleepiness was setting in and the sponge was aware of it.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He had brushed his teeth and turned off all of the lights in the pineapple.

Gary was sleeping on his pile of newspapers. He had turned off the lights in the bedroom and fell asleep when the yellow square left the home in search of Patrick's box.

The yellow sponge walked towards his bed but noticed the calendar hanging on the wall from the corner of his eye. He then glanced at the calendar and noticed that his birthday was going to happen eight days after today. With a smile of delight and anticipation for his birthday, he laid down on the bed, took off his shoes, put the blanket over himself; and closed his eyes.

A very long pause.

SpongeBob fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

A week later...

S-S-S-S-S

July 13, 2008.

SpongeBob was cleaning up his bedroom with a mop and a water bucket. He did not want dust to gather in the room and end up disturbing his sleep through inhalation. Once he was finished with cleaning the bedroom, he looked at the calendar and noticed that his birthday was tomorrow. With fantasies of the fun activities that he could have on his birthday, he quickly walked through the right open doorway and walked downstairs. The yellow square wanted to celebrate the coming of his birthday by doing an extra-fun activity that he had rarely done in the past. An idea for such an activity was already in his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited his pineapple and walked towards Patrick rock. The yellow square then...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the rock once he reached it.

**CRRREEEAAK**

The rock immediately opened. Patrick was sticking to the rock's bottom. "Mornin', Sponge." He greeted his best friend in a cheerful manner. Like the week where Gary and SpongeBob had done activities together, so did SpongeBob and Patrick last week. The activity that they did the most throughout last week was exploring Jellyfish Fields in search of rare types of jellyfish. That activity builded more trust between the sponge and the starfish.

"You wanna go to the zoo today?" SpongeBob was too eager to let the conversation go on smoothly. He cut right to the chase. He got the idea of going to the zoo from watching the news reports of Bikini Bottom's local news show.

Patrick smiled widely and jumped to the ground. "Boy, would I!" When he was a child, he loved going to the zoo. The sea star back then had always loved to see the new animals that they brought to the zoo.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Pat, wait right here." The sponge sprinted towards his pineapple. He could imagine the adventure he was going to have at the zoo.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Gary who was watching TV. "Gar-bear, you wanna go on a trip with me and Pat to the zoo? It's gonna be really fun." The sponge spoke in an enthusiastic manner.

Gary had never visited the zoo before. He decided it would be worth his time since it was something completely new to him and could possibly be amusing as a result. "Sure. There's nothing much else to do." He slithered from the couch.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Gary exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick smiled even more when he saw SpongeBob walk up to him with Gary. "Gary's coming to?" He looked down at the snail. It was uncommon for SpongeBob to take Gary along during trips.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded. He then jogged towards the zoo. "Let's go." The yellow square was too excited to bother with walking. He thought that strolling would only waste precious time that could be spent at the zoo instead.

"Whoever's last is a rotten clam!" Patrick smirked and ran after the yellow square. He eventually outran the sponge and then sprinted so he could widen the distance between him and his competitors.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was the first to walk past the zoo's gate and enter the area. He had conserved his energy during the race so he ended up outrunning Patrick in the long run. He marveled at the key locations in the closed area as if he entered a fantastical world. Since the last time he went to the zoo was during high school, he noticed that many things in the zoo had changed.

Two guards had been standing on both sides of the door. They walked up to the yellow square. One was a green male while the other one was a blue male.

"What is your name?" The blue male guard spoke in a serious tone. He had to deal with a very annoying amount of teenagers or other freeloaders who entered the zoo and then suddenly 'vanished' after a few hours (people who entered the zoo had to pay by the time they leave, the amount paid depends on the time spent in the zoo [the first hour was free]).

"SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob spoke with a confident smile. He remembered guards being at the zoo. However, they were not as scary as he remembered them to be.

The two guards took out their notepads and jotted down SpongeBob's name into the list of today's guests. They also wrote down the time that SpongeBob entered the zoo.

S-S-S-S-S

A few more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Gary had entered the zoo. Gary's name was not written down since pets did not have to be paid for.

Once the three gathered together, they walked down the main path. They had not yet decided what location that they were going to go to first. Those three had forgotten that today was Free Day. Free Day occurred annually and on that date, some street vendors or store sold surplus items for free. Those businesses or people usually do that to gain popularity and consequently have more customers.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to a stand where a man was selling balloons. He was carrying a sack on his shoulder. The stand had a sign on its top having the word 'FREE' on it written in red paint. He was going to use Free Day to his full advantage (that holiday was one of his favorite holidays). His greediness made him find no end to the amount of exploits that was in his head. The crab snatched a large pack of normal air-filled balloons, put them in his sack, and then briskly walked to the next location. The crab eventually stopped by a drink stand where they were selling most of the drinks for free. Mr. Krabs saw an empty barrel that was adjacent to the stand and grabbed it. "Fill this whole thing up, me lad." He gave the barrel to the vendor. "I'll be taking the Coke." He chose Coca-Cola since it was one of his favorite drinks and was also free.

The vendor did not seem too pleased. He considered Mr. Krabs' order to be ridiculous. However, he knew that he had several barrels of Coca-Cola behind the soda machines. He opened the barrel, put the faucet of the Coca-Cola part of the soda machine on top of the barrel's opening; and pressed a button on that machine part that had the word 'ON/OFF' on it.

Coca-Cola poured from the faucet and went into the barrel. It was going to take a while before the barrel will become full of that soda.

"Come back in ten minutes." The vendor turned to look at Mr. Krabs.

The crustacean nodded and then resumed his walking around the zoo. He eventually saw SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary walking by. "Top of the mornin', boys." He saluted the three and then turned to look at his next location. "Next stop: gift shop." He said a thought of his out loud.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs eventually entered the gift shop. 'Maybe I'll go to the stadium later.' He was thinking up a plan for his 'heist' at the zoo. The crab had to spend the abundant resources before him wisely.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Hey guys, you wanna go to the gift shop first?" He spoke as he looked at the gift shop. He considered his idea to be an excellent one.

"I'll do it. I got some money to lose anyway." Patrick shrugged. He saw no harm on spending some money on cool and memorable knick-knacks or strange types of clothing. Those bought items could allow him to remember this day when he was far into the future.

"Meow meow." Gary had a neutral opinion. He did not really feel like going to the gift shop since he wanted to get to the main attractions of the area, the confined and exotic animals

"Alright, guys. Let's go." SpongeBob walked towards the gift shop. He wondered about the weird items that could be possibly sold in that shop. He wanted to go to the gift shop so he could buy things that will make him remember today's zoo trip.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The three entered the gift shop.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three exited the gift shop.

SpongeBob had bought a zebra-colored tie. He replaced his red tie with that tie and had put the red tie into his pocket. The yellow square liked his new look and people could tell that through his wide smile.

Patrick had bought a green cap that had words in white saying 'BORN WILD' on it. The sea star was currently wearing the cap. He bought the cap since it fit his mood and his carefree personality. The sea star viewed his trip at the zoo as more of an adventure since it had been so long since his previous visit.

Gary was eating a chocolate bar that his owner bought for him. He could not really pick any of the items in the shop except for the food since those items were not meant for him or his body type.

The three resumed their walk down the main path.

SpongeBob saw a large green stadium in the distance. He immediately recognized what it was. "The Oyster Stadium..." He spoke to himself. He remembered the amazing times as a kid when he watched the giant clams do tricks.

"Which animals we're gonna see first?" Patrick looked at SpongeBob. He could not decide on which animal site the group should visit first. He wanted to rely on the yellow square for major decisions since he felt like SpongeBob was a better decision-maker for the time being.

SpongeBob pointed at the green stadium. "Pat, you remember that place?" He was testing Patrick's memory. The yellow square wanted to hint at where he wanted to go.

"Oh yeah! It's where those oysters did tricks." Patrick's childhood memories were still fresh in his mind. The tricks of those oysters had captivated him when he was a child. "We're gonna go see the oysters?"

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded and jogged towards the stadium. He was hoping that the they were doing another show with the oysters at that stadium.

Patrick and Gary followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The group walked through one of the many main entrances to the stadium.

SpongeBob noticed that the ticket booths did not have any employees sitting in them. He realized immediately that a show was not going on since there was always employees in ticket booths whenever a show was going to happen soon or was happening. The sponge then shrugged. 'A peek at the clams' practice won't hurt.' He thought that watching the clams practice was almost as good as watching them do actual tricks.

The three walked up a set of steps and entered the spectator part of the stadium. The stadium was massive since there were thousands of seats surrounding the main level. The group walked up to the guardrail and looked down at the main level.

The oysters were peacefully sleeping. Some of them were snoring in a quiet manner while others were completely silent. Practice usually does not begin until 10:00 AM. The group of three who were watching them obviously did not know that fact.

"Meow meow." Gary could not see what was so special about the oysters in the stadium. He thought that the giant clams were acting like ordinary zoo animals. The snail had not been to any of the Oyster Stadium shows before. He looked up at his owner. "Meow."

SpongeBob looked down at his pet snail and smiled. "This stadium has some of the largest oyster held in captivity. These clams also do some super-cool and amazing tricks." He pointed at the largest oyster among the group. "You see that oyster over there? He can spit a giant pearl one-hundred feet into the air like he was a cannon. He's also the only clam in there that can do that. Isn't that awesome?" He stopped pointing at the giant clam and looked at Gary.

"Meow." Gary was impressed by the oysters' physical abilities and talents. He had never heard of oysters who could do such feats before.

Patrick was becoming bored very fast. He leaned towards the main level while his arms were on the guardrail. He faked a yawn to indicate his boredom.

"There's no point being in here if the oysters aren't doing something." SpongeBob said a thought of his out loud. However, his experience as a jellyfisher lended him a helping hand. "I'll try my oyster call." He leaned towards the stadium's main level and cupped his hands around his mouth. The sponge then made some of the strangest noises that Gary had ever heard.

A very awkward pause.

The oysters were still asleep. They did not even move from their spots.

Patrick stood straight and stepped up to his best friend. "Sponge, maybe we should leave. We can visit some other animals." The sea star wanted to see animals that were actually active instead of sleeping.

SpongeBob looked at his watch and noticed that the current time was '9:52 AM'. "Pat, can you fetch me a bag of peanuts at the gift shop? Maybe they'll wake up by the time you come back." The sponge wanted to give the oysters a chance to wake up while under his and Gary's watch.

"If they're not awake when I come back, we'll leave. Deal?" Patrick wanted the request to be fair. He did not want to waste his adventure at the zoo by waiting for sleeping animals. He felt like that were so many opportunities awaiting the group once they leave the stadium.

SpongeBob nodded. He handed Patrick the cash needed for the bag of peanuts. "Don't eat the peanuts, 'kay?" He knew that Patrick was sometimes unreliable when it came to food-based requests.

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs-up and exited the stadium. He then walked towards the gift shop.

SpongeBob currently viewed the trip in an optimistic light. He thought that almost nothing was better to do on a Sunday then hang out with the friends that he recently got closer to. It was hard to believe that the sequence of events had been started by Gary's illness.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later..

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick came back with a bag of peanuts and a wrapped popsicle that he had bought for himself. He gave the peanut bag to SpongeBob and put the popsicle into his pocket so he could save it for later.

All of the oysters were still sleeping.

"Well, it's time to go." Patrick walked towards the nearest main exit. He was thinking about visiting the part of the zoo where they had seahorses. He wondered if he was able to ride a seahorse in the zoo.

Gary followed Patrick.

SpongeBob took a last glance at the group of oysters. He then looked at his peanut bag and a light bulb lit up in his head. 'If I can't watch them do tricks, at least I can help them out a bit.' He thought in consideration of the oysters. He picked up a peanut from the bag and threw it towards the largest oyster. He wanted the oyster to have the peanut as a little snack that will boost his energy. The sponge gave it to that oyster since it was the star of every show and was the most important one as a result.

The peanut touched the largest oyster and then fell to the ground.

The largest oyster moved a bit and smelled for the thing that hit him.

SpongeBob gasped and then grinned in delight. "Hey Patrick, it's waking up!" The yellow square eagerly called for his best friend. He was jumping up and down in excitement. He assumed that the large oyster was going to wake up the other oysters and they would consequently begin their practice.

Patrick turned around and ran directly back into the stadium. "Did I miss anything?" The sea star assumed that the oysters had been moving during the time when he was buying a bag of peanuts for SpongeBob. He did not want to miss out on anything.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head and he then looked at the oysters. "I just woke 'em up. The show's about to begin." He leaned against the guardrail so he can get a good look at the spectacular tricks that the oysters were about to do. He was almost unable to control his excitement. If he completely unrestrained himself, he would have jumped into the main level so he can directly watch the action.

Patrick's intelligence suddenly increased. He began to hop up and down like a rabbit around the ring of guardrails that surrounded and was above the main level to express his excitement. He also felt like jumping into the main level but was smart enough to realize that he might accidentally scare the giant clams.

"Meow meow." Gary had a bad feeling that something horribly wrong was about to happen. He was closely looking at the largest oyster and notice that it was beginning to show signs of distress.

The largest oyster began to jump around the main level in panic. It moved other giant clams out of the way as it searched for a certain missing item. That missing object was something that he had held dear to his heart.

The other giant clams woke up and 'looked' around to see what was going on. They eventually noticed what the largest oyster was doing and turned to 'look' at that oyster (clams and scallops do not have eyes [they can 'see' through echolocation]).

The oyster made a loud cry as it sunk into the dark depths of despair. His cries could be heard throughout the whole zoo and its sounds of grief could be also be heard from miles away.

SpongeBob covered his mouth with both of his hands and his eyes bugged out. He was doubting what he was seeing. Instead of seeing a show, he was seeing a massive freakout. The sponge then began to think about the cause of the events unfolding before him. However, the oyster's cries began to increase his anxiety.

Two zoo workers who wore white caps and shirts as uniforms entered the stadium's main level. They wanted to find the source of the commotion in the stadium. They walked up to the crying oyster once they spotted him.

"What's wrong with Clamu?" The taller employee scratched his head in bewilderment. This was the first time in his career that he had to deal with a clam suddenly crying in the morning.

The shorter employee walked up to Clamu. He was going to answer his coworker's question by figuring out the source/cause of Clamu's crying. "Easy, girl. It's me, Joe. Remember?" He spoke in a quiet and gentle voice (SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary did not know that Clamu was a she until that employee said so). He usually spoke in that voice when dealing with the giant clams since it was somewhat easy for someone to make them angry.

Unfortunately, the shorter employee immediately angered Clamu. That oyster felt like she needed time by herself. She did not want to get pulled by any other people or distractions. Her desire to find her precious object did not fate. She grabbed Joe by biting his shirt collar, twirled him in the air, and then tossed Joe to one side of the main level so the young male would stay out of her way. She then jumped to the spectator part of the stadium.

SpongeBob's anxiety suddenly peaked. He was mainly afraid that he was going to get attacked by Clamu. Another, less obvious, but more dreadful threat was that he might get caught by authorities due to suspicion that he was the one who caused the entire incident and the subsequent chaos. From his viewpoint, the whole chain of events was his fault anyway since he threw the peanut at Clamu. The yellow square ran for his life towards the nearest exit. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He screamed in fright.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Patrick grabbed Gary and quickly followed his best friend. He was also terrified of Clamu's destructive potential.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Gary in tow rapidly exited the stadium. The two best friends' screaming alerted nearby citizens and staff about the major threat coming from the stadium.

After a minute, Clamu squeezed her way out of the stadium. She then began her destructive rampage by knocking and throwing garbage cans and ripping signs out of the ground. Her loud growls and roars only made her look and sound even more terrifying.

Nearby citizens and staff ran away from Clamu as quickly as they could. Everybody's (including SpongeBob and Patrick) fear of the clam was on an equal level. The citizens screamed as they ran. They then screamed louder and ran faster once Clamu began to follow them.

Chaos was erupting at the Bikini Bottom Public Zoo.

"_Attention zoo patrons! Clamu the giant oyster is on an emotional rampage! LEAVE THE ZOO RIGHT NOW! Animal control will be called immediately." _

The loudspeakers announced what almost everybody was thinking. Even the woman who was speaking into the microphone which was connected to all of the other loudspeakers was afraid of Clamu.

**SLAM**

The woman who had spoken into the microphone barged the front door open and sprinted out of the zoo's main building. 'No way I'm staying here! My life's on the line!' She placed her own safety above her career as the main manager of the zoo.

S-S-S-S-S

Hordes of people flooded out of the zoo's exits. Even the guards were leaving the zoo with tails between their legs.

Very soon, the zoo was almost abandoned. After some more minutes, all of the other animals (including the other giant clams) exited the zoo. Clamu was so terrifying that she stroke fear into the other animals' hearts. The escaped animals then ran towards the downtown section of Bikini Bottom for a new source of food. They were not going to escape from the city just yet.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A male dolphin who was wearing a red hooded robe was walking towards the zoo. The hood was over his head. The two ends of his flipper acted like feet and gave him the ability to walk. He was moving in such a manner since he knew that a dangerous threat was nearby. He had heard the clam's cries and had immediately became concerned. He recognized that cry since it was almost exclusive to clams or scallops. The dolphin had became even more concerned when he heard the destruction occurring inside the zoo. The dolphin was concerned for such a violent creature since he was in tune with nature and did not make much contact with major sites of civilization (Bikini Bottom, New Kelp City etc.) He was not afraid of the oyster since he had a weapon by his side even though it was not visible. 'They must have abused the oyster quite a bit for her to cry like that. Or maybe it was not abuse... Bubbles, do not make assumptions. It only hides the truth from your very eyes.' He decided that he needed to see the clam's behavior for him to know the root of the chaos. However, during his walk, he saw the suspicious figure of a crab who was running along the tall green fence of the zoo while holding a sack. Bubbles then jumped off the ground and swam towards the crab (swimming was the dolphins' preferred and fastest way of movement) so he could take a closer look at the crab's sack. 'A robbery during a time like this is unlikely.' He initially suspected that the crab was a robber but quickly dismissed that.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Bubbles got close enough to Mr. Krabs to notice that an almost perfectly spherical object was protruding from the sack. The dolphin then immediately recognized what it was and narrowed his eyes at Mr. Krabs in anger. He knew that Oysters cry the same way that Clamu had did when they suffer from grief. "STOP, THIEF!" He dashed towards Mr. Krabs and spoke in a stern voice.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at Bubbles and he became bug-eyed. "Yikes!" He ran as fast as he could towards the nearby crowd. He was not sure about why Bubbles called him a thief. With the chaos still brewing in the zoo, he wanted to return home as soon as possible. 'But today's Free Day!' He mentally said an excuse for his morally gray actions as he finally got to crowd and quickly blended in with them.

Bubbles landed on the ground once he lost sight of Mr. Krabs. "Perhaps I was too judgmental. Today is Free Day so it is highly likely that that spherical object was some other knick-knack." He spoke to himself. He was one who always searched for knowledge and truth, such a trait could be obviously seen in his thoughts and the words directed to himself. 'I should look out for him, though. I will ask him about the sphere once he calms down later on.' Bubbles then leaped and swam off to elsewhere.

S-S-S-S-S

Four minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking towards their neighborhood. They were far away enough from Clamu to feel like they were safe. The starfish was carrying Gary on his shoulder.

"Man, if I see the guy who upset Clamu, I've got a few choice words for him, like 'you'... and 'are'... and 'a jerk'." Patrick was thinking about the culprit who upset Clamu. His intelligence had decreased by a degree. He felt like justice needed to be served since he was disgusted by the thought that someone had put an innocent oyster under such heavy distress and grief. Many Bikini Bottomites in general view animal cruelty as extremely repulsive. The sea star was seriously considering the thought of starting an investigation. "Anyways, only a jerk would upset a gentle giant. Right, SpongeBob?" He wanted to single out potential suspects.

SpongeBob hugged his peanut bag. He was feeling a bone-crushing amount of guilt since he sincerely believed that he was the one responsible for upsetting Clamu. "R-right." He tried not to sound nervous. 'It's only a matter of time.' The yellow square knew that he was going to get interrogated and arrested eventually.

A pause.

"Have you seen anybody suspicious near the stadium?" Patrick had decided to begin his investigation. He wanted to start out in a decent pool of information before swimming out of it into the foggy world of mystery.

"Nope. The only other people I saw were the workers." SpongeBob spoke honestly. He became less anxious since Patrick was not questioning about his actions and motives right away. "Why're you asking me about all of this stuff? Once they capture Clamu and calm her down, everything'll be alright." He still tried to divert attention away from himself.

"But the culprit won't be brought to justice." Patrick made a solemn face. "Sponge, I haven't told you this, but I wanna investigate this crime and catch the lowlife who's responsible." He walked towards his rock so he can get his detective hat. He put Gary on the ground.

Gary slithered towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple. He was beginning to dread the possibility that Patrick might figure out the 'truth' and end up sending him to the authorities. "Patrick, you should give it a rest. There's no crime to investigate. I think we should stay home so we can stay safe from Clamu. You never know when she'll come by this place." The sponge thought that it would be best if Patrick gave up the investigation immediately. He was concerned about Patrick's safety and also had said those words out of fear.

Patrick ignored SpongeBob's discouraging words. His urge to serve justice for Clamu refused to be swayed. He assumed that the yellow square was too afraid of Clamu for the sponge to assist him in the investigation.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered his rock.

SpongeBob sighed. The sponge thought that facing the consequences of his actions was inevitable.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square and the snail entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the couch and sat in it. The yellow square began to think about a solution to his terrible predicament.

Gary sat on the couch as well, grabbed the remote with his mouth, and turned on the TV. The channel that was shown was the Bikini Bottom News channel.

On the TV screen, Johnny Erain was suddenly handed from a person off-screen a news report that had been quickly written and edited. Once he finished reading the news report held in his hand, he moved on to the news report that had been just given to him.

The words 'BREAKING NEWS' in red letters appeared on the bottom of the TV screen.

_"Breaking news! A famous giant oyster who lives in the Bikini Bottom Public Zoo, who is called Clamu by the zoo's workers and many other citizens, is going on a complete rampage throughout Bikini Bottom. She sometimes make cries that could he heard from miles away. According to experts, her cries indicate grief or sorrow. Eyewitnesses have stated that something emotionally triggered Clamu's rampage. The workers in the zoo have stated that their hearts were broken by the chain of events that had occurred. Many other citizens have had similar reactions. The police have quickly instigated an investigation and the only clue so far was a peanut found at Oyster Stadium. The other zoo animals have also escaped the zoo. However, Animal Control has stated that they are currently handling with recapturing those animals and had even made some progress."_

Johnny Erain could not maintain his professional composure. From his point of view, the news report was so depressing that he could no longer speak in a balanced tone and in a neutral point of view. _"What kind of cruel, careless, evil person would deliberately upset one of Neptune's most gentle creatures?" _His throat became heavy and he spoke in a tone that revealed his sadness. The question he asked summarized the Bikini Bottomites' reaction to Clamu's rampage across the city.

SpongeBob covered his face with both of his hands. The guilt was smashing him to atoms. He felt like a horrible person who was no better than Plankton. The police, with Patrick's assistance, were going to catch him no matter how hard he could try to avoid them. The sponge was so ashamed of himself and saddened by the 'consequences' of his simple action that he felt like he did not even deserve to sit next to Gary. He was afraid that he would end up hurting his pet's feelings as well. The yellow square stood up, walked to a corner in the living room, and sat there. He turned to face the wall and desired to only be with his thoughts.

"What's wrong?" Gary looked at his owner. He knew right away that something was wrong when the yellow sponge entered the living room.

SpongeBob quickly made a facade; he wore a deadpan face. He stood up and made eye contact with Gary. "I'm just thinking about whoever made Clamu upset. Stuff like that is really sad, you never know what people could do these days." The yellow square tried to sound sincere. He walked towards the door to the kitchen. "I'm hoping Clamu will be okay." He looked at the door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen.

Gary could tell that SpongeBob's words were fake. However, he thought that the yellow square was too upset to be talked to. If SpongeBob had entered the pineapple with such a remorseful face, then something terrible must have happened to him. The snail trusted his owner enough for him to not suspect his owner as the culprit who caused Clamu's rampage.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. His intelligence had increased by a significant amount. He was wearing a detective hat and was holding a magnifying glass. He had put his popsicle into the refrigerator so it could be eaten later. He was also holding a notepad and a pencil. He put the magnifying glass into his pocket and his now free hand took hold of the pencil. He then began to write down a list of suspects. Once he was finished with his list, he immediately crossed out 'SpongeBob SquarePants' since the yellow square had been at the crime scene, did not do anything suspicious, and was also too kind to do such a monstrous act. The sea star then moved on to the next name on the list: 'Squidward Tentacles'. The sea star made a serious face so he could look professional and intimidating. He marched towards the tiki and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

...knocked on the tiki's front door.

A long pause.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door and was not too pleased to see Patrick. The sponge and the sea star sometimes annoyed him on late Sunday mornings and afternoons by knocking on his front door for requests. "What do you want?" He droned.

"Greetings, Mr. Tentacles." Patrick spoke in a professional manner. "I am currently investigating the whereabouts of the culprit who made Clamu upset and consequently made her go on a rampage throughout our town. You surely have seen or heard news about Clamu's rampage, am I correct?"

Squidward was surprised by the way that Patrick spoke. "Y-yeah." He managed to gather a word. He had watched the Bikini Bottom Local News and had just turned the TV off. The conversation suddenly became awkward.

"Back to what I was saying, I am currently searching for the culprit. I suspect that you," Patrick pointed at Squidward. "could have committed such a crime." The pink star could not be more blunt. He did not want to mince his words like his yellow best friend. "In order to confirm your role as the culprit, I will have to ask you a few questions."

Squidward became irritated by Patrick's apparent apparent professionalism and viewed it as hubris since Patrick had many moments of stupidity in the past. "I didn't do anything to that poor clam. Just because I can get angry now and then with you and SpongeBob does not mean that I vent it out through malicious ways. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even at the zoo when Clamu became upset." Even though Squidward was sometimes envious or grumpy, he had moral standards as well.

"Then how do you vent that anger and frustration?" Patrick raised his brow and folded his arms. He tried to look more intimidating so he could squeeze the full truth out of the octopus.

"Through writing in my journal." Squidward answered calmly. However, his journal was specifically a diary. The octopus was careful to not say the word 'diary' since Patrick might become curious later on. However, he was not aware of the fight that Patrick and SpongeBob had over the secret box.

"May I see the journal?" Patrick wanted one piece of physical evidence before he could safely cross Squidward's name off his suspect list. The sea star was not going to sail his ship through the foggy ocean of his investigation so quickly and smoothly. He wanted to absorb the details that were hidden by the fog.

Squidward took a deep breath so he could maintain his patience. He then walked up to his bedroom to retrieve the journal. 'As long as that makes him leave.' He thought with tightened fists, he could not hold his temper forever.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward returned to the open front doorway with the journal being held by one of his hands. He held out the journal towards Patrick in the hopes of the sea star no longer asking more questions.

Patrick nodded in satisfaction. "Very well." He crossed 'Squidward Tentacles' off his list of suspects with his pencil. "You are free to go." He smiled and made a thumbs-up. "If you find any info about any potential suspects for the culprit, tell me." He looked at the next name on the list: 'Sandy Cheeks' and then turned towards the treedome.

"Sure, sure, whatever." Squidward wanted Patrick to leave him alone as soon as possible. He had been planning on playing some tunes with his clarinet and did not want any distractions.

**SLAM**

Squidward barged the front door closed.

Patrick walked towards Sandy's treedome. He ignored the **SLAM **of the front door since he could tell that Squidward had been irritated by his behavior and actions. The investigation was making him use many parts of his brain and preserved his intelligence as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to the treedome. He rung the doorbell and patiently waited for Sandy to pick up.

A pause.

"_Yello?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"Greetings, Ms. Cheeks. This is Patrick Star. I would like to have a word with you." Patrick once again spoke in his formal and professional tone. He adjusted his detective hat so it would be balanced on his head.

"_Umm. . okay." _Sandy, in her opinion, saw Patrick's formal speaking manner as silly and even out of character for the sea star. According to her ears, Patrick sounded more like a typical move detective than an actual Bikini Bottomite who had bouts of ignorance.

The front door unlocked.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the glass hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

The starfish put on a glass helmet. His detective hat managed to fit into it.

The water in the hallway became drained until the entire hallway was dry.

Patrick walked up to the next door and...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the inside of the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy could not help herself and made a wide smile when she saw the hat that Patrick was wearing. She thought that the hat looked silly on the pink star. The sea star's way of speaking then began to make sense for her; she realized that Patrick was trying to act like a detective. "What do you desire to talk about, Mr. Star?" She tried to speak in a manner that was equally as fancy as Patrick's. She decided to join this 'game' that Patrick was 'playing' since the career work that she had been doing was unimportant and could be saved for later.

"I do not want this interrogation to be rushed. I need to know as much important information as I can before I can make my verdict." Patrick walked towards the table and sat in it. "As a matter of fact, could you serve us some tea?" The sea star tried a different method with Sandy because using the same method he used on Squidward might make her angry since it could damage her ego.

Sandy was in the mood for a casual conversation. She had raised her brow a bit at the word 'interrogation' but quickly dismissed it as unimportant since Patrick was trying to act like a detective. "Which type of tea? I got: green, ginger, mint, black, sweet, chamomile, and honey lavender." The squirrel spoke in a normal manner again. She, though it was not obvious to Bikini Bottomites, was an avid tea-drinker. She drank such tea since it helped her out with dealing with career-related stress and also assists her when doing karate or other exercises. She had rarely done it (although the tea she usually drank looked like coffee) in SpongeBob and Patrick's face so she had initially assumed that they forgot about those instances. "How do you know?"

Patrick immediately recognized chamomile and honey lavender. Those two teas were some of the teas that his family drank. His family were also tea-drinkers and grow the herbs for those teas at their own gardens. Selling those teas at their grocery stores was how his family escaped poverty. The sea star also remembered the beneficial effects of chamomile and honey lavender. His memory also did not fail him when it came to remembering the instances when Sandy drank black tea. "I would like honey lavender, please. I know you drink quite an amount of tea because my memory is currently serving me well." He answered in a relaxed manner and he then made a slightly wider smile.

"Alrighty." Sandy walked towards the oak tree. "I'll be back in a jiffy." She was willing to do such a favor for Patrick because this was the first time that she and the starfish were going to have a serious one-on-one conversation.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Sandy entered the oak tree.

Patrick looked at his watch and realized that it was a fake. He did not want to waste too much time on his visit to the treedome. However, he was not concerned about it yet. "She did say she will come back in a timely manner." The starfish looked away from his watch out of a trust for Sandy.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting while his hand was supporting his cheek. He was starting to become bored when...

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...Sandy exited the oak tree. She was holding a plate that had two teacups full of honey lavender tea on it. The squirrel walked up to the table and set the plate on the table. "Be a bit careful when you drink it. It's fresh from the kettle so it's super hot." The squirrel sat in the table while being across from Patrick. She took a cup from the plate and sipped it very slowly so the tea would not burn her tongue or throat.

Patrick pulled the plate and the other teacup in tow towards himself. "Sandy, have you heard about a giant oyster called Clamu causing havoc throughout Bikini Bottom?" The sea star stopped smiling and folded his arms.

"Nope." Sandy shook her head. "Fill me in." She had been too busy working down at the laboratory for her to bother watching the news on TV or reading the news on the internet.

"It began when me, SpongeBob, and SpongeBob's pet, Gary, were visiting the local zoo. Our fun trip was turning out to be normal until we reached Oyster Stadium. Since the oysters were sleeping when we had came, I told SpongeBob that it would be best if we leave the stadium and move on to other captive animals. However, he persuaded me to buy him a bag of peanuts so our wait could be prolonged. I then bought that bag of peanuts and also bought a popsicle for myself along the way. When I came back and found out that the clams were still sleeping, I gave up and decided to leave. However, through the act of a malicious person, the biggest oyster, Clamu, woke up and began to panic about something. She then became upset for some reason and the rest was history." Patrick told what had recently happened at the zoo from his perspective.

"So, is that it? Is filling me in on the news the reason why you came here?" Sandy took a few more sips from her teacup. She did not intend to be rude at all and was becoming interested in the rampage going on at the downtown area. She was also beginning to become concerned for the yellow square and nearby citizens. "If you're worried 'bout the treedome, you don't need to. The polyurethane is sturdy enough to handle alota bites from many giant clams. I'm not sure if SpongeBob and the others are safe though."

"Oh no." Patrick smiled a bit and shook his head. "I am not a mere news reporter. I am actually investigating into who caused Clamu to become upset. You are considered a suspect due to your technological talents. Since I have seen many inventions that have been produced by that creative mind of yours, creating an invention that distresses animals is definitely a possibility for you." Patrick took a large sip from his teacup. He had waited for his tea to cool down enough for it to be drinkable in larger sips.

Sandy gave Patrick a funny look. "Why would I make an invention like that? I've always treated my test subjects with as care as possible. If I created an invention that was meant to harm animals, I would get fired from my job for violating international animal cruelty laws." The squirrel gave excellent reasons for her not being the culprit. "I'm no sadist." She said the truth.

Patrick closely watched Sandy's facial expression and body language. He could tell that the squirrel was telling the truth. He took some more sips from his teacup until the cup ran out of tea. However, something about Sandy was sticking in his mind. "If what you are saying is true, then why do you love karate? Is it true that karate is all about inflicting harm on others for fun?" The sea star asked some decently thought-out questions.

"I love karate 'cause of how competitive it is, it's the same reason for why I like sports in general. My parents also loved karate so it passed on to me as well. Karate itself is simply a martial art, it can be used as a weapon or can be done for sport. It doesn't have to be fun." Sandy answered Patrick's questions with a smile. It showed her sincerity and honesty.

Patrick believed what Sandy's words. He pushed the plate with the empty teacup towards Sandy. He took out his notepad and pencil and crossed 'Sandy Cheeks' off the suspect list. "You are innocent." He stated the obvious and stood up. "I believe it is time for me to leave. Farewell, Ms. Cheeks." Patrick walked towards the front door.

"Bye, Pat." Sandy waved at Patrick and then finished drinking her tea. She was glad to have talked to Patrick since that allowed the starfish to learn more about her. However, the conversation itself was strange and made her worried. She realized that the conversation was an actual interrogation. She thought that the news told to her was very troubling. Her happiness then quickly became consumed by anxiety. However, the honey lavender tea she just drank made the anxiety more mild.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered the glass hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick waited until the glass hallway became completely flooded by seawater. He then took off his glass helmet and put it on the floor.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

He exited the treedome.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick looked at his list. There were eight suspects left. The next name on the list was 'Mr. Krabs'. However, the sea star wanted some clues since he wanted his investigation to go faster. A fear about the culprit getting away from Bikini Bottom sprouted in his mind. He knew one person who could hold such helpful clues.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Patrick knocked on the pineapple's front door. He had taken his popsicle out of his home's fridge and was currently licking it. The popsicle had the shape, texture, and even the holes of a piece of yellow sponge skin.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob opened the front door. He saw Patrick and made a deadpan face to hide his spiked anxiety.

Patrick cleared his throat. "Greetings, Mr. SquarePants. I have not found any clues leading to the culprit or the culprit himself. However, in the hopes of getting some information that will help me in my investigation, I am going to ask you a question." He folded his arms and waited for answer from his best friend. He was unintentionally intimidating the yellow square.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and tried his best to not allow his arms to shake. "N-n-nope." He bit his lip and shook his head. "I-I told you before. The only others I saw in the stadium were those employees. Other than that, I don't know how Clamu became upset. She just woke up and started to freak out." The sponge said a truth and a lie. He was becoming even more nervous since he was afraid that Patrick was going to figure out the lie.

"Why are you so nervous, SpongeBob? Is something the matter?" Patrick became a bit concerned for his best friend. The sea star could not figure out why SpongeBob was sweating profusely and shaking.

"I-I'm afraid of Clamu. She might f-find us and attack us." SpongeBob said a very persuasive lie. He then became less nervous since he thought that he saved himself from getting in trouble.

Patrick nodded. "I see. If that is all you can come up with, I will be on my way." He stopped folding his arms and looked at the next name on the list again so he could know where he had to go to next. "As long as I narrow down the suspects, I'll get this crime solved." He tried to assure his best friend out of pity for him.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the living room so he could return to the library and delve into the limitless world of fictional books. He wanted to prolong his stay at his home because he desired to absorb as much of its comforts as possible before he was inevitably going to get taken away by the police. From his perspective, every moment spent in the pineapple was precious.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to Mr. Krabs' anchor. He had finished his popsicle and had thrown it to a public trash can.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

He knocked on the front door.

A pause.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the front door and saw Patrick. He then gave the sea star a funny look. 'He definitely doesn't look a sailor.' He even chuckled a bit. The crab found Patrick's hat to be extremely silly due to the potential of the starfish's stupidity. However, the crab had watched the news and was concerned about the safety of the citizens and his family. He did not want to lose customers as a consequence of Clamu's attacks. The crab stopped smiling. "If you be a wise sailor and hark to me words, I'd highly recommend that you go back home. I've dealt with nasty oysters like Clamu during' me travels and it ain't pretty once they see you." Mr. Krabs became especially worried for Patrick's safety since the pink star came to the Krusty Krab almost everyday (the starfish provided a decent chunk of the restaurant's profits).

"I am not as stupid as you think." Patrick narrowed his eyes a bit and folded his arms. "I am searching around this town for the person who made Clamu upset. The poor clam did not deserve what had happened to her and I am going to bring this guy to justice. Even though my safety is in danger, things will be a bit better once the culprit gets arrested; it will prevent him from causing further harm to innocent creatures." He noticed that he was starting to go off-topic by saying his thoughts without restraint. The sea star then made a more stoic face and pointed at the crustacean. "Mr. Krabs, I consider that you are a suspect. With your history of piracy, I am certain that you have committed many dreadful deeds in the past for financial gain." The sea star did not forget the treasure hunt for the Flying Dutchman's treasure that he had with SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. The fight over the treasure chest was the most clear picture that he had of that journey.

Mr. Krabs nearly had a heart attack. If Patrick ends up calling the police and consequently make him undergo interrogation, the crimes he had committed during his pirate years would end up being revealed for the authorities to record. He also had another fear that was far more powerful. However, he tried not to think about that fear since it would make him more anxious. Regardless, Patrick's formal tone surprised the crustacean. The crab sweatdropped but kept a poker face.

An awkward pause.

"I have also seen you at the zoo this morning. If you can answer my questions honestly, I will let you go." Patrick noticed that Mr. Krabs was becoming 'all sweaty' again. He thought that he could not communicate with suspects if they were too nervous.

Mr. Krabs took a deep breath and calmed down. He became hopeful since a bright opportunity of escaping arrest and a subsequent jail sentence was knocking on his door.

"First of all, why were you at the zoo?" Patrick spoke in a more casual tone so he would not sound threatening and intimidating. He even made a neutral facial expression so he could look somewhat inviting.

"Today was Free Day so I decided to nab anything that people were selling for free. I was searching around town for any free stuff until I saw the zoo. SInce it was nearby, I decided to go there." Mr. Krabs tried to calmly answer Patrick's question. However, only one sign of anxiety, a sweatdrop, escaped from his control.

Patrick became intrigued. "What is Free Day?" Even though his memory was very decent so far, he could not remember everything.

"It is a day where some stores or vendors sell some stuff for free." Mr. Krabs managed to make a sincere smile. He always saw the concept for such a holiday to be lovely and wonderful. "It's one of me favorite holidays of the year."

Patrick nodded. "Moving on. Why did you bring that sack with you?" He thought that the bag that Mr. Krabs had been carrying was suspicious.

"I brought it so I could put me free stuff into it. I can't carry everything with me claws, y'know?" Mr. Krabs managed to preserve his semi-facade. He was currently not showing a single sign of fear or nervousness.

"Have you taken anything that was notable expensive or rare?" Patrick was aware of the fact that oysters produced pearls that were highly valuable. Mr. Krabs stealing a pearl from Clamu and consequently making her upset was a possibility.

Mr. Krabs' smile slightly lessened. "Nope. The most precious free thing that I found was a baseball bat." He said a distortion of the truth without showing any signs that he was lying. His smile made his statement convincing enough. He did not tell the full truth since he desired to keep a buried free treasure that he found in the zoo a secret.

Patrick nodded again in satisfaction and crossed out Mr. Krabs' name from his list. The crustacean's positive body language indicated that he was 'telling the truth' and was not the culprit. That body language also made it necessary for Patrick to ask only a few questions before he could come to a solid conclusion. "Is Pearl home?" 'Pearl Krabs' was the next name on his suspect list.

"Yep. But she's sleeping right now. She stayed up all the way to midnight talkin' to her friends." Mr. Krabs shook his head in disapproval of Pearl's sleeping habits. "Kids these days. If I was going to stay up late, I would have thrown a good party and drank some rum on the side." The crab began to go off-topic. He had stuffed his fears to the back of his mind since he opened the door that the escape opportunity knocked on.

"Had she slept ever since midnight?" Patrick asked an important question. He had seen news reports about juvenile delinquents causing trouble during the early morning.

"Mm-hm." Mr. Krabs nodded. "Nothing I can do will make her wake up. She hadn't even stirred from her place on the bed when I came back from the zoo." The crab was speaking honestly.

Patrick quickly crossed 'Pearl Krabs' off the list. He completely believed Mr. Krabs' words about Pearl since the crustacean was her father. 'There's no way that she can sleep-walk to the zoo.' The last sentence that the crab said made him come to a logical conclusion. "I believe this it is time for me to leave, Mr. Krabs." Patrick turned around and walked towards elsewhere. The next name on the list was: 'Nicholas'. Since he did not know Nicholas' address, Patrick turned around and walked back to Mr. Krabs. "Y'know where Nick lives?" He spoke in his normal tone. He had seen that intern enough times at the Krusty Krab for him to be familiar with that green fish.

Mr. Krabs pointed towards the upper area of the downtown area. "The chap lives in upper downtown." He wanted the sea star to leave as soon as possible. "He's on Shell street."

"I am grateful for your assistance." Patrick spoke formally again. His words were completely sincere since Mr. Krabs was the first person he encountered that directly assisted him with his investigation. The sea star then walked towards the upper downtown area.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Misplaced boatmobiles were littered along the street. People had retreated to their homes and locked their front doors out of a fear that Clamu was going to come back to their area. Clamu had been to that area before, signs of her rampage were: signs ripped out of their foundation, broken windows, thrown trash cans which had their contents spilled to the ground, heavily damaged boatmoibles and boatmobiles that were flipped over, exterior walls of homes that were bitten at; and many more.

That area in Bikini Bottom was near the ghetto so there were a few dilapidated buildings here and there, but those were a minority of the buildings in that area. Murders, drug trafficking, and gang-related violence occurred at higher rates in that area than most of the other areas in the city due to its location near the ghetto. Some poor people lived in that area while others were people who managed to escape the dark clutches of the streets. This extra description may seem unnecessary but will reveal something important later on.

Patrick was walking along a sidewalk in Shell street. Mr. Krabs did not told him the exact address so he thought about going to each home in search of Nicholas. However, he spotted the green fish walking down the same sidewalk. The sea star then walked up to Nicholas. "Greetings, Nicholas. I want to have a talk with you." He tried to be polite.

Nicholas sweatdropped and looked around. He recognized Patrick because SpongeBob had talked about him a lot during work. "Patrick, you can't be roaming around here! That oyster could still be nearby and might attack us if she finds us! Clamu came to my neighborhood twenty minutes ago." He loudly whispered. He was walking towards a grocery store so he could get some necessary groceries, he would only leave his home if he completely had to. He was also nervous for another reason. There was a secret that he kept hidden from the Krusty Krew and other people. That secret was a motivating factor into him becoming a Krusty Krab intern.

"Is your home a suitable place for our conversation?" Patrick became scared by a very slight degree. However, he was not too concerned with the possibility of Clamu's return since they could enter any nearby home and consequently become safe.

"We can just sit on the front steps. My home is in an apartment." Nicholas pointed at his apartment. He did not want Patrick to visit his home since his secret might accidentally become revealed. "If Clamu comes to our area, we'll just go inside." However, he would rather reveal his secret than get brutally attacked by an oyster.

"Very well." Patrick walked up to the apartment's front steps and sat on the middlemost step.

Nicholas sat on the middlemost step as well. He sweatdropped again out of anxiety when he thought about the possibility of a gang member leaving the apartment within his and Patrick's vision.

"Since Clamu is relatively nearby, I will make this interrogation go by as quickly as possible. As you can tell by my hat," Patrick pointed at his hat. "I am investigating into the culprit who made Clamu emotionally unstable. I have narrowed my list of suspects to you and a few other people. I will just ask a series of questions and I will decide if you are a high-risk suspect or not."

Nicholas tried to hide his anxiety over his secret. He crossed his fingers behind his back in the hopes of Patrick not asking a question pertaining to his family or where he lived when he was a child.

"To start off, where were you before Clamu's rampage?" Patrick asked that question to see if he could find some signs of increasing anxiety from Nicholas.

Nicholas became somewhat relieved. "I cooked breakfast for my family. I then went to my computer and played some games until I read an internet article about the destruction that Clamu was causing." He said the unfiltered truth.

"Did you know that is Free Day?" Patrick asked to see if Nicholas had been searching for any free stuff like what Mr. Krabs had been doing.

"Nope." Nicholas shook his head. "What's that?"

"It's not important now. Next, what do you mainly use your computer for?" Patrick was aware of the fact that people could use computers for criminal purposes.

"To play computer games like Minecraft on it. I sometimes use it for homework if I need to." Nicholas was almost completely calm by that point. He saw no point in telling lies since the information that Patrick wanted did not need to be hidden.

"Have you eaten peanuts recently?" Patrick knew that the 'culprit' only left behind a peanut at the crime site.

"Nope." Nicholas began to lean on his apartment's steps. He predicted the course that the interrogation was going to take after he carefully listened to and thought about Patrick's questions.

Patrick stood up from the steps. He crossed 'Nicholas' out of his suspect list. "Nicholas, you are free to go. It is highly unlikely that you are the culprit or a close associate of him." He then looked at the last five names on the list. "Do you know where these five people live?" He showed the notepad to Nicholas. The names were: 'Jack', 'Mike', 'Ricky', 'Marco'. They were the four thugs that attacked SpongeBob and Patrick at the rooftop.

Nicholas' eyes bugged out. He immediately recognized those names. He had heard about those people many times from his neighbors. They were highly talked about in his neighborhood since they were some of the nastiest juvenile delinquents in the ghetto/upper downtown area (except for Shawn). "They live in the ghetto. Jack lives down my street. His home is constantly watched by the police."

"Your assistance is appreciated." Patrick smiled a bit and then walked down the street towards Jack's home. He was in a good mood now since his former suspects were now cooperating with him.

A pause.

Nicholas walked towards the grocery store again. He cautiously looked at his surroundings now and then so he could avoid an encounter with Clamu.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to a house that was in slight disrepair.

That house was surrounded by two police boatmobiles. Sometimes, one police car would leave while another one would take its place. The policemen were taking turns with their watch of Jack. Jack was currently under probation and had to be watched carefully so he could be caught quickly if he committed a crime.

One of the police boatmobiles moved a bit to block Patrick from reaching the house. One of the windows was pulled down and a policeman leaned his head through the opening. "If I were you, I wouldn't be coming here, kiddo. The guy who lives in that house over there," He pointed at the house surrounded by the police vehicles. "has committed many crimes and felonies." He tried to scare Patrick away. He did not want any disturbances to his watch of Jack.

The police man failed to intimidate Patrick at all. The sea star was confident in his detective abilities. "I am here to interrogate this guy called Jack. I am doing an investigation for the person who caused Clamu's rampage and I believe that Jack is a suspect." He spoke in the most formal tone that he could do. The sea star then folded his arms.

The police man smirked and then chuckled. In his opinion, Patrick looked ridiculous with that hat and sounded comical with that speaking manner. "We have been watching Jack since six in the morning. There is no way that he could have escaped to the zoo without us noticing it." He said a fact that Patrick was not aware of. "I'm also gonna give you a piece of advice, being a detective ain't easy." With a bigger smile, he flipped the switch.

The window on that door of the police boatmobile closed.

Patrick took a deep breath and turned around. He then walked towards Nicholas' apartment. 'I should ask Nicholas 'bout where Mike lives.' He quickly made a decision on his next course of action.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A young man who was wearing an extra-large white T-shirt stood before Patrick. He had seen what had happened to Patrick when the sea star approached Jack's home.

The pink star then stopped walking and opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by the young man.

"You were looking for Jack, right?" The young man had a neutral facial expression. Even though one of his friends held a grudge against Patrick, he did not use his friend's opinion as a way of judging the pink star.

"Yeah. Why were they blocking the way?" Patrick asked a question that he was almost dying to know the answer to. His intelligence and memory could not help him with clearing through the thick fog of what the police had been doing near Jack's home.

"Jack is on probation. The court doesn't want him to go to jail right away. The police have been doing this since a week ago." The young man cleared the fog for Patrick. He was always aware of the current events affecting his friends since poverty-stricken life was full of unwanted surprises.

"Is it like that for Jack's friends too?" Patrick asked an even more important question. His investigation would have to come to a halt if the police continued to prevent him from contacting or communicating with the thugs.

"Yep. All for of 'em." The young man began to walk away from Patrick. He had more important things to do than idly talk with a pink stranger who was wearing a silly hat.

A long pause.

Patrick sighed. 'I guess it's time to go home.' He looked at the ground as he walked towards his rock. He could not hide his disappointment. Unfortunately, the culprit continued to be illusive. He still considered the four thugs to be suspicious even after the police officer told him the truth. He felt like he needed to see the thugs themselves for him to know for sure that they were the culprits or not. 'Maybe I should think up of more suspects.' Since he knew that resisting the police was futile, he began to think about the best next course of action for his investigation.


	64. The Smoking Peanut Part 2

**This is becoming way longer than I expected. The plot of the original episode is just too juicy for me to resist (I pre-wrote this 'mini-arc'). There will definitely be a Part 3. **

* * *

**Chapter 64: The Smoking Peanut Part 2**

* * *

Patrick walked up to his rock and...

**CRRREEEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick put the open notepad on the floor and sat on the floor. He took off his detective hat so he could put his 'thinking cap' on. The sea star stared at the suspect list as he searched through the deep recesses of his mind for clues and noncontacted suspects. The suspect list still had the last four names: 'Jack', 'Mike', 'Ricky', and 'Marco' uncrossed since Patrick still believed that the thugs were suspicious.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Jack exited his home. He had shaped his black hair into his normal hairstyle, a ponytail. He was wearing sunglasses, a black jacket, and somewhat worn-out jeans. He had used up his last pack of cigarettes (he had bought many packs a week ago) a day ago and currently had the daily urge to smoke. The thug usually smoked in the morning and in the evening. However, he was going to have to verbally wrestle with the cops before he even had a chance of buying a cigarette pack. He boldly walked up to a police boatmobile.

The police officer who was holding the vehicle's steering wheel quickly pulled the window of the adjacent door down. That officer was the same one who tried to discourage Patrick from entering Jack's home. He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by Jack. He knew the type of demand that Jack was going to say and disapproved of it. His encounters with Jack had happened to many times for his liking.

"I wanna go to the store and get a pack of cigarettes." Jack spoke like he was saying a command. The tone of his voice and the tightening of his fists revealed his resentment and aggression against the police. He was becoming tired otf the police's constant control of his activities (especially the leisurely ones). The thug also thought that speaking to the police in an intimidating manner made him more persuasive.

"Jack, I ain't just gonna let you go so easily. We aren't going to fall for the same trick over and over again. We caught you in a fight a few days ago and I don't believe a word that you just said. I bet you're ready to dish some payback once you get our of our clutches." The police officer spoke in an equally angry manner. He hated watching Jack since he felt more like a babysitter than a cop. He held negative feelings against Jack that were similar to the ones that Squidward used to feel against SpongeBob whenever the sponge was up to his antics. The officer yearned to switch to another role since his current role seemed to be a mockery of his capabilities. He even slightly jealous of the cops who were chasing Clamu .

"I'm serious as hell this time! All of my packs are empty!" Jack pulled several empty cigarette packs out of his pockets and held them out towards the cop. "See! I'm not trying to pull a fast one. I swear to Neptune, my itch to smoke is gonna kill me if I don't get a cig soon." The thug was completely serious. He then picked up the cigarette packs and tossed them to a trash can.

The police officer had not seen Jack being serious about buying cigarettes before. Such seriousness convinced the officer that the thug was not trying to trick him. "I'm only gonna let you slide if I get an eyewitness to come over to me and tell me what happened before you come back. Don't worry if he lies 'cause he'll put at taser-point." The officer took out his taser and turned it on to show his own seriousness.

Jack saw a friend of his walk down a nearby sidewalk and a light bulb lit up in his head. "YO, JORDAN, OVER HERE!" He called out for his friend.

The friend walking down the sidewalk was the guy who was wearing the extra large white T-shirt and had talked to Patrick. Jordan walked up to Jack. "What's up?"

Jack grabbed Jordan by the shirt collar and pulled him towards the police officer. "This guy right here," He pointed at Jack. "will cover me." The thug had been friends with Jordan for a long time so he trusted him.

"Listen up, young fella." The police officer turned to look at Jordan. "Before Jack comes back, you're gonna come to me and tell me what he had been doing during his little trip to the store. It could be either good news or bad news." He tried to make the instructions as simple as possible.

Jordan nodded; he understood what the officer said. He had heard about the fight that Jack got into a few days ago so he knew where the officer was coming from.

"Guys, one more thing. Don't think that we'll just rely on you." The police officer pointed at Jordan. "If some police see any trouble from you guys. We will not hesitate to arrest you." He spoke with folded arms.

Jordan was not much of a trouble-maker. He actually focused more on escaping poverty and the ghetto instead of just earning money illegally and consequently come back to the ghetto.

"You can leave now." The police officer was doubting what he was saying. He had thought that he would never say that sentence again after he found out about the trouble that Jack caused a few days ago. He was also relieved since his job will be temporarily easier. Less fighting and aggression from Jack meant relaxation and time moving faster.

Jack and Jordan walked away from the property and walked down the sidewalk. They did not talk to each other until they were several blocks away from the police cars.

S-S-S-S-S

"Let me guess, you're gonna buy some packs of cigarettes." Jordan could tell what his friend was desiring. His friend usually showed obvious signs of withdrawal if he did not smoke at least one cigarette within a day.

"Yep." Jack nodded. "And I told that blue boy the truth too. I ain't lookin' for no fight. Especially with the crazy clam on the loose." He had a solemn face, one of his signs of withdrawal.

"Heh." Jordan could not help himself and smiled a bit. Jack usually lied to the cops so he could get out of trouble. "You must've not smoked that much for the past few days if you're that desperate."

"My packs were running low ever since that fight. I was smoking less and less cigarettes to preserve the packs as the days went on until I smoked the last cigarette in the last pack yesterday." Jack tightened his fists and walked faster. He wanted to get the cigarette packs quickly so his intense desire for them could be satisfied sooner. "I gotta do what I gotta do to get more cigs." He said a valid reason for speaking honestly to the police.

A pause.

Jack's reference to Clamu reminded Jordan of his encounter with Patrick. "By the way, I've talked to Patrick, one of the guys you hate, not too long ago. He said that he was investigating about the culprit who made Clamu upset and also said that you're a suspect. He was even gonna visit you but got stopped by the cops." Jordan told Jack about his encounter.

"Why didn't you beat him up?" Jack raised his brow. If he had encountered Patrick in the streets, he would have beaten the pink star to a pulp immediately.

"I wasn't even a block away from the cops, bro. I would have gotten caught within five seconds." Jordan defended his decision to not beat up Patrick. However, he hid the true reason for his action from Jack.

A light bulb lit up in Jack's head. The thug then made an evil grin. "If we can't beat up that fat star, then we'll just screw him over. As a matter of fact, I've got a plan. The cops right now are really desperate in findin' the culprit, they got almost no clues so far. So what you're gonna do is that you'll tell the cops that you had seen Patrick stealing Clamu's food and had made her become upset. You'll also tell them that Patrick was investigating 'cause he wanted to fool everybody." The thug said a very decent plan. During turbulent times like Clamu's rampage, plans like Jack's were very effective.

"What 'bout the evidence? We can't just say anything to those cops. They'll look for clues, y'know." Jordan almost immediately saw a flaw in Jack's plan. He did not want to get himself in trouble for obviously lying to the cops.

Jack quickly thought up of a solution to the flaw. "Before you tell 'em anything, just buy some clam chow and leave it at that starfish's house. You'll tell 'em that Patrick left the clam food at his house. I'll write down his address if you have a paper." He took out a pencil from his pocket. The Strangler had been stalking some of his enemies recently and had consequently discovered Patrick's address. The Strangler had told the address to the four thugs at a recent meeting. However, the serial killer currently had too much business with other people for him to bother with killing SpongeBob and Patrick.

Jordan took out a paper from his pocket and gave it to Jack. He decided to allow himself to be a part of Jack's plan so he could still look like a good friend. He did not want to look like a back-stabber and become a target of the four thugs as a consequence. If he could, he would have avoided the plan altogether.

Jack jotted the address on the paper with his pencil and then gave it back it back to Jordan. "Remember to tell that cop 'bout what I been doin' before I come back home." He reminded Jordan's status as a witness.

Jordan nodded to show that he understood what Jack said and was also going to comply to the demands of Jack's plan.

Jack resumed his walk towards the convenience store. That store was down the street.

Jordan waited a few minutes for his friend. He wanted to inform the police officer about Jack before he would do anything related to Jack's plan.

S-S-S-S-S

More than six minutes later..

S-S-S-S-S

Jack was walking up the street. He was holding a black plastic bag that had many cigarette packs inside of it.

Jordan eventually spotted Jack and then turned around. He walked up to the police vehicles surrounding Jack's home and stepped specifically towards the resentful police officer's boatmobile.

The resentful police officer pulled the adjacent window down. "How's Jack doing?" He took out his taser and aimed it towards Jordan. "Don't lie to me. I can tell if you're lying or not."

Jordan did not show a single sign of nervousness. He did not think about lying to the police officer about Jack's status anyway. "Jack went to the store and bought alota packs of cigarettes. He did not cause any trouble and just walked to where he needed to go." He spoke honestly.

"I thought he said that he was just gonna get a pack of them." The police officer realized that Jack lied to him to a certain degree. However, by Jordan's facial expression, he could tell that that teenager was telling the truth.

"People could change their minds, y'know." Jordan said an excuse for Jack's actions.

The police officer shrugged. He found no fault in Jordan's statement. 'Him buying one or a dozen doesn't matter. As long as he buys what he says.' The officer thought in a more relaxed way and laid back on the driver's seat. There was no point in worrying about Jack exactly doing what he was saying.

Jordan walked away from the police officer. He felt like now was the time to put Jack's plan into action.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Jack walked up to his home.

The police officer saw Jack from the corner of his eye and pulled down the window.

Jack walked up to the resentful police officer, opened his bag, and showed its contents to show that he mostly did what he had said. "See? I ain't lying." He then walked towards the front door and...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered his home.

'At least he's gonna behave for a change.' The police officer thought with a smirk. He was glad that the thug was making his job easier. However, he knew in the back of his mind that Jack was only behaving for the sake of self-preservation.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Jordan walked through the glass double door and exited the pet shop that was nearest to his home. He was holding a large sealed bag of clam chow. The male teenager took out the paper from his pocket and glanced at the address. He then walked towards the street that Patrick's rock was in.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick's mind was wandering into off-topic territories. The sea star was wondering about how a fun zoo visit could turn into a massive investigation so rapidly. After a lot of reflection and remembering, a memory suddenly entered his mental vision.

_"Yes. You just have to learn to be more assertive. And I can show you how." Plankton replied to both of them and smiled widely. He made another mental evil laugh, Patrick was dumb enough to become another assistant in driving everybody out of the beach._

_"Assertive, huh?" Patrick thought about what Plankton just said. _

_A pause._

_"I'll pass." Patrick made a deadpan face as he became bored. His intelligence had decreased. He no longer became interested in Plankton's words due to not knowing what 'assertive' meant, the sea star did not have the patience to learn the possibly complicated definition of the word. The starfish was looking for some fun instead of an education. He then walked away from SpongeBob and Plankton and roamed around Goo Lagoon for a fun activity._

Patrick remembered how Plankton had tried to exploit SpongeBob's gullibility by making the sponge do acts that were out of character for the sponge. A giant light bulb then lit up in his head. 'Plankton!' The sea star thought with widened eyes and he stood up from the floor. Plankton was highly likely to be the culprit since he assumed that Plankton would have probably enjoyed making an oyster like Clamu upset. He remembered some of the evil acts that Plankton had done to the Krusty Krew ever since SpongeBob became a fry cook. He also assumed that making Clamu upset was part of some convoluted scheme to get the secret formula. He grabbed his notepad, jotted 'Plankton' into the suspect list, and put on his detective hat. He rapidly climbed the circular wall and...

**CRREEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick ran as fast as he could towards the Chum Bucket. His mind eventually solidified into him truly believing that Plankton was responsible for making Clamu upset.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Jordan finally found Patrick's rock. He had heard Jack talk about SpongeBob and Patrick's strange homes a few times in the past so he knew how the homes looked like. He walked up to the rock, put the paper into his pocket, and...

**CRRREEEAAK  
**

**SLAM**

...entered the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Luckily for him, Patrick was not home. He wiped some sweat from his brow since he had been worrying about the possibility of Patrick being aware of his presence in the rock. He dropped the bag of clam chow to the floor. The young man then managed to climb the wall and...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick slowly walked towards the Chum Bucket. He was panting and sweating profusely. He had ran so fast that his stamina reached its limit within a few minutes. The sea star reached the restaurant's double door with shaky legs and leaned himself through the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The sea star entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton heard the opening of the restaurant's entrance, gasped, and then grinned in excitement. He merrily hopped across the laboratory. This was the second time in the Chum Bucket's history that a customer came on a Sunday.

Creak

Slam

Plankton exited the laboratory.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton jogged towards the pink visitor. "Welcome to the Chum Bucke-" He ended his sentence when he looked up and realized that that special visitor was Patrick. What made the situation more awkward was the fact that Patrick was obviously exhausted. "Oh." He made a deadpan face. Most of his encounters with Patrick were negative. The sea star had not changed his view on the plankton since the time when Plankton first targeted SpongeBob.

Patrick took a deep breath and sat on a table. "I've... finally... caught you..." He pointed and glared at the plankton. He was too tired to bother with speaking a formal manner. "Don't... lie to me. I know what... you're up to." Once the sea star regained enough breath, he stood up. "What's wrong with you?! I can't believe scum like you would hurt gentle creatures like oysters so you can get a stupid paper!" He palmed his fist and narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna bring you to justice!" He stomped towards the plankton.

Plankton did not back away from the sea star. He raised his brow in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't even touch that crazy oyster at all." He spoke the truth. He was aware of the chaos occurring in the large world outside of his comfortable and cold home.

"What did I tell you?!" Patrick's face began to become crimson with anger. "DON'T LIE TO ME!" He grabbed Plankton's whole body with one fist and shook the plankton furiously. His temper had exploded into pieces and his rationality became blinded by fury. The sea star was trying to knock out Plankton so the plankton could get arrested by the police more easily.

"**STOOoooOOOOoooOOOOOooooOOOOPP!**" Plankton screamed in agony. He rapidly flailed his limbs in a desperate attempt to break free from Patrick's tight grip. **"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" **He screamed like he was an animal incapable of speech.

Karen heard her husband's screaming and quickly went into action. A tile in the dining room's ceiling opened and a robot arm came out of that opening. The robot arm made a fist and...

**BAM**

...punched Patrick in the foreheard.

Patrick let go of Plankton as he flew across the dining room.

**SLAM**

The sea star hit a wall and fell to the floor with a **THUD**.

A long pause.

Plankton shakily stood up and waited until he was no longer dizzy. He then looked up at the robotic arm. "Karen, can you bring the sea star to the laboratory?" The plankton wanted to explain to Patrick about how he was innocent.

The robot arm picked up the dizzy Patrick, turned to the laboratory's entrance, and tossed Patrick through the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the laboratory floor.

Creak

Slam

Plankton entered the laboratory.

A long pause.

Patrick sat up until his dizziness vanished. He then stood up and glared at Plankton once again.

Plankton returned a glare that was equally as intense as the starfish's. "Before you physically assault me again, I would like to explain something." He walked up to a table and leaped to its top so he could be somewhat safe by being surrounded by the many vials that were on it. "I did not went to the zoo at all. I have not even thought about harming Clamu in some way. As a matter of fact, making Clamu go on a rampage is a highly ineffective way of getting the formula. As you may or may not know, several species of oyster, including Clamu's species, are some of the natural enemies of plankton which is my species." He spoke in a somewhat simple manner and pointed out obvious facts since he assumed that Patrick was too stupid to understand normal, complicated sentences. "If I had upset her, she would've probably spotted me in a few seconds and consequently would have eaten me."

Patrick still treated Plankton with an excessive amount of suspicion. "How do I know if you're lying or not?" He raised his brow and folded his arms. He had a hunch that Plankton was trying to deceive him so he could commit more evil deeds on Clamu or other giant clams.

_"Plankton has been in the Chum Bucket ever since this morning. My database of the security cameras in this building proves this." _Karen decided to join the conversation since she could tell that Patrick was too stubborn and hot-headed to immediately accept the truth.

"Then let me see it!" Patrick spoke sternly and glared at the large computer screen. It seemed that the truth had to be shoved to his face in order for him to accept it as fact.

Plankton groaned. He predicted that he and Patrick were going to spend countless hours arguing over the truth. After encountering the starfish a few times before, he knew he had a long way to go before he could completely chip all of the sea star's suspicion away.

_"The footage will be fast-forwarded for the sake of brevity." _Karen showed footage from four different cameras. All of the footage being shown started at the midnight of last night. She then fast-forwarded the footage by making an hour of footage speed up to one minute.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Jordan was walking down the street that Jack's home was in. He was going to lie to the police as Jack had planned.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick still refused to accept the camera footage as valid. "I bet that was all created with special effects. There's no way that Plankton can sleep through a whole night without him being up to some evil scheme." His desire for serving justice and his prejudice against Plankton blinded him from the blatant truth.

"When will you open your damn eyes?!" Plankton was beginning to lose his temper as well. He had a short temper when it came to communicating with anybody who was an enemy of him or his business. From his perspective, Patrick was so annoying that it was torturous just to even get a word past the starfish's stubborn ears.

The bitter argument between Patrick and Plankton continued. The starfish and the plankton were spitting flaming words at each other as they attempted to fully support their own viewpoints. Karen watched the argument erupt and helped Plankton with supporting his viewpoint when she felt like it was necessary. She also prevented Patrick from beating up Plankton by blocking the starfish with a robotic arm, those occurrences were few and far between however.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The formerly resentful police officer was driving down the street in a very good humor. He just had a call from the police station saying that his role of watching Jack had been switched with another person. His current role was to look for any criminals who tried to loot stores destroyed by Clamu.

Jordan saw the police boatmobile and walked up to it.

The police officer, whose name was Bill (I should have mentioned that earlier), pulled down the adjacent window. He immediately recognized Jordan. "What's up, kiddo?" He could not remove the smile from his face.

Jordan made a serious facial expression so he could make it seem like he was speaking honestly. "I know I should've said this earlier but I'm just gonna tell it anyway. I think I saw the person who made Clamu upset leave Oyster Stadium right after he did the crime."

Bill's eyes bugged out. He no longer cared about the lateness of Jordan's providing of information. As long as the information assisted the police in the investigation, the timeliness of it would not matter. "Hold on!" He took out his walkie talkie. "Guys, I need a sketch artist and another officer over here ASAP. A young male who just came up to me said that he knows something about the culprit." He spoke into the walkie talkie an excited voice. He optimistically predicted a raise in his salary for his helpful efforts (police get paid more if they had helped a lot in investigations).

_"Alright. We will bring them over real quick." _The detective who was leading the investigation quickly replied. He was at the police station. _"I'll come over as well." _

"Just wait a few minutes." Bill looked at Jordan. "They'll be speeding down the streets in no time." He then looked at his watch in a futile attempt at making time go by faster.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**V-VRRROOOOOMMMMMMMMM**

Two police boatmobiles speeded down the street towards Bill's boatmobile.

**S-SCCRRRREEEEEEEEECCH**

The two boatmobiles screeched to a halt behind Bill's boatmobile. The detective, who was wearing professional attire (unlike stereotypes), and the sketch artist exited one police boatmobile. Another police officer exited the other police vehicle. That officer was wearing sunglasses. The three then gathered before Bill's vehicle and Jordan.

"You must be the chap who knows about the culprit, right?" The detective walked up to Jordan. He was a green anchovy whose species was capable of speech other than meeping.

"Mm-hm." Jordan nodded. He showed no signs of fear or nervousness since he was confident enough in his ability to lie.

"Tell us everything you know about the culprit." The detective was eager to hear what Jordan had to say. He sat on the tip of his boatmobile and took out his pen and notepad. He was going to pay all of his attention to Jordan's 'precious' words. He wanted to find the culprit as soon as possible. The police in Bikini Bottom were becoming desperate to stop Clamu and find the criminal.

"I was visiting the zoo and walked into Oyster Stadium when I saw a starfish run through one of the exits that was on the stadium's arena thingy. He was carrying a bag full of clam food for Clamu. I then saw him leave the stadium when Clamu started to go wild. I also saw him runnin' towards his home when the crowd left the zoo." Jordan said plausible lies. He controlled himself from leaking out any signs of nervousness since that might reveal to the police that he was a deceiver. He was worrying about getting caught for lying. However, he knew that a worser fate awaited him if he did not execute Jack's plan at all.

The detective nodded and had jotted down what Jordan had said. He had underlined keywords that revealed the biggest chunks of information about the culprit.

The sketch artist took out his sketchpad and drawing pencil. "Can you describe the culprit's appearance?" She was a young lady whose species looked like typical fish but with light red skin.

"He was a pink starfish. He was kinda fat and had green pants that had purple flower patterns on it. I don't think he had nothing else on except for undies." Jordan acted like he had to put some effort into his remembering like an actual eyewitness would.

The artist swiftly made a sketch of what Jordan described. "Does he look like this?" She flipped her sketchpad so the sketch could be seen by Jordan.

The sketch looked remarkably similar to Patrick. With a change to the floral pattern on the pants, the sketch would have looked exactly like Patrick. Jordan noticed that and nodded. "Yep." He was impressed by the artist's sketching abilities. He had rarely seen police sketch artists in the past.

"Do you know where the culprit lives?" The detective asked a crucial question. If Jordan was unable to give an address or sense of direction, the investigation would become cold again.

"Kinda." Jordan did not want the police to know that he knew Patrick's address and also had a note with Patrick's address written on it. He thought that revealing his full knowledge of Patrick would make him look suspicious. The teenager then suddenly remembered something. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you guys 'bout this. I saw the culprit wearing a detective hat, he was walking down this very street. He said that he was currently investigating into the culprit who upset Clamu. I didn't say anything to him though." He had almost forgotten to do a part of Jack's plan. "He's probably doing that to throw you guys off. After he spoke to me for a bit, he went back to his home. I'll show you guys the way." The teenager became less anxious. He could tell that the police before him were believing his lies as facts.

Bill stepped out of his vehicle and pointed at the seat right next to the driver's seat. "Hop right in." He anticipated the catching of the culprit. He could smell that extra money that was going to get into his wallet by the end of the month.

Jordan walked into the boatmobile and sat in the adjacent seat.

Bill sat in the driver's seat and closed the door.

The others got into their vehicles.

Under Jordan's guidance, the police boatmobiles drove towards Patrick's rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton and Patrick were still furiously arguing. Their argument had not reached any sort of conclusion that was beyond the flaming foundation of misunderstanding. The two were becoming emotionally tired of hearing from the other and longed for the other to give up.

"THAT'S IT!" Plankton stomped on the table. He had lost all of his patience for the starfish. He viewed the pink star as a pink pest that had to get swatted out of the building. "GET OUT!" He pointed at the laboratory's exit.

"Of course you want me to leave," Patrick tightened his fists and stomped towards Plankton. ''cause you don't wanna get punished!" Steam was coming out of his head. The sea star's anger was going to explode again. He raised his fist so he could squash Plankton like a hammer squashing a peach.

"Karen, make him leave!" Plankton ran across the table in fright. He could still feel the disorienting sensations of when he got rapidly shaken by Patrick. He could not imagine the pain that he was going to feel if Patrick began to punch him.

A tile in the ceiling opened and a robotic leg went through the opening. It turned so the tip of its foot was pointing at the irate sea star. It backed away for a few seconds but then darted forward in less than a second.

**KLOK**

The robotic leg kicked Patrick with a mighty amount of force.

Patrick flew across the laboratory.

**S-SLAM**

The pink missile flew through the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

The sea star flew at the same speed across the dining room.

**S-SLAM**

Patrick flew through the Chum Bucket's entrance.

S-S-S-S-S

The starfish flew across the ground in front of the Chum Bucket until...

**CLANG**

...he hit one of the four poles that were before the restaurant.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick's vision cleared. The sea star shakily stood up and narrowed his eyes at the Chum Bucket. Regardless of how many times that the truth had been slapped across his face, he still considered Plankton to be a very high-risk suspect. His view of Plankton in terms of the investigation changed very little. 'I'm gonna have to wait until night. Once that happens, I'll bring him to the cops and force the truth out of that dirty mouth of his.' He came up with a plan. His thoughts revealed his animosity towards the plankton. The sea star then walked towards his rock. He considered the option of creating and interrogating another batch of suspects, he desired to spend the rest of his Sunday in doing productive work for his investigation.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The three police boatmobiles parked before Patrick's rock. Bill, Jordan, the detective. the sketch artist, and the other police officer exited the vehicles.

"Is that rock his home?" The detective looked at Jordan and pointed at the rock. He was not sure about which of the three houses was the sea star's home.

Jordan acted like he did not know that the rock was Patrick's home. "I'm not sure." He shrugged. He did not reveal his knowledge out of a fear of sounding like he had stalked Patrick.

"We'll just check each one." The detective walked towards the rock and pointed at it. "Starting with this one." He had enough patience for a thorough search. His anticipation over finding the criminal tried to make him smile and become impatient. However, the anchovy controlled his facial expression and his desires.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

The detective opened the rock. He allowed everybody else to enter the home before he...

**SLAM**

...closed the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

The group immediately saw a large bag of clam chow on the living room's floor. They could tell that it had recently been bought from a store or had been taken from a storage facility.

Patrick was not home, as Jordan had expected. Jordan's actual intention in bringing the police to the home was to show physical 'evidence' that supported Patrick being the culprit. Even if the showing of the evidence was not part of Jack's plan, he would have done it anyway because it was highly likely that the police would become skeptical of his claim once they interrogate Patrick. The 'evidence' protected him from getting arrested for lying.

The detective walked up to the clam chow bag and inspected it. He realized that the clam chow in the bag was one of the brands that were fed to the oysters in the zoo. Jordan was aware of that clam chow brand since he had seen a delivery truck of that brand enter the zoo one time when he was a child.

After a few seconds, Jordan got back to his senses. 'I gotta keep up my act.' He looked at the clam chow bag and acted like he was surprised. "Hey, that's the food that I saw him stole!" He pointed at the bag.

The detective jotted that spoken piece of important information into his notepad. He then looked at the others who were searching through the home. "Have you found the culprit yet?" He spoke in a professional tone, it was more stern than before since his eagerness for the culprit's arrest was intensifying.

The others walked back to the detective.

"Nope." The police officer who was wearing sunglasses shook his head.

The sketch artist held out towards the detective a framed photo of Patrick that she had found. "We had found this instead. The person in this photo is nearly identical to the person that the young man had described." She held out her sketch of the sea star.

The detective nodded and took out his cell phone. He turned it on, stepped towards the framed photo, leaned towards the photo, and took a decently clear picture of it. "Since the culprit is not in here, I think it wouldn't harm us if we asked his neighbors." The detective walked towards the circular wall and climbed it. "It'll also confirm the young man's claim. That bag of clam chow could've been a coincidence, you know." The detective was careful to not jump to conclusions. He had to ignore the pressure put on him by the chaos that Clamu was causing.

The sketch artist put the framed photo back to its original place.

Bill carried the clam chow bag. There was no point in leaving crucial evidence in the 'culprit's' home.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The group exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

The detective glanced at the tiki and then at the pineapple. He randomly picked the pineapple as the group's next destination and walked towards it.

The others followed. Jordan had not expected the police to be interviewing Patrick's neighbors. However, it did not matter in the long-run since the series of events will all ultimately lead to Patrick's arrest. It was not an optimistic thought but merely a relieving hope, the teenager was not enjoying his execution of Jack's plan at all. From his point of view, it felt more like a chore. He even felt a little bad for the poor starfish. He predicted that Patrick was going to get shamed by the whole town for 'his' monstrous act.

The detective walked up to the pineapple's front door and...

**DING DONG**

...rang the doorbell.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in the library. He was sitting on the brown couch chair and was reading an informational book about clams of several different sizes. His reading was focused specifically on the oyster section. He was doing that out of the intention to learn how to prevent fights with oyster and how to take care of them if they were malnourished or starving.

His intense regret over making Clamu upset was making him do strange activities such as sitting in the kitchen while staring at the wall. The sponge sometimes had memories of Gary that constantly reappeared in his head during those long periods in the kitchen. Whenever a memory related to a precious moment with the snail or the adoption of the snail had came up, his mental voice would had told him that he was a hypocrite since the act 'he' had done to Clamu made him feel like he betrayed all domesticated animals and animals in captivity that had been treated with kindness by him. He had also thought about the ridiculous of him capturing and then releasing jellyfish if he could easily upset an innocent oyster without much thought or consideration.

In spite of all of that, what SpongeBob was actually doing was waiting for the 'inevitable'. He felt like he would deserve most of the probable jail sentences that he was going to get for 'his' crimes. The yellow square's guilt made him have a desire to be punished.

_Ding_

_Dong_

The yellow sponge heard the faint sounds of the doorbell. He closed the book, walked up to its shelf, put it away, and walked down the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**DING**

**DONG**

The detective rang the doorbell again. He assumed that whoever dwelled in the home did not hear the doorbell when it was the first time that it was rung by him. "Open up, this is the police." He spoke in a loud and stern voice. He then folded his arms.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob just entered the living room when he had heard what the detective had said. He then realized right away that the time for his arrest had came. The yellow square then made a solemn face and gulped in acceptance of his fate. He was not afraid of getting shamed or going to jail because he truly felt like that those punishments were appropriate for 'his' crime. With a deep breath, the sponge...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened the front door. He then saw the detective and made eye contact with him.

"What is your full name?" The detective continued to speak in a stern voice. He wanted to sound authoritative so as to heavily discourage the sponge from refusing to answer or questioning the questions asked.

"SpongeBob SquarePants." SpongeBob answered with barely any emotion. He thought that the handcuffs were in one of the detective's pockets.

The detective jotted down SpongeBob's full name. "Are you friends with or associated with a pink starfish who lives in a rock near your home?" He turned on his cell phone and showed the picture of Patrick to SpongeBob. He was checking to see if the yellow square was a major source of information.

"Yes. He is my best friend." SpongeBob nodded but did not smile. His hands shook a bit in anticipation of getting put in handcuffs.

The detective jotted more information into the notepad"What is your best friend's full name?"

"Yes." SpongeBob nodded. "Patrick Star." He could imagine the grief that his best friend was going to feel once the sea star finds out about his prison sentence. Such bleak thoughts were preserving his solemn face, a touch of sadness could even be seen in that face.

The detective jotted down Patrick's full name. "Were you at the zoo on the day of the oyster incident?" He started to dig into the most crucial information.

"Yes. I went there with Patrick and my pet snail." More cheerful thoughts entered the yellow square's mind when he remembered the times when he went to the zoo. However, those thoughts did not even leave a scratch on his solemn face.

"Did you, or did you not take part in various activities of zoo-time merriment?" The detective asked as he jotted the information gained from the sponge's words into his notepad.

"Yes. We were having fun until Clamu got upset." The yellow square, by that point, sounded like a robot since he started every sentence with a "yes". His seriousness ended up making him sound silly. The plain answers he was saying made him sound more dead and like Squidward than alive and like himself.

The detective scanned through his notes and saw no contradictions from the sponge's answers. The notes told a concise tale when put together. "Do you know where Patrick is?"

"No." SpongeBob shook his head and looked at the ground. He felt even more guilty since he thought that him being in jail was going to make Patrick suffer from a confinement sadness, it was all ultimately 'his' fault since 'he' was the one who started the whole chain of events. His guilt made him believe that he unleashed a chain reaction of suffering for the people close to him and other Bikini Bottomites. He raised his hands a bit so the detective could put the handcuffs on his wrists.

"I believe that is all we need to know." The detective turned around and walked towards his police boatmobile. "The young man's claim is definitely true. No doubt about it. The sponge's answers are directly compatible with the gathered evidence." He spoke to the sketch artist and the other police officers.

Jordan took a deep breath of major relief. As he had predicted, his execution of Jack's plan became successful regardless of the unexpected turns. He thought that his role in the plan was fulfilled and he walked towards his home as a consequence.

Before the detective entered his vehicle, he saw Jordan walking away from the corner of his eye. "Not so fast, young chap." He held out his hand towards the teenager.

Jordan turned to look at the detective. He sweatdropped a bit since the detective sounded like he was going to interrogate the adolescent.

"What's your full name?" The detective still had his notepad out. He felt like an explanation for a such a question was needed. "I simply want to add your act of assistance to your permanent record."

"Jordan Salvelin." The teenager answered quickly. He wanted to return to his home and relax in the quiet of familiar surroundings. A fear over encountering Clamu had not left his mind ever since he left his parents' house.

The detective jotted down Jordan's full name and entered his vehicle. The sketch artist entered the detective's boatmobile as well.

Bill and the other police officer entered their respective police boatmobiles.

**V-V-VRRRROOOOOOOMMMMM **

The police boatmobiles drove down the street and vanished from the horizon. It signaled the true beginning of the hunt for the pink starfish.

Jordan walked hastily towards his home. His imagining of the comforts of watching TV while being in the safety of his bedroom spurred him to make a quick return.

SpongeBob was staring at the horizon that the trio of police boatmobiles had drove through. He could not believe that he was not the culprit that they were searching for. Such an act from the police made him fall into a foggy sea of bewilderment. In order to escape such a sea, he needed peace and quiet.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

"What was that all about?" Gary had been watching the conversation that had occurred between SpongeBob and the police. He could tell that the detective's questions had been referring to Clamu's rampage. However, those questions were not clear enough when it came to the intentions of their askers.

"I... I-I need to think about it. I-I'm just too confused about it right now." SpongeBob was so bewildered that he struggled to speak. He briskly walked across the living room. "I'll come back to you once I sort things out." He was going to head straight for the library once he reaches the room with the staircase. He exited the living room.

An awkward pause.

Gary slithered to the couch and turned on the TV since there was nothing else to do. He flipped from channel to channel in the hopes of catching a rerun of 'Wild West'.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the library through the hallway. He slowly walked to the brown chair and sat in it. He could not comprehend how he was not the criminal being searched for even though it was blatantly 'obvious' that he stirred Clamu from her slumber and 'made' her upset. He thought that it was no use to confess to the police about it since they will probably not believe him anyway, they had already figured out the 'full' story based on the evidence they had gathered.

_He picked up a peanut from the bag and threw it towards the largest oyster. He wanted the oyster to have the peanut as a little snack that will boost his energy. The sponge gave it to that oyster since it was the star of every show and was the most important one as a result._

_The peanut touched the largest oyster and then fell to the ground._

_The largest oyster moved a bit and smelled for the thing that hit him._

_SpongeBob gasped and then grinned in delight. _

He clearly remembered what he had done. That memory only made him sink even more into the sea of confusion. It was going to to be a long time before he would realize that there was another force that had a far more important role in causing Clamu's rampage.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was walking down the street, he was still heading for his home. He had been walking at a somewhat slow pace because he was looking around for any signs of the thugs just in case if they left their homes. His intelligence had gradually decreased along the way.

The trio of police boatmobiles drove past Patrick. They then turned around and...

**S-S-SSSCRRREEEEEEECH**

...screeched to a halt. The two police officers got out of their boatmobiles. Bill took out the handcuffs while the other police officer took out a baton.

"FREEZE!" Bill yelled at Patrick and pointed at the sea star.

"Put your hands up where we can see them." The other police officer spoke in an authoritative voice. He then raised his baton. "If you do not comply, we will use force."

Patrick turned around and saw the police officers. He became anxious and bit his lip. The sea star did not anticipate such a turn of events at all. He raised his hands to the air.

Bill walked up to Patrick and put the sea star's arms behind the starfish's back. He opened the handcuffs with his free hand and put them on the pink star's wrists. He then firmly closed the handcuffs. "You are under arrest." He held one of Patrick's forearms and pulled him towards his police boatmobile as he walked towards it. "You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say during our trip to the station could be used against you." Bill opened a door to the second set of seats in the vehicle. He pulled Patrick into one of them and closed the door. He then sat in the driver's seat by entering through the other door.

Patrick quickly accepted his fate. His decreased intelligence thought that everything made sense now even though he was not responsible at all for making Clamu upset. 'Wow, you guys are good. I'm the last person I would have suspected, but I was looking for me all the time. It's the perfect crime.' The starfish thought with great respect to the police. He was impressed by their ability to quickly eliminate the fog of mystery and capture the 'actual' culprit.

The other police officer got into his vehicle and closed the door.

**V-V-VRRROOOOOOOMMMM**

The trio of boatmobiles drove down the road towards the police station.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The trio of police boatmobiles parked in the parking lot of the police station.

Everybody including Patrick got out of the vehicles. The sea star was held at the arm by Bill as they walked towards the station. They walked away from the parking lot and went up the station's steps. They then stood before five automatic double doors made out of ultra-durable glass (it can withstand hundreds of normal bullets).

The automatic double doors opened.

They walked through the open doorways.

S-S-S-S-S

They were in the main room of the building.

Police officers and other important members of the police were opening and closing doors as they repeatedly walked through several open doorways. They were quickly managing the data for Clamu's latest whereabouts.

There was a wooden desk to the left. An officer was looking through important databases on the desktop computer that was on the desk. He had been doing that for the last few hours and was heavily focused into his task.

There were a few tables and some seats where some police officers could go to if it was during their breaks. The officers usually drank coffee or water when they sat at those tables.

Bill walked towards a certain door and pulled Patrick with him. He...

**CREEEAAAK**

...opened the door. The open doorway revealed a long hallway. He walked down that hallway while pulling the sea star and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

...opened a door to an investigation room.

The others except for the sketch artist entered the room as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Bill made Patrick sit on a seat in the table. He then looked at the detective and the other police officer, who just sat in the table as well. "Do we have any time to find a prosecutor?" His memory did not serve him well in the current case. He thought that Patrick's crime could be brought to the court.

"Nope." The detective shook his head. "Clamu is simply too wild to be left alone for too long. Plus, the cruelty the criminal had done to Clamu is too minor for it to be punishable by a prison sentence. I've seen such minor cruelty acts to animals before so I'm speaking with complete confidence. Even if his act was punishable through jail time, it would take too long and be too tedious for us to have some criminal case trials in court for his act. As a matter of fact, his act of cruelty was so minor and indirect that we don't even need to bring him to the court. There isn't even a formal punishment for an minor act like that." The detective explained about the inneccessity of bringing Patrick to the court and the severity of the 'starfish's crime.

The police officers and the detective were discussing about the appropriate punishment for Patrick's crime, that was their intention ever since they entered the room.

"Should we interrogate the sea star to see if he intended to harm Clamu or not?" The other police officer brought up a decent question. "His intentions, based on the current evidence, are not clear."

"There is no need for an interrogation. I want you two to move on to handling Clamu as soon as possible. The evidence actually makes his intentions quite clear. He stole a bag of clam chow, a type of food that sea stars are unable to eat. He is also overweight which therefore makes him well fed so there is no need for him to steal the clam chow. His robbery from Oyster Stadium was also done alone and with nobody nearby to watch him except for the young man. Based on that, I can rationally conclude that the starfish stole the clam chow out of his free will instead of coercion." The detective gave an in-depth answer to the other police officer's question. Although his answer was based on assumptions, he wanted to close the case as soon as possible. He did not want so many questions asked that the discussion ends up becoming idle chatter. The pressure on the police force caused by Clamu's rampage was making him think more on his feet. "Since his crime was so minor and ultimately nothing in severity compared to the chaos going on outside, I will bring this case to a close. You two will think up of a punishment that is most appropriate for the sea star." The detective stood up from his seat and...

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the interrogation room.

Bill sat in the table. He and the other police officer thought deeply about what could be a possible punishment for Patrick that was not too severe.

The punishment Bill was conceiving was more on the shaming side. However, he was not sure about how Patrick was going to get shamed. He tried to find some ideas by looking at his surroundings. However, none of the objects in the room gave him any major ideas. He then thought of objects that he had seen earlier in the day. He eventually remembered that the only piece of evidence at the crime scene in Oyster Stadium was a single peanut. A light bulb then lit up in his head. "I've got something! Why don't a crowd surround the criminal and then throw peanuts at him until he's buried in it?"

The other police officer smiled in satisfaction. "Sounds pretty nice, but we're gonna have to save that for later. We still have a crazy oyster on the loose." He stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit.

Billl sat up from his seat as well and followed the other police officer. However, before he stepped out of the room, he looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. "Do not leave this room, you understand? People are gonna be coming here to check up on you so don't pull off any tricks." He spoke in a clear voice and then stepped out of the room.

Patrick shrugged and closed his eyes. He thought that the best thing he could do right now was to nap. He assumed that at least an hour was going to pass before someone else enters the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Clamu was hopping down the street. She usually smashed a sign, a boatmobile, or a trash can when she landed on the ground. She sometimes pushed civilians out of the way if she hopped in the way of a large fleeing bunch of them.

**W-W-W-W-WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

Nearly fifty police cars were chasing Clamu. Their sirens in unison were so loud that they could be heard from the outskirts of the city. What was even louder than their sirens was the bullets being fired by the police officers who were in them.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

They were firing at the giant oyster with their pistols. Some of them were standing on top of the boatmobiles so they would not get caught in the bullet fire of their fellow officers, those officers were also firing with their intention was to wound Clamu and consequently maker her temporarily immobilized. Since she was the zoo's property, killing was not an option.

So far, Clamu managed to dodge each bullet. Whenever a bullet got too close for her comfort, she would spin rapidly and slide down the street. She also spun to deflect bullets since her shell was hard enough to deflect them when it moved at a certain speed.

**P-TAFF**

However, in this part of the chase, a bullet caught her when she put her guard down. Fortuantely for the oyster, the bullet only left a small dent on her shell.

The police officers widened their eyes in shock. They realized that the fight was far more daunting than it seemed.

Clamu grabbed a trash can as she hopped along the street and threw it towards a police boatmobile.

**SSSSSCCRRRREEEEEEEEECCCH**

The police boatmobile quickly got out of the way but bumped into another police boatmobile instead.

The front row of the police vehicles became disorderly for several seconds before returning to their normal positions. The drivers of those vehicles then slammed on the vehicles' pedals.

**V-V-V-V-V-V-V-V-V-V-VRRRRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

The police boatmobiles dashed towards the giant clam.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

The police officers who were on top or in those vehicles were firing more rapidly than their fellow officers behind them. They were desperate to land a bullet at Clamu.

Clamu spun rapidly until she looked like a purple wheel. She then bounced from buildingside to buildingside as she dodged the incoming volleys of bullets.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Clamu and the police had left the downtown area of Bikini Bottom. They were now on the street called Anchor Way.

Clamu was still bouncing from buildingside to buildingside. The only difference between now and when she started doing that was that the buildings were anchors instead of normal buildings. She aimed her next bounce at a precise area on the next anchor's surface. She then bounced from the previous building and bounced from the precise point. She flew directly towards a police boatmobile as she had intended.

The police officer who was driving the vehicle gasped and...

**SSSSSSSSCCCCRRRRREEEEEEEECCCCCCH**

...hastily turned the boatmobile out of the oyster's way. He accidentally made his vehicle push some of the nearby boatmobiles out of the street as a consequence.

**S-S-S-SSSSSSCCCREEEEEEEEEEEEECCCH**

**SSSSSSccCCRReeeeeeEEEEEEEEcccccCCCHHH S-S-S-SCREEEECH**

**SCRREEEEEECH S-S-S-SSSSSCRRREEEECCCCH**

**BEEP BEEP**

**HOOOOOOONNNNNNK **

Several police boatmobiles spun rapidly in their drivers' desperate attempts to get to the front row. Some officers in the back wanted to attack the giant oyster directly. Other officers became irritated and wanted their fellow officers' boatmobiles to get out of the way. Those grumpy officers did not like sudden interruptions to their chase.

The army of police boatmobiles quickly scattered into a frenzy over which vehicle was going to the front row first. If the front row becomes organized again, the whole army would eventually become organized as well.

However, Clamu was using the frenzy to her advantage. She grabbed some police boatmobiles that were in her way and threw them to places that were quite far away from the street. Since the boatmobiles were not driving in order or in a pattern, she had done that with ease.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"**

Some police officers yelled in fright as they flew in the air with their boatmobiles. All of them got out of their vehicles in the nick of time, however. Others immediately got out of their vehicles the moment their vehicles got bitten by the giant clam. Those officers would then continue the battle on foot by directly firing at the oyster.

**CRRRRAAAASSSH**

**C-C-CRRRAAASSSH**

Police boatmobiles that were thrown by Clamu were crashing into anchors and fences.

**BOOM**

One of thrown boatmobiles exploded into a fiery corpse when it hit a barbecue machine. The fire became massive because of the fuel provided by the boatmobile's oil. That fire soon consumed most of the lawn of that home.

**SLAM**

A male crab barged out of his anchor and screamed in anchor at what had happened to his lawn. He then dropped to his knees at the sight of the all-out war between the police and the giant oyster.

Police officers who had lost their vehicles were swifty dodging fallen police boatmobiles as they ran towards Clamu. They then raised their pistols and...

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-P-P-P-P-P-P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

...fired a desperate volley at the oyster. They mentally crossed their fingers in the hopes that at least a few of the bullets would hit Clamu.

**SCRRRREEEEEEEECCCCH**

**SSSSSSSSSSSSCCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEECCCH**

**SSSCRRRRRREEEEEECCCH**

There were still some police boatmobiles that were struggling to stay on the road. Those vehicles' drivers were trying to avoid the police officers on foot and any fallen boatmobile.

A light bulb lit up in Clamu's head in less than half a second. She spun rapidly once again and moved in circular paths.

**C-CCRRRRAAAAAAASSSSH**

**SSSSSSSSSCCRREEEEECC-CRRAAAAASSH**

**B-BOOM**

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"**

"DUCK!"

**THUD**

A police officer dove to the ground to avoid a flying police boatmobile while another one got hit by one and collapsed to the ground. Luckily for the unconscious police officer, he did not receive any serious injuries. The police officer who ducked then picked up the unconcsious police offcer and carried him out of the street.

The remaining police boatmobiles were struggling to drive past the officers, broken objects, fallen or destroyed vehicles, and other obstacles. The oyster had caused too much destruction for them to adapt to the obstacles quickly.

Clamu spun away from the mess that used to be an army of police boatmobiles. However, she was not careful with which way that her spinning was making her head towards.

**CRRRAAAASSSH**

The oyster spun through the wall of a pink anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Pieces of the wall fell across the kitchen floor. The oyster was inside the kitchen of Mama Krabs' home.

The old crab dashed into the kitchen. She had been watching the grand battle between the oyster and the police from her bedroom. "DEAR NEPTUNE!" She screamed in horror and backed away from Clamu. She had encountered a giant oyster one time before and that was her only previous encounter in her life. She was not sure about what she should do next since someone else had saved her during her previous encounter.

**CRRRAAAASSSSH**

**S-SHATTER**

**BAM**

**SLAM**

**S-SSSHHAAATTER**

**S-SLAM**

**CRRAAASSSH**

**CRRAAASSH**

The oyster began to destroy the kitchen in search of a way out of the pink anchor. The kitchen was too small for her to move through much of it. She did not turn around and leave through the hole she made since...

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF **

**P-TAFF P-TAFF  
**

**P-TAFF**

The police officers were still outside and were firing at her. They were also heading for the oyster's location.

Clamu spun quickly and deflected the bullets by doing that. The giant clam then...

**SHATTER**

**SMASH**

**CRRASSSH**

**S-S-SHATTTEER**

**CLANK**

**CLUNG**

**SLAM**

...moved and destroyed anything that was in her way. She managed to burst through the doorway to the main hallway. The clam then squeezed her way through, from her perspective, the narrow space that the hallway provided.

**CCCRRRAAASSSSSSHHH**

She was squeezing the hallway's walls so much that they ended up breaking into pieces. The clam was unintentionally destroying the pink anchor from the inside-out. In an attempt to break free from the constraints of the relatively narrow hallway, she hopped up a long set of stairs once she reached them. The stairs were almost wide enough for her to comfortably move on them.

The police officers entered the kitchen and ran up to a distraught Mama Krabs. "Where did Clamu went?" One of them asked. That police officer then reloaded his pistol.

"That way." Mama Krabs spoke solemnly and pointed down the hallway. "The clam went up the stairs." She tried to predict the massive amount of money she would need to pay for repairing her anchor.

The police officers ran down the hallway and ran up the stairs. There were so many of them that they seem like a multi-colored worm-shaped mass when they moved together.

S-S-S-S-S

**CCRRRRRRAAAASSSH**

Clamu was squeezing through another hallway. It was not as narrow as the other one but still did not provide enough adequate space for the giant clam. She squeezed until she reached the furthest door since she assumed that that door was the anchor's exit.

**CRASH**

The oyster burst through that doorway and hopped into the bedroom.

The police reached the floor that she was at.

S-S-S-S-S

**SHATTER**

**S-S-SMASH**

**SLAM**

The oyster quickly searched around the room for an exit. She eventually made a drawer fall to the floor. A paper that was nearly as shiny as the object she had yearned to retrieve slipped out of the drawer. It was so shiny that the giant oyster mistook the paper for the object she longed to return to her custody. She smiled in joy and grabbed the shiny page. Within a few seconds, her anger was lessened until she was relaxed and satisfied. Tranquil solitude from the irritating Bikini Bottomites no longer mattered to her.

The police entered the wrecked bedroom and raised their pistols at Clamu.

A long pause.

Clamu did not move. She no longer felt a need to attack the police officers.

The police officers raised their brows. They were not sure if Clamu was trying to trick them or truly wanted to stop fighting.

The oyster thought that now was a good time to return to the zoo. One of the major objectives of her rampage was fulfilled.

**CRRRRAASSH**

She leaped through one of the bedroom's walls.

S-S-S-S-S

Debris fell to the outside ground from the created hole. It damaged a few signs and parked normal boatmobiles.

**THUD**

Clamu landed on the ground. She then rapidly hopped towards the zoo.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of police officers looked through the large hole in the room. They were wondering about the oyster's intentions for suddenly becoming peaceful.

One police officer noticed that Clamu was heading towards the zoo since he recognized the direction she was going. "She might be heading for the zoo." He said that 'possibility' to the other officers.

"She might be up to something else, y'know." Another officer replied.

"Maybe we should get into our remaining cars and follow her. Once we do that, we'll know for sure if she's going to the zoo and ending her rampage or not." Another police officer provided an idea of his.

The other officers nodded their heads in agreement.

The group of police officers exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

They walked down the destroyed hallway and walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of officers walked down the nearly non-existent hallway of the main floor and exited the pink anchor by walking through the hole in the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Mama Krabs was sitting in a table in the living room. That room had been barely damaged by Clamu. She was thinking heavily about how she was going to gather enough money to pay the debt she was going to get for a repair for her pink anchor. Unfortunate incidents like what had just happened were quite rare since Anchor Way was a peaceful neighborhood. The destruction of her pink anchor had completely shocked her since she had never been dealt such misfortune by Fortuna in more than ten years. She eventually decided that she needed to use her lucky charm to prevent more bad luck from entering her life. She stood up from her seat and quickly walked down the hallway. She then jogged upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Mama Krabs jogged down the hallway of the next floor and entered the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

The old crab walked up to an open drawer. She looked inside of it but noticed that the shining paper was not inside it. "Where's the magical page?!" She sweatdropped and hastily searched through the whole bedroom for the shiny page. After a long while of searching through the rubble, she reached a supreme level of frustration. "That accursed clam... it must've stolen me page." She quickly came to a conclusion that was true. She then fell to her knees and covered her face with her hands, she was mortally afraid of any future bad luck and she fell into despair knowing she currently had no protection from it.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

All of the police officers were in the remaining police boatmobiles. Those boatmobiles were following Clamu wherever she went. Other police boatmobiles with other police officers joined the group, they were sent by the chief of police as reinforcements. The group then became almost as large in terms of boatmobile amount as it was before.

Clamu continued to not attack the police. She only quickened her hopping speed when she needed to. She had become somewhat lost since she was not familiar with the layout of Bikini Bottom's streets. Her return to the zoo was going to take longer than she had expected. While she was hopping, the shiny page was in a safe place by sticking to the roof of her mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Clamu hopped past the Chum Bucket. The oyster was hopping at a faster pace since she wanted to return to the zoo more quickly. She almost directly passed by the four detectors.

S-S-S-S-S

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

A red exclamation mark appeared on the computer screen.

"Huh?" Plankton jumped from a table. He had been working on making a robot that would do chores throughout the Chum Bucket. "Karen, what happened?"

"_Traces of the unknown substance have been detected. A source of the substance has passed by eight seconds ago." _Karen spoke what the detectors were detecting. _"Do you not remember the sample from that robot that you brought in?" _She noticed that Plankton was giving her a blank stare out of confusion.

Plankton snapped out of his confusion and gasped as he remembered the magical page that SpongeBob had used to beat up his robot imitation of Mr. Krabs. "DEAR NEPTUNE!" He ran towards a metal box. 'Now's the time to test out one of my inventions.' He had built a robotic suit designed specifically for the retrieval of stolen objects or for searching for treasure and other hidden goods. He had waited a very long time for this day to come; the day when he was finally going to obtain a magical page."Karen, can you please open this box, please?" He pointed at the box.

**CTHUNG**

A robotic arm came out of a tile from the ceiling and opened the metal box. It then rose back up to the ceiling.

**CLACK**

The tile in the ceiling closed.

A metal suit that was ten times the size of Plantkon was in a standing position inside the metal box. It had a pair of hands that had five fingers each, each finger could shoot a laser. It had a jetpack that was completely connected to its back instead of it being an add-on; Plankton had improved its design rom his more faulty designs of his previous inventions. Its feet consisted of steel combat boots that allowed the suit to be able to walk across most surfaces and terrain. Its head had glass in its center so Plankton could see where he was going. The controls for the suit were right below the helmet (its head).

Plankton climbed the suit and opened its glass. He then squeezed through the opening and shut the glass tightly so it would not accidentally open during flight. He took hold of the suit's controls and pressed the 'ON' button.

The suit turned on.

Plankton pressed a red button.

The suit's jetpack turned on.

The suit flew out of the opened box and flew towards the laboratory's exit.

**S-SLAM**

It entered the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

The suit flew across the dining room.

**S-SLAM**

It exited the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton spoke to a speaker that was to his right. "Karen, where is the source of that magical substance?" He looked in all directions but could not find anything suspicious. The police and the oyster had passed by a minute ago.

"_It is down the road." _Karen answered promptly. She used the data and information gathered from the detectors.

Plankton moved the joystick forward.

The suit flew towards the oyster. It was flying faster than before.

S-S-S-S-S-

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The suit caught up with Clamu. There were many police cars below the suit.

"Is that oyster the source of the magic?" Plankton widened his eye a bit in surprise. He did not expect the giant clam that had been causing mayhem throughout Bikini Bottom to be a wielder of a magical page.

_"Yes. The substance is inside its mouth." _

Plankton bit his lip. If he was going to get the magical page, he would have to deal with unknown variables. Regardless of the odds, he took that risk. The suit dove towards Clamu and held out its fingers towards the oyster.

**P-P-P-P-PEW**

**P-P-P-P-PEW**

The suit fired two volleys of tiny green lasers at Clamu.

Clamu spun at the last second and deflected all of the lasers. She became enraged and returned to her previous state of violence. She leaped towards the suit and tried to bite it.

The suit dodged Clamu's leap and...

**P-P-PEW**

...fired a few more lasers from its fingers.

Clamu dove to the street and avoided the lasers.

**SCREEECCH**

**S-S-S-SSSSCCCRREEEEEECH**

**SSSCREEECH**

A few of the police boatmobiles had to halt before the giant oyster.

However, Clamu did not want to destroy more property or attack the officers. She focused her efforts on taking down the suit. She lunged towards the suit.

**ZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAPP**

The suit fired a laser that was a combination of five smaller lasers.

Clamu flipped in the air and avoided that large laser.

The laser left a moderately sized hole on the street.

**SCCCRREEEEECH**

**S-SCREEEEEECH SCREECH **

**SSSSCRREEEEECH**

**S-S-S-S-SSSCCCRRRREEEEECH**

More police boatmobiles were screeching to a halt. The hole was blocking their way.

Bill was one of the reinforcements. He was the first one to notice that Clamu was aiming her attacks on the flying suit. He got out of his vehicle and raised his pistol towards the suit. "FREEZE, MISTER!" He reloaded some ammo into his gun.

John, who was in Bill's boatmobile, got out of the boatmobile as well. "Bill, what're you doing?! That clam's just gonna keep attacking if we giving it too many openings." He was highly paranoid about becoming seriously or fatally injured by Clamu.

"The clam's not try'na attack us. She wants to attack that man in a suit up there." Bill pointed at Plankton's robo-suit. "That guy started the fight by hitting her first." He was aware of such fine details since he had also been paranoid of becoming injured by Clamu. That had consequently made him highly cautious and observant of his environment.

The other police officers had heard what Bill and John had said. They got out of their boatmobiles and aimed their pistols at the oyster.

The suit flew towards Clamu and fired a two combined lasers.

**Z-ZZZAAAAAAAP**

Clamu spun out of the way.

The two combined lasers hit the side of the street and left a very large hole that ate half of one part of the road.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF **

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-P-P-P-P-PTAFF **

**P-TAFF P-P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

The police officers fired volleys of bullets at the suit.

The suit dove to the street and...

**BAM**

...punched Clamu out of the way. The speed of the jetpack gave his punch a massive amount o f power.

Clamu was pushed back by several feet. "GRRRRRRR!" That punch made her completely lose her temper; she was truly pissed off now. She leaped to the suit and grabbed the suit by its leg.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF **

**P-TAFF P-TAFF **

The police officers continued to fire at the suit.

The suit shook with all of its might as it tried to pull its leg out of Clamu's mouth.

Clamu spun as fast as a tornado.

Plankton became extremely dizzy while he was inside the suit. He was about to throw up when the giant oyster threw the suit towards a rock.

**CLANG**

The suit hit the rock and...

**THUD**

...fell to the ground.

Plankton desperately tried to regain his senses. However, his unstable sense of sight that was caused by his dizziness was stubborn to cooperate with him.

The police officers walked up to the suit and aimed their pistols at the suit. They were trying to break down the layers of the suit with their pistols' bullets so they can arrest whoever was inside the suit. They all knew by that point that the person inside the suit violated an animal cruelty law by attacking an oyster that did not harm him first.

Time slowed.

The bullets erupted from their pistols. They flew towards the robo-suit like a flying armada. If Plankton did not react quickly, they were certainly going to pierce the suit's armor.

Plankton sat up in his seat. He looked through the glass in the suit's head like he was using the suit normally. However, he was still dizzy. Fortunately, he remembered at the last second about a certain button. He slammed on the button with a fist.

Time resumed.

The robo-suit's jetpack erupted with large flames. The suit then flew out of the bullets' way and made a turn towards the Chum Bucket.

The button that the plankton had pressed had text saying 'AUTO-PILOT' . Unless a location was specified, the robo-suit would always go to the Chum Bucket when someone pressed the 'AUTO-PILOT' button.

The bullets left holes on the rock.

The police officers raised their hand towards the suit and...

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-P-P-P-TAFF P-TAFF**

...fired more volleys at the suit.

The robo-suit's speed made it avoid all of the bullets.

Clamu hopped rapidly towards the suit. She was not going to let go of her assaulter so quickly. She had a strong desire for revenge for the attack that the suit had did to her.

All of Plankton's senses eventually returned to normality. Once the plankton felt like the suit was getting to close to the Chum Bucket, he pressed the "AUTO-PILOT' button again. He then grabbed the joystick.

The robot-suit returned to its state of being under Plankton's full control.

Plankton pulled a lever down to a lower level. That lever controlled the intensity of the lasers. For the whole time until now, the lasers had been in their lowest intensity. The plankton had just increased their intensity by a level.

**PEW P-P-PEW PEW PEW PEW **

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**P-P-P-P-P-P-P-PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW P-P-PEW**

The suit fired orange lasers at the police boatmobiles and police officers as it flew towars the clam .

**S-S-S-S-S-SHATTER**

**P-P-P-P-PING PING PING PING PING**

The orange lasers hit several police boatmobiles.

Many police officers ducked or dove to the ground. They all managed to avoid the orange lasers.

The suit accelerated towards Clamu and raised its leg.

**KLOK**

It kicked the oyster with all of the might that it could gather into its leg.

The kick was so fast and powerful that ti left a very small crack on Clamu's shell.

Clamu became crimson with rage. She grabbed a police boatmobile by biting its tip with her mouth. She rapidly spun while holding the boatmobile and then threw the boatmobile towards the robo-suit.

From Plankton's perspective, the flying police boatmobile was like a comet. The vehicle's bottom quickly consumed the view that he was seeing through the 'helmet's window.

**CLANG**

**CRACK**

The robo-suit got hit by the police boatmobile and fell with it.

**THUD**

The suit fell to the ground first and tumbled across the ground.

The police boatmobile fell to the ground so hard that...

**BOOM**

...it exploded. The oil in its tank became ignited the nano-second before it exploded.

Plankton's robo-suit was sent flying away from the boatmobile by the vehicle's explosion.

**CLANG**

It hit another rock and...

**THUD**

...fell to the ground.

Clamu hopped towards the robo-suit. It seemed like she was going to finish off the suit.

The police were running towards the suit as well. Because of the battles with the oyster that they had faced today, they were determined to destroy the robo-suit and arrest Plankton. Their extremely serious faces made their determination more noticeable.


	65. The Smoking Peanut Part 3

**Chapter 65: The Smoking Peanut Part 3**

* * *

Clamu opened her mouth so she can bite the robo-suit into pieces.

The police aimed their pistols towards the suit.

Plankton pulled down the lever by another level.

**PEW PEW P-PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**P-P-PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW P-PEW**

**PEW PEW P-P-PEW**

**ZZZZAAAP Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAAP**

**Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAAAAAAP**

**ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP PEW P-PEW ZAP**

The suit fired light red lasers at Clamu and the police.

The oyster spun so fast that she completely looked like a purple blur. The speed of her spinning was what allowed her to dodge the light red lasers.

The police were not so lucky. A few of the lasers hit their caps and guns.

**C-CRACK**

The lasers that hit the pistols were so strong that they broke those pistols into pieces. Those pistol pieces then fell to the ground.

The police officers who became defenseless ran towards the police boatmobiles and hid behind them. They did not want to be a burden on the other officers.

Clamu was still spinning at the same speed. She darted towards the suit and hit the suit rapidly with her spinning.

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CLANG**

**CLANK C-C-CLANK**

**CLUNG CLUNG CLUNG CLUNG C-C-C-CLUNG**

The suit received multiple impacts that made it hit the rock many times. The final hit from the oyster made it fly away from the rock. However, its jetpack turned on in mid-air and it flew like it did during the beginning of the fight. The suit then flew towards Clamu.

**Z-ZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP**

The suit fired two combined lasers towards Clamu.

Clamu flipped out of the way and jumped towards the robot so she can tear one of its arms off.

**BAM**

The suit punched the oyster in the mouth.

Clamu fell towards the rock.

**BONK**

**THUD**

She tumbled to the ground. That left the suit completely open to the police's aim.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-P-P-P-P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-P-P-P-P-TAFF**

The police aimed directly at the suit and fired several volleys of bullets at the suit.

The suit flew to the ground and avoided all of the bullets. It then flew towards the police so it can disarm them. Plankton considered them to be a major nuisance and distraction.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

It fired five volleys of light red lasers at the guns it aimed at.

**C-C-C-CRACK CRACK**

**CRACK**

Several more pistols became broken by the laser.

Plankton was unaware of the fact that Clamu was sneaking up behind him until it was too late.

**CLUNK**

Clamu bit the lower half of the suit.

"Uh oh..." Plankton's eye bugged out and he gulped nervously. He then desperately tried to make the suit fly out of the oyster's mouth.

Clamu bit on the suit harder.

**GRROOAAAN**

The suit was squeezing under the pressure of the giant clam's mouth. It was beginning to break.

Plankton pushed on the joystick as much as possible.

The flames of the jetpack were hitting the upper part of the oyster's body. However, the shell was hard enough to allow the oyster to endure the slight burns from those flames.

The oyster pulled the lower half of the suit.

**GRRRROOOAAAN**

**C-CRACK**

**SHATTER**

Clamu ripped the lower half of the suit off of the upper half.

The suit was now legless. However, it was still able to fly. The plankton was assessing the damage the oyster had done to the suit when...

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-P-P-P-TAFF P-TAFF P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-TAFF**

...the police fired numerous bullets at the suit.

**PANG PING PANG PING PING PANG P-P-PANG PING PANG PING**

Plankton did not react quickly enough. The suit tried to fly away from the bullets but got hit by some of them. The suit became so damaged by the bullets that the jetpack turned off automatically to prevent anymore damage to the suit. A feature like that was useful during emergencies but not during fights.

"That damned damage prevention feature... can't believe I listened to Karen..." Plankton muttered as the suit fell towards the ground. He had implemented that feature into the suit as Karen had advised during the suit's construction.

**THUD**

The suit landed on the ground.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

The police were not going to stop their shooting anytime soon unless they managed to break the suit into pieces and get the attacker out of the suit.

**CRACK**

**SHATTER**

**C-CRACK**

The glass in the suit's head broke and then the head itself broke into pieces. The head had received multiple hits from the bullets.

Plankton's head was exposed. Everybody saw his face.

The police walked towards the plankton. They were going to hold the plankton so he could be hand-cuffed.

Bill took out a pair of mini hand-cuffs that were just the right size for the plankton. He had dealt with tiny criminals before.

Clamu was not finished with her revenge. She bit Plankton's head and swallowed him. She was going to bring the plankton to the zoo. Unless someone stopped the giant clam from carrying out her plan, Plankton was going to meet a horrible fate. The oyster then rapidly hopped towards the zoo.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside Clamu...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton knew what had just happened. He banged his fists on the inner wall of Clamu's mouth. "HELP! HEEEELLLPP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" He jumped up and down in extreme anxiety. He did not care about how pathetic or pitiful he sounded for crying for help (he viewed others who cried for help over silly things as pathetic). The plankton now only cared about his survival. He knew from tales that were passed down from generation to generation in his family that clams digest what they eat by making them stay in the lower saliva of their mouths (that saliva was corrosive).

S-S-S-S-S

The police heard Plankton's cries.

Bill punched the tip of a police boatmobile in frustration. "That's it!" He put the mini hand-cuffs and his own pistol away. The police officer could no longer tolerate the seemingly never-ending chase for the oyster. There obligation to arrest Plankton made things even worse. "There's no way that we can handle this oyster and arrest that small fry. We gotta call Animal Control right now!" He spoke to all of the police officers.

Nearly all of the police officers agreed with Bill. They were also tired of chasing the oyster. All of the fighting made them too worn-out to continue much longer.

"But Animal Control hasn't caught all of the zoo animals yet." John pointed something out that was not obvious to the other police officers. "I saw a few of those animals roaming around the streets."

Bill was too frustrated and tired to deal with anymore hindrances. "Then forget those animals! Animal Control only needs a few of themselves for them to bring 'em back to the zoo. We need almost every single Animal Control personnel if we're gonna catch Clamu."

All of the police officers nodded; they all agreed to Bill's words.

Bill took out his cell-phone and selected the contact for Animal Control. He then put the phone next to his ear.

A pause.

"Bring most of your personnel to Clamu's location ASAP. We policemen cannot handle that beast so it's up to you guys to stop her. If you're done with bringing all of the other animals to the zoo, then bring all of your personnel to where Clamu's at. Understand?" Bill spoke in a somewhat grumpy manner. However, he tried to keep a professional tone. He pessimistically predicted that the Animal Control employee on the other end was going to respond negatively or was going to say that Animal Control was currently unable to fulfill that request.

An electronic voice was heard.

"Thanks." Bill nodded and genuinely meant to say that word. He then turned off his cell-phone and put it away. "They're gonna come." He looked at and spoke to all of the police officers that gathered before him.

S-S-S-S-S

More than five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Numerous Animal Control vehicles were driving towards Clamu. Once they got close enough to the oyster...

**S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-SSSSSCCRREEEEEEECH**

**SSCCRREEEECH**

**SCREEEECH**

...they all screeched to a halt.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked up and noticed that a magical page was stuck to the roof of Clamu's mouth. He then smiled in glee and impulsively dashed towards the page. "Magic, here I come!" What he had fought and searched for for such a long time was finally going to be obtained. He imagined the innovations he could create and the new schemes he could use by harnessing the mystic power of the Holy Pages. His heartbeat was racing as he tried to climb the mouth's roof. However, he eventually fell to the oyster's tongue for every single attempt at getting the Holy page. The shiny paper sticking to the roof was merely a tantalizing object.

After numerous attempts, Plankton sat on the tongue and sighed in disappointment. He also tightened his fists in frustration. He was going to have to wait for a special opportunity in order to seize the magical page.

S-S-S-S-S

Animal Control employees quickly exited the vehicles and took out several large nets. Each large net required several people to hold it in order for it to be completely held at once. The employees held the nets and then threw them towards the oyster.

There were special strings on the perimeters of the nets.

They all landed on Clamu and quickly wrapped around the oyster. The special strings was what caused them to wrap around the giant clam so quickly and tightly.

Clamu struggled to move. The nets were so tight that they heavily restricted her movement.

The Animal Control employees took out straw-like tubes and put tranquilizer darts into them. They put the tubes into their mouths and aimed them at the giant clam. They blew into the tubes.

A large amount of tranquilizer darts hit the oyster. Many darts were needed in order for the clam to be fully sedated because she was very large and there were no darts available that were meant to be shot at animals that were her size.

Clamu became still; she fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton noticed that Clamu stopped moving. He walked up to the oyster's lips and tried to open them so he could escape. He decided that he was going to go back to the Chum Bucket so he could get something that will help him with obtaining the magical page. He would then come back with that tool and get the magical page by using that tool. However, the giant clam's mouth was too heavy for the plankton. Plankton became tired very quickly and sat on the tongue again. He now had to wait for someone to notice the oyster and open its mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

Several employees walked towards Clamu so they could inspect her. They began their inspection by opening Clamu's mouth.

One of the employees saw Plankton and picked up the plankton by his antennae. "How did you get 'ere, fella?" She had to lean quite a bit in order for her to make eye contact with the plankton.

Plankton saw some police boatmobiles driving up to the scene from the corner of his eye. He then began to sweat profusely as he panicked. Getting the Holy Page in Clamu's mouth would not matter in the long-run since he will get arrested if he managed to snatch it. Instead of giving in to the temptation of the page, he made the wise choice of resisting it. He shook off the employee's grasp and ran as fast as he could out of the street.

The employee who had held Plankton looked at Clamu and shrugged. "She must've swallowed him by accident." She decided to assume rationally so she would not have to think about the plankton anymore.

The police officers exited their vehicles and walked up to Clamu. They searched through the oyster's mouth but found no signs of Plankton.

Bill looked at the group of Animal Control employees. "Have you seen a plankton recently?" He was worrying over the possibility that Plankton had escaped.

"Yeah." The female employee answered. "I found him but he ran away after just a second." In her opinion, Plankton's reaction to her was strange and even a little bit suspicious.

"Dammit..." Bill whispered a curse to himself. "That plankton you just saw was someone who had assaulted this oyster," He pointed at Clamu. "not too long ago. We were trying to arrest him since he had committed the crime of animal cruelty." His grumpiness returned and became stronger than before.

The female employee's eyes bugged out. She wondered why she had not trusted her intuition when she saw the plankton's reaction. She made her mind peaceful again when she concluded that she had let Plankton escape due to her ignorance. "I-I didn't know..." She tried to apologize for her mistake but quickly lost her words.

"It's alright." Bill made a neutral facial expression. "That plankton's the least of our worries anyway. Once you guys bring Clamu back to the zoo, our current objective will become complete. We've also recently caught the criminal who had made Clamu upset earlier and we're gonna bring him to justice very soon." He folded his arms and tapped his foot at a steady pace. The reference to Patrick's punishment made him become enthusiastic for it. Bill felt like the shaming that Patrick was going to get was a reward for him for all of the work he did today.

The female employee became curious. "What type of punishment he'll get?"

BIll smirked since he was the one who had the idea for the punishment. "It'll be a very special yet appropriate one." He managed to control his chuckling. He viewed the idea of people not knowing the punishment that Patrick was going to receive to be highly amusing. "I don't wanna spoil it to you."

The other police officers walked towards their boatmobiles. Since their mission was accomplished, they felt like there was nothing else to do but wait for Bikini Bottom to rebuild from Clamu's destruction and await the punishment of the culprit (the news of the culprit's arrest had quickly spread from the police station).

Bill quickly decided to walk towards his vehicle as well. He still had unfinished business that needed some finishing touches.

Before most of the police officers entered their boatmobiles, Mama Krabs walked up to Clamu as the oyster was being carried in the net by the Animal Control employees. The crab certainly did not forget her lost magical page and had been waiting and following the oyster for a long time so she could have a chance at retrieving the page. "Wait!" She held out her claw towards the employees.

The Animal Control employees turned around to look at Mama Krabs.

"What's wrong?"An employee became concerned. Animal Control had received many complaints today from citizens about zoo animals roaming near their homes. He had expected Mama Krabs to be no different than the other citizens who had complained.

"That clam has stolen something from me." Mama Krabs pointed at Clamu. She now had to wait for the luminous salvation of permission from the employees. The gate of hope and opportunity was before her and she could even see some of the light through the door's slit.

"What're you looking for, exactly?" The concerned employee looked at Clamu and asked that question to test the old crab's honesty. He had not seen anything particularly suspicious inside the oyster's mouth. The news about the culprit and the information about Plankton that he had heard was making him unreasonably suspicious of people who were asking Animal Control for favors. He could not tell if those people were criminals or were completely honest.

"A shiny piece of paper." Mama Krabs answered immediately. "It's my lucky charm." She even revealed a little secret of hers to show that she was not lying.

The concerned employee nodded; he believed the old crab's word. He opened the net.

The other employees opened Clamu's mouth.

Mama Krabs took the shiny page in less than two seconds. "Thanks." She was sincere and careful with her words. She walked away from the giant oyster and walked towards her anchor. "I'll be on my way." She had a far more important issue to attend to, the buying of the repairs for her home.

Plankton was watching everybody from behind a trash can. When he saw Mama Krabs taking the magical page, he became heavily disappointed. His hope of coming back to Clamu to get the Holy Page became merely a conception instead of a possibility. With a dissatisfied heart, he jogged towards the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Bill entered the interrogation room and snapped his fingers to wake Patrick up. The implementation for his idea of Patrick's punishment was about to begin.

Patrick was drooling as he was napping. The snapping of Bill's fingers quickly woke him up. He sat up and struggled to move his arms, he had forgotten that he was handcuffed. "W-what... happened?" He had also forgotten why he was in the room.

"Your punishment's gonna begin very soon." Bill smirked and folded his arms. He felt he was going to enjoy punishing someone who had been cruel to animals, he always found giving people a taste of their own medicine to be entertaining and even hilarious.

"What punishment?" Patrick wiped his drool with both of his hands in unison. The nap he had made him forget many important events that had happened today.

The detective walked into the interrogation room. Since Clamu was back at the zoo, he could now focus on more minor tasks. "Have you decided on a punishment for Mr. Star?" He felt like an excessive amount of time had been given for Bill and the other police officer to think of a punishment for Patrick.

The other police officer entered the room. He adjusted his sunglasses a bit since they moved around a lot during the fight with Clamu.

"Yep." Bill nodded. "People are gonna throw peanuts at him until he's completely buried in a pile of 'em. It'll take place at Oyster Stadium." The police officer said a summarized version of his idea. "He'll also be tied up to two poles so he wouldn't escape the punishment."

"Very well." The detective nodded. "However, I see a problem with your plan. How're we gonna get all of those peanuts?" He wanted to make sure that the punishment had no flaws in it because he did not Patrick to get away with what 'he' had done.

"We'll just tell the zoo to sell them at Oyster Stadium." Bill quickly found a simple solution. He then made eye contact with the other police officer. "Al, could you go to the zoo and tell 'em to sell the peanuts at the stadium?" He wanted the beginning of his plan's execution to go smoothly.

Al nodded and walked out of the interrogation room.

"Shall I make a public announcement for the criminal's punishment? Many people believe that the arrest of Mr. Star and his subsequent punishment are merely rumors." The detective looked at the open doorway from the corner of his eye. He was thinking about getting a loudspeaker for his announcement.

"Go right ahead." Bill smiled and made a thumbs-up. He did not want people to perceive the police as tricksters who spread hoaxes. He wanted most or all Bikini Bottomites to know who the culprit was.

The detective exited the interrogation room.

"Am I going to the zoo soon?" Patrick smiled in enthusiasm and looked at Bill. He was shaking in his seat in excitement. He had thought that he would never do another fun activity for the rest of the day.

"Mm-hmm." Bill nodded. "You won't be going in a few minutes, but it'll happen soon. You can trust me on that." The police officer walked towards the open doorway. He was going to get a cup of coffee.

"Oh boy!" Patrick shook even more in his seat. He could not control his excitement. He imagined himself catching peanuts and eating them at Oyster Stadium (he did not pay full attention to Bill and the detective's conversation).

"Will you calm down?" Bill glared at Patrick from the corner of his eye. He viewed criminals who made ruckuses in the police station as super-annoying, especially during his break-time since he would have to calm them down.

"Sorry." Patrick whispered an apology to the officer and smiled nervously. He did not want to give any of the authorities in the building the wrong impression. However, such efforts were futile since the police in the building already viewed him with disgust for the crimes 'he' had committed.

Bill exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Bubbles was swimming above the buildings of downtown Bikini Bottom. He was carrying a bag of herbs on his shoulder. He was closely looking at the destruction that Clamu had caused. He was not surprised at all since he knew a lot about an oyster's fighting potential when put into a corner. It had taken him a long time to gather those herbs and he felt a sense of accomplishment once he had finished that task. Before he was going to look up and swim faster towards his home, he saw a bunch of people standing before a store that sold TVs and other electronics. Since he was in a good mood and recently finished his task, he decided to let his curiosity control his actions. The dolphin dove to the ground and walked into the crowd.

The crowd had gathered around a TV being showcased through a window. It was tuned to the Bikini Bottom News channel since the store owner felt like the channel's current broadcast was important.

The dolphin looked at the TV and noticed that Johnny Erain was being shown on the screen. He and his tribe were not so isolated that they were completely unaware of technology.

"_This just in, the person who had upset Clamu has been arrested an hour ago. The culprit's name is Patrick Star." _Johnny Erain spoke in a relieved manner. He was no longer sad since he felt like justice was going to be served. He also felt like people around the city were going to rejoice after seeing or hearing the report he was doing.

A mugshot of Patrick appeared on the TV screen.

Bubbles stepped up to take a closer look at the TV. He found the news report to be highly interesting since he did not expect the sea star to be the culprit. Before seeing the news report, the suspect he would have picked would be Mr. Krabs due to the suspicious behavior he saw earlier.

"_Thanks to the help of an eyewitness, the police entered the starfish's home and, as you can see on the screen, found a bag of Clam Chow in the living room. The bag was a major piece of evidence for the crime that the sea star had committed. After interviewing a neighbor of Patrick Star, the police decided that the eyewitness' claim was valid. According to the police, the starfish had stolen some Clam Chow from Clamu and consequently made her upset." _Johnny Erain spoke in a more professional tone. He had a career and a reputation to preserve. He also knew that there were many more news reports to cover in the next few hours.

A photo of the bag of Clam Chow found in Patrick's living room was shown on the TV screen.

Bubbles narrowed his eyes at the TV screen. He realized that something was off about the news report. He had taken a tour of the zoo with his relatives (his family loved traveling) last week and had learned that the food for the oysters was stored in a facility that was separate from Oyster Stadium. He also had learned that the Clam Chow fed to the zoo's oysters was specifically made for stunt-performing oysters and clams. The Clam Chow bag being shown on the TV screen was the 'Oysters and Clams' version. If the bag was actually stolen from the zoo, it would have been the 'Hi-Energy' version. The dolphin assumed that the investigation for the culprit had been too hasty and the detective probably overlooked many important details. However, he was not sure about why the investigation had been rushed.

"_Authorities have stated that Patrick's punishment will be viewable by the public. It will take place at Oyster Stadium and citizens can participate in making the starfish receive his punishment. His punishment is him becoming buried by thrown peanuts from citizens." _Johnny Erain finished reading the news report.

Bubbles' realization that the news was unintentionally deceiving the public gnawed at his brain furiously. He could not ignore such an unjust arrest and punishment. He had an urge to find the true culprit since he felt bad for Clamu and the sea star who unfortunately got framed. However, the only way he could begin his search for the culprit was by proving that Patrick was not guilty. With a sense of urgency, Bubbles rapidly swam towards Oyster Stadium. He felt like announcing the faultiness of Patrick's arrest would be most effective when done before a large crowd.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting in the couch in the living room as he watched TV. The television was currently tuned to the local news channel. His jaw dropped when he saw the mugshot being shown on the TV screen and heard Johnny Erain say his friend's name. The news report made him realize why the police had not arrested him. "No way..." The yellow square shook his head in disbelief. 'There's no way that Pat could've done that. He's done some pretty dumb things before but he just couldn't have done that. I was with him for almost our whole time at the zoo. Even if he did some silly things when he went to buy me some peanuts, there's no way that he could steal some Clam Chow without getting caught.' Like what happened to Bubbles, the faultiness of the news report was gnawing at SpongeBob's mind. The gnawing was more severe than Bubbles' since Patrick was his best friend. The yellow square was not going to allow his best friend to be framed by desperate citizens and police who were yearning for a person to put blame on. He stood up from the couch and turned off the TV with the remote. He allowed his instincts and impulses to take control of his body.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob dashed out of his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran towards the zoo as fast as he could.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Bubbles reached the enclosed space that the zoo was in. He noticed that there was a very large amount of people entering the zoo. The dolphin dove to the ground so he could be given permission to enter the zoo (swimming over the gate without any guards seeing him was considered trespassing). After walking through a sea of people, the guards saw him and nodded their heads to show their approval of Bubbles' entering of the zoo (the guards did this to each person, they did not have enough time to write each person's name to the list). The dolphin then walked through the gate and entered the zoo.

SpongeBob slowly walked up to the gate. He was sweating profusely and was panting. He had lost all of his stamina since he ran too fast in a short amount of time. Once he saw the guards' nodding of their heads, he stepped into the zoo.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square briskly walked towards Oyster Stadium. However, he saw extremely large lines of waiting citizens before all of the stadium's entrances. He took a deep breath and walked to the back of a line. As he stood in his position in the line, he continuously tapped his foot in impatience. He desired to prove Patrick's innocence and waiting for an opportunity to come was absolutely torturous, especially when such a door of opportunity was in front of him (Oyster Stadium).

Bubbles was standing in front of SpongeBob. He had entered the line right before the yellow square had did.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Bubbles entered Oyster Stadium at last. Almost all of the seats in the stadium had been taken since the yellow square and the dolphin were two of the last people to enter the stadium. However, seats did not matter to SpongeBob and Bubbles right now.

Patrick's wrists and ankles were tied by four ropes to two wooden poles that were put into the main levels ground. Each ankle or wrist was tied by a rope and each pole had two ropes tied to it. The pink star's intelligence had fallen by a troubling amount during his nap at the police station. His current lack of intelligence made him unable to look at the bigger picture of the mystery. His stupidity also made him believe that he was the culprit (as the police had stated) and that he deserved the punishment he was getting. He was enduring the torture for Clamu's and justice's sake.

Bill, the other police officer, and the detective were standing near Patrick. Bill was holding a megaphone and was waiting for everybody to settle down.

Clamu and the other oysters were also in the main level. However, they were napping because they were trying to catch up with the sleep that they lost in the morning. They were so deep in their sleep that the loudness of the crowd's chatter did not affect them.

A thick crowd was blocking their way to the guardrail of the main level. Those people were desperately searching for any remaining empty seats.

Vendors were carrying huge brown sacks of plastic peanut bags. They were a crucial part in Bill's plan to punish Patrick because they provided the weaponry that the audience needed. The vendors were yelling at the audience for any remaining customers.

Once the crowd lessened a bit, SpongeBob and Bubbles jogged towards the guardrail.

SpongeBob grabbed the guardrail with both of his hands, he was about to jump to the main level. He could tell by the amount of people sitting in seats that Patrick's time of possible redemption was running out.

Bubbles noticed the yellow square. "Control yourself, yellow one. You do not want to get hurt." The dolphin thought that the yellow sponge was trying to do a stupid stunt that would give him the whole audiences attention and subsequent internet fame.

SpongeBob became frightened and...

**THUD**

...fell back to the floor. He was so worried about his best friend that even some of the most minor things could frighten him.

Bubbles quickly shook his head when he realized that he just made an assumption. He also felt like he should apologize for accidentally frightening the yellow square. "I apologize for the assumption I made." He grabbed the sponge's arm and pulled him up to a stand. "It doesn't seem like you're looking for trouble, right?" He wanted a confirmation of the validity of his assumption.

By that time, the crowd had settled into their seats. Those who could not find a seat sat on the steps that were between some of the columns of seats.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, the punishment of the villainous Patrick Star will now begin." _Bill spoke in a professional tone. His word choice made him sound a little bit like Bubbles, which the dolphin found to be humorous. _"When I say 'go', you will pelt Patrick,"_ He pointed at Patrick. _"with as many peanuts as you can." _He took several steps towards the perimeter of the main level so he would not get accidentally hit by the peanuts. _"GO!"_

A hailing thunderstorm of peanuts floated above Patrick's head. Hundred upon hundreds of peanuts were being thrown at him every few seconds. The starfish's hunger had become tremendous since the last food he ate was that yellow popsicle. He allowed his hunger to get the better of him by foolishly trying to swallow as many incoming peanuts as possible. He tried to swallow one of the peanuts but choked on it and quickly spat it out. "Ouch." His throat had become irritated by the rough surface of the peanut's shell. The pain in his throat made him come back to his senses and he then stopped his attempts at eating peanuts.

SpongeBob and Bubbles immediately dove to the main level. They no longer had time for conversation or any other idle actions. SpongeBob and Bubbles both ran towards Bill. However, the dolphin did a short burst of swimming and got to Bill first. The dolphin snatched the megaphone from Bill's hands. _"Attention, Bikini Bottomites!" _He spoke into the megaphone.

SpongeBob halted before the dolphin. He did not know what was the dolphin's motives for speaking publicly. However, he decided to listen to the dolphin's words since he felt like the dolphin's message must have been important if he was going to say it before thousands of people.

Three-quarters of the audience stopped throwing peanuts at Patrick and looked at Bubbles. The other quarter continued to throw peanuts at Patrick.

Bill stomped up to Bubbles. "Give that back!" He felt like the dolphin had spoiled the enjoyment he had over watching Patrick getting punished. He thought that the starfish's punishment was going to be a mini-break from work.

"Hold on for a sec." Bubbles turned towards Bill and held out his hand. He then turned towards the audience. _"The sea star that you are pelting is not the culprit who made Clamu upset."_

The audience gasped and everybody stopped pelting Patrick with peanuts.

SpongeBob made a slight smile. He was absolutely delighted that Bubbles was on his side and had came to the stadium for the same reason.

"_The evidence that supported Patrick's role in the crime was faulty. The detective or whoever inspected the Clam Chow bag overlooked the fact that it was an 'Oysters and Clams' type. The type of Clam Chow served to Clamu or other oysters in this stadium is the 'Hi-Energy' type." _Bubbles gave an enlightening perspective into the search for the culprit. The defense for his position of Patrick being innocent was completely solid.

The audience gasped again and looked at the detective.

The detective was about to bite his lip but a light bulb quickly lit up in his head. He looked at the other police officer. "Can you bring the Clam Chow bag from the police station?" He wanted to see the bag for himself before he would reach a new conclusion.

The other police officer nodded and walked through one of the stadium's exits.

Bill walked up to Bubbles and snatched the megaphone from the dolphin's fin. _"Folks, I would like to kindly ask you to have some patience and wait for a while. The evidence for Patrick being the culprit will be brought here soon." _From his perspective, he still thought that Patrick was the culprit. He viewed Bubbles as some sort of criminal associate who was trying to get him out. Im his opinion, suddenly entering the main level and stealing the megaphone was suspicious behavior. He had seen such associates defending the criminals before.

The audience began to have normal conversations. Almost all of them were about if Patrick was guilty or not and who was the actual culprit. Some people let their imaginations run wild and consequently made crazy theories for Patrick being guilty or innocent.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick. "Don't worry, Pat. Me and the dolphin guy got your back." He tried to assure his best friend.

A war was going on inside Patrick's mind. What the dolphin said led to hundreds of mini mental conversations inside the sea star's head. Patrick was now no longer confident in his belief thaft he was the criminal. The dolphin had him pulled further out of the fog of illusion but that was not enough, the sea star had to find his way out of the fog.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The other police officer returned with a bag of Clam Chow being held by both of his hands.

The detective walked up to the bag to see what type of Clam Chow was contained inside of it. Just like what Bubbles had said, the type of Clam Chow in the bag was the 'Oysters and Clams' version. That was indicated through a label on the bag that was below the name 'CLAM CHOW'. He then made eye contact with Bill. "The dolphin's right. I've made a mistake." He did not let his ego get in the way of the truth.

A light bulb lit up in Bill's head. He was still willing to defend his position of Patrick being guilty. "How can we know for sure that he didn't steal anything else?" The police officer brought up a solid point. In his point of view, there was a possibility that the sea star hid other stolen items or objects in hidden spots throughout Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob walked up to Bill and gently took the megaphone from the officer's hand. _"Me and Patrick had visited the zoo right before the time when Clam started her rampage. I have watched Patrick for nearly our whole time there. I did not see him steal anything." _The yellow square provided more support for Patrick's innocence by saying eyewitness evidence.

"Were you and the sea star at the zoo with another person?" Bill wanted more information from the yellow square. He was not going to believe the sponge's claim so easily. He thought that an eyewitness needed to come to the stadium and support SpongeBob's claim.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. "My pet snail went with us." He currently had a neutral facial expression. He was not hopeful yet because he did not really make any progress with swaying the police's view on Patrick. The sponge had to crack Bill's shell of defense arguments.

"Bring him to the stadium. I would like to hear what he has to say." Bill folded his arms in an attempt to intimidate SpongeBob. He was skeptical about the sponge's claim that Gary had went to the zoo with the sponge and Patrick. However, his shell of stubbornness was going to crack very soon.

"I'll be back in a jiff." SpongeBob ran through one of the stadium's exits. His determination to prove Patrick's innocence was not going to diminish at all, not when the sponge was so close to some sort of success.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sweating moderately when he re-entered the stadium. Gary was on top of his head. He stepped up to the megaphone and put the snail on the ground. He then crouched before the snail and whispered: "I am trying to prove that Patrick is innocent. I want you to answer the question I'm about to ask by speaking into the megaphone. Okay, here it goes: did you see Patrick do any suspicious activity during the trip at the zoo?"

Gary slithered to the megaphone and leaned towards it. _"Meow meow meow. Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow." _

"Did you stay with your owner when he waited for Patrick?" Bill asked a question that brought up a very important point that was not covered in what Gary had said.

_"Meow meow. Meow meow meow meow meow." _Gary answered Bill's question with ease.

A pause.

After some deep thought, Bill concluded that SpongeBob and Gary were completely right. He looked at the yellow square. "I believe that yours and the snails testimony are completely valid. You may release the sea star from his confinement." He spoke in a professional manner. He did not want to reveal that his ego had been hurt because that would be unprofessional and may consequently leave a bad impression upon the massive audience in the stadium.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and smiled widely. He briskly walked towards Patrick. He felt an immense amount of relief and happiness for being successful in persuading the police. He was also glad that other police officers and Bikini Bottomites would not get consumed by the illusion that Patrick was the culprit. He untied the ropes binding Patrick and grabbed the starfish's shoulders so he would not fall to the ground.

Patrick shakily walked around until he stood normally. He then turned to look at SpongeBob. "I'm not the culprit?" He scratched his head in confusion. His stupidity prevented him from separating fact from fiction, especially when he reflected on the words that had been said during the argument over his innocence.

"Nope." SpongeBob laughed for a second. "Remember the trip to the zoo that we had today?" He tried to jog Patrick's memory. He could tell by the sea star's question that the starfish was suffering from a drop in intelligence.

Patrick smiled. "Oh yeah!" He remembered all of the events that had happened during his trip to the zoo today. "Well, that culprit definitely wasn't me. I was leaving when that oyster got upset." He temporarily forgot Clamu's name.

The detective walked up to SpongeBob. "If Patrick's not the culprit, then who is it?" He brought up a very crucial question. As long as that question remained unanswered, the investigation would continue and eventually reach a dead end if a culprit was not found after interrogating all Bikini Bottomites.

SpongeBob felt like he got shot in the face. His anxiety exploded so rapidly that his limbs were trembling. His face became as white as snow. The time had came for the 'truth' to be revealed. The sponge could no longer hide his secret forever. His pessimistic prediction of him getting caught anyway lingered in his mind. He snatched the megaphone from Gary. _"I AM THE CULPRIT!" _He pointed at himself and yelled as loud as possible.

The entire audience gasped and stared at SpongeBob with bugged-out eyes of disbelief.

"_I-I was the one who made Clamu upset. I threw a peanut at her during my trip to the zoo 'cause I was bored and I wanted her and the other oysters to do some tricks. That peanut woke her up and that was how it all s-started." _SpongeBob confessed before thousands of Bikini Bottomites.

A giant light bulb lit up in the detective's head. "It all makes sense..." He spoke to himself. He remembered that there was only one piece of evidence left at the crime scene; a peanut. He also realized that Jordan had lied to him for unknown reasons, the bag of Clam Chow being held by the other police officer confirmed that logical conclusion. "That rotten hoodlum..." He muttered a negative comment about Jordan.

Bill nodded in acceptance of SpongeBob's words. He made an assumption about why SpongeBob had came to the stadium to defend his best friend's innocence; the sponge had came here to ultimately reveal the truth that he was the true criminal. The officer then assumed that the yellow square had felt guilty enough to make such a confession. Like the detective, he remembered the one piece of evidence left at the crime scene. With SpongeBob being the culprit, the missing pieces of the mystery came together nicely and in a satisfying manner. He walked up to SpongeBob and grabbed the yellow square's wrists.

SpongeBob did not resist at all. He felt like he deserved whatever punishment or shaming that was awaiting him. His guilt was so heavy that it was crushing his heart.

Bill dragged SpongeBob towards the poles with the ropes.

Patrick fell to the ground and landed on his butt. He could not believe that his best friend could commit such an immoral act as animal cruelty. He also felt betrayed since the sponge had been hiding the 'truth' from him for the whole time up to the current point. Such an influx of shocking information made him unable to express any other emotion but sadness. He made a frown and his face remained that way as if it was a face of a statue.

A zoo employee entered the main level of the stadium, he was one of the caretakers for the oysters. He had overheard SpongeBob's confession due to the loudness of the megaphone. He then ran towards the megaphone and picked it up._ "Guys, stop jumping to conclusions so fast!" _He spoke to everybody inside the stadium.

A long pause.

Almost everybody became silent.

The zoo employee turned to look at SpongeBob. _"Listen, fella. It wasn't your fault that Clamu became upset." _The employee knew something that the others in the stadium did not.

SpongeBob shook his head and frowned. "It was my fault. I'm the bad guy here." The yellow square spoke sincerely. He thought that the act 'he' had committed was so immoral that it would be villainous to avoid punishment for such an act.

The zoo employee shook his head. _"You cannot make an oyster upset just by interrupting his or her sleep. They aren't super-sensitive to touch anyway 'cause of their shells. I've been handling oysters for many years so I know the ins and outs of their behavior. There was a factor that all of you missed, I didn't even figure it out until an hour ago; Clamu's pearl is missing. Since Clamu is a female, they are highly protective of their pearls and will become distressed very quickly if they lose their pearls. I've heard about what Clamu had did during her rampage and I believe that that factor can also explain why she snatched that shiny page from that old lady." _The zoo employee knew a lot about Clamu's whereabouts. Many Bikini Bottomites had heard in the news about Clamu snatching a shiny object from an elderly crab during the oyster's rampage. He disproved the assumption that SpongeBob had been the main cause of Clamu's distress.

Bill trusted the zoo employee since that man was a professional. He released the yellow square from his grasp. However, the question of who was the actual culprit continued to linger in almost everybody's heads.

Bubbles widened his eyes. He knew a suspect who was highly likely to be the true culprit. He walked up to the zoo employee and took the megaphone from the employee's hand. _"I believe I have seen a possible suspect earlier in the day. He was running along one side of the zoo's gate while carrying a large bag. I believe there was a sphere-like object inside that bag since its shape was quite easy to see." _He spoke with absolute honesty.

The detective ran up to the dolphin. By that point, he was so desperate to find the criminal that he was willing to take any hints or information from any willing witness. "Do-" He became interrupted by the dolphin.

Bubbles made eye contact with the detective as he spoke with the megaphone towards the crowd. _"I don't know that possible suspect's name, however. Instead, I'll describe his appearance. He's a crab whose shell has a normal shade of red. He wore a blue shirt and purple pants with a belt on it. I think that belt had a buckle with a fake golden perimeter. He also looked middle-aged." _The dolphin described Mr. Krabs to the best of his ability.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out when he figured out the person Bubbles was describing. "T-that's Mr. Krabs..." He spoke to himself in total shock. The yellow square was not sure if his boss would even commit monstrous acts like animal cruelty. In spite of his shock, he was feeling another major influx of relief. His mental self was smiling at the fact that he was not the culprit at all and only played an unintentional and passive role in making Clamu upset. The guilt that had crushed him was quickly eroded by the inner tsunami of positive thoughts and emotions entering his brain.

"_If anybody knows who this crab is, you can tell me." _Bubbles was determined to locate who the culprit was. The dolphin had enough time to spare since he completed his daily chore.

The detective had overheard what SpongeBob had said to himself. He pinched one of the sponge's sleeves and dragged him towards the dolphin. "I believe this young man may know the answer." He felt like the gods had blessed him because he was fortunate enough to have the key to the suspect (SpongeBob).

Bubbles turned to look at SpongeBob. "Is this true?" He was pleasantly surprised.

SpongeBob nodded. "Who you described was probably my boss. His full name is Eugene H. Krabs and he owns the Krusty Krab, where I work at." The yellow square spoke solemnly. He could not express a strong expression since his emotions were heavily mixed.

Bubbles became even more surprised. He had heard rumors about the Krusty Krab and its famous delicacy; the Krabby Patty. The dolphin also heard rumors about the restaurant hiring two new employees and the greedy boss of pirate-descent who owned the business. The dolphin almost could not believe that such a sequence of events and luck had happened today. "Do you know where he is?" He asked after taking his time to absorb the information that SpongeBob said.

"Yeah." SpongeBob turned around and walked towards one of the stadium's exits. "Follow me if you wanna see him." His guilt had been replaced by a strong desire to bring justice to the culprit. Like Patrick, he was not going to allow such a person to get away with his/her immoral act. However, in the back of his mind, he hoped that his boss was not the culprit. He could not even decide if Mr. Krabs being the criminal was even possible. However, he ignored those urges to retreat to the stadium.

Bill walked up to SpongeBob. "Walking won't be necessary. I'll drive and you'll guide the way." He said a far more efficient way to get to Mr. Krabs' anchor.

SpongeBob nodded in compliance. His righteous determination overrode his tender hesitance.

Out of curiosity, Patrick stood up and followed Bubbles, SpongeBob, Bill, the detective, and the other police officer. He felt like he had worked so hard in his investigation that he should not let it go to waste by waiting for the capture of the criminal. He desired to see the culprit's capture with his own eyes so he could feel enough satisfaction to close his investigation.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A police boatmobile parked before Mr. Krabs' anchor.

SpongeBob, Bill, the detective, Bubbles, and the other police officer exited the vehicle. The police officers did not mind bringing Bubbles along since the dolphin was the one who brought up the criminal possibility of Mr. Krabs' suspicious behavior in the first place.

Patrick jogged up to the police boatmobile. He was sweating from the many bouts of continuous running that he had done. He then hid behind a nearby rock so he could watch the group without getting noticed.

The group walked up to the anchor.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Bill knocked on the front door with some force put into each knock. He wanted the person inside the anchor to open the door or show his/her presence with haste.

A pause.

**CRRREEEEEAAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the front door. His face became pale when he noticed that two police officers and SpongeBob were standing before the entrance. He realized immediately that the revelation of his secret was inevitable. However, he put that into the back of his mind. He became so afraid that he refused to accept the events that were going to pass. The crab desperately wanted to find a way of escaping his imminent arrest. "H-h-hey." He tried to sound casual but completely failed to sound even remotely clam. His nervousness was just too powerful for him to hide.

"What did you do earlier in the day?" Bill began to test the validity of the assumption that Mr. Krabs was a suspect. The crab that Bubbles had seen could have been someone else; the officer did not know if Mr. Krabs had a twin or not.

Mr. Krabs tried to lie without going too far. "I was out shopping. Today's Free Day after all." The crab added a piece of truth into his lie. He sounded a bit more normal but still sounded like he was panicking. He was sweating and his face became less pallid by only a degree

Bill thought that Mr. Krabs' answer was suspicious. He knew that today was Free Day and such a day could allow robbers to easily make excuses related to those types of holidays for their crimes. The officer also knew that "shopping" could also be a sugar-coated term for 'robbing'. For the current interrogation, Bill's skepticism and lack of trust for certain strangers was quite helpful since it allowed Bill to separate fact from fiction. "How many items did you buy?" He tried to sound like he believed Mr. Krabs' lie. However, he was actually trying to dig through the deception and reach the truth.

Mr. Krabs saw no need to distort the truth because what he was about to say was vague enough to fit his lie. "I bought a bag of stuff." He then began to close the front door. "I don't think you people have to come here. There's nothing wrong with shopping." The crab said an excuse that was also an attempt to make himself sound innocent. "Have a nice day." The crustacean made another obvious attempt at sounding casual.

Bill kicked the front door open and narrowed his eyes at Mr. Krabs. "Why do you look so nervous? You're acting like I look like some sort of serial killer. And why do you want to end our talk so quickly? Maybe it's all because you're afraid of us authorities." The police officer made a slight smirk. He revealed that he was not going to play along with the crab's easily detectable lies. He viewed the crab's desperate attempts at lying as foolish since the crab's nervousness gave away the fraudiness of his claims. He pushed Mr. Krabs out of the way and stepped into the anchor.

SpongeBob, the other police officer, the detective, and Bubbles entered the anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs saw Bubbles and widened his eyes in shock. "It's you..." He faintly whispered to express the sudden influx of emotions that were assaulting his mind.

Bubbles heard what Mr. Krabs had whispered. Since he was a bottlenose dolphin, he had a sense of hearing that was superior to that of air creatures like humans and other sea creatures. He pointed at the crab. "He was definitely the one I saw carrying that sack." He announced the confirmation of what Mr. Krabs had actually done in the morning. He then looked at Bill. "He whispered something about him recognizing me. As a matter of fact, when I saw him and approached him, he had ran away out of fear."

Bill grabbed Mr. Krabs by the collar of his shirt. "Why would you need to run after doing all of that legal shopping, eh? Why would you run away from a curious stranger if you had nothing illegal to hide? Why would you lie to the authorities if you didn't do anything suspicious at all?" He said rhetoric questions to expose the ridiculousness of the crustacean's lies and futile attempts at acting normal.

Mr. Krabs made eye contact with SpongeBob.

The yellow square frowned slightly. "I'm sorry..." He whispered very quietly to the crab, almost to the point where he was not using his voice at all. The sponge felt like he had betrayed his boss by revealing the location of his home. However, his desire to serve justice continued to overpower his urge to assist his boss.

Bill looked at the other police officer and the detective. "Start searching the home for the bag. He must've left the bag or some of its stuff somewhere." He released Mr. Krabs from his grasp and began to thoroughly search through the living room for any suspicious items.

By the fearful look on Mr. Krabs' face, the yellow square could tell that the crab was going to get arrested.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven and a half minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"I found something!" The other police officer was inside Mr. Krabs' bedroom. He saw a shiny sphere under the crustacean's bed. By that point, most of the anchor had been searched through.

A pause.

SpongeBob, Bill, the detective, and Bubbles entered the bedroom.

The other police officer crawled into the bed and then crawled back out with the shiny sphere on his hand. He then stood up and held out the shiny object towards the other four. "This looks really strange but I'm not sure 'bout what it is." He had seen a pearl in real life only one other time in the past.

Bubbles instantly recognized what that object was. He walked up to the object and held it with both of his fins. "Without a doubt, this is a pearl. And it isn't an ordinary one. Judging by its size, it had to have come from a large oyster." The dolphin had encountered clams on an almost daily basis so he knew a large share of information about clams and their giant counterparts.

Bill stepped out of the room and barked a command at someone who was down the hallway. "Hey, crab, come up here!" The police officer knew without any doubts in his mind that Mr. Krabs was guilty of upsetting Clamu.

A handcuffed Mr. Krabs walked up to Bill. He had been handcuffed so he would not escape his anchor out of desperation.

Bill took the pearl from Bubbles' fins and held it out towards Mr. Krabs. "Where did you get this pearl from?" He was glaring at the crustacean. The police officer was disgusted at the crab since the crab had tried to lie so he could hide the fact that he had committed an immoral act.

Mr. Krabs could no longer find a good reason to lie. He predicted that by lying he would end up serving a prison sentence that would have been shorter if he did not lie. "I got it from the zoo. It was from Oyster Stadium and was next to this large oyster that was sleeping. There weren't any nearby signs with prices on 'em or with stuff like 'not free' and 'no trespassing' so I assumed that the stuff in the stadium was free." The crab spoke with complete honesty.

Bill nodded. "I'll take that as a confession." He gave the pearl back to Bubbles and grabbed Mr. Krabs by the shoulder. He then dragged the crustacean down the hallway and then down the stairs.

SpongeBob, Bubbles, the other police officer, and the detective went downstairs as well. The detective was holding some things that he believed were from stores that were not selling a single thing for free. The detective was highly aware of the fact that today was Free Day since he saw a lot of poor people going in and out of stores almost non-stop.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was pushed into the police boatmobile. Bill then barged the door to a close. He then opened one of the upper doors and entered the vehicle. The police officer sat in the driver's seat.

The other four entered the vehicle. However, they had to squeeze against each other in order for all of them to fit inside the boatmobile.

Bill closed the upper door and turned on the boatmobile by twisting the key in the keyhole.

**VVVRRRRROOOOOOMMMM**

The police boatmobile sped down the road. Bill was eager to deliver Mr. Krabs to his appropriate punishment at Oyster Stadium.

SpongeBob had the face of a shell-shocked soldier. Although he did not reveal his true feelings with spoken words, he was traumatized by the revelation that Mr. Krabs was the criminal who made Clamu distressed. He knew and had came to accept that his boss was a flawed person like everybody else. However, he was oblivious to the darkness that Mr. Krabs was harboring until the revelation had to hit him on the head. Although Mr. Krabs gave a somewhat reasonable excuse for stealing the pearl. One question was still sticking to the yellow sponge's mind. 'Why couldn't he be considerate for Clamu?' He mentally asked that questions thousands of times.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The people inside the stadium were deeply considering the option of leaving the stadium. They felt like too much time had passed for the return of the police and the captured culprit to be a possibility. One person was about to leave the stadium when she saw the police, SpongeBob, a tired and sweaty Patrick, Bubbles, and a handcuffed Mr. Krabs walking towards the stadium. She then quickly returned to her seat so she would not miss out on the action of punishing the true culprit.

S-S-S-S-S

The group of seven eventually entered Oyster Stadium.

S-S-S-S-S

Bill dragged Mr. Krabs to the two poles.

"I'm not going to jail?" Mr. Krabs looked at Bill with a slight smile. He thought that his hopes might become true.

"Nope." Bill shook his head. "It's a surprise." He smirked as he thought about how Mr. Krabs was going to react when he gets pelted by peanuts. The police officer always found pleasure in outsmarting or fooling criminals. He then put Mr. Krabs in the middle of the poles. He tied each of the crabs limbs to the ropes of the poles.

Mr. Krabs could not figure out what punishment he was going to receive. However, the ropes' strong pull on his limbs was becoming uncomfortable.

Bill grabbed the megaphone and looked up at the audience. _"The guy who just got tied up is the real culprit. He stole Clamu's pearl because he thought that he could take whatever he wanted on Free Day. For the people who don't know, today's Free Day." _He announced to the audience who the real culprit was and also put the missing pieces of the mystery together by explaining them. _"The culprit's name is Mr. Krabs. He's the owner of the Krusty Krab."_

The audience did not gasp. Almost all of them knew that Mr. Krabs was greedy. The crab doing such a shocking act as animal cruelty just so he could get some extra cash was certainly plausible from their perspective.

"_GO!" _Billl jogged out of the way. He wanted the pelting to begin as soon as possible.

Peanuts rained down on Mr. Krabs' body. The crab did not have enough time to even make a facial expression since the peanuts were hitting his face too fast.

Patrick watched the punishment with a smile of satisfaction. He was content because the demands of justice had become fulfilled and also because he had finally discovered the truth.

SpongeBob watched the torture that Mr. Krabs was undergoing while he maintained a stoic face. The question still refused to leave his head and conflicting emotions of relief and remorse were endlessly battling inside the sponge's mind. Each time a thought about a possible different outcome to the situation entered his head, a mental skirmish occurred. So far, his remorse was gaining some strength since the yellow square was focusing on the 'what could have been' instead of 'what happened'. The yellow square could not be in high spirits for helping an ultimately righteous task if that ended up hurting one of the people he looked up to.

A pause.

After another skirmish with a question, the yellow square looked at the sea star. He was so desperate for answers to his main question that he decided that he was going to satisfy that urge by asking other questions. He walked up to his best friend and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hm?" Patrick turned to look at the yellow square. He quickly realized that something was wrong with his best friend. The pink star thought that SpongeBob should be smiling since now was a time of great rejoicing and accomplishment. "What's wrong?" His face showed clear signs of concern.

"Pat, I want to ask you something." SpongeBob cleared any thoughts that were not related to mental questions. "Why did you begin your investigation in the first place? At the end of the day, someone else solved the case for you and you were punished for something you didn't do. Another person even lied so you could get in trouble. What's the point of going through all of those obstacles?" The yellow sponge did not sound like his normal self. He sounded more like Squidward or any other angsty or moody person.

Patrick intelligence rapidly increased as he thought of an answer to SpongeBob's question. "Well, Sponge. I just wanted to bring some sort of justice to the culprit. That culprit's no better than those bullies in high school who beat me up and made fun of me. After what those meanies did to me, I can't let innocent people like Clamu get bullied by people like 'em. If you saw someone getting humiliated by someone else, wouldn't you do something?" The sea star remembered the countless moments in high school when he got stuffed into lockers and got assaulted for lunch money during lunch periods. He had used his torturous experiences to fuel righteous acts instead of revenge that would have ultimately got him in trouble during high school. The bully who had committed the most assaults and harassment against Patrick was an infamous flounder called Flats.

"Yeah... I would make jerks like them stop. Even if I have to call the cops." SpongeBob answered honestly; he easily stepped into Patrick's viewpoint. If such a situation occurred, his good nature would certainly make him take action. The yellow square also had clear memories of bullying during high school. The best friend duo had received such bullying since they were 'different' than the rest of the sheepish crowd. However, Patrick had been bullied more times and more severely than SpongeBob because of the starfish's unstable intelligence.

"Exactly. Instead of waiting for the police to finish their job. I decided that helpin' 'em out wouldn't hurt." Patrick clarified his motive for starting his own investigation.

SpongeBob nodded in acceptance and understanding. However, his urge for answers was not satisfied. He was going to have to ask the major question in order for it to leave his mind. He walked towards Bubbles because he felt like the dolphin contained a lot of wisdom due to the robe he was wearing. He also considered Bubbles to be a kind person since the dolphin had went out of his way to prove Patrick's innocence.

However, Bubbles was thinking of other plans. He swam towards the large sack that he had left at the main level's perimeter. He had left it there before he had went into the police boatmobile on his way to Mr. Krabs' anchor. The main goal of his chore, to bring the herbs to his family, was not forgotten. He also knew, according to the position of the sun, that he did not have much time left. He put the sack over his shoulder when he saw SpongeBob walking up to him from the corner of his eye.

"Sir, why wasn't my boss considerate for Clamu? Why did he excuse his act even though it was a bad deed?" SpongeBob separated the major question into two parts so it could be answered more easily. He spoke in a more gentle voice instead of a serious or solemn voice.

Bubbles took a deep breath. He viewed Bikini Bottom and similar civilizations in a completely different light than SpongeBob. He thought of ways to summarize his views into one or a few sentences so he could save time. Once he managed to figure out a summation, he turned to look at SpongeBob. "I'm running out of time so I'll say this with haste. Your boss is merely a victim of your society's capitalistic system. People like that greedy boss are everywhere in your civilization and are actively encouraged to do horrific acts for the sake of money." He began to swim out of the stadium while still looking at the yellow square. "I hope that summarizes my answer effectively. If you desire more info, you may have to do your own search." He tried to be as helpful as possible with the time given to him. He had encountered many people in the past who were like Mr. Krabs and his ancestors had faced foes who were thousands of times worse than the crustacean. He then swam away from Oyster Stadium. He felt fortunate enough to encounter a person like the yellow square. People who would ask such deep and thought-provoking questions were ones out of millions.

SpongeBob looked up at the swimming dolphin. Bubbles' answer barely answered his questions at all. As a matter of fact, it led to even more mentally asked questions. The yellow square's thirst for knowledge and understanding became far from satisfied.


	66. Life of Crime Part 1

**Chapter 66: Life of Crime**

* * *

SpongeBob was walking towards his pineapple. He was by himself because Patrick was still watching Mr. Krabs' on-going punishment at Oyster Stadium. He was thinking heavily about the immoral act that his boss had committed. Although Bubbles had answered his question by saying why the crab did what he had did, the dolphin did not give an exact cause for the crustacean's actions. The yellow square did not like being in the fog of mystery at all, it just felt too unsatisfying for his own taste. In an attempt to find some sort of cause for Mr. Krabs' criminal behavior, the sponge looked through memories that were stored deep into his mind.

_"What shares? You're not getting any of my treasure!" Greed consumed the mind of Mr. Krabs. It made him forget about all of the effort that SpongeBob and Patrick put into the journey to find the treasure._

_"We found it together. So we deserve a share!" SpongeBob said his thoughts out loud._

_"Well, I'm the captain. And I say it's mine!" Mr. Krabs made an angry facial expression and pointed at himself._

_"Looks like someone isn't being loyal to their crew." Patrick's intelligence abruptly increased and the sea star said a clever comment._

_The breeze became stronger and turned into a powerful wind. The wind howled as it blew at the three pirates. Some sand was picked up from the ground and flew with the wind._

_"All for one." Mr. Krabs grabbed one side of the treasure chest and pulled it towards him._

_"And one for all." SpongeBob spoke while he and Patrick grabbed another side of the wooden chest and pulled it towards themselves._

_"All for one." Mr. Krabs pulled the chest towards himself._

The yellow square remembered one of Mr. Krabs' most villainous moments. He knew with confidence that his boss had desired to hoard the treasure out of selfishness and greediness. However, that memory was not enough of an answer since that scene had happened after a long and challenging pirate journey. Mr. Krabs' robbery of the pearl had occurred almost out of nowhere.

_"Oh, oh can't you hear it?! Yes I did it! I did it! I took the boots! They're here, under the floorboard!" Mr. Krabs confessed so he can express his manifested emotions and get them out of his mind. He walked to the floorboard he recently nailed in and grabbed it._

_Mr. Krabs ripped open the floorboard and took out the pair of boots. "You see?! I hid them here!" He pointed at the opening on the floor._

_SpongeBob's jaw dropped. He became speechless after hearing the revelation. He had cried over something that he didn't do._

That memory made SpongeBob become aware of the possibility that his boss could betray him whenever he wanted or when it was most convenient for him. However, the sponge expected such behavior from a former pirate since pirates were criminals and stole other pirates' treasure chests all the time.

"_I lost..." Mr. Krabs tried to state what he lost again but failed again as well._

"_Mr. Krabs, please tell me you didn't lose the Krabby Patty secret formula!" SpongeBob loudly stated another possibly true prediction to his boss. He sincerely hoped that the predictions that he was saying were not true._

_Mr. Krabs gasped due to his weeping and then took a normal deep breath. 'I lost..." He made a third attempt at telling SpongeBob the truth. He pointed at the yellow square before him. "...you." The word that he just said made his eyes moisten further._

"_What?" SpongeBob's jaw dropped and his face became pallid. He had not expected Mr. Krabs to say that at all._

"_I bet your contract and then lost. I wanted to get those streetlights that Plankton had." Mr. Krabs became able to speak normally as his throat no longer became as sore, his acute depression lifted by a slight degree after he told his employee what he lost. The crab pointed at the 'streetlights' before the Chum Bucket. _

The yellow square remembered more of the crustacean's traitorous behavior. He also realized that the crab had a tendency to make foolish mistakes or greedy decisions when it came to money. However, these memories were still not creating answers for his question about Mr. Krabs' motives.

_Mr. Krabs eyes' sparkled with fantasies of immense riches. He rarely allowed the Krusty Krab to stay open for more than an hour after closing time. He had yearned for such a business opportunity to knock on his door and that opportunity, in the form of a single customer, had came. He then flipped the sign from 'CLOSED' to 'OPEN'. "Mr. Squidward, welcome to the night shift. Starting from now, the Krusty Krab will be open 'til five o'clock." The crab announced the schedule shift, he was confident that the new schedule will attract more customers for the current night. "Resume your normal duties." He walked towards his office._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Mr. Krabs exited his office and walked towards the double door. He had finished counting today's profits and had locked them into the safe. "See ya in the morning, boys! I can't hang out here all night. I've got a life." He turned to look at Squidward and SpongeBob. He coincidentally said words that sounded similar to some words that Squidward had recently said; he was saying a farewell to his employees. He then..._

_**C-CRREEAAAK**_

_**S-SLAM**_

_...exited the Krusty Krab._

'_Why I oughta...' Squidward thought with a face that was hiding but also exposing his irritation against his boss. Almost nothing could make Mr. Krabs look more like a jerk than him indecently treating his employees._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward was sitting at the boat with a deadpan face, he perceived the all-nighter shift as an extra weight to his misery._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_However, SpongeBob perceived no wrong in the different temporary schedule. He stood on his tip-toes again and looked at Squidward through the ordering window. "Isn't this great, Squidward? Just you and me together for hours and hours and hours and then the sun'll come up and after a few hours we'll be working again!" He enthusiastically predicted how their all-nighter will turn out._

The yellow sponge realized that Mr. Krabs had been abusing his status as the boss of the business. Those series of memories of the infamous night shift made SpongeBob view the business from Squidward's point of view. The sponge could see how Mr. Krabs sometimes cared more about profit than the well-being of his employees. 'Then again, business is business. Work isn't supposed to be comfortable all the time.' The sponge thought critically about his role as an employee. He knew that the crab's life was not all about greed and conquest. Unfortunately, all of those revelations about Mr. Krabs' true personality did not answer any of the questions in his head.

A long pause.

SpongeBob noticed that he had been almost daydreaming. He then resumed his walk towards his neighborhood.

Squidward was sitting on his lawn chair and was reading a large novel. The octopus did not notice SpongeBob because he was deeply absorbed into his book. He had been doing his hobbies in peace ever since he had woke up. Today was certainly one of the best Sundays he had.

The yellow sponge saw Squidward and thought that the neighbor might know a clue that will lead him to the answer of one of his stuck questions. He walked up to Squidward and waited until the octopus noticed him.

Squidward saw SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and then made eye contact with the yellow sponge. "What?" He anticipated the beginning of a series of antics from his yellow neighbor. However, the sponge's solemn face made the octopus dismiss his assumption entirely.

"Squid, you heard about the culprit who made Clamu upset?" SpongeBob did not want to jump to his main question so suddenly. He wanted things to be introduced so Squidward could get into the right mindset and consequently could give a helpful answer.

"I didn't watch the news in a while." Squidward returned his gaze to his book. He would rather read and immerse himself into a good story then idly chat about temporary things and minor occurrences.

A pause.

Squidward could not ignore the sponge. He could tell just by looking at SpongeBob's face that something was wrong. Out of slight concern and even a bit of curiosity, he looked up at SpongeBob again. "Why'd you ask that?"

"The culprit recently got caught. The police took a long time to find him since he hid his tracks pretty good." SpongeBob informed Squidward about the latest news on Clamu's rampage. He said like that was his reason for asking; he was lying to a certain degree. "Clamu's calm now and is back at the zoo."

Squidward shrugged. He could not think of a response to what SpongeBob had said. He felt like the sponge's statements were a satisfying end to the conversation. He then resumed his reading of his novel.

SpongeBob felt like it would be best if he said his question as a statement since he could then ramble to his hearts content. He no longer wanted to bottle up any emotions. "Squid, the police found out that Mr. Krabs was the criminal." He could tell that Squidward wanted to read his novel instead of listening to him. "He made Clamu upset and everything by stealing her pearl."

Squidward closed his novel and looked at SpongeBob. He was moderately surprised that his boss had the bravery to do such a repulsive act. "I'm not surprised. He's done many selfish and jerkish things in the past. What'd you expect, Sponge? He's a former pirate. I bet stealing pearls would probably be nothing for him ." The octopus spoke without mincing any words. He revealed his contempt against Mr. Krabs through his rhetoric question and his word choice.

SpongeBob changed his mind. He wanted to ask the main question as it was instead of disguising it through a statement. "Why would Mr. Krabs do such a thing? How could he have a daughter who he worries over and still do such a jerkish... crime?" The sponge looked at the ground. He remembered when the crab had allowed his daughter to take over and nearly ruin the business just for her sake.

"That's because for him, money is what makes the world go around. Did you know that he came from a poor family?" Squidward tried to explain Mr. Krabs' obsession but did not want the sponge to sympathize with the crustacean's viewpoint.

SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly and shook his head. "I didn't know. He never told me." The yellow square eventually figured out that a past of poverty explained many of Mr. Krabs' behaviors.

"Since he was family was poor and all, he had to hog money so he could survive, although that doesn't justify what he had done to Clamu. He probably would've sold that pearl if he managed to keep it." Squidward went more in-depth with his answer. However, he spoke in a bitter tone to make his contempt against his boss more apparent.

SpongeBob nodded. "Thanks, Squid." He considered Squidward's answer to his question to be very helpful. With some hope that he will exit the fog of unanswered questions, the sponge walked towards his pineapple. He was going to try to figure out the answers to his questions by himself; he felt like Squidward's answer was all the information he needed to get started.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked towards one of Oyster Stadium's exits. From his perspective, Mr. Krabs' punishment was becoming boring to watch and going home was the best thing to do next. Once the sea star left the stadium, he headed for the zoo's exit.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the room with the staircase. He then walked down the dark hallway. He felt like the library was the ideal place for deep thinking because of its quietness.

S-S-S-S-S

More than eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick reached his neighborhood. He had strolled because he had deeply reflected upon the many obstacles he had to jump through in order to conclude his investigation. The pink star was grateful for his best friend and the mysterious dolphin's assistance. Since he did not thank SpongeBob earlier, he was going to do it now. He walked up to the pineapple and...

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the knocks. He was walking down the dark hallway when he heard them. The sponge had came to a conclusion about Mr. Krabs more than a minute ago. He had inferred that the crab learned greedy habits since it assisted him in survival and eventually entered the pirate business for similar reasons. He also inferred that the crab kept such habits throughout his life since they still provided some benefit for him. The sponge no longer viewed Mr. Krabs as entirely responsible for his terrible act, the crab's childhood and the holiday being observed today were both major factors that led to what had happened. The yellow sponge wondered what gruesome acts that Mr. Krabs had done during his pirate years in order to obtain money and treasure. Thoughts were constantly flowing through the yellow square's mind as he walked towards the front door. Time had went more quickly due to his heavy amounts of thinking.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob opened the front door. The yellow square then saw Patrick and realized that his thinking had only answered one out of a few unanswered questions.

"Sponge, I just wanna thank you for backing me up in that stadium. I would've been buried by those peanuts if it wasn't for you and that dolphin." Patrick genuinely expressed his gratitude for SpongeBob's loyalty and assistance. "I'm sorry if I didn't say this earlier." He thought that SpongeBob's act was so kind and brave that it deserved praise immediately when it had been finished.

"Pat, I wanna ask you something again. Why did you get arrested without interrogation?" SpongeBob asked a question that had been stuck in his mind for a long time. The question was gnawing at his brain more than the other questions because of its potential to change his view of the police. "Even if you actually committed the crime, they would still have to interrogate you so they could get some info out of you. Why did they not do that?"

"When I got arrested, I was kinda stupid so I believed what the police said 'bout me being the culprit. They kinda talked a lot during the trip to the police station. They sometimes talked about stuff like 'insurmountable evidence' so I think they already had evidence that proves that I did something wrong." Patrick gave a satisfying answer to SpongeBob's question. The sea star was even smiling since he found that previous chain of events to be kind of silly since he had actually wanted to help the police through his own investigation. Since the sea star used his memory to answer that question, his intelligence increased by several levels.

SpongeBob nodded. He could tell that Patrick became smarter than before. "I still got more questions in my head." His quest for knowledge was far from over. He tried to extract some information out of the enlarged well of knowledge that the sea star had.

"Go ahead." Patrick nodded. As a way of giving back to show his gratitude, he was going to answer any of SpongeBob's questions to the best of his ability.

"Why did the police enter your house without a search warrant?" SpongeBob asked another question that had gnawed at his mind a lot. He had received information about the police's search for the culprit when he had watched the news on TV. He considered such acts from the police to be suspicious because it seemed to be hypocritical (the police advocated that search warrants should be received before any type of search through a person's property).

"I honestly dunno. My best guess is that they were so worried or excited about finding me that they forgot 'bout that search warrant thingy." Patrick shrugged. "I guess they're kinda gullible too 'cause they believed that lie 'bout me being the criminal." The starfish said another assumption.

What Patrick said made SpongeBob begin to realize the terrible consequences of the police searching through homes without search warrants. He imagined police officers getting fooled by any eyewitness evidence and taking action right away. The sea star's words also made SpongeBob think about another major question. "Why did someone lie about the culprit?" The yellow sponge spoke solemnly. He viewed whoever said that lie to the police to be despicable because that person did not take Clamu's situation seriously.

"I dunno the answer for that one either. Whoever did that is a jerk though. I bet not even a thought about Clamu passed through that jerk's mind." Patrick spoke with tightened fists. Mere thoughts about the culprit made the sea star begin to fill up with anger.

An awkward pause.

"Well... see ya later." SpongeBob began to close the door. He wanted to think more about the last two questions that he had asked. The yellow square maintained a neutral facial expression to hide his true feelings; he did not want to attract any attention to himself so he could think in peace.

"Bye, Sponge." Patrick waved at his best friend and then walked towards his rock. Due to the massive chain of events that had happened today, he wanted to spend the rest of his Sunday in tranquility.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick entered his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick laid down on his sofa and closed his eyes. He grabbed the remote and lowered the volume of the TV to a relaxing level. He then laid the remote on the floor and put his hands behind his head.

A long pause.

The pink star fell asleep; he began his nap.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

9:00 PM.

The lights in the bedroom were turned off.

Gary was sleeping on his pile of newspapers.

**CRRREeeeeaaak**

**Slam**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. Other than the assumptions given to him by Patrick, he could not get any closer to answering the two remaining major questions. However, unknown to him at the moment, the two questions were connected and the unpleasant consequences of that union were going to be revealed in his mind. The yellow square walked to his bed, took off his shoes and kept his socks, laid down on the bed, put the blanket over himself, and closed his eyes.

A very long pause.

The sponge fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside SpongeBob's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

Time was no longer measurable. The sponge could not tell if he was traveling to another dimension or was waking up from a nap. His body felt like nothing. Once his eyes became less heavy, he opened them and the dark void that he was floating in vanished instantly. The moment he laid eyes on this new world, he forgot the portal that traveled between universes and the world he originally came from. His sense, especially his sense of touch, became completely activated.

For an odd reason, he was in the Krusty Krab. On his head was the Krusty Krab employee hat. He had been napping face-first on a table in the dining room. He sat straight and noticed that customers were sitting at the other tables and were patiently waiting for their meals. Unlike the majority of people, the customers were silent. It looked like they were anticipating for an unfortunate occurrence.

"SPONGEBOB, WHERE'VE YOU BEEN?!" Mr. Krabs screamed into the sponge's right ear like a drill sergeant. The crab seemed to be possessed by another person due to the striking personality differences between him and the original Mr. Krabs. His face was expressing sincere anger instead of irritation. The crab's claws were tight and were trembling with fury. The crustacean had the air and demeanor of a tyrant.

SpongeBob jumped from his seat and stood straight. The crustacean had frightened him but he did not know what he had done wrong. Due to his ignorance, he was at a loss of words. The only words he could say were "Umm..." or "Uhh...".

An awkward pause.

Mr. Krabs grabbed both of SpongeBob's shoulders and shook the yellow square furiously. "C'MON, BARNACLE HEAD! TIME IS MONEY!" He began to verbally abuse the yellow square so the sponge could do his bidding. The sponge's napping had halted the pace of his business. His unsatisfied hunger for money was the cause of his extreme anger; money was the idol that he worshipped everyday. He then tossed the yellow square towards the boat.

SpongeBob fell into the boat and sat up. Squidward and Nicholas were not in the Krusty Krab; they did not work in the restaurant. The yellow square was both the cashier and the fry cook. However, his anxiety prevented him from recognizing his dual-role.

"START FLIPPIN' THOSE PATTIES!" Mr. Krabs banged a table with both of his claws in anger. He wanted the sponge to know that he was not taking the sponge's 'silly' behavior lightly.

SpongeBob stood up and dove through the ordering window.

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor. He looked at the metal wheel that was on the ordering window and noticed that numerous sticky notes were on that wheel. He then turned on the grill, put many patties on that grill, and prepared all of the ingredients in the kitchen in preparation for a cooking frenzy. The sponge then became a yellow blur as he cooked and made the ordered food rapidly.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs looked through the ordering window and glared at the yellow square. He was wearing the uniform of a military general. "WORK **FASTER! **I ain't paying you to fool around!" He banged his claw at the ordering window. The uniform made his tyranny look obvious.

**C-CLINK**

A metal collar had been locked into SpongeBob's ankle. It was chained to the grill.

SpongeBob was working as hard as he could. His clothes were tattered. Unfortunately, he could not satisfy the excessive expectations of his master. The yellow sponge tried to cook the food faster but to no avail. No other employee was there to help him; he had to deal with Mr. Krabs' wrath by himself.

Mr. Krabs stomped away from the ordering window and grumbled to himself.

Once the yellow square finished cooking all of the ordered food, the collar on his ankle disappeared.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob set the plate for the most recent order on the table that the customer was sitting in. Rivulets of sweat was running down the overworked slave's face. He took a few deep breaths to regain the air he lost when he had been running left and right.

**BONK**

A seat hit the back of SpongeBob's head.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the floor.

Mr. Krabs stomped up to the abused sponge. He was the one who had thrown the seat. "DON'T STAY IDLE! GET. BACK. TO. **WORK!**" The crab yelled a command at the sponge with a voice akin to one of a dictator when saying a passionate speech before a large mass of people. The crustacean did not want SpongeBob to be idle at all until the workday was over.

SpongeBob shakily stood up and walked as fast as he could towards the cash register. He sat in the boat and signaled with both of his hands for the customers to form a line.

The customers stood up from their seats and formed a single-file line.

**CHA-CHING**

SpongeBob opened the cash register's drawer.

Each customer took out the money that needed to be paid for their orders. Then, one-by-one, they gave SpongeBob the money they took out.

As the yellow square put each group of dollar bills and coins into the cash register, he felt like he was more of a robot than an actual living being. The repetitive movements he had to do to put the money into the drawer made his arms feel like they were produced in a factory instead of the product of cell division. It seemed like wires charged with electricity and bones made out of iron were inside his arms. His voice sounded robotic after a while because he had to ask for extra money several times (some of the customers had made mistakes with their money).

Once the customers had paid the money that they owed, they all exited the Krusty Krab.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. He marched up to the register, grabbed it, turned around with exact precision; and walked directly back to his office.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crab entered his office. He was going to bask in the profits that were earned today. His greed made him do almost anything without self-imposed moral restriction.

The yellow square sweatdropped. The money-thirsty crustacean was certainly going to come back to give him another beating if he did not begin a chore or task very soon. He jumped out of the boat and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen. The hit he got from the thrown seat made him temporarily unable to dive or make large jumps.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grabbed a bucket, turned on the sink, and hastily filled the bucket with water. He snatched a mop during the bucket's filling. Once the water reached the rim of the bucket, SpongeBob turned off the sink and carefully walked across the kitchen.

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow sponge slowly and cautiously exited the kitchen. He was trying to prevent the bucket from spilling any water and a consequential accident. His imagination had no bounds when it came to the punishments he could receive for causing an accident.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob mopped the dining room's floor with care. He made sure that each stroke of the mop was not going to hit the bucket. He also put effort into making every spot on the floor as clean as possible. Thoughts about possible punishments made the yellow square's heartbeat quicken and also caused some sweatdrops to run down his brow.

The dining room was eerily silent. The next batch of customers had not come yet.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was wearing a tuxedo and was sitting in his desk. The lights in the office were turned off and a lit candle was on the desk. The candle was on a intricately-designed metal holder. The warm glow of the candle was the only thing that allowed Mr. Krabs to see anything inside the room.

A plate was on the desk with a fork to the left and a knife to the right. On the plate was a large pile of dollar bills.

Mr. Krabs licked his lips in preparation for a bout of eating. His greed was so intense that he thought that money had a purpose that was completely different from the intended purpose. From the crab's bizarre viewpoint, money, especially dollar bills, was a source of sustenance. The crustacean then picked up his knife and fork and chowed down at a remarkable pace. In less than a minute, he finished eating the plate of money. He then opened a nearby bag and poured some more money to the plate (the bag was filled with the recent profits that were dumped from the register). The crustacean then resumed his eating. In that eating bout, he ate at an even faster pace.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs eating so fast and was enjoying his meal so much that SpongeBob could hear the eating without even being inside the office. The eating was so loud that the yellow square sometimes took a pause or two in an attempt to figure out what was going on inside the office. Once the sponge was finished with cleaning the dining room, he walked towards the kitchen.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob poured the bucket's remaining water into the sink. However, the temptation of taking a peek into Mr. Krabs' office entered his mind. The sounds of the dining was heightening the sponge's curiosity. A thought about a horrifying punishment from his tyrannical boss then entered his mind and made him successfully resist the temptation. Fear was a powerful factor in the abusive relationship between the sponge and the crustacean.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob quickly exited the kitchen. He was in another frantic search for a task to do.

S-S-S-S-S

The money inside the safe and in the bag were all gone. The crab had ate all of the money that the restaurant currently had.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs burped and then looked down at his plate. When he noticed that there was not even a single piece of green paper on the plate, he looked through the bag and the safe for any remaining cash. When he realized that the safe and the bag no longer had any dollar bills, he stood up and nervously searched the room for more paper currency. His greed transformed into a craving for the delicious green paper.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was cleaning the kitchen with a broom. He could hear the shattering and displacement of objects inside the office. However, those sounds did not tempt the sponge because they sounded more threatening than inviting. Nonetheless, those sounds sparked SpongeBob's curiosity.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs fell to his knees in despair and sadness. He put both of his claws over his face. His craving became a longing for just a glimpse of green paper. "No... more... money..." He spoke to the truth to himself so he could accept the fact. Living in a delusion was not going to get rid of the intense craving. "I'm starving..." The crab was dramatizing his dilemma since his greed/craving was amplifying his view of the situation.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in the crab's head. The crustacean then stood up straight and smiled. The light of hope poured into his heart.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the kitchen within seconds.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab eagerly grabbed both of the yellow fry cook/cashier's shoulders and shook the sponge furiously so he could quickly get an answer out of his employee. "Do you have any money on ya? Do you?" He spoke with a wider smile. "Do you?! Do you?! Do you?!" He was now wearing the normal attire of the Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob's home universe. Instead of being stern and angry, he was being enthusiastic and was also expressing more positive emotions.

SpongeBob was at a loss of words again. The crab's sudden change in expression and personality, his constant repetition of "Do you?!", and the shaking that he was receiving was causing anxiety for the sponge. He was not sure if his boss was making a facade in preparation for a punishment or if the crab was being genuine. The fear separating him and Mr. Krabs made him treat the crab with suspicion and excessive caution.

"C'mon! You must have something!" Mr. Krabs shook SpongeBob harder. He was becoming desperate to get a response out of his fry cook/cashier. He did not want his desire for money to become a sorrowful longing again.

SpongeBob managed to blurt out some words. "C-can you p-put me down?" The rapid shaking made it difficult for him to speak. He was becoming nauseous from all of that shaking.

Mr. Krabs nodded and released SpongeBob from his grasp.

SpongeBob shakily landed on the floor. Once his nauseousness disappeared, he looked up and made eye contact with the crustacean. He was afraid to say the words that he was thinking of saying. After several seconds, he decided that telling the truth was better than telling a lie since he might receive a less harsh punishment for being honest. The yellow square dug into his pockets and pulled out lint to demonstrate that his pockets were empty. "Mr. Krabs, to be honest, I don't have any money on me right now." The sponge spoke solemnly. He then sweatdropped as he anxiously waited for Mr. Krabs' reaction.

Mr. Krabs stopped smiling and narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. His clothes became the attire that a king would usually wear; a golden crown, a purple fur coat, a necklace with a clam in the middle, and medieval pants with an intricate end on each pant leg. The crustacean was holding a golden scepter with a 'K' on its top. The 'K' was decorated with jewels, each jewel had a different color. "You don't have any money, eh?" He made a soul-piercing glare at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob sweatdropped several more times. His face became more pallid as he backed away from the wrathful crab. He anticipated that Mr. Krabs was going to throw him into a world of pain and suffering.

Mr. Krabs slowly raised his scepter. "Traitors like you don't deserve any type of kindness or comfort." He thought that SpongeBob was lying due to the sponge's nervousness. In reality, the sponge was nervous because he had told the truth.

"W-wait, Mr. Krabs! I'm not lyi-" SpongeBob tried to verbally defend himself but got interrupted by the red tyrant.

"SILENCE!" Mr. Krabs barked an order and then swung his scepter at the yellow square. He was glad to punish the yellow slave for 'betraying' his master, he thought that what he was about to do was an appropriate punishment.

**BAM**

**BONK**

**SLAM**

**BONK**

**BAM**

**THUD**

**BAM **

**BAM **

**CLANK**

Mr. Krabs began to rapidly assault SpongeBob with the scepter.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! STOP! **STOOOPP!**" SpongeBob screamed in agony. He could not defend himself because he did not know a single martial art at , due to his lower status in the hierarchy of the business, the ruthless crustacean did not listen to his desperate yells.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM.

**FLICK**

Mr. Krabs turned off the lights in the dining room. It was closing time. The crab felt like the business had earned enough of a profit today for him to have an adequate amount of sustenance. He was holding a bag full of today's profits.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the restaurant, He was relieved since the workday was over. For the first time in his life, he was happy for the fact that he was no longer working for today.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited the restaurant as well.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs turned around and locked the double door. He turned to look at SpongeBob.

The yellow sponge saw what Mr. Krabs did from the corner of his eye. He then turned to make eye contact with the red tyrant. The sponge deeply hoped that the crab was not going to give him another punishment.

"You better come here at eight o'clock sharp. Got it?" Mr. Krabs spoke in an authoritative voice. He wanted the sponge to be completely obedient, especially by abiding to the work schedule.

"Aye, aye, sir." SpongeBob nodded. He had kept a solemn face ever since he got assaulted by the tyrant. He thought that showing his emotions without restraint was going to expose him to a higher likelihood of getting punished. The assault had given him a black eye. His mind was filled with thoughts about the peace and tranquility that he could have at his pineapple.

"Good. If you come late, you'll slow down the business and end up making me lose money." Mr. Krabs gave a final warning to his yellow slave. The crustacean then walked towards his anchor.

SpongeBob walked towards his pineapple. The sponge smiled in anticipation of the relaxing adn fun times that he was going to have at his home.

Standing before the Chum Bucket's front door was Plankton. The plankton was aware of the importance of SpongeBob's role in the Krusty Krab business. He thought that today was the day where he was going to put his formulated plan into action. He had waited until today because Mr. Krabs would usually give a passionate lecture to SpongeBob after closing time about how the sponge was not trying his best at his daily working tasks. Once SpongeBob was far away enough from the Chum Bucket, Plankton ran towards the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to his pineapple's front door. The pineapple was the only building in the neighborhood. Squidward's tiki and Patrick's rock were nowhere to be seen, not even a single trace of those buildings were in the neighborhood. The yellow square tried to open the front door but realized that it was locked. He then checked all of his pockets and noticed that there was a key in one of his rear pockets. He took out that key and unlocked the front door.

Plankton caught up with SpongeBob. He was sweating profusely but tried to keep his panting to a very quiet level.

**CRREEEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple.

Plankton managed to slip into the building at the last second.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was sitting on the couch and was watching a marathon of Wild West. He saw the yellow square from the corner of his eye and greeted his owner. "Hey."

"Hi, Gar-bear." SpongeBob waved at his snail with a wide smile and then walked towards the kitchen. Working without eating anything for several hours made him every hungry.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Plankton looked up and saw the shell-phone. He needed a shell-phone because that object was very crucial to his plan. He then stealthily dove to the couch and quickly crawled across the floor while under the couch. Once he reached the other side, he walked up to the kitchen's door and...

Creak

...opened it very slightly. He then slipped into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened a cabinet and took out a jar of peanut butter and a bag that contained a loaf of bread. He opened the jar, opened the bag, and took out two slices of bread from the bag. He skipped towards the sink and took a knife that had been washed during the morning. He then walked back, dipped the knife into the jar, and spread the peanut butter on both slices of bread. He then put the slices together and ate the sandwich.

Plankton was hiding behind one of the table's legs. He was standing beneath the table's top. He was waiting and hoping for the sponge to open the refrigerator. If his plan was going to work, he needed some food or objects that could be used as valid evidence for a crime. The plankton already had an idea for what crime he was going to accuse SpongeBob of committing.

Once the yellow square was finished with eating the sandwich, he walked towards the fridge. He wanted to rinse down the sandwich with a refreshingly cold cup of water.

Plankton smirked and tip-toed out of the table's shadow.

SpongeBob opened the refrigerator's bottom door and took out a gallon of water. He then opened a cabinet and seized a cup from it. He set the water gallon on the counter near the sink and opened the gallon. He poured the gallon's water into the cup until the water nearly reached the cup's brim. He then drank the water until the cup was empty.

Plankton looked closely at the refrigerator's interior because SpongeBob had left the bottom door open. He saw a plate of leftover Krabby Patties and then smiled wider at his small victory. 'Bingo.' He stepped back into the table's shadow. 'I better wait this out. I cannot afford to lurk around his home if he can spot me.' The plankton made the wise decision of waiting until SpongeBob was asleep before executing his plan.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

9:05 PM.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He was wearing his light green pajamas. He stepped up to the light switch and...

**FLICK**

...turned off the lights in the bedroom.

Gary was sleeping peacefully on his pile of newspapers. He had started sleeping thirty minutes ago; the long marathon of Wild West had made him more drowsy than usual.

SpongeBob laid down on his bed, put the blanket over himself, tucked his pillow, and closed his eyes.

The sponge eventually 'fell asleep'.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob's spiritual energy began to float out of the sponge's main consciousness. The sponge was transparent and was floating out of the pineapple that was in his dream. His soaring speed then accelerated to the point where he was rocketing through the depths of space. The yellow sponge eventually reached a place where there was total darkness. Since the sponge was dreaming in a dream, his soul was moving to a layer of the universe that was hidden from mortal beings with low magical ability or spiritual awareness.

A pause.

A purple jellyfish materialized out of nothing to the sponge's left. It then flew up to the yellow square. _"Greetings, SpongeBob." _It was the Guardian Spirit of SpongeBob and Patrick's magical pages.

SpongeBob gave a puzzled look at the Guardian Spirit. However, he recognized the spirit before him. "Why're you here? Where am I?" The sponge did not know about what was happening. This was the first time he ever had such an otherworldly experience.

_"Do you not remember when I fused my soul with yours and Patrick's so you could utilize the Pages?" _The spirit was mildly amused by SpongeBob's questions. What he considered to be even more humorous was the fact that SpongeBob owned a magical weapon known as the Golden Spatula but forgot about its existence. Another fact that he thought was humorous was: SpongeBob owned magical pages with a decent amount of magical potential but did not know the phenomena that was currently occurring.

SpongeBob remembered and raised his index finger. "Oh yeahh!" He grinned at his tiny victory.

An awkward pause.

"Anyways, do you know where I am?" SpongeBob was still itching to know where he was. He was not sure if he was still in his dream or was in a realm beyond the physical world; he could not tell fiction from reality.

"_That shall be for another time. There are more pressing matters below." _The Guardian Spirit pointed below SpongeBob's feet. However, the world he was pointing towards could not be seen because it was very far away from the dark realm that the spirit and the sponge were in. The spirit had noticed something going on inside the sponge's dream that the sponge was not noticing. _"The place you had soared from was your dream."_

SpongeBob nodded to show that he understood the spirit's words. The sponge could now make a good guess at where he was. That guess was that he was in some sort of realm that was beyond dreams.

"_I believe you will need some assistance." _The purple jellyfish grabbed SpongeBob's shoulder with one of his stingers.

"Hold on..." SpongeBob's desire for knowledge was not satisfied. He wanted to fully comprehend the phenomena occurring before his eyes.

"_You will understand my haste once you return to your dream." _The spirit thought that SpongeBob needed to see what was going on with his own eyes in order for him to believe what the spirit was seeing. He then threw SpongeBob as hard as he could towards the sponge's main consciousness.

SpongeBob flew like a comet towards his main consciousness. He saw the ground and the pineapple below him rapidly increase in size. Flames caused by the surface world's atmosphere enveloped his body.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton dialed the police station's number into the shell-phone in the living room. He then pulled the phone down and stood next to it. He had went to the shell-phone immediately after seeing SpongeBob soundly sleeping.

A pause.

"_Hello?" _The electronic voice of a female police officer was heard.

"Officer, I have long held a suspicion that a certain Krusty Krab employee, SpongeBob SquarePants to be exact, has been running an illegal business." Plankton spoke with confidence and seriousness. He almost sounded like a citizen who was genuinely complaining or reporting to authorities.

Plankton's words ensnared the police officer's attention. She was surprised because SpongeBob's permanent record had no crimes listed on it at all. She had also seen SpongeBob a few times during her times when she ate at the Krusty Krab and could tell that the yellow square had a kind nature. She aware of the fear-based relationship between the yellow fry cook and the tyrannical boss, the officer assumed that SpongeBob would never do such a risky thing out of intense fear of his boss. _"How was this business illegal?" _

"He was selling Krabby Patties. He has been doing this for the last few months. The sponge maintains the secrecy of his business by allowing visitors to come to his home to buy the goods. He ran out of most of his stashes and the last one is in his fridge." Plankton described the situation with remarkable detail when compared to the descriptions that were spoken by normal citizens. The plankton predicted that there was going to be some suspicion against him due to his knowledge about the 'criminal' so he kept the description as brief as possible.

The police officer raised her brow. As Plankton predicted, she started to view the plankton with suspicion. _"How did you find all of that info?" _Her question tested Plankton's intention for calling the police.

"I watched SpongeBob for a long time. I know a lot because I took my time when it came to gathering information about SpongeBob's crime. I do not want to spread rumors and half-truths, you know." Plankton tried to hide his true intention by lying about his intention.

The police officer fell for the lie; she thought that Plankton's words revealed the plankton's honesty. _"Is the stash of Krabby Patties still there?" _She decided that she and other officers were going to promptly go to SpongeBob's pineapple.

"Hold on a sec. I'll check." Plankton then turned towards the doorway to the kitchen. He was trying to fool the police officer into thinking that he was checking the refrigerator in the kitchen for the plate of Krabby Patties. He waited for twenty seconds (he mentally counted) and then turned back to the shell-phone. "Yep. It has not been touched at all."

"_Where is SpongeBob's home located?" _The police officer was very serious about arresting SpongeBob. The information she had heard from Plankton was so shocking that she did not have second thoughts about the validity of the information. Her shift was ending soon anyway so that was also a factor into her hasty decision-making, she unintentionally placed herself as a higher priority than the criminals or citizens.

Plankton once again turned around. That time, he was trying to fool the police officer into thinking that he was checking the pineapple's address. After almost ten seconds, he turned back to the shell-phone. "124 Conch Street."

"_We'll be over there as soon as possible." _The police officer tried to assure Plankton of a speedy arrival. The young woman then put the shell-phone down on her end. She was going to gather officers so they could enter the sponge's home and arrest the yellow 'criminal'.

Plankton lifted the shell-phone and put it back on its holder. He then made an evil giggle at the thought of SpongeBob's arrest. He could imagine how Mr. Krabs was going to react when hearing the news about his employee's arrest. Once that yellow square gets out of his way by serving jailtime, almost nothing could stop him from getting the Krabby Patty secret formula.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A police boatmobile parked in front of SpongeBob's pineapple. The female police officer and two other police officers who were males exited the vehicle. They walked up to the pineapple.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK **

The female police officer knocked on the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton heard the knocking and smiled at that. The knocking was a sign that his plan was becoming a reality and such a reassurance boosted his confidence and happiness. He leaped to the floor, ran up to the front door, climbed to the handle; but struggled to open the door.

An awkward pause.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

The female police officer was becoming impatient. "Open up! This is the police!" She spoke in a firm and loud voice so SpongeBob (who she assumed was on the other side) could hear her. The officer wanted to get this case over with since she wanted to finish it before her shift ends.

Another pause.

**SLAM**

The female police officer barged the front door open with a kick.

Plop!

Plankton fell to the floor. He then stood up and became a little bit grumpy because he hit his head when he fell. "Can you be more careful next time? I was trying to open the door." His ill-temper leaked into the tone of his voice.

"My bad." The female police officer sincerely apologized. She then held out both of her hands to show that she was being sincere. "You must be the eyewitness who called me, right?" She recognized the plankton's voice. However, she did not expect the plankton to be so small.

"Indeed." Plankton nodded and made a neutral facial expression. He thought that the arrest would go more smoothly if he acted like he was not as grumpy as he actually was.

"Can you show me the stash of Krabby Patties?" The female police officer walked across the living room and looked around it. So far, she did not see anything suspicious but knew that there was a sign of illegal activity in the pineapple.

"Mm-hm." Plankton ran as fast as he could towards the door to the kitchen.

The female police officer felt somewhat bad for the plankton due to his tiny size. She then decided to assist Plankton because of that pity. She walked up to the kitchen's door and opened it.

Plankton moved out of the opening door's way and dashed into the kitchen.

The police officers followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked up to the fridge and pointed at the bottom door. He knew that he could not open the door so he desired for some assistance.

The female police officer walked up to the bottom door and opened it. She then saw a plate of Krabby Patties in the fridge's interior. "Aha!" She picked up the plate and held it out towards the two male police officers. "See? I was not joking about what the witness said." She said that because those two other officers were skeptical of their claim until now. The two male officers went with her anyway because they had nothing else to do, their shifts were also far from over. She then gave the plate to one of the other officers. "I'll take care of the sponge." She took out a pair of handcuffs and exited the kitchen.

Plankton and the other male officer exited the kitchen. The male police officer was following the female officer so he could control the sponge if the sponge tried to resist his arrest.

A pause.

The police officer who was holding the Krabby Patty exited the kitchen as well. He was going to bring the plate back to the police boatmobile so it can be used as evidence that justifies and validates SpongeBob's arrest.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

By the time SpongeBob returned to his dream and 'woke up', he noticed that two police officers and Plankton were inside his bedroom.

The female police officer walked up to the yellow sponge and pulled him out of his bed. "You are under arrest. You have a right to remain silent." She then put the pair of handcuffs around SpongeBob's wrists and locked them.

SpongeBob was heavily shocked and his facial expression made his current emotion very obvious. From the sponge's perspective, he was being arrested for no reason at all because he did not even know what crime he was being accused of committing. The sponge looked at Plankton from the corner of his eye and saw the plankton's smirk. He then correctly assumed that Plankton was responsible for fooling the police into making them come to his home to arrest him.

The female police officer dragged SpongeBob towards the open doorway to the right.

The handcuffs reminded SpongeBob of his abusive and fearful relationship with his boss. He remembered the collar that was on his ankle when he had to cook to his working speed's uppermost limit in an attempt to fulfill the crab's demands. He also realized that the police was going to be his temporary master. Like Mr. Krabs, the police were going to use punishment to discipline the yellow sponge. However, that punishment, instead of beatings and verbal abuse, was jail.

SpongeBob, the female police officer, Plankton, and the male police officer exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Another minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The male police officer opened one of the police boatmobile's secondary doors. He pushed Spongebob into the vehicle and then entered the vehicle himself. Once SpongeBob and the male police officer became comfortable in their seats, the male police officer closed the door.

The female police officer entered the boatmobile and sat in the driver's seat. The male police officer who was holding the plate was sitting in the adjacent seat and had been doing so for the past few minutes.

Plankton was smiling at the police boatmobile. 'Nothing can stop me now!' He thought optimistically. He was overjoyed because his plan became a major success. It was only a matter of time before he will have the secret formula with his own hands.

SpongeBob looked through the window nearest to him and saw Plankton's wide smile. He could tell that Plankton was up to an evil scheme and such thoughts about the plankton left the sponge in an uneasy state.

The female police officer twisted the key in the keyhole.

The boatmobile became turned on. It then drove down the road until it disappeared from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the nearest window; he was trying to make time pass more quickly. He wanted his current ordeal to end as quickly as possible. He could not do anything to stop his ordeal since he was under the powerful watch of the police. After a few more seconds, he noticed that several police boatmobiles were driving down the same road as his police boatmobile. He looked closely at those vehicles and noticed that there were criminals in them. He then assumed that those arrested people were just as unfortunate as he was. He thought that his fellow arrestees were all victims of people like Plankton.

A very long pause. SpongeBob thought critically about his current situation.

The yellow square, after almost a minute, realized that the police had went into his home without a search warrant (the police always say that they have a search warrant whenever they enter the criminal's home with a search warrant) and did not interrogate him for extra information. The sponge had seen police doing their job enough times to know that going into a home without a search warrant or arresting a criminal without interrogation was improper procedure. Due to those facts, he began to view the police with suspicion. If police officers like them continue to do arrest procedures improperly, they could eventually do it on purpose so they can abuse their power (most citizens trusted the police, regardless if they completely follow procedures and police or not). What made him even more suspicious of the police was the assumption that they believed Plankton's lies about him by just one piece of evidence (the plate of Krabby Patties).

The male police officer sitting next to him looked at the male police officer that was in the front row. "Nate, when's the next pay day?" He was anticipating his next paycheck. Some of the days that he had been on duty were unpleasant but, in his opinion, were worth the paychecks he received.

"Tomorrow." Nate looked at the police officer behind him with the corner of his eye. The officer could not wait to go back to the station and relax for the rest of his shift.

"Sweet!" The other male officer made a fist pump. Pay day was always his favorite part of being a police officer. Nothing was more of a delightful victory than receiving money for the effort that was put into a week of hard work.

"Once we bring this guy to jail, my shift'll pretty much gonna be over. We'll decide on an exact punishment tomorrow." The female police officer spoke to the other officers. She did not care if SpongeBob overheard her because the sponge was the lower one in terms of hierarchy.

SpongeBob resisted the urge to raise his brow or narrow his eyes at the police officers. The officers' conversation confirmed that they were using their power for their own benefit instead of the city's benefit. The sponge then assumed that the officers willingly wanted a minimum amount of evidence because of the reasons that they had stated in their conversation.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was dragged by the female police officer towards a large metal gate. The gate and the fence that it was a part of was made out of iron and had barbed wires on their top perimeters.

The two police officers closely followed SpongeBob. They were making sure that the yellow square was not going to be successful with any last-minute escapes.

The female police officer walked up to the pair of guards who were guarding the front of the gate, the sponge's handcuffs were still getting pulled by her. "I have a criminal who had a business where he illegally sold Krabby Patties. His punishment has not been decided yet so he's gonna be in the slammer until he gets his punishment." She informed the guards about the yellow square. She then held out the sponge before the guards.

One of the guards took out his walkie talkie. "Jeff, we got an arrested criminal. He's gonna be here for a temporary stay." He spoke to the person who was in control of the gate.

S-S-S-S-S

A middle-aged man was sitting in a room with many switches, buttons, and a large computer. The room, if looked at from outside, looked like an orange box. The room itself was very close to the gate so it was almost like a compartment. Jeff heard the guard's electronic voice and grabbed a switch. He then pushed that switch until it was completely down.

S-S-S-S-S

The large gate slowly opened. Once it was completely open, the female police officer, with SpongeBob in tow, walked past the gate.

The two male police officers walked back to the police boatmobile. They no longer felt like they needed to watch the sponge because the guard duo could easily control the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

The female officer and SpongeBob walked across the front field and eventually reached a double door. That double door was the front door of the prison. The prison was a very tall building that had numerous floors full of jail cells and cafeterias.

**C-CRRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and the officer entered the building.

S-S-S-S-S

Another duo of guards were standing near the double door from the inside of the building. The duo saw the officer and the sponge and nodded at them to let them know of the duo's permission for their entrance.

SpongeBob and the female officer were in the main room of the building. Prisoners in handcuffs were walking in and out of rooms and through doors as they returned to their cells for the night. The prisoners' dinner period had just ended when the sponge and the officer entered the building.

The female officer walked down a certain hallway. She had brought criminals to the prison so many times that she knew exactly which corridor and floor that the criminals needed to go to depending on the situations of their arrests.

The yellow square hesitantly walked at the same pace as her. He had never been to a prison before so entering the prison for the first time was like landing on a new continent. He had not done anything to stop his visit to the prison because resistance was only going to lead to more suffering for him, a stay at a jail itself was already horrifying for the innocent yellow square.

The female officer reached a staircase and began to climb a set. She tugged the sponge along because it was difficult to hold on to SpongeBob's handcuffs while climbing several sets of stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The female officer and SpongeBob reached the 6th floor. The officer then walked down the main hallway and turned to a left corridor. She walked down that corridor while grasping the sponge's handcuffs tightly. She was aware of SpongeBob's fearful behavior and was assuming that SpongeBob was thinking about escaping.

SpongeBob was cautiously looking at the prisoners who were in their cells. From his perspective, it was like the first day of high school all over again. He had made similar glances at the students who would had eventually become the bullies that tormented him throughout his time in the school. The sponge could tell that due to his personality and size, he could get easily picked on and abused by the inmates. Such a powerful and somewhat indoctrinated fear of prisoners fueled the sponge's desire for his rough time in prison to end as soon as possible.

The officer brought the sponge to a somewhat empty cell. She did not have a key to unlock the barred door. She saw a security guard walk down the hallway from the corner of her eye. She turned towards the guard and whistled towards the man.

The security guard walked up to the officer. "What is it, Miss?" He tried to be polite. He was correctly following the policy that the guards had when communicating with police officers.

The police officer pointed at the keyhole of the barred door in front of her.

The security guard nodded in compliance and unlocked the barred door. "Is he a recently arrested criminal?" He pointed at the yellow square. He did not assume anything about SpongeBob's criminal history since he had to deal with numerous prisoners every working day.

"Yep." The female officer took out a key from her pocket and unlocked SpongeBob's handcuffs. She then shoved SpongeBob into the cell and...

**SLAM**

...shut the door. She then walked up the hallway and eventually exited the floor.

The security guard walked to another floor as well. He deemed that the floor that SpongeBob was in was safe from having too much ruckus occurring.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on the floor criss-crossed. He looked through the bars at the hallway before his cell. He was not sure about what he should do now but knew one fact with complete certainty: he was going to have to endure a night of prison madness before he could have a possible chance of release.

A long pause.

SpongeBob eventually decided to have some decent sleep. He thought that sleeping well was going to make time in jail fly by much faster. He stood up and turned around towards the bed. He noticed that there was an inmate laying on the bed. The yellow square recognized who that person was and it frightened the sponge so much that he almost became a white square.

The Strangler was laying on the bed. He flipped around and noticed that SpongeBob was in his cell. He then slowly formed a very sinister grin and sat up in the bed. "Look who it is." He spoke in a voice that was both serious, intimidating, and scornful. From his perspective, he was very fortunate to have an opportunity for revenge literally walk through his door. He then stood up and narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. He was making precisely direct eye contact with the frail sponge. Through his dark and soul-penetrating pupils, he was thinking of the many methods that he could use to brutally kill SpongeBob.

SpongeBob's limbs were shaking rapidly. Due to the sponge's inability to use karate, he was absolutely helpless and was at the mercy of the Strangler. The yellow sponge's life was going to end within a few minutes.

The Strangler did not delay his actions. He grabbed the sponge's throat with one hand and began to strangle SpongeBob. He also took out a knife from his pocket (he had the knife for a bizarre reason [the prison was heavily guarded]).

Flames surrounded SpongeBob and the Strangler. The two were now in the vicinity of the burning building. A memory of when SpongeBob had been a hall monitor became intertwined with the sponge's dream.

**SHHIIINNNG**

The Strangler swung the machete at SpongeBob. It stabbed the sponge's throat. At that moment, the sponge's vision quickly faded. Within two seconds, SpongeBob saw darkness and once again felt like nothing.

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

July 14, 2008.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" SpongeBob sat up from his bed and screamed in terror. He had a horrific and mind-boggling nightmare. Once he realized that what he had experienced was just a dream. he stopped screaming and took deep breaths.

Balloons were on the ceiling of the bedroom. The sea star had taken those balloons from a nearby stand; today was Free Balloon Day. However, he had quickly forgotten about the source of those balloons during the preparation for the celebration. A yellow banner that had dark blue text saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPONGEBOB' was hanging on one of the walls.

Patrick and Sandy were in the room. Sandy was holding the birthday cake while Patrick was holding a birthday hat for Spongebob. The squirrel had to stay up for a chunk of the night in order to prepare and bake the cake. The two were wearing birthday hats (Patrick had bought the hats). "Happy birthday, SpongeBob!" They shouted merrily.


	67. Life of Crime Part 2

**Chapter 67: Life of Crime Part 2**

* * *

SpongeBob's jaw dropped. When he had went to sleep, he had forgotten that tomorrow was going to be his birthday. Once he absorbed what was occurring inside his bedroom, he made a wide smile. What his friends had done for him was so surprising and delightful that he was almost at a complete loss of words . "Thanks, guys." He expressed his gratitude in the best way that he could do. He crawled up his bed towards the birthday cake.

Sandy held out the birthday cake towards SpongeBob. "Make a wish." She grinned. Nothing felt more satisfying and rewarding than putting in a lot of hard work for a friend's sake. Especially if that friend had done many nice deeds for her in the past. She did not even try to suppress the grin on her face. 'This was so worth it.' Even her thoughts were filled with joy.

The birthday cake had twenty-three lit candles. It was Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy themed. One large sticker of the superhero duo was on the top of the cake and there were smaller stickers of those superheroes on the cake's circular side. There was also some text saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPONGEBOB' written in vanilla icing on the cake's top. The cake was chocolate because beige was SpongeBob's favorite color.

Today, SpongeBob was now twenty-three years old.

SpongeBob thought deeply about which wish that he should say. After fifteen seconds, he finally decided on what was going to be his wish. "I wish that Mr. Krabs should reduce his greedy habits." He said a very considerate and wise wish. That wish was based on the turbulent events that had happened yesterday.

Patrick snapped his finger and pointed at SpongeBob. "Nice choice!" The sea star wanted SpongeBob to be aware of the wisdom contained in that spoken wish. He had rarely heard SpongeBob say such a deeply considerate wish before (that did not mean that SpongeBob was almost always self-centered with his birthday wishes).

SpongeBob took a very deep inhale and then blew at all twenty-three candles.

The twenty-three candles became extinguished.

Patrick and Sandy clapped. The sea star cheered for the yellow square as he clapped.

A pause.

Sandy suddenly remembered something that was crucial to the celebration of SpongeBob's birthday. "It ain't a birthday party without a song." She raised her index finger. She had planned that she and Patrick were going to sing the Happy Birthday song.

Patrick snapped his fingers again. "Right." He remembered what he and Sandy were supposed to do now as well. He then cleared his throat in preparation for his singing of the song.

Another pause.

_"Happy Birthday to you,_

_Happy Birthday to you,_

_Happy Birthday dear SpongeBob,_

_Happy Birthday to you."_

_"How old are you now?_

_How old are you now?_

_How old are you SpongeBob?_

_How old are you?"_

The squirrel and the starfish tried to sing the song to the best of their abilities. Their combined efforts ended up making their singing sound decent.

"Twenty-three." SpongeBob concluded the song by telling his age. He was smiling from ear to ear. Today was one of his greatest birthdays since two other people were celebrating it with him instead of just one other person (Patrick was usually the only other person that celebrated SpongeBob's birthdays). In his opinion, Sandy and Patrick's singing was fantastic and could not be more perfect for his birthday. The yellow square got out of his bed and took hold of his squarepants from the pants hanger on the floor. "Guys, just wait a sec." He walked towards the right door and...

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than thirty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He was wearing his normal attire. He had put his pajamas and pajama hat on his shoulder. The sponge walked around the room as he looked at the balloons on the ceiling and the banner on the wall. "Where'd you get this stuff?" His curiosity became piqued when he wondered about possible sources for the birthday cake and the decorations.

"I bought the hats." Patrick pointed at the birthday hats. He then walked up to the sponge and put the remaining birthday hat on SpongeBob's head. He had nearly forgotten to do that because he had sung the Happy Birthday song. "I also bought the banner and the balloons." He pointed at the banner and the balloons like they were not as obvious as they actually were.

SpongeBob was fairly impressed by Patrick's ability to buy so many specific things. He had remembered awkward situations where Patrick struggled to buy the simplest of products due to the starfish's temporary stupidity. He then assumed that Patrick had a surge of intelligence during the later part of yesterday.

"I baked this cake myself." Sandy held out the cake. She was very proud of the fruit of her labor.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Why don't we have the cake for breakfast?" The cake had made him aware of his mild hunger. The sponge had not ate anything during the few hours before his sleeptime. 'Nothing could start off my day better than some sweets.' He licked his lips. Even though vanilla was his favorite flavor, the chocolate cake still looked delicious.

Patrick gasped and then grinned. "Yeah!" He jumped up and down in excitement. "That's a great idea!" He could not agree anymore with his best friend.

"Meow." Gary was stirred from his slumber. He was not as drowsy as he usually was every morning because he preferred getting woken up by voice than alarm.

SpongeBob walked up to Sandy. "I'll serve the cake." He carefully took the cake from Sandy's hands and walked towards the right door. He wanted to follow the tradition of the birthday boy/girl cutting his/her birthday cake.

**CRRREEAAK**

SLAM

The yellow square exited the bedroom.

Patrick, Gary, and Sandy walked towards the right door as well.

**CRRREEEAAK**

SLAM

They exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the cake on the table in the kitchen. He walked backwards towards a drawer and opened that drawer. He took out a knife and then walked back to the cake. The yellow sponge then cut the cake into five pieces that were roughly equal in size. He walked to a cabinet and took out five plates. He put a cake piece on each of the plates.

Patrick and Sandy sat in the table.

Gary slithered up to SpongeBob. He had a heavy desire to eat the cake.

SpongeBob saw Gary from the corner of his eye. Whenever he fed his pet snail any sweets, he had to do it in moderation due to the snail's size; the sponge always kept Gary's health as a high priority. The sponge picked up a plate and put it in front of Gary. He then passed two plates to Patrick and Sandy. He took a plate for himself and moved the last plate to the left; the last plate was reserved for another person.

Patrick took note of how SpongeBob was moving the plates. "Who's it for?" He pointed at the plate that the yellow square moved to the left. He was thinking about having two plates for himself instead of one; chocolate was one of his favorite flavors.

"Squid." SpongeBob answered as he took out three spoons from the opened drawer. He passed two spoons to his two friends and put his spoon into his cake piece. "Let's eat!" He announced the beginning of the birthday feast.

Patrick grabbed his spoon and rapidly ate his cake piece. Within half a minute, his plate became completely clean; he even had licked the remaining chocolate crumbs.

Sandy ate at a slower pace. She both wanted to enjoy the cake's flavor and not waste too much time on eating. The squirrel had to begin work thirty minutes earlier than usual today. The change in schedule also made her unable to do all of her usual morning activities. However, her circumstances did not discourage her from doing any favors for SpongeBob.

SpongeBob took his time as he ate his cake piece. He tried to muster every single bite so he could enjoy his best friends' gift as much as possible; he did not want the precious gift to go to waste. The chocolate was very pleasant to taste but the sponge resisted the temptation to eat quickly. Once the sponge was finished with his cake piece, he stood up from his seat. "I gotta say, Sandy, you're a great cook." He grinned. "I've never eaten a cake that tasted so good." He was being completely honest. During his childhood and adolescence, his parents had went to the same bakery to buy birthday cakes for SpongeBob's birthdays. As a result, he had eaten the same types of cakes (including ones at other birthday parties since those were also from bakeries). The birthday cake he had just ate was the very first homemade cake he had ever consumed.

Sandy was flattered by SpongeBob's compliments. "Aww, shucks." This was the first time that she had ever received praise for the products of her cooking/baking. Back at her home in Texas, her mother was the main cook and usually served her dishes to the family for breakfast and dinner.

Patrick felt like SpongeBob's birthday party was too bland for his taste. He felt like he should have implemented party games like 'pin the tail on the donkey' or brought music that he and the others could dance to. In an attempt to spice the party up with some amusement, he decided to reveal an observation that he would usually keep hidden. He could easily excuse such a risky action by saying that it was a result of the changes that he went through after the fight over the secret box (the excuse actually had some truth in it, regardless of the intention). "Sponge, are you trying to flirt with Sandy?" He smirked. That type of teasing was not new, he certainly had done it during the early days of SpongeBob and Sandy's friendship.

SpongeBob blushed to the point where his cheeks became as red as beets. Patrick's question caught him completely off-guard. However, he was determined to keep his true views of Sandy hidden. He did not want to reveal because he felt like it was not the right time to say so, it was not caused by mistrust at all. "N-no." The yellow square spoke the truth. He simply wanted to praise Sandy for her exceptional cake. "The cake she made is really good, that's all."

Sandy became slightly irritated by Patrick's nosy act. However, she did not show explicit signs of annoyance because of a fear she had about ruining the party due to her attitude against Patrick. She could also tell that the sea star must have been really bored and desperate for excitement if he was going to ask such a question.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head. "Why don't we have a special karate match outside?" She stood up from the table. Karate would be an activity that would successfully distract the sea star and keep him in an amused state.

SpongeBob made a wide smile. He had no objections to Sandy's proposal. "Yeah!" He answered enthusiastically. "I'll get my stuff." He stood up, exited the kitchen, and headed for his bedroom. He, Sandy, and sometimes Patrick had practiced karate so many times that they kept their own gears at their homes.

"Sounds like fun." Patrick smiled in satisfaction. He was glad that Sandy suggested an activity that would relieve his boredom. He stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

Sandy exited the kitchen as well. She needed to go to her treedome in order to retrieve her karate gloves.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and Sandy walked across the kitchen.

**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

The two exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He walked up to the treasure chest and snatched the key that was under the chest. He unlocked the chest with that key and he then opened the chest. The sponge looked through the treasure chest's contents and unearthed the Golden Spatula. He had almost completely forgotten about that magical weapon since he felt like it was more of a trophy that he gained from participating in a cooking competition with Poseidon. That spatula always reminded the sponge of the sacrifice he made to stay with his friends, similar to how Sandy decided to stay in Bikini Bottom.

A pause.

SpongeBob cleared his mind of his vast amount of memories. The memories were becoming too distracting. He had a few karate matches that he was looking forward to. The sponge eventually found his red karate gear and then put them on. The yellow square picked up the key, closed the chest, locked the chest, and put the key back to its place under the chest.

The yellow sponge did several punches, kicks, and chops in a very rapid succession. Once he was finished with that combo of karate moves, he felt like he was ready to fight against Sandy, Patrick, or both. He...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...swiftly exited the bedroom and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen. He saw the only remaining cake piece and that made him realize that he forgot to bring it to Squidward. He took off his karate gear, put the gear on the table, and took hold of the plate. He walked through the open doorway at a moderate pace and entered the living room. He did not want to leave Squidward out of the celebration of his birthday.

S-S-S-S-S

Gary was watching TV while sitting on the couch. He was constantly changing the channel in search of the Bikini Bottom News channel.

SpongeBob walked towards the front door and...

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked towards Squidward's tiki. Soon, he reached the front door and...

**KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on it.

A long pause.

**CRRREEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door. He noticed the hat that SpongeBob was wearing and could tell that today was someone's birthday. He did not become grumpy because he assumed that the sponge was going to get distracted by a birthday party or celebration.

"Here you go, Squid." SpongeBob gave the plate to Squidward. "Today's my birthday." He pointed at the cake piece on the plate. "That's the only piece of the cake that's left." He spoke with a somewhat bigger smile.

Squidward resisted the urge to close the front door abruptly because he felt like giving in to that urge would be rude. The octopus had learned to appreciate any positive interaction between him and SpongeBob after the sponge's 'close encounter' with 'death' after the sponge had eaten a pie that was believed to have contained a bomb. "Thanks, SpongeBob, and happy birthday." He spoke with some warmness, like he was a close associate or a new friend.

SpongeBob beamed. Positivity filled his heart and he felt like Squidward's expression of his gratitude made his birthday several times better. With an increased amount of energy, the sponge merrily skipped back to his pineapple.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow sponge entered the pineapple.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed his tiki's front door. The chocolate cake piece looked delicious enough for his standards when it came to food. The octopus was going to eat the cake piece regardless of the presentation because he did not want to be ungrateful.

S-S-S-S-S

More than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was standing outside while wearing his karate gear. He was patiently waiting for his friends to come back to his home with their karate gear.

A very long pause.

Patrick and Sandy walked up to the pineapple. The sea star was wearing his blue karate gear while Sandy was wearing her green karate gloves.

The sea star adjusted his blue karate helmet to make sure that it would not fall off during a karate match. "So who's going first?" He made an intimidating smile and made several karate poses in preparation for the upcoming karate match.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head again. She did not want the usual karate match (her versus SpongeBob) and wanted to switch things up so the karate matches could be more fun and exciting. "You and SpongeBob." She pointed at Patrick and the yellow square. She was smirking as she said those words.

SpongeBob made a karate stance. He then locked-on his eyes to Patrick's body. His heartbeat was racing because this was going to be the first time that he was having a serious karate match with Patrick. "You ready, Pat?" He smiled a bit but did not smile too much because he did not want Patrick to underestimate him; he wanted to win the match fair and square by not using any cunning tricks.

"Yeah!" Patrick made a karate stance and narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. All of his attention was now focused on his best friend.

A pause.

Sandy thought about doing a countdown but quickly dismissed that possibility. It would end up making the karate match more of a race than an actual fight. Not doing a countdown would also make the sponge and the starfish think more quickly (quick thinking is an important skill in karate). "GO!" Sandy announced the match's beginning.

SpongeBob and Patrick leaped towards each other.

**BAM**

**KLOK**

**SLAM**

**SMACK**

**THUD**

**B-BAM**

**K-KLOK**

SpongeBob and Patrick did not hesitate to put a lot of effort into their attacks. They did not pull any punches or kicks at all.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were walking towards the Krusty Krab. Sandy had went back to her treedome so she could begin work. The two were conversing about the karate matches that they participated in or witnessed and birthday parties that they had been to. SpongeBob was wearing his employee hat while Patrick was in his normal attire without his karate gear.

"Pat, some of your birthday parties were awesome. Don't you remember the time when your parents brought a clown over and also blasted on some dancing music?" SpongeBob was having a fit of nostalgia. He was also in particularly high spirits because of the celebration of his birthday. Patrick's birthday parties were always nostalgic because a chunk of his earliest memories were mostly funny incidents that occurred in those parties.

"Yep. That guy became way funnier when he tripped on the chair." Patrick tried to suppress his giggling. What he just said was the memory that always entered his mind whenever he thought about clowns at parties. The clown that went to one of his birthday parties left a lasting impression on him.

SpongeBob laughed for a few seconds. The event that Patrick referenced was one of the most memorable moments of the sponge's childhood. "At least he didn't get hurt." The childhood memory reminded him of the chain of dire events that had occurred yesterday. Clamu's cries echoed in his mind for several seconds.

"True." Patrick nodded. "But that was before he tripped on a bucket o'water." He tried to suppress his laughter. His mind had a stronger shield against negative thoughts when compared to SpongeBob's.

SpongeBob's neutral facial expression quickly became a grin. The sea star's carefree attitude and lightheartedness rubbed off on him. He even took part in Patrick's giggling.

Slam

SpongeBob hit a glass door. He stepped back from the glass door and noticed that it was the entrance door to the Krusty Krab. The sponge glanced at his watch and noticed that it was 9:00 AM. However, he knew that something was wrong or a strange occurrence had happened. He could tell because Mr. Krabs was not at the restaurant yet.

Patrick closely looked at the front door. He was not sure if it was locked or unlocked. "Is it open?" He looked at his best friend from the corner of his eye.

SpongeBob grabbed the double door's handles and tried to pull the double door open. After shaking them a few times, he stepped back, made eye contact with Patrick, and silently shook his head.

"Sponge, you don't mind if I stay here?" Patrick did not want his conversation with his friend to end so quickly. He was deeply absorbed into the exchange of words and his heart would not be satisfied with what he had said until a long time of talking passes.

"Sure." SpongeBob smiled a bit and nodded. 'A little talk during the wait wouldn't hurt.' He walked to a window and sat on the large windowsill that stretched to one vertex of the building.

Patrick sat next to SpongeBob. He had a question on his mind that formed when he saw his friend make a certain face. "Why did you stop smiling when you said that the clown didn't get hurt?" He asked out of mere curiosity.

"It reminded me of Clamu and what happened to her." SpongeBob made a solemn face. He felt like not smiling whenever he talked about that fateful Sunday would be more respectful for the giant oyster.

"Oh." Patrick stopped smiling. He certainly did not take yesterday's chain of events as a joke, he played a very important role in them after all. The memories of yesterday reminded the sea star of when he and SpongeBob had been arguing and fighting over the box. Memories soon connected into information that used to be hidden. He felt like that new information was important enough to be said to his best friend. "Sponge, remember when we fighted over my secret box?"

"Yeah." SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick.. The sudden change in the sea star's tone quickly caught the sponge's attention.

"The real reason why I wanted to keep the box's secret a secret was that I was afraid the you would eventually get hurt. If people saw that Christmas picture, they could spread nasty rumors about you and ruin your reputation. I kinda think what I said back in your party 'bout you flirtin' with Sandy was too nosy and invasive, like Sandy said. You were lucky enough that I didn't say that in front of a bunch of people 'cause they could then gossip about your 'relationship' with Sandy. You get what I'm saying?" As Patrick poured his thoughts into spoken words, his intelligence increased by several levels. The sea star was using the formerly dormant potential that resided in his brain.

SpongeBob nodded. The yellow square understood the general message that Patrick was trying to say. Even though what his best friend said was out of the blue, he understood his friend's intentions better. He found it quite strange that regardless if a situation was as boring as waiting for his boss or as nerve-racking as an oyster's rampage across a city, he would end up learning something new from his friends. His job at the Krusty Krab had a permanent effect on his life, in both social and time aspects.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was now among the people who were waiting by sitting on the windowsill. The other people were: SpongeBob, Patrick, Nicholas, and a few other customers who had came early.

Two workers from an electronics store were walking up to the Krusty Krab. They were carrying Two TVs and the wires needed for installation in two boxes. Each box had a TV and the wires needed for the installation of that specific TV. They were carrying the tools and equipment needed for installation by leaving them on top of the boxes.

Patrick was the first person to notice the workers. However, he could not come up with a reason for their presence near the restaurant.

The two workers stopped before the double door and then turned around. They were waiting for the arrival of another person.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the restaurant. His face did not show a hint of happiness, that was quite unlike the crab's normal character because he was usually exuberant and enthusiastic to open the Krusty Krab in the morning. Today, something other than money was occupying his mind, and the crab considered that center of focus to be almost as important as the restaurant's profits. The crab took out his key and unlocked the Krusty Krab's double door.

**C-CRRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two workers swiftly entered the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob could tell that Mr. Krabs was not being his usual self. He assumed that something unfortunate or very unpleasant had happened to the crustacean. However, he was not sure if he should console the crab due to the crab's selfish actions that he had committed yesterday. A war in his mind ignited as he battled with alternating viewpoints over which option for the crab was best.

**C-CRRRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob slowly entered the Krusty Krab. His deep thinking made him almost completely unaware of his surroundings.

**C-CRRREEEEAAAAAAK**

S-SLAM

Everybody else, including Patrick, entered the Krusty Krab. The sea star wanted to enter the restaurant because he was in the mood for having some fast-food for an extra breakfast (the cake was his first breakfast).

S-S-S-S-S

The workers unfolded ladders and lifted them until the ladders' tops touched the ceiling. They then grabbed hammers, boxes of nails, and some moderately sized metal poles. The workers then climbed the ladders and began to nail the metal poles together and to the ceiling.

SpongeBob walked across the dining room. He did not pay attention to the activity going on in the room.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen.

Squidward sat in the boat. He quickly took out a novel, laid back, and opened the book. He saw the construction going on in the dining room as an opportunity to escape into another world. From the corner of his eye, he saw his boss watching the construction.

Mr. Krabs was standing in the dining room and closely looked at how the workers were installing the TVs into the dining room. Buying the TVs and the necessary wires and other things for installation made him remove a large chunk of money out of his wallet. He made such a strange purchase for two reasons, one was related to his business whle the other reason was related to his social life.

Nicholas walked up to the kitchen's door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen as well.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking at the installation of the TVs by looking through the ordering window. He wondered about possible reasons for why his boss had made such expensive purchases. Possible reasons multiplied rapidly in his mind due to the limitlessness of his imagination. The sponge had also came to a decision about how he should deal with Mr. Krabs. He thought that the best course of action was to wait until a later part of the workday for a proper chance to talk with and possibly console his boss. He felt like Mr. Krabs was unapproachable due to the crab's upset state. He reminded himself that the crab's greedy habits was mostly not the crab's fault.

"What's with those workers?" Nicholas asked the question that was on SpongeBob's mind. It was like he had just read the sponge's mind.

"I dunno." SpongeBob shrugged. He was just as clueless as the intern.

A pause.

SpongeBob leaned towards the ordering window so he could see more of the dining room. He took a close look at the crustacean and realized that from the moment that he had first seen Mr. Krabs, the crab had been completely silent. That was another out-of-character trait for the boss because the boss usually talked about his latest financial successes and exploits before unlocking the Krusty Krab's entrance during opening time. As he thought more and more about Mr. Krabs' current traits, he realized more and more that the crab was not acting like himself at all. What surprised the sponge the most was the realization that the crab had not even greeted him with the honorary title of 'money-maker' so far.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

The installation of the TVs had been completed a long time ago. The two TVs were hanging from the ceiling by the metal poles. The workers also had left the restaurant. Other than Mr. Krabs' strange behavior and the sight of the newly installed TVs, business was going smoothly in the restaurant as if today was a normal day.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob diligently made four Krabby Patties on the table. He then swiftly put all of them on a plate and jogged towards the door to the dining room. He was working as he patiently waited for a proper and comfortable opportunity to talk with his boss

Nicholas was not in the kitchen because he had been assigned by Mr. Krabs to clean the freezer. So far, the command given to him by Mr. Krabs was the only time that Mr. Krabs had talked in the Krusty Krab today.

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen. He jogged up to the customer's table and set the plate on that table.

That customer was Patrick. The sea star began to eat the four Krabby Patties.

SpongeBob turned around and ran back to the kitchen.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked up at another sticky note on the ordering window's wheel. He took hold of a patty from a nearby patty stack and put that patty on the grill. He then focused on making that Krabby Patty and cleared his mind. Thoughts about Mr. Krabs' motives for installing the TVs had been filling his mind and had been consequently distracting.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob just set the plate on the customer's table when...

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...Mr. Krabs exited his office. The yellow square then watched the crab as he walked towards the kitchen. The sponge eventually stopped walking and simply watched his boss. He thought that an adequate opportunity for conversation was about to knock on his door.

The crab sat in an empty table and took out a remote. He aimed the remote at the TV in front of him and pressed the 'ON' button. He was going to watch TV for a while in an attempt to distract himself from emotional pain. He then constantly changed the channel until he found one that he liked.

_"And now, back to Crustacean Crime Theatre." _An announcer spoke. A black and white title card had black test saying 'Crustacean Crime Theatre'. The TV screen then switched to the beginning of another segment of the current episode. The black, white, and grey film quality revealed that the episodes shown in that TV show were very old; the episodes that Crustacean Crime Theatre shows are usually made in the 1950s-1960s.

_S-S-S-S-S_

On the TV screen, a crab was napping on the ground while wearing a shell that he rightfully owned. It was currently the daytime and he was not near any type of city or town. A bigger and more intimidating crab then walked into the TV screen and made an evil laugh. That menacing crab then took the smaller crab's shell and dashed out of the TV screen.

The innocent crustacean almost immediately woke up and stood up. He was nude; the shell was his only source of warmth because he was too poor to buy his own clothes. _"Stop! Thief!" _He desperately yelled. The crustacean then chased the robber once he realized that there was not a single policeman nearby.

_S-S-S-S-S_

By that time, SpongeBob was behind Mr. Krabs and was watching TV as well. The sponge found the TV show to be interesting and wanted to see the episode's end. He was almost completely oblivious to the fact that an opportunity for talking was knocking on his door, the sponge felt like he could open that door once the episodes finishes.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

After a long chase scene, the two crabs ran into a town. As the two were running, the smaller crab was yelling for assistance from authorities or able-bodied people.

Three police officers ran up to the smaller crab. _"Which way did he go?" _The rightmost police officer asked. They had heard the smaller crab's yells about the thief.

The smaller crab pointed in the direction that the robber was running in. _"He went that way!" _He was anxious to get his shell back. He was also very cold because the area he was in was suffering from low temperatures.

_"Let's get 'em, boys!" _The rightmost police officer pointed at the robber and then ran towards that crustacean. The other two police officers then followed him. They eventually caught up with the robber and pushed that crab to the floor. The TV screen then cut to show the larger crab being locked in a prison cell. _"Curses. Foiled again..." _The larger crustacean muttered.

_S-S-S-S-S_

That episode of Crustacean Crime Theatre then ended. The segment that just ended was the last segment for the current episode. Credits quickly rolled across the TV screen before the beginning of the next TV show was shown.

Mr. Krabs became even sadder than before. That episode segment's plot had several similarities to what had happened yesterday. The roles of the bigger crustacean and the smaller crustacean were certainly very similar to the roles of Mr. Krabs and Clamu. What made Mr. Krabs feel worse was that the bigger crustacean was portrayed as a villain; he thought that he was villainous in the eyes of other Bikini Bottomites because of the bigger crustacean's portrayal. After yesterday's punishment, he was feeling remorseful for the crime that he had committed.

SpongeBob realized that now was better than ever to talk with his boss. "Hey, Mr. Krabs, can we talk in your office?" The sponge tried to ask politely. He ended up sounding like his boss but he also resisted the urge to laugh.

Mr. Krabs could not help himself. He smiled after hearing his 'money-maker's voice. Like SpongeBob cheering up Squidward, the yellow square lifted the crab up during tough times. The crustacean assumed that the yellow square was concerned for his well-being. The thought of someone being concerned for him regardless of the crimes he had committed boosted his spirits. He walked briskly towards his office and...

**CRREEEEAAAAK**

...opened the office's door. "After you." He wanted the yellow fry cook to enter first out of respect for the sponge.

SpongeBob beamed and entered the office.

Mr. Krabs stepped into his office and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs sat in his desk.

SpongeBob sat in a seat before the desk. "Why'd you buy those TVs?" The sponge asked a question that was immediately on his mind and was also not as penetrating as the other question. He spoke in a calm voice because he did not want to accidentally upset his boss.

"I'm thinking that TVs are gonna attract more customers, I want to minimize the effects of the Saturday drought. Although I'll have to set up some sort of fee for watching those TVs if there's gonna be a real boost in profits. Only two or three other restaurants in Bikini Bottom have TVs that customers can watch. As a matter of fact, now that me punishment was shown on TV, I bet my public image became ruined and the profits will plunder with it. Having those TVs is one of the few ways we can bring customers back." Mr. Krabs said the financial reason for his purchase of those two TVs. What had happened yesterday struck a chord with Mr. Krabs and consequently made him go off-topic with the conversation. However, when he thought about saying the other reason for his purchase. His eyes moistened very slightly and he stopped smiling. Saying the other reason was going to be very painful for the crab.

"What's wrong?" SpongeBob sat up in his seat. The crustacean's face immediately made him become concerned for his boss. 'Maybe I should comfort him.' The sponge's nature was beginning to make the sponge forgive the crab for the crime that he had committed.

Mr. Krabs took a deep breath in an attempt to control his facial expression. "SpongeBob, there's something in my mind that just won't go away." He made eye contact with the yellow employee. "The thing I'm referring to is my fear that Mrs. Puff is going to break up with me after hearin' about me crime and punishment." The crab spoke solemnly. "However, don't assume that it's a fact. I'm just paranoid about the possibility." The thought of Mrs. Puff breaking up with him was what caused the moistening of his eyes. "I wanted to have TVs in the Krusty Krab so I could watch 'em whenever my paranoia about a break-up comes up, doing stuff like that makes me relax. This fear o'mine has made me stay up all night. "

"Is that also why you've been acting strange lately?" SpongeBob was paying his full attention to Mr. Krabs' words. He felt bad for his boss because the crab's relationship with the pufferfish had a promising start.

"Yeah." Mr. Krabs nodded.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs felt like now was a good time to make a confession. "Sponge, I didn't have time to say this yesterday but I'm gonna say it right now. I just couldn't help myself, Clamu's pearl was just too tempting for an ol' pirate like me to resist. Yesterday was Free Day so I thought that I could get away with it. Alas, as y'know, I got caught anyway. Before I stole that pearl, I knew that there was a chance that I was gonna upset the oyster. But that pearl was one of the finest ones I've ever seen. It was all... glittery, shiny, and... smooth. Oysters rarely make pearls like the one I stole. When I saw that pearl, my pirate instincts took over." The crab revealed information that he would only reveal to a person he highly trusted or a close friend. The confession showed how much Mr. Krabs' trust in SpongeBob had built up. The crustacean never hired another employee who was just as loyal as the yellow square. Unfortunately, the crab's trust was not completely returned by SpongeBob.

Mr. Krabs' confession confirmed SpongeBob's assumption for Mr. Krabs' motives for stealing the pearl. The sponge could tell that the crustacean was remorseful for his crime so he forgave the crab. However, he was now going to be on the lookout for any suspicious behavior or questionable acts from his boss; his new attitude towards his boss showed how he viewed his boss as an actual person instead of a fatherly god.

Another pause.

"You should go back to work, lad." Mr. Krabs pointed towards the door to the kitchen. "Customers are waiting." He wanted SpongeBob to work harder today. However, he wisely decided to not push the sponge's limits because his ruined reputation was completely his fault. "Just work a little harder today, 'kay?"

"Okee-dokee." SpongeBob smiled and made a thumbs-up. He was satisfied with the answers given to him. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen's door.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow sponge entered the kitchen.

Mr. Krabs now had his usual facial expression. He was content with his release of all of that hidden information to the trustworthy sponge. The only thoughts he had to battle with were the ones about the possible outcomes of his romantic relationship.

S-S-S-S-S

By that time, Patrick had eaten all four Krabby Patties. He was thinking about ordering some more Krabby Patties when he suddenly realized something. Nobody else in the Krusty Krab except for SpongeBob and Squidward remembered or knew that today was SpongeBob's birthday. A light bulb then lit up in his head. If his best friend had a birthday balloon with him at all times, people were more likely to realize that the sponge's birthday was today. He stood up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen door. 'Now's a better time than ever. I gotta make sure that today's gonna be one of Sponge's best birthdays yet.'

**CRREEEAAAK**

Patrick opened the kitchen door.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick as he flipped some patties on the grill. "Pat?" He tried to maintain most of his attention on the patties in front of him.

"Sponge, I'm gonna buy a birthday balloon for ya. I don't want to end the celebration of your birthday with that party we had." Patrick was making a slight smile. He was being both caring and serious for his best friend.

SpongeBob raised his index finger. "But..." He initially thought that all of the birthday balloons used during the celebration were still in his pineapple. However, a recent memory revealed that that thought was untrue.

S-S-S-S-S

More than two hours earlier...

S-S-S-S-S

_**KLOK**_

_**BAM**_

_**BAM**_

_**BAM**_

_**SMACK**_

_**SMACK**_

_The yellow square and the sea star were fighting furiously. They were doing a rematch and had finished their fights with Sandy. The fight had went on for so long that it had eventually led them into the pineapple. The two had been fighting through several rooms and were currently on the staircase. SpongeBob was running up the stairs while Patrick was waiting for the sponge's next move._

_SpongeBob leaped towards Patrick and..._

_**KLOK**_

_...kicked the sea star in mid-air._

_"Oof!" Patrick flew up the stairs and..._

_**SLAM**_

_...hit a wall. The sea star then regained his footing just in time to..._

_**FASH**_

_...to blocked a karate chop with one hand._

_**THUD**_

_SpongeBob lost his footing and fell to the floor._

_**SLAM**_

_Patrick barged the door to the bedroom open. He picked up SpongeBob, spun him in the air, and threw him into the room._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob flew towards a balloon like a missile._

_**POP**_

_The sponge popped the balloon and..._

_**THUD**_

_...fell to the floor._

_Patrick charged towards the fallen square. He raised his fist so he could do a mighty punch._

_SpongeBob held out one of his legs in the nick of time._

_"Woah!" Patrick tripped on the leg and..._

_**THUD**_

_...fell to the floor._

_SpongeBob hopped to his feet. He leaped and and was about to bounce off Patrick's stomach with extra force put into his legs when._

_**B-BAM**_

_...Patrick punched SpongeBob's legs with both of his fists._

_SpongeBob flew towards several balloons._

_**P-P-P-POP**_

_The yellow square hit the balloons and made all of them pop._

_**THUD**_

_The yellow square fell to the floor._

_Patrick jumped to his feet and stomped up to SpongeBob. He grabbed the sponge by his shirt's collar and pushed him towards a wall until he was squeezing the yellow square._

_SpongeBob was being pushed against a balloon. Patrick was not seeing that because the sponge's body was blocking the view of the balloon._

_**POP**_

_The last balloon in the room popped._

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square flipped some patties and then looked at Patrick again. "Why would you wanna do that anyway?" The sponge giggled at the silliness of a thought he had. "It's not like I can just throw a party here. I don't think Mr. Krabs can afford it after all the money he spent on those TVs."

"Haven't you noticed that nobody else in this place but Squidward told you 'happy birthday' or even know today's your birthday?" Patrick asked a question that referred to something that SpongeBob was oblivious to. He wanted his best friend to understand his mindset.

SpongeBob widened his eyes. "Yeah..." It only took him two seconds to realize that what Patrick said in the form of a question was true. "Still, what's the point of having that balloon? I won't be able to hold it 'till later; when I'm not working." The sponge said another flaw in Patrick's plan.

"The balloon's gonna make people remember or think that today's your birthday. I don't want your birthday to just be celebrated at your home, I want the celebration to be spread out more, y'know?" Patrick spoke honestly. He preserved his slight smile because he did not want to look too serious. "A small party at a house ain't a birthday to me."

SpongeBob nodded and smiled widely. He was grateful for Patrick's willingness to spread the birthday joy around Bikini Bottom. "Go right ahead." He made a thumbs-up towards the starfish and then turned to look at the grill. He resumed his work.

**SLAM**

Patrick closed the door to the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked towards the Krusty Krab's exit. He was thinking about stores that could possibly sell balloons. He also tried to figure out the average price for a balloon. As he did his mental multitasking, he dug into both of his pockets for his wallet. He eventually found it and took it out. The sea star quickly searched through the wallet for money but did not find a single penny. He had spent all of the money in his wallet on the banner, the conical hats, and the balloons. 'There's gotta be some money left in my house.' The starfish made an educated guess.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to his rock.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The sea star entered his home.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to the couch and crouched. He then crawled into the couch's underside. The starfish kept his stash of money under the couch because it was the place that he believed that a robber or stranger would least expect to find any money under. However, no money could be seen on the floor just below the couch's underside at all. 'Maybe there's more somewhere else.' The sea star's ignorant optimism did not fade quickly. He was oblivious to the fact that his weekly amount of money given to him by his parents had ran out. However, that did not pose any dangers to the starfish's health because the starfish had plenty of food in his home and he was going to receive another check from his parents tomorrow anyway. The starfish walked towards the kitchen. He was going to search through the entirety of his home before coming to a conclusion.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He did not find a single coin of real money. He still could not remember that today was Free Balloon Day. He consequently had to find a way where he can obtain a balloon for free. The sea star thought critically about who would be the best person to go to for information about stores or vendors that sell free products. The starfish eliminated SpongeBob from the pool of candidates because the sponge was currently too busy with work and would not be of much help as a consequence (he would be unable to guide Patrick to the store/vendor).

A long pause.

Patrick decided on a person and then ran towards the Krusty Krab. His loyalty to his best friend gave him the strength to take a longer time to lose energy and stamina.

S-S-S-S-S

More than five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick slowed down until he was jogging. He reached the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The sea star entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked across the dining room and...

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs looked up and saw the sea star. "Patrick, what do you want?" The starfish had entered the room during the middle of his profit-counting. The crustacean considered that interruption to be moderately annoying.

"Free balloons." Patrick gave a simple answer. He wanted his demands to be completely comprehensible. His intelligence had decreased during his search in his home for remaining money. Because of his increased stupidity, the sea star thought that Mr. Krabs spoke another language due to the crab's pirate speak (that was the reason for his simple answer).

Mr. Krabs thought that Patrick's answer was too vague. "What do you mean by that, lad? Are you askin' if I have any balloons? Or are you askin' for a place where you could get 'em?" The crab gave some possible meanings for Patrick's simple answer. He assumed that Patrick was so stupid that he would forget the meaning of his simple answer within a few seconds.

"Both." Patrick nodded. "I don't have any money on me or at my home." He explained his situation in an attempt to make the greedy boss be more considerate for him.

Mr. Krabs forgot that today was Free Balloon Day and SpongeBob's birthday. "There aren't any balloons in me vessel nor at me anchor either. I don't know any place that sells balloons for free, I think not even a single store in this city has free balloons." If he knew that today was Free Balloon Day, he would not care because he took plenty of free balloons yesterday. "However, I know a way that'lll make you get anything for free-"

Patrick narrowed his eyes at Mr. Krabs and tightened his fists. "I know whatcha gonna say. You'll say that I should steal, right?" He stepped up to the crustacean and shook his fist to show his hidden contempt for the crab. He did not forget yesterday's 'evil' act that Mr. Krabs had committed. He found nothing immoral about getting assistance from Mr. Krabs because he had good intentions. "Guess what Krabs, that ain't happening. I'm not gonna be a bad guy like you."

"Hold on, boy. You didn't let me finish. I was talking about borrowing, not stealing." Mr. Krabs revealed the suggestion he intended to say to the starfish. He had seen many citizens throughout the town who had treated him with as much as scorn as Patrick was currently doing.

Patrick raised his brow. "What's the difference between borrowing and stealing?" The sea star assumed that 'borrowing' and 'stealing' had two different definitions and connotations in pirate speak.

"Borrowing is when you take something, with or without the owner's permission, and then give it back once you don't need it anymore. Stealing, which I had committed yesterday, is when you take something without the owner's permission and keep it for yourself. Usually for your own benefit. For example, I wanted to keep Clamu's pearl and sell it for myself so that would be considered stealing. However, if I gave that beautiful pearl back, then that would be borrowin'. D'you catch my drift?" Mr. Krabs tried to be as specific as necessary in order for the definitions to be fully comprehended. The crab felt like a school teacher because he was explaining definitions.

Patrick nodded. He fully understood what Mr. Krabs said. Even though borrowing a balloon without an owner's consent was morally gray, he had a decent intention so he thought that doing such an action was excusable. "Thanks, Mr. Krabs." The starfish made a sincere smile. "You've learned your lesson." He was glad that the crab had 'learned' an alternative to robbing. He then turned around and walked towards the door to the dining room.

"Pat, hold on a sec." Mr. Krabs held out his claw towards the starfish. He was wondering about the main purpose for Patrick's possession of a balloon.

Patrick turned around. "What?" He was eager to begin his search around Bikini Bottom for a place where balloons are sold.

"Why do you want a balloon?" Mr. Krabs asked out of curiosity. He considered Patrick's request for free balloons to be strange since the sea star never asked for such a thing before. All of Patrick's requests to him in the past were all about the location of simple objects or necessities.

"Today's SpongeBob's birthday." Patrick immediately answered. His tone made it almost seem like he was trying to shame the crustacean for not celebrating or acknowledging the Krusty Krab's best employee.

"Oh." Mr. Krabs made a neutral facial expression. He was caught off-guard by Patrick's answer. He then became slightly ashamed because he felt like the birthdays of amazing employees like SpongeBob should be celebrated.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the office.

Mr. Krabs walked towards the door to the kitchen. 'I should've done this earlier.' The crab thought with a moderate smile. He tried to focus less on his past mistakes and more on the present.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to SpongeBob. The crab then tapped the sponge's shoulder.

SpongeBob had just finished making a Krabby Patty Deluxe. He put the large burger on a plate and turned a bit to look at his boss. "Hi, Mr. Krabs." The yellow sponge beamed.

"Happy birthday, lad." Mr. Krabs patted the yellow square on the back. He then felt another weight lift out of his chest. He had felt remorse for not saying 'happy birthday' to the sponge earlier.

"You remembered..." SpongeBob widened his eyes and then made a bigger smile. He was delighted for the fact that Mr. Krabs managed to remembered the specialness of today's date.

"I'm sorry for not saying that earlier. Hard workers like you deserve celebrations on their birthdays." Mr. Krabs revealed some of his hidden thoughts to SpongeBob. He wanted to clear misconceptions. The crab then smirked and leaned towards the sponge. "Unlike Mr. Squidward." He whispered to the sponge's ear. He tried to be humorous. The crustacean then pointed at Squidward who was napping on the boat.

SpongeBob giggled. He then picked up the plate and walked across the kitchen.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs returned to his office.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was wandering around Bikini Bottom. He was closely looking at his surroundings for any signs of a store that could possibly sell balloons or balloon stands. After several more minutes of searching, he saw a balloon stand. The starfish quickly walked up to that stand.

The man who was working in that mobile stand took out a balloon from the tied group of balloons and gave it to a young girl. He did not notice Patrick at all.

The starfish knew that now was the time to take a balloon. He was not feeling any type of remorse because he was going to return the balloon later on in the day. The starfish snatched a balloon while he was behind the worker. Patrick then ran as fast as he could from that young man. The act of being sneaky was exciting; the sea star could feel his heartbeat as he ran further and further away from the stand. Once he reached a safe distance, he stopped running. The starfish looked at the balloon he was holding. It was a blue balloon with words on it in yellow text saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'. The starfish turned towards the Krusty Krab and walked towards that restaurant. As he thought about what he and SpongeBob should do after work, his imagination roamed across an open plain; fun activities that were integrated with the balloon entered his mind. 'We're gonna have so much fun! We can run with the balloon, go to the beach with the balloon, take a bike ride with the balloon, go to the movies, go to the arcade, go the ice rink, go to the pizza shop, go to the moon, to the sky, under a car, behind a dumpster, buy some things from the candy shop, play with the balloon in my backyard, on a plane, over a rock, under a hill; and with a whale...' An endless amount of ideas for activities with the balloon flowed into the sea star's head. "Wow... there's so much to do." The sea star was shocked by the amount of ideas he had. His mind was now focused on fun activities instead of celebrating SpongeBob's birthday. However, the sponge's birthday was still in Patrick's mind since the sea star considered those fun activities with the balloon to be a part of the birthday celebration.

Patrick did not notice that he was swinging and doing other silly acts with the balloon as he was thinking. He was walking towards a rock with sharp edges because he was not paying attention to where he was going.

**SLAM**

He hit the rock face-first. The balloon was in between his body and the rock.

**POP**

The balloon popped.

Patrick stepped back and saw pieces of the balloon on the ground. His eyes bugged out and he sweatdropped. "Uh-oh." He bit his lip. The sea star crouched, tried to gather some air, and then tried to put the pieces of the balloon together into their former combined mass. If the starfish was going to return the balloon, it had to be in the same condition as before. Unfortunately, his desperate attempt was futile.

The balloon pieces floated back to the ground.

Patrick fell to the ground in shock and landed on his rear. His face was losing its color and his mouth was slightly agape. It took him several seconds to absorb and accept the event that had just occurred. "I popped the balloon..." He had to speak to himself so he could separate fact from fiction. 'This isn't a dream.' He stared at the balloon pieces. He wished that what had just happened was a nightmare. However, that was merely a wish. It did not change reality at all. "I'm a thief." He was now a robber according to Mr. Krabs' definition of one (he could not give the balloon back).

_He felt like justice needed to be served since he was disgusted by the thought that someone had put an innocent oyster under such heavy distress and grief. Many Bikini Bottomites in general view animal cruelty as extremely repulsive. The sea star was seriously considering the thought of starting an investigation. "Anyways, only a jerk would upset a gentle giant. Right, SpongeBob?"_

Some of his past words came to bite him in the heart. The starfish now felt like a hypocrite because the act he had committed was 'just as bad' as the crime that the crustacean had committed. He predicted that the man selling the balloons was going to notice the absense of the balloon very soon. He also predicted that he was going to ultimately end up being in jail. Mr. Krabs' crime was not as punishable because the pearl was not being sold. However, Patrick's 'crime' was a different story since the balloon was an item that was being sold. 'I should get outta here.' Instincts of self-preservation filled the starfish's head. Out of consideration for his friends and family, he decided that he was going to leave Bikini Bottom. He did not want his jailtime to cause sadness and suffering for the people close to him. His stupidity had altered his decision-making skills and made him take drastic measures.

Patrick ran towards his rock. He was trying to avoid the infamy of being a robber at all costs. The starfish thought that being the center of hatred like Mr. Krabs was nightmarish.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen after he finished cleaning the last dirty dish. He had a troubled look on his face. Patrick had not came back to the restaurant at all. He was worrying over the pink star's well-being and whereabouts. His anxiety had lingered ever since a few hours ago.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward and Nicholas exited the kitchen as well. Squidward had cleaned the tables while Nicholas had cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom. They both were not concerned for Patrick because they had not heard anything about him during the workday.

Mr. Krabs flipped the sign on the double door from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. The crab, like SpongeBob, was wondering about the fate of Patrick. When he saw SpongeBob walked up to the double door from the corner of his eye, he turned to face the sponge. "SpongeBob, d'you know where your friend is? Wasn't he supposed to give you a balloon today?" He assumed that his employee knew some sort of answer.

"I dunno. I've got the same questions." SpongeBob shrugged and sweatdropped. His boss' questions worsened his anxiety. He had a growing urge to search through Patrick's rock for any signs of the sea star.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab. The octopus did not really hear Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob's words since he was thinking about what compositions he should play on his clarinet once he reaches his tiki.

However, Nicholas stood so he could hear SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs' conversation. He knew for a long time by the sponge's body language that the sponge was worried about something. He wanted to discovered the source of SpongeBob's anxiety so he could get rid of it. Doing all of that was part of his self-imposed goal to be better acquainted with the Krusty Krew. It was a goal he had set for himself ever since the first day of his internship.

"Well, good luck, SpongeBob." Mr. Krabs patted his yellow fry cook on the shoulder. "I don't got time to search for your friend. I'm not tryna make fun of you or anythin' like that. The Krusty Krab's gotta close anyway. After what happened yesterday, I don't think me heart or mind can take anymore stress." The crab gave a very valid excuse for his absence in SpongeBob's search for Patrick.

"I see." SpongeBob nodded. He was sympathetic for the crustacean, regardless of the crime that the boss had committed. The sponge could not linger a hostile view towards his boss any longer. The sponge also thought that only he should be involved in Patrick's search because the sea star wanted to get the balloon for his birthday. He considered his birthday to be his own business. The yellow square then...  
**  
C-CRREEEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

**FLICK**

Mr. Krabs flicked the master light switch to 'OFF'. He then opened one side of the double door and held it for Nicholas. "Out you go."

Nicholas exited the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs left the building as well.

**SLAM**

The double door closed.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs locked the double door with his key. The crustacean then walked towards his anchor. He was anticipating for the results of the latest lottery. The crab had bought a lottery ticket before he opened the Krusty Krab in the hopes that he was going to win the grand prize. However, his anxiety over the stability of his romantic relationship with Mrs. Puff did not fade.

Nicholas walked up to SpongeBob. He was about to ask a question about Patrick when...

SpongeBob dashed towards his pineapple.

The green teenager was abandoned with a heavy amount of dissatisfaction. As he turned and walked towards his home, his interest became piqued and his curiosity became undeniable. However, they merely ended up being uncomfortable urges since there was no available source for answers.

Squidward walked towards his tiki at a normal pace. He could not figure out the reasons for his coworkers and boss' hastiness. He felt like tonight was going to be the ideal night for relaxation. It was nice to have a return to peace after Sunday's chaos.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jogged up to the starfish's rock. He noticed that there was a note taped to the rock. He pulled the note out of the rock and put in front of his face so he could read it. The note said:

'Dear SpongeBob or whoever reads this,

By now, I have left my home and am probably very far away from Bikini Bottom. I stole a balloon 'cause I didn't have any money and I was gonna give it to you but I chose otherwise. It would be best for you, Sandy, my other friends, and my family if I stay outta Bikini Bottom for a while. If I stay in this town, the cops might find me and put me in jail. I don't wanna make you and the others sad 'cause of my jail sentence. As a matter of fact, jerks like me don't even deserve to look at or talk with loyal friends like you, SpongeBob. I hope you understand don't worry too much. I've tried to prepare myself for the trip and I won't be gone forever.

Sincerely, Patrick.'

SpongeBob fell to his knees and put his hands over his face. The letter he just read was so shocking that it made him nearly faint. He cannot even suffer through half a month without his best friend. The sponge predicted that daily life would become super-boring without any immediate friends to talk to or play with. The yellow square now had a powerful desire to find his best friend and bring him back to Bikini Bottom. The current situation was similar to the one where Sandy was going to return to Texas.

A pause.

SpongeBob stood up and moved his hands away from his face. He then turned to look at his pineapple. He then walked towards his home. He felt like Gary should he informed about where he was going so he would not unintentionally make the snail worried.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Gary who was doing his daily ritual of watching TV. "Gary, this may be too sudden but I've gotta tell you anyway. I'm gonna leave Bikini Bottom so I can find Patrick. I need to find him 'cause he ran away from home thinking that he stole a balloon. You shouldn't worry too much though. I'll only be gone for a jiffy." The yellow square hopes that his pet snail would remain calm.

Gary raised his eyestalk as a way of raising his brow. "Isn't it Free Balloon Day today?" The snail noticed a strange flaw in what his owner had said. The snail felt like his owner's words were important news so he had paid his full attention.

SpongeBob snapped his fingers as he came to a realization. "You're right..." His eyes widened slightly. "Patrick didn't steal anything..." The truth entered the sponge's head and comforted the yellow square. It put his concern over Patrick at ease. As a smile formed on his face, he walked towards the front door. "Thanks for telling me, Gary." He looked at the snail from the corner of his eye before...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...he exited the pineapple. The truth gave him hope for the successful persuasion of Patrick (he was going to persuade his best friend into coming back home). That hope gave him the energy and passion needed to run long distances or do other feats.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran past the orange sign that had text saying 'Welcome to Bikini Bottom'. The sponge was optimistically thinking that he was getting close to Patrick's location. He assumed that the sea star had not went very far from the town.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting on the top of a cliff. He was looking at the whole town from that spot in the wilderness. He had been crying for a few hours because he was struggling to think and predict about a temporary life without SpongeBob or other friends and family. Writing about the drastic decision was easier than actually doing it. The starfish knew that he had set himself up for misery by leaving Bikini Bottom. By that time, the sea star had stopped crying and was taking his last look at his hometown. Once he was satisfied, he stood up. "Goodbye, Bikini Bottom." He waved at the town before turning around and walking deeper into the wilderness.

A backpack that he used to use in college was strapped on his shoulders. He had put many necessities into all sections of it. 'I might have to travel lighter.' The sea star had many fears about the trip lingering in his mind. His shoulders were not liking the pressure being put on them by the backpack's weight. However, Patrick endured the pressure and eventually got used to it. Thoughts about his friends gave him the strength needed to carry on with the trip, he was leaving the town for their sake after all.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had ran past a cliff and was walking across the expansive plain that most of the wilderness surrounding Bikini Bottom consisted of. He was running towards a pink spot on the edge of the horizon which the sponge believed was the starfish.

The yellow square accidentally bumped into a jellyfish and quickly ran past it. The sponge barely noticed the jellyfish because he only bumped into it for less than a second.

The jellyfish was not in the best of moods. When the yellow square bumped into it, it became irate. It felt like the person who bumped it should receive some sort of payback. The jellyfish began to chase the sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was strolling across the plain. He did not notice SpongeBob or the jellyfish at all.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob finally caught up with the sea star. "Pat..." He poked the starfish on the shoulder. He had a solemn face.

"Huh?" Patrick turned to look at SpongeBob. He then gasped. The sea star was nearly frightened because he did not expect to see his best friend at all. "How did you ge-"

**ZZ-ZZAAAAP**

The jellyfish stung SpongeBob and Patrick. By that time, it was so angry that it would sting any intelligent creature within its sight.

"Yikes!" Patrick dashed away from the jellyfish and grabbed SpongeBob's wrist. He then ran to the nearest pile of rocks so he could find a useful weapon. Once he reached the pile, he released SpongeBob from his grasp and grabbed a rock.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out when he saw what Patrick was doing. "Pat, sto-" However, it was too late. The sponge immediately became silent when he saw the rock fly towards the incoming jellyfish.

**BONK**

The rock bounced off the jellyfish.

"**BUUZZZZZZ!" **The jellyfish became furious. Its stingers became so charged up with electricity that, when combined, seemed like a bright lamp in the darkening environment (the sun was about to set). It then flew as fast as a bullet towards Patrick.

Patrick grabbed two more rocks and threw them as fast as he could towards the pink bullet.

**B-BONK**

The two rocks hit the jellyfish on its top. The rocks made more of an impact than the previously thrown rock. The jellyfish became even angrier and flew to the best friend duo before they had any time to react.

**ZZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAP**

**ZZZZ-ZZZZZ-ZZZZZZZAAAP**

**ZZAAAP**

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAP**

It rapidly stung SpongeBob and Patrick multiple times.

SpongeBob ran away from the jellyfish as fast as he could. Several red marks on his skin could be seen due to the amount of electricity in the jellyfish's stingers.

"Wait for me!" Patrick sprinted towards his best friend. The adrenaline pumping through his blood gave him extra strength and consequently allowed him to run without getting slowed down by his backpack's weight.

"BUUUZZZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZZZZ! BUUUUUZZZ!" The angry jellyfish called for other nearby jellyfish to come to its location and assist it in attacking SpongeBob and Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were hiding behind a large rock. They were unsure about the jellyfish's whereabouts so they thought that the best course of action was to remain hidden. SpongeBob's mind was now focused on the jellyfish instead of Patrick's return to Bikini Bottom.

A moderately amount of jellyfish gathered not too far from the large rock. They had been summoned by the angry jellyfish.

"Buzzz BUZZZZ **buzz buzz BUUZZZ!**" The angry jellyfish buzzed in a certain way. It was saying the specific buzz sequence for the warning of other jellyfish about hidden threats.

The other jellyfish charged their stingers with blue electricity and scattered so they could finnd the hidden threats. They looked over every rock.

Since the sponge and the sea star, out of fear, did not dare to take a peek or spy at the jellyfish; they were not aware of the jellyfish group's thorough search. After several seconds, a jellyfish flew over their rock and spotted them.

"BUUUZZZZZZ!" The jellyfish above the best friend duo alerted the other jellyfish about the duo's presence.

All of the other jellyfish flew towards SpongeBob and Patrick's location.

SpongeBob and Patrick saw the incoming group of jellyfish at the last second. They quickly stood up and desperately sprinted away from the violent pink creatures.

**ZZZAAAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZ-ZZZZZZ-ZZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZZ-ZZZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAAP**

**Z-Z-Z-Z-ZAP**

The yellow sponge and the pink star could not avoid the stings of the other jellyfish. They were becoming overwhelmed by the numerous stings because they were not fast enough to escape the grasp of the jellyfish.

Patrick looked ahead and noticed that he and SpongeBob were heading towards a large rock. The sea star then made a smile that exuded confidence. He sprinted towards the rock and grabbed it. The starfish lifted the rock, spun it, and threw it with all of the strength in his arms towards the incoming group of jellyfish.

**B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-BONK**

**SLAM**

The rock hit some of the jellyfish's tops and then fell to the ground.

A large sand cloud erupted from the ground and submerged the jellyfish group.

A long pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked closely at the sand cloud. They were searching for any signs of the jellyfish.

The sand cloud eventually dissipated. It revealed that the jellyfish group had soared until they were many feet above the ground. After the rock throw, the jellyfish considered the sea star and the sponge to be too much of a threat to eliminate. They decided to remain near the best friend duo to see if they were going to lower their guard or become more threatening. The jellyfish were unsure about summoning more groups of jellyfish.

Another pause.

Patrick walked away from his best friend. He had to continue his journey across the expansive wilderness.

It only took SpongeBob a few seconds for him to notice that Patrick was no longer in his sight. He then turned around and walked up to the sea star. "Pat, where're you going?" He did not try to persuade his friend immediately. He wanted to introduce the sea star to the persuasion in some sort of way so he would sound more convincing.

Patrick did not look at SpongeBob at all. He continued to walk as if his best friend was not talking to him at all. "Away from town." He kept his spoken words to a minimum because he felt like he did not deserve to communicate to his best friend. What he had wrote in that letter precisely reflected the his current feelings.

SpongeBob continued to follow Patrick. "Pat, I've read that letter of yours. You don't have to leave Bikini Bottom. That balloon you robbed wasn't so important anyway, the guy who was selling that thing probably didn't notice." The sponge tried to temporarily hide the fact that he knew that today was Free Balloon Day. He predicted that cutting to chase was only going to convince his best friend that he should run away; he could tell that Patrick had a strong conviction.

Regardless of the words that the sponge said, Patrick walked across the plain.

The yellow square assumed that Patrick was trying to ignore him. He understood the reason for the starfish's behavior because he remembered the information in the starfish's letter. "Imagine all of the people and things that you're gonna miss." He tried to catch his best friend's attention.

Patrick stopped walking and thought critically about what he was doing. The starfish initially predicted that the hardships of his nomadic journey were going to consist of fighting wild animals and surviving harsh weather. However, he did not initially realize that he will inevitably have to start a temporary new life as well. Jellyfish, Krabby Patties, TV, the comforts of his living room, Squidward, Sandy, Goo Lagoon, his family, ice cream; and money passed through his mind. Those were the aspects of his life that he was sacrificing in order to start his new life in the wilderness. Although those thoughts made him sentimental, it also strengthened his conviction of him having to leave Bikini Bottom. He could no longer ignore SpongeBob's communication attempts. He turned around to face the sponge. "Living in the wild's better than living in jail. Out here, I'll miss out on all of the things you said, but I'll decide when I'm coming back and I'll also learn how to survive and thrive here. If I go to jail, I'll probably get tortured by bullies everyday and also won't know when I'll be released." The sea star said a deeper viewpoint that was not written in his letter. "If you let me stay out here, my return will be guaranteed."

SpongeBob already saw a major flaw in what Patrick said. "Pat, you're running away for nothing. I'm sorry if I can't say it in a nicer way, but it's the truth. As a matter of fact, today's Free Balloon Day. The police will not arrest you for stealing a balloon today." The yellow square decided to be more aggressive with his persuasion.

Patrick raised his brow. His belief in his guiltiness was so strong that he became skeptical of his best friend's claim. He assumed that SpongeBob said those comforting words in a desperate attempt at convincing him to stay at Bikini Bottom. He then turned around and resumed his walking.

SpongeBob began to think of a few more convincing ways to persuade his best friend. He was thinking quickly because the pink body was becoming smaller and smaller as the sea star walked away.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The starfish turned around and walked up to the yellow square. "Since you want me to come back home so much, let's do one last thing before we go our own ways." The starfish thought that abandoning his friend abruptly would be extremely disrespectful. His initial refusal to communicate with the sponge was out of respect after all.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick and smiled widely. Another opportunity for persuading his best friend was given to him. 'I can't mess up this time. I've gotta make sure Pat comes home tonight' The sponge began to form a plan in his head. The most important component of that plan was that he was going to listen more than he speaks.

"Follow me." Patrick walked towards a spot that was near a large piece of coral. "I was gonna start a campfire anyway." The starfish was quite close to the location where he initially planned to start a campfire at. He put his backpack on the ground and opened it. He took out two smooth rocks. Patrick carried the smooth rocks with one arm and stepped up to the large piece of coral. He ripped a coral chunk out of the piece and rubbed it together with the two rocks. He put a lot of strength into the rubbing before the coral chunk finally ignited. The starfish dropped that burning coral chunk to the ground, ripped off several more coral chunks, and threw those into the fire as extra fuel. Today's weather was quite cold so a campfire was the ideal resting place for a camper or nomad.

SpongeBob walked up to the campfire and sat down in front of it.

Patrick took out a wrapped chocolate bar from his backpack. It was one out of the two remaining foods because he had eaten all of the other food during his trip to Bikini Bottom's city limits. He then sat down adjacent to his best friend.

Bizarrely, the two were struggling to bring up a conversation topic. The tense atmosphere that was created during their argument was lingering on. The two best friends were very aware that they were on two opposite ends of a conflict.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge decided to play along with Patrick's belief that he was guilty of committing robbery. "Pat, look on the bright side. Being a felon could be..." He loosened his tie. "...fun." He was mocking the starfish's conviction in a light-hearted manner because he was trying to subtly expose the ridiculousness of the starfish's claim. "Since criminals break laws and norms all the time, we can loosen our ties whenever he want." He laid back on the ground with his hands behind his head and put his feet on a rock.

Patrick smiled. Even though he felt remorse for the 'crime' he had committed, he felt like his 'last' moment with SpongeBob was so special that the conversation topic did not matter. "Yeah." He even decided to go along with his best friend's silly jokes. "And we can fly." His stupidity found a way to enter and alter his suggestions and jokes.

SpongeBob laughed. The thought of thugs like the Strangler or Jack flying across the ghetto was hilarious from his perspective. He climbed a large rock that was nearby to show how illogical the claim was in real life. He then leaped off the rock and...

**THUD**

...landed on the ground back-first. The sponge returned to the campfire and sat down again. "Must've been harder than I thought." The yellow square fixed his tie. "At least we don't have to shave. Felons are on the run for so long that they got no time for that. Isn't that right, Pat?"

"Yessiree." Patrick held out his arms towards the sky so his hairy armpits could be seen. "I'm way ahead of you, buddy. I haven't shaved in six months." The silliness of their suggestions and jokes made him forget that he had been a 'criminal' for less than a day. His memory worsened by a degree during his trip to Bikini Bottom's outskirts.

SpongeBob thought about the typical behavior of a thug and a light bulb lit up in his head. He made a silly smile and raised his index finger. "And you get to talk tough!" He quickly formed some sand into an object that resembled a ten-gallon hat. He then put it on his head. "This town ain't big enough for the two of us." He acted like a stereotypical villain in old western movies. After several seconds,a breeze blew the object back into scattered particles of sand.

"Let me try." Patrick thought that talking like a thug or criminal was going to be easy since he had heard the accent and dialect of the thugs. However, saying it to his best friend was actually very difficult because he did not want to hurt his best friend's feelings. His almost out-of-character hesitance reminded him that this was his 'last' conversation with SpongeBob. It improved his memory since he remembered the words he said earlier. "Uh... hey, punk." He managed to say something that remotely sounded like a criminal.

Within a few minutes, the two friends were no longer arguing over the sea star's journey through the wilderness. They were even having fun with mocking the idea of Patrick being robber (Patrick did not notice that fact). It seemed like today's evening was just like any other fun evening.

"And the best part is: now that we're felons, we don't have to return anything we borrowed." SpongeBob made a moderate smile and giggled. He imagined him and Patrick committing silly robberies against colonies of jellyfish.

Patrick jumped to his feet. "Yeah." What the sponge said had some truth in it. If the sea star was going to survive in the wilderness, he needed to learn how to scavenge for resources and how to find and take whatever food he needed. When he thought deeply about SpongeBob's statement, he forgot about his 'guiltiness'.

"And we owe it all to you." SpongeBob pointed at his best friend. He tried to remind Patrick of the starfish's 'guiltiness' because the sponge was trying to reveal the ridiculousness of that 'fact'. He indirectly wanted his best friend reflect on all of the jokes and suggestions he said about criminals.

"Nope. You're the felon." Patrick pointed at the yellow sponge. He had a false memory of SpongeBob stealing the balloon. His poor memory seemed to have preserved his happiness because it prevented him from being remorseful.

"What're you talking about? Taking the balloon was your evil plan." SpongeBob had to say the truth outright. He seriously desired the starfish to objectively think about the sea star's claim about the 'robbery'.

"Doh, but I'm nothing but alotta talk, you're the one with the sticky fingers." Patrick still could not remember his own 'robbery'. He was aware of his own stupidity and consequently thought that he was too stupid to have committed a robbery.

"Patrick, you're the best bad influence ever." SpongeBob decided to move on to another topic because he did not want to upset his best friend. If the sponge continued his attempts at improving Patrick's memory, he and Patrick would end up arguing like before. The yellow square thought that staying light-hearted and positive was the key to making Patrick more open-minded and consequently accept the truth.

SpongeBob's stomach abruptly gurgled. The sponge had not eaten anything in a long time.

"I wish I had something to eat, though." SpongeBob stared at Patrick's chocolate bar. His mouth began to water at the thought of tasting that deliciously sweet snack. His hunger began to take control of his actions.

"I gotchu." Patrick dug into his backpack and took out another wrapped chocolate bar. He gave that bar to his best friend and unwrapped the bar that he was holding. "These rectangles make some great snacks, y'know." The sea star's stupidity became blatant.

"You mean candy bars?" SpongeBob glanced at Patrick's unwrapped chocolate bar. He could tell that his friend had forgotten the name for those snacks. He was so hungry that saying the name of the snack made him become hungrier.

Patrick remembered the name for the snack. "Yeah." He nodded.

"I hope this lasts for the night. I'm super-hungry right now." SpongeBob saw a few of his own thoughts out loud. "Go first." He wanted his best friend to eat first so he could show his gratitude for Patrick's generosity.

Patrick nodded again. "I think I'll eat it now." He took out the whole chocolate bar from the wrapper and then ate the entire bar in one gulp. He then looked at SpongeBob's chocolate bar and suddenly forgot that he ate his own chocolate bar, that wrapped bar confused his poor memory. "I think I'll eat it now." He then bit on what he thought was his chocolate bar. "Ow!" He realized that he bit his right hand instead. "Where'd my candy bar go?" He assumed that he lost his bar. He looked around the vicinity of the campfire and even dug through some spots on the ground in search for his nonexistent candy bar. "I must've dropped it." His inability to recall the simplest of memories made him make one assumption after the other.

"You just ate it, Pat." SpongeBob resisted the urge to facepalm. He predicted that it was going to take a while for him persuade Patrick to come back to Bikini Bottom. The sea star's stupidity and forgetfulness were major obstacles to his path.

Patrick was becoming desperate. His memory was becoming so poor that he forgot that he ate almost all of his food in the backpack during his trip to the town's outskirts. "Where'd it go?" The starfish began to toss over rocks, hoping that the candy bar was in some sort of hiding spot. "I'm gonna starve." He began to exaggerate his situation because he had a false memory of him not eating anything during his trip to the wilderness. "I can't find it! Where could it possibly be?" He began throwing rocks and coral pieces out of the way because he was becoming frustrated. After throwing many rocks, he looked at SpongeBob's candy bar and narrowed his eyes at it. "Aha!" He pointed at his best friend and stood up.

"Hm?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He was not sure about what Patrick had spotted.

"You stole my candy bar!" Patrick stomped up to his best friend. His stupidity and forgetfulness began to drastically affect his actions.

"No, I didn't." SpongeBob shook his head. "You gave me this." The yellow square thought that Patrick was becoming insane but quickly got rid of that thought because it was just as wild as Patrick's accusation.

Patrick still 'remembered' that SpongeBob stole the balloon. He also forgot that he had given the sponge one of his two chocolate bars. "Oh, so that's how it is, huh?" The sea star raised his brow. "Once a thief always a thief." He folded his arms and facially expressed his irritation. "People like you don't care 'bout needy people like me." He began to treat his best friend with contempt.

"You ate yours," SpongeBob pointed at the wrapper that was on the ground. "this is mine." He pointed at his own chocolate bar. He tried to tell the truth in the simplest way possible.

Patrick was forgetting so many facts that it seemed like he was in his own world. "You took my only food." He gave his best friend a soul-piercing glare. "Now I"m gonna starve." Ironically, he was fatter than when he woke up in the morning. SpongeBob noticed the increased waistline and knew with confidence that Patrick at least ate something.

SpongeBob thought that the debate over the 'stolen' candy bar was going to lead into another argument. "Just to make you happy," He unwrapped his chocolate bar and broke it in half. "I'll give you half of mine." He handed one half to his best friend.

Patrick tossed the chocolate half towards the sky and then opened his mouth below the flying half.

The half eventually succumbed to gravity and fell towards the ground. However, it flew into Patrick's mouth instead.

The sea star swallowed the chocolate half. He no longer wanted to argue with his best friend because the sponge had somewhat 'redeemed' himself by partially giving back what the sponge had 'stole'.

Unknown to both of them, the jellyfish group was stealthily flying towards them. The jellyfish group now considered the best friend duo to be manageable threats. They charged their stingers in preparation for a surprise attack.

A police boatmobile was driving down a road; two police officers were currently on the hunt for a criminal who fled to New Kelp City

. That road was near the best friend duo and the jellyfish group's location.

**ZZZAAAAP**  
**  
ZZZZ-ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZZZZAAAAAAP**

The jellyfish group began to sting SpongeBob and Patrick.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!" The yellow square and the pink star screamed in terror. They were downright frightened by the sudden assault. The two friends ran in separate directions as they desperately tried to get away from the jellyfish.

**ZZZAAAAAAAAAPP**

**ZZZ-ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZZZAAAAP**

The jellyfish continued to sting the two friends. The pink creatures were relentless with their vicious assault.

**SSSCRRREEEEECCH**

The police boatmobile screeched to a halt. The police officer who was driving the vehicle was seeing the jellyfish assault. The two policemen who were in that boatmobile quickly got out of that vehicle and ran towards the jellyfish. They took out their guns and aimed them at the ground.

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

**P-TAFF**

They fired at the ground to scare the jellyfish away.

Within seconds, the jellyfish group scattered and all of the jellyfish went their separate ways as quickly as possible.

The taller police officer (who was the driver) walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick. "What're you boys doing out here?" He raised his brow.

Patrick's memory suddenly and rapidly improved. All of the false memories were erased while the actual ones entered his mind. He now remembered what had happened to him today. He then pessimistically predicted that lying to the police was only going to make his inevitable punishment worse. That prediction was based on another prediction about the police finding out about his crime anyway. Even if he did lie and get away with it, he would view himself as a person who was just as contemptible as Mr. Krabs. From his perspective, saying the truth was certainly the best choice. "I stole a balloon and ran away from town so I could avoid going to jail. I did that robbery for my friend's sake," Patrick pointed at SpongeBob. "and left the town for the sake of my family." He held out his arms towards the police. "You can arrest me now." He thought that fully submitting himself to the police would lessen his punishment even more.

SpongeBob dropped his jaw. This Patrick was completely different from the other Patrick who feared over getting arrested and was severely forgetful. The sponge could only other one word. "Why?"

Patrick looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "As long as they're here, my arrest would happen anyway." He whispered to his best friend and then made eye contact with the police. He was waiting for a pair of handcuffs to be put on his wrists.

The police officers gave Patrick a funny look and then looked at each other. They began to chuckle and their chuckling eventually turned into laughter. After laughing for several long seconds, they looked at Patrick again with smirks on their faces.

"Today's Free Balloon Day." The smaller police officer said an obvious truth. "You're the first one I've seen this year who wants to get arrested." He tried to suppress his chuckling. "Anyways, there's nothing to worry about. You won't get cuffed." He then took out a wrapped lollipop from his pocket. He had taken that lollipop from his desk at the police station; he had found it there in the morning for some strange reason. Instead of giving it to his son who was back at home, he gave it to Patrick instead. "Keep it. We need more people like you. It makes our job much more easier." The smaller policeman beamed and then walked back to the boatmobile.

The taller police officer followed the other officer. Right before he entered the vehicle, he remembered an important fact that he needed to tell the best friend duo about. The officer turned to look at SpongeBob and Patrick. "Go back home. There'll probably be more of those nasty jellyfish if you stay here." He then entered the vehicle and closed the adjacent door.

A pause.

The police boatmobile drove down the road at a higher speed than before.

"Well, I guess that's it." Patrick unwrapped the circle-shaped lollipop and put it into his mouth. He then grabbed a medium-sized rock and threw it towards the campfire.

The rock hit the campfire and doused it.

The pink star grabbed his backpack, strapped it on, and walked towards Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob walked at the same pace as the sea star. He had held on to his chocolate piece during the entire fight with the jellyfish and the conversation with the police. He ate that piece of the candy bar and then looked at Patrick. He felt like now was the time to ask questions that he was previously unable to ask. "How did you steal that balloon?"

"I had no money and really wanted to get you a balloon so I went to Mr. Krabs for some help. He told me about 'borrowing' and stuff like that. I then went to one of those balloon stands and took a balloon before the guy selling them noticed. I was walking back to the Krusty Krab to give it to you when it popped." Patrick looked back at SpongeBob. He felt like there was no point in hiding any detail in the story of how he 'stole' the balloon.

SpongeBob smiled and giggled nervously. "Yeah... I've heard Mr. Krabs' definition of 'borrowing' too. I honestly find that form of 'borrowing' to be too risky to bother doing. Taking someone else's stuff without that person's permission is stealing no matter what." He understood that when Patrick popped the balloon, his action was no longer 'borrowing' according to Mr. Krabs. "But I gotta admit, you must have some guts to do that. I think that 'borrowing' you did and your journey from town are already enough of a birthday present. It was all for my sake, right?" The sponge was grateful for Patrick's loyalty.

"Mm-hm." Patrick nodded. "Sponge, you got one thing right about stealing. But there's something else to it." His intelligence increased by many degrees. "I was stealing for you, not for myself. I was also gonna give that balloon back anyway if it didn't pop." The sea star gazed at the buildings in Bikini Bottom which were illuminating the growing darkness of the evening. "I didn't leave Bikini Bottom just for you and the others' sake. I was really scared about staying in town. I thought that if the police caught me, everybody in town would treat me like your mean boss. If people start to think that I'm a bully, I wouldn't how to bear it." The starfish revealed some of his hidden thoughts and emotions.

SpongeBob thought of another question. "Why'd you blurt out the truth to the police so quickly? It doesn't fit with the letter and the stuff that you said." The sponge could not control his curiosity.

"I thought that the police were going to find out about my robbery anyway so I decided to get the truth over with. I heard that lying to the police will make you receive worser punishments than the original ones." Patrick immediately replied. He preserved his smile because the mistake he had made was deep in the past. He had learned his lesson about trusting Mr. Krabs when it came to advice or assistance.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on the red chair in the living room. He was comfortably watching TV with Gary. He was currently content because all of that drama about Clamu and the balloon was finally 'over'.

The current channel being shown on the TV was the Bikini Bottom News channel.

Johnny Erain was being shown on the TV screen. He took hold of another document as he moved on to his next news report. "_In other news, the people who had deceived the police about the culprit, who stole Clamu's pearl yesterday, have been arrested. They were two young males who lived in one of the most poverty-stricken areas of Bikini Bottom." _Mugshots of Jack and Jordan were shown on the TV screen.

SpongeBob widened his eyes when he saw Jack's mugshot. He then reflected for a minute about the thugs' motives for spreading false information about Patrick to the police. The sponge eventually came to a realization. 'It all makes sense now. Those meanies must've spread those lies as a way of getting revenge against me and Pat.' His conclusion could not be more closer to the truth.

A pause.

**SLAM**

Patrick barged the front door open and stepped into the living room. "SpongeBob, I saw a guy who I interviewed during my investigation on TV." He said what he felt like was extremely important news. He was also watching the Bikini Bottom News channel and the current news report had shocked him.

"Which one? The guy with the black hair?" SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick. He was eager to hear Patrick's view of the Clamu incident since it could lead to an even better understanding of that fateful Sunday.

"Nope." Patrick shook his head. "The other one."

SpongeBob became surprised. "Who would've known." He wondered about how easy it was to get arrested by the police over some lies spread by innocent-looking citizens or neighbors. It reminded him of the nightmare he had last night and consequently made him have chills run down his spine.

* * *

**I've been noticing how long these chapters are getting. The Smoking Peanut and Life of Crime ended up being so long because they had similar themes and go nicely together as a result. The next chapter (episode) will probably be shorter.**


	68. I'm Your Biggest Fanatic

**Chapter 68: I'm Your Biggest Fanatic**

* * *

Almost a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sunday morning.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered a tent that was larger than a stadium. That tent had been set up in Bikini Bottom. News had quickly spread around their city about the bi-annual Jellyfishing Convention a few days ago. SpongeBob was holding his jellyfishing net and was wearing his glasses. Patrick was also holding his jellyfishing net. The two friends had waited a long time for the second convention and were eager to look at the exhibits that they had brought in and the competitions they are holding.

The sponge was the eagerest out of the two because the Jellyspotters, a group of the best jellyfishers in the Micronesian area, were going to the convention as well (this was referenced or said in news reports or articles about the convention). The yellow square idolized them because of their jellyfishing abilities. He had never met them before; he looked forward to seeing them.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob marveled at the many entrances to the exhibits and competitions. The exhibits were inside the tent while competitions were held outside. He became amazed when he saw the titles of the exhibits. "Wow..." The second Jellyfishing Convention was almost always better or bigger than the first one of the year.

Counting the amount of guests was useless because there were so many people inside the main room of the tent. People were pouring in and out of entrances like a streaming river.

"Which one you wanna go to first?" Patrick was struggling to decide on which place of the convention that he should go first; all of the exhibits and conventions looked appealing. His struggle was not caused by temporary stupidity.

SpongeBob was thinking about going to the exhibits first. However, similar to Patrick's dilemma, he was struggling to pick an exhibit. All of the exhibits looked like they were equally appealing. The sponge eventually decided to pick an exhibit randomly. He randomly held out his index finger towards an exhibit. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by his toe. If he wiggles let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe." As he said each word, his finger moved to the next exhibit. His finger eventually landed on an exhibit with a banner above it saying 'THE HISTORY OF JELLYFISHING'. "Let's go!" He enthusiastically skipped towards that exhibit's entrance.

Patrick jogged as he followed his best friend.

The best friend duo, after managing to steer clear of the massive traffic of people, quickly went through the exhibit's entrance.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked down the hallway. There were displayed objects on both sides of the hall; all of the objects were surrounded by metal rails so they could be protected more easily. There were boards between the objects that had information about the history of those objects. The beginning of the hallway displayed the most ancient jellyfishing tools including the one that Squidward had seen in the prehistoric past.

The two best friends took their time to gaze at the objects and read some of the information in the boards. From their point of view, the objects were highly interesting.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two best friends were getting close to the exhibit's end; they were in the last section. They were currently on the section that had modern jellyfishing technology and medical advances in or related to jellyfishing.

SpongeBob looked at a displayed object from the corner of his eye. He then turned to marvel at it because it caught his attention in less than a second. "Cool! State-of-the-art jellyfishing nets." He had rarely seen those types of jellyfishing nets. "Judging by its model, it must've been made a year or two ago." The yellow square knew a huge amount of information about jellyfishing nets due to his experience with jellyfishing.

Patrick looked at the hi-tech jellyfishing net as well. The net, instead of wood, had steel and its actual net was made out of specific fibers instead of sewed yarn. The sea star suddenly had the urge to touch that jellyfishing net. It was the shiniest object he had seen in the exhibit so far. The last section of the exhibit did not have as many guards as the other sections so he thought that he now had an opportunity. The starfish walked up to and stepped over the rail and touched the shiny net. The pink star's curiosity became satisfied when he felt the cold metal of the net's handle. Since he wanted to enjoy his stay at his convention as much as possible, he allowed his impulses to take over. "Touch." He then poked the net.

A guard hopped over the rail and stomped up to Patrick. "Don't touch." The thirty-year old man was mildly annoyed by Patrick's behavior.

Patrick smiled nervously and backed away until he was standing in front of the rail. He had not noticed that guard until now.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked to the next displayed object. It was a modern harpoon.

A harpoon, in jellyfishing, was used to tranquilize excessively angry and bloodthirsty jellyfish. A special liquid was put into the harpoons so that when they prick the jellyfish, the liquid spread throughout their bodies. Harpoons are usually used by local Animal Control services.

SpongeBob had a sense of deja-vu when he gazed at the harpoon. "Isn't that harpoon from Jellyfish: The Movie?" Jellyfish: The Movie was one of the best documentaries about jellyfish and jellyfishing. SpongeBob had watched that movie with Patrick a year ago.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at the harpoon. "I'm not sure. Lemme check." He had an excuse for letting his curiosity get the better of him. He walked up to the object's guardrail and stepped over it. He then tip-toed up to the harpoon and poked it. "Touch." He took his time to feel the harpoon; including the clot of jelly on its tip. Once another guard noticed what Patrick was doing, the sea star spotted that guard and quickly hopped over the rail. The starfish then looked at his best friend. "Yep. It's definitely from that movie." He now clearly remembered seeing that type of harpoon in the movie.

The two best friends walked up to a man who was lecturing about recent medical advances in jellyfishing to an interested crowd. The man was in his forties, was green, and was also wearing glasses. A huge red bump was on one side of his face.

"Hey, look, it's Dr. Manowar." SpongeBob pointed at the green man. He spoke in a more quiet voice so he could not accidentally interrupt Dr Manowar's lecture. Dr. Manowar was a famous inventor who had created several medical inventions that assisted hospitals and advanced the sport of jellyfishing.

Patrick raised his brow. He did not remember Dr. Manowar at first because he had only heard of that inventor a few times in the past.

"The guy who got stung by Big Lenny and lived." SpongeBob whispered into Patrick's ear. Big Lenny was one of the largest jellyfish on record and was also infamous for the nasty stings that he gave to unsuspecting jellyfishers or visitors in Jellyfish Fields.

Dr. Manowar was holding a microphone as he lectured. _"..and now it only hurts when you touch it." _He pointed at the red bump on his face. He was explaining the dangers of fooling around with jellyfish and was using his injury as an example of the possible consequences.

Patrick walked up to the middle-aged man. The sea star had a desire to test Dr. Manowar's claim because of his intense curiosity. He was not sure if the bump was large because the man did not pop it or touch it or that it was large because the man got stung recently. "Touch." The sea star then touched Dr. Manowar's bump to see if it would pop.

An extremely sharp pain came from Dr. Manowar's bump. The pain was so sharp that it felt like a small bullet had hit the man's cheek. "Aaaahh!" Dr. Manowar screamed due to the intensity of the pain.

The guard who had seen Patrick touch the hi-tech jellyfishing net stomped up to the starfish. He became more annoyed than before. "Do I have to follow you all day?" He hated babysitting childish or idiotic guests like Patrick.

Patrick winced. He expected the guard to grab him and take him back to the main room. When he opened one eye and noticed that the guard had walked away, he opened his eyes completely and stood normally. He looked at Dr. Manowar, made a crooked smile, and sweatdropped. "Sorry." He said a sincere apology.

'I'll forget that happened.' Dr. Manowar did not want to dwell on what had just happened. He thought that it was so embarrassing that he should not even think about it. _"As I was saying..." _He resumed his lecture.

SpongeBob walked until he noticed that he reached the end of the hallway (the exhibit's end). The sponge then turned around and walked up to Patrick. "C'mon, Pat. Let's forget about what happened and go somewhere else." The sponge also wanted to forget the embarrassing act his friend had committed. He now had a slight fear about him and Patrick getting kicked out of the convention because of Patrick's reckless behavior.

Patrick nodded.

The two best friends walked up the hallway.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the main room. The sponge was about to randomly pick an exhibit when he saw a certain group of jellyfishers. The sponge's eyes bugged out and he gasped. "Pat, look!" He pointed at the group. "Can it be?" He recognized the group because he saw a few very familiar people in that group.

Patrick could not see who SpongeBob was pointing at. "Ice cream?" He scratched his head and made a wild guess.

"No, it's the Jellyspotters!" SpongeBob made a silly smile and then laughed for several seconds. He found Patrick's guess to be ridiculously silly. "Micronesia's premier jellyfishing club." He tried to jog Patrick's memory. The sponge knew right away that conversing and possibly jellyfishing with the Jellyspotters was going to be the defining moment of today.

Patrick smiled widely. "Oh yeah!" He looked at the group and immediately recognized them. His memory had slightly worsened during his visit to the Jellyfishing History exhibit. "Who's the leader again?" He did not remember all the information that he knew about the Jellyspotters. He also did not share the same praiseful view of the Jellyspotters with SpongeBob at all; he simply saw them as very talented jellyfishers.

"The coolest jellyfishing enthusiast ever." SpongeBob pointed at a male sea cucumber who was talking with the group. The sea cucumber was wearing brown pants and glasses. The sea cucumber was also wearing a yellow 'crown' that all sea cucumbers had because it naturally grows on their heads like hair. "Kevin." The yellow square's enthusiasm and eagerness became obvious through the tone of his voice. The sponge idolized Kevin the most when compared to other Jellyspotter members.

"What's so great about a nerdy pickle?" Patrick did not understand why SpongeBob was 'worshipping' incredibly skilled jellyfishers. From Patrick's perspective, it seemed like SpongeBob believed that the Jellyspotters were going to give him magical powers that will improve his jellyfishing skills. By far, Patrick was being the wisest out of the two for once because he viewed the Jellyspotters objectively.

"If I could just touch the hem of his pocket protector, then maybe some of his greatness would rub off on me." SpongeBob answered the question but looked like he was entering another world full of fantasy. The answer confirmed Patrick's assumption of the sponge's 'worship' of the Jellyspotters. The yellow square had a strong desire to learn jellyfishing skills from those talented jellyfishers.

"Sponge, as a friend, I must say that's really geeky." Patrick could not make an immediate response to the sponge's answer because of the answer's strangeness. The sea star thought that it was 'geeky' because it sounded like a quote that a wizard or magician would say in a fantasy movie. The sea star then saw a young man in a large jellyfish costume with two large holes for the man's eyes. He immediately recognized who that jellyfish was. "Oh my gosh! Jeffrey Jellyfish!" Jeffrey was a 'jellyfish' who was famous for appearing on jellyfish jelly TV commercials. "Wait, Jeffrey! I have to touch you!" Patrick dashed towards the pink 'creature'. He wanted to see if the costume contained any jelly.

"Hey!" The guard who caught Patrick two times chased the foolish pink star. He was close to losing his temper by that point.

"Bamboo? I only use composite materials in my net handle." Kevin was holding out his jellyfishing net. He was explaining how his jellyfishing net was highly efficient at catching the pink creatures. His arrogance could be detected in almost anything he said about himself.

Some of the Jellyspotters took out notepads and then jotted down a few notes. They were trying to build better jellyfishing nets so they could catch more jellyfish for the next competition.

"Next question." Kevin was finished with his explanation about his jellyfishing net. The other Jellyspotters were asking him questions because they were all preparing for the competitions at the convention. Kevin, compared to the other Jellyspotters, was the most prepared.

SpongeBob felt like now was a good time to introduce himself and ask a question that was on his mind for a very long time. He jogged up to Kevin and grinned. "Hi, Kevin.' He waved with enthusiasm. The yellow square was struggling to contain his excitement. He never would have thought that a day such as this would come.

Kevin turned to look at SpongeBob. He could immediately tell that the yellow square was not a Jellyspotter because the sponge was not wearing a blue shirt with a jellyfish and magnifying glass symbol on it (that shirt was Jellyspotter uniform [the leader was exempt from wearing that]). "Hi. What is your question?" He wanted the nuisance to leave quickly.

SpongeBob was so awestruck by seeing Kevin that his mind became almost entirely blank. He could not think of any questions to ask Kevin. "Hi Kevin." He repeated his greeting like a robot. He used those filler words so he could have more time at figuring out a question.

"Whatever. Next question, please." Kevin turned back to the Jellyspotters. He considered SpongeBob to be a waste of his time. 'I've got more important things to do.' He became slightly irritated.

SpongeBob wanted Kevin to give him another chance. He preserved that grin as he stepped forward and then turned to face Kevin. The sponge was now in front of the sea cucumber. "Hi Kevin." He was using "Hi, Kevin" like a normal person would say "um" or "uh".

A teenager raised his hand. He was deep in the huddled group of Jellyspotters.

"Hello loser." Kevin glared at SpongeBob to show that he could no longer tolerate the sponge's presence. "Alright, you, _way_ in the back." He pointed at the male teenager who raised his hand. The sea cucumber decided to ignore the sponge for the duration of the convention.

SpongeBob ran to the adolescent that Kevin was pointing to and stood in front of that person. "Hi Kevin." The yellow square had a few ideas that can become questions. He was trying to decide on which idea was the best. 'C'mon, Kevin, I just needa buy more time.' His mental self had a completely different facial expression.

"Hey, loser!" Kevin tightened his fists. Like the security guard when dealing with Patrick, the sea cucumber was losing his temper. "Get ouf of he-" He barked a command but stopped yelling when he heard deep breaths and felt warm air going into his left ear.

SpongeBob had ran back to Kevin within two seconds. He made one final attempt at distracting the sea cucumber. "Hi, Kevin. I'm your biggest fan." The sponge finally had a question in mind. He opened his mouth to ask the question but got interrupted by Kevin.

"You're too kind." Kevin spoke with sarcasm that was almost as bitter as Squidward's. He then turned to a nearby security guard. "Security!" He wanted to give the yellow burden to someone else.

"No, wait! I would do anything for you!" SpongeBob fell to the floor and grabbed Kevin's legs. He became desperate for his question to be heard by the 'wise' and 'all-powerful' sea cucumber. He felt like the opportunity he had was one that occurs only a few times in a lifetime.

Kevin smirked and folded his arms. He always liked people who submit to and respect his power. His amazing jellyfishing skills had increased his ego to the point of excessive pride and an intolerance of any newbie jellyfisher. "Why don't you go jump off a large rock?" He tested the sponge's obedience. He wanted intimidate the yellow square to the point where the sponge would leave him alone.

SpongeBob ran towards the tent's exit and exited the giant tent. He did not deceive the sea cucumber at all.

"Wait here, guys." Kevin commanded and then quickly followed the yellow square. He expected the sponge to run back to his home in cowardice. Almost all of the 'losers' he encountered had done such actions when he gave them daunting orders.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob quickly climbed a large rock that was nearby. The sponge then jumped off the rock and...

**THUD**

...landed on the ground face-first. The yellow square then stood up and walked up to Kevin. "See? I'll do anything." He wiped all of the sand on his face.

Kevin made an even bigger smile and walked back to the tent.

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin walked to the other Jellyspotters. "Guys, follow me. That sponge dude wasn't lying." He viewed SpongeBob as a source of entertainment. He began to consider the option of bringing SpongeBob to the Jellyspotters' jellyfishing session. The sea cucumber exited the tent again.

The group quickly followed the sea cucumber. They were curious about SpongeBob's willingness to obey Kevin's ridiculous orders.

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin walked back to the sponge and folded his arms again. "Punch yourself in the face." The cucumber's orders were only going to become more extreme. He then chuckled in anticipation of what the childish sponge was going to do.

**BAM**

SpongeBob punched himself in the face. It barely hurt because his spongy skin was physically contacting another part of that skin; the skin absorbed most of the impact. The yellow square's idolization of Kevin prevented him from realizing that the cucumber was taking advantage of him.

The Jellyspotters laughed at SpongeBob's foolishness.

"Doesn't that hurt you?" Kevin used another opportunity for sarcasm. It was more bitter than the previous joke and made the Jellyspotters laugh even more.

SpongeBob's optimism and positive view made him assume that the Jellyspotters were laughing at a joke that someone other than Kevin said. The sponge grabbed a rock and held it before his face. "Do you want it to hurt me, Kevin?" He said what he thought was an appropriate response.

The Jellyspotters laughed to the point where their laughs could be heard throughout the entire tent. Some of them were in tears as they laughed while others could no longer laugh because they were out of breath.

"That was the best!" Kevin slapped SpongeBob on the shoulder. He considered SpongeBob's question to be the funniest out of all of the sponge's silly actions. "This guy's great!" The cucumber thought that SpongeBob was one of the best comedians that he had ever seen. "We have got to bring this guy jellyfishing with us."

A male anchovy gave SpongeBob a funny look. "No, Kevin, no." He shook his head. He and Kevin were close friends. "He's a geek." He considered the yellow square to be too much of a 'loser' to be a Jellyspotter. Ironically, according to the actual definition of 'geek', the Jellyspotters and the sponge were geeks.

Kevin stepped up to the anchovy. "Look, I won't let the guy join the club. I just want to see how many times he can get stung before he goes running home like a baby." He whispered to the anchovy's ear. The cucumber thought that having a yellow jester like SpongeBob would cheer the group of if they made any mistakes or failures during their jellyfishing session.

The anchovy smiled and turned to look at the others. "Meep-meep, Kevin's a genius." He said a thought of his out loud. He said that thought like he was proclaiming a groundbreaking truth.

The other anchovies in the group repeated what the anchovy said as if they were record players. The non-anchovies in the group simply nodded their heads in agreement.

A light bulb lit up in Kevin's head. He knew a perfect trap that would lure SpongeBob into doing more foolish acts. He turned to look at the yellow sponge. "Hey kid, how would you like to try out for the Jellyspotters?" He made a faux smile.

SpongeBob gasped and nearly became lost in fantasies of jellyfishing with the Jellyspotters. He then shook back to his senses and beamed. "I'd love it!" He jumped up and down in excitement.

"Alright." Kevin maintained his faux smile and turned around. He then walked towards the tent and entered it. "Let's get to it." He already had a competition in mind that he wanted the Jellyspotters to participate in.

SpongeBob and the Jellyspotters followed Kevin.

S-S-S-S-S

The group walked up to a certain booth that had a sign above it saying 'COMPETITION 9'.

Kevin began the process of applying his group (including SpongeBob) to the competition by saying his desire for the Jellyspotters to participate in the competition. He then said each of the Jellyspotters' names and asked SpongeBob for his name before saying that sponge's name.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**THUD**

Patrick landed on the outside ground. A security guard had just kicked him out of the tent because of the starfish's chase of Jeffrey Jellyfish. The chase had went on for a long time before the security guard had finally seized him. The pink star could not enter the tent or visit any exhibits because they were indoors. However, he still had the opportunity to compete since those were held at Jellyfish Fields. Patrick, as he stood up, was thinking about what he could still do at the convention. However, he saw SpongeBob walking with the Jellyspotters towards a distant location. He noticed that all of the members in the group were holding blue tickets with black numbers on them. Since he was curious and could not think of anything else to do at the convention, he followed the Jellyspotters.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Ah... nothing like driving through Jellyfish Fields with the top down, eh, Jellyspotters?" Kevin was laying on a hard purple surface. He was gazing at the beauty of the green plain that stretched from all ends of the horizon. His comfort was at the expense of two people's well-being.

The other Jellyspotters were laying or sitting on the same surface. They nodded or meeped (if they were anchovies) in agreement.

SpongeBob was carrying all of the Jellyspotters on a large purple rock. The sea cucumber had ordered him to do such a ridiculous task. He was complying to the order because he wanted to show how much he respected Kevin and the Jellyspotters. The yellow square had a strong desire for the sweet validation of him from the 'godly' group of jellyfishers, it made him feel like he was going to reach their skill level at jellyfishing.

However, the yellow square was not alone. Patrick was sharing the burden of carrying the rock and the Jellyspotters. He had watched his friend suffer through the grueling task for a long time and had reached a point where he could no longer bear to be inactive any longer. His strength made the task far more easier than the sponge. The yellow square did not mind at all because the Jellyspotters did not notice Patrick yet.

Kevin looked around and noticed that his group was close to the location of their competition. Each competition had a fenced area that was painted with a unique color. The nearby fence was blue. "We're here. You can stop carrying us." He leaned so he could look down at SpongeBob.

"Alright, Pat. You can leave now. Thanks for the help." SpongeBob whispered to his best friend while making a slight smile. He did not want to look disloyal or dishonest to the Jellyspotters by revealing that Patrick had assisted him.

Over the duration of his carrying of the rock, Patrick had grown to dislike the Jellyspotters. He was not as focused on the task as SpongeBob so he heard all of the rude, ungrateful, and sometimes downright cruel words from the conceited jellyfishers. He could tell that the Jellyspotters viewed the sponge as unworthy of any sort of respect. "Sponge, be careful. When those people up there are trying to act nice to you, they mean the other way around." The sea star said some words of wisdom before letting go of the rock. His remaining shreds of intelligence enabled him to see through the Jellyspotters' clever sarcasm. The starfish then quickly ran from the rock so the jellyfishers would not notice him; he wanted to continue spying them in case if they put SpongeBob in danger.

SpongeBob dove out of the rock's shadow.

**SLAM**

The rock fell to the ground.

The Jellyspotters took hold of their nets and jumped to the ground.

SpongeBob took out his jellyfishing net. He had jabbed it into one of his rear pockets before he carried the Jellyspotters.

Kevin walked up to the foolish sponge. "I hope you didn't forget the net polish." Professional or hardcore jellyfishers like the Jellyspotters used net polish so their nets could perform more efficiently during jellyfishing sessions. Most jellyfishers do not use net polish because it is mainly used for competitive play; they play for leisure. Net polish is not a requirement for competitions regardless since skill could easily overcome any advantages from the polish.

SpongeBob took out two bottles of net polish from his other rear pocket. He did not dare to use a single drop of their polish for his jellyfishing net because it was another way of honoring the Jellyspotters. "I didn't forget them." He made a thumbs-up. "I wanted to be a Jellyspotter for a long time. I think I've seen you guys on TV for the first time when I was a kid. As a matter of fact, I can't believe I'm actually out here with the Jellyspotters." He looked up at the sky. He was now talking to himself instead of the idolized sea cucumber. His vivid fantasies of awestruckness were too strong for the sponge to resist their influence. "Now I'm out here with you guys with the nets and the jars and the polish and the jellyfish and I'm with Kevin and Kevin's with me and we're all with each other and we're all jellyfishing and it's fun and-" The yellow square was freely saying whatever came into his mind. He got interrupted by Kevin.

"Hold it." Kevin covered SpongeBob's mouth. "Before you become a Jellyspotter, you have to pass a rigorous test." He tried his hardest to suppress his genuine smirk. The sea cucumber could tell that SpongeBob had been acting like he was already a member. What he said was the ideal lure for more amusement from the yellow jester.

The Jellyspotters heard what Kevin said and chuckled. They knew what Kevin meant by "rigorous test".

"Shh, quiet." Kevin shushed the other Jellyspotters and then turned back to the yellow square. "Your first task: catch a jellyfish." He wanted to start the gauntlet with an easy task. He did that so SpongeBob could be fooled into doing subsequent tasks.

SpongeBob caught a nearby jellyfish within a second. He then held out the net with the captured jellyfish to Kevin. "I caught one." He grinned. "Am I a Jellyspotter now?" He began to jump up and down in excitement again.

Kevin shook his head. "The test is made up of many tasks. What you just did was the first task. For the next task, catch two jellyfish." The sea cucumber had a plan for how he was going to make the subsequent tasks become completely ridiculous. So far, the yellow square was nibbling and biting that lure.

SpongeBob released the jellyfish from his net and ran towards a group of jellyfish. He quickly caught two jellyfish from that group and then returned to Kevin. The yellow square then held out his net to the sea cucumber.

Kevin nodded and made a thumbs-up. He was trying with all of his willpower not to chuckle or laugh. The next task was many degrees harder than the second task and he made it that way so SpongeBob could make a funny mistake or become frustrated. "Your third task: catch twenty jellyfish." He folded his arms.

SpongeBob nodded and released the two jellyfish from his net. He then ran around the nearby area and caught many jellyfish along the way.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran back to the sea cucumber. Twenty jellyfish were in his net. "I think this is it." The sponge had carefully counted how many jellyfish he had in his net. The task was not too difficult for the yellow square because of his determination to succeed and become a Jellyspotter. He was eager to learn their 'magical' ways and skills.

Kevin crouched and counted all of the jellyfish inside the net. There were twenty jellyfish in the net. He then made a thumbs-up. "You can release 'em now." The first three tasks were mere warm-ups. The fourth task was where the gauntlet becomes amusing.

SpongeBob released all of the jellyfish and waited until all of them flew away from his location. He did not want to repeatedly catch the same jellyfish because he expected the next task to be another one about catching a certain amount of jellyfish.

"Fourth task: allow jellyfish to eat jelly off your face." Kevin chuckled a bit when he spoke. He could not help himself because the task sounded too ridiculous to be taken seriously by any normal person.

The Jellyspotters laughed a bit as well. They predicted with confidence that SpongeBob was going to fail in a hilarious way and get stung by numerous jellyfish.

Kevin took out a mini-jar of jellyfish jelly from his pocket, opened it, deeply dipped his fingers into it, and put jelly on both of SpongeBob's cheeks until the sponge nearly had a beard of jelly. He was chuckling as he did that because SpongeBob ended up looking comical.

The Jellyspotters laughed at SpongeBob.

"That dude's done for." A non-anchovy member commented about the likelihood of SpongeBob's succeeding the task. From his perspective, it seemed like the task had been set up in a certain way so that it could be impossible to complete.

SpongeBob walked towards a very large group of jellyfish. "Who wants to lick my cheeks?" He cupped his hands around his mouth so his voice could go more far than usual. He said that question to the many pink creatures in an enthusiastic manner. The sponge thought that the task was going to be entertaining because even he thought that the task was silly.

Some of the jellyfish noticed the jelly on SpongeBob's face. Those jellyfish flew towards the sponge so they could harvest some of the jelly. Adult and teenage jellyfish do not eat jellyfish jelly. The younger jellyfish eat the jelly since it assists them in growing. The jelly had a similar function to milk in mammalian species.

"I see I have some takers." SpongeBob giggled and made a wide smile. He was pleasantly surprised by the amount of jellyfish that were immediately flying towards him.

The jellyfish made their stingers stop producing electricity by mentally turning off their 'electric mode'. They touched the jelly by putting their stingers on it and then sucked the jelly out of SpongeBob's face with their stingers.

Kevin walked up to the yellow square and was showing his sincere smirk. "How does it feel?" He tried to make the situation more awkward for the sponge. He was not too pleased by the outcome of the task; the sea cucumber was initially expecting the jellyfish to sting SpongeBob repeatedly.

SpongeBob's face was getting tickled by the jellyfish's stingers. "It t-tickles my nose." He was giggling because the tickling sensation was too strong. In spite of that, he continued to stand no matter how much he got tickled; he had a strong fear of accidentally upsetting the jellyfish.

A pause.

Once the jellyfish sucked all of the jelly out of SpongeBob's face, they flew back to their group.

SpongeBob turned to Kevin. "Am I in the Jellyspotters now?" The yellow square crossed his fingers behind his back. He hoped that Kevin would say "yes". The sponge assumed that the fourth task was the final task of the test.

"Nope." Kevin stopped smiling. He had a specific sequence of tasks in his head that were more embarrassing and challenging to complete than the fourth task. "I have many more tasks for you take in order to complete the test." He tried to intimidate SpongeBob.

SpongeBob felt leftover ticklish sensations. Some of them were on his nose. The ticklish sensations on his nose gave him the urge to sneeze. "Achoo!" The yellow square sneezed and the saliva from his mouth rapidly flew across the air.

The saliva landed on the top of a nearby jellyfish. "BUUZZZ!" The jellyfish became angry. It perceived the saliva as a threat from another animal. It flew towards Kevin because it assumed that Kevin had 'spat' the saliva at it.

**ZZZZAAAAPP**

**ZZ-ZZZAAP**

**ZAP**

It began to sting Kevin in several places around his body. Several jellyfish from a nearby group quickly joined the assault against the sea cucumber.

**ZZZZ-ZZZ-ZZAAAP**

**ZAP ZZAP ZAP ZZZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP**

**ZZAAAAP**

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kevin was screaming in pain and fright. He ran from the jellyfish as fast as he could but could not escape the painful grasp of their stingers. His screaming attracted more jellyfish to his location. Those jellyfish then stung him as well.

**ZZZAAAAAAAP**

**ZZZ-ZZZAAAP**

**ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZ-ZZAAP**

Patrick was watching the battle between Kevin and the jellyfish from a batch of tall grass. He was enjoying what he was seeing because he viewed Kevin as a jerk and an abuser. The starfish was seeing traits in the sea cucumber that SpongeBob could not see.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Many red marks were scattered over Kevin's skin. Some of the stings were so severe that the red marks those stings left behind became red bumps. The sea cucumber was as grumpy as Squidward would be when SpongeBob and Patrick annoy the octopus too much. He was folding his arms as a few of the Jellyspotters put band-aids on some of the red marks and bumps.

SpongeBob had done several tasks during Kevin's recovery. He walked back to the sea cucumber because he was finished with all of the tasks that he was ordered to do. "Am I in the Jellyspotters now?" He crossed his fingers again.

"No." Kevin glared at the yellow square and shook his head. He still had some tasks in his mind that SpongeBob did not do yet.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Kevin with his net. His net had two rocks and three abnormally large jellyfish in it. "Now?"

Kevin was jellyfishing. He caught four jellyfish before he turned to look at the yellow square. "No." He shook his head and then resumed his jellyfishing.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob carefully jumped from rock to rock. Once he reached the last rock, he flipped to the ground and landed in front of the Jellyspotters. He bowed to the 'crowd' before making eye contact with Kevin. "Now?" The sponge thought that he had done an excellent performance.

Kevin underestimated SpongeBob's athletic abilities. "No." He was becoming more and more ill-tempered. He wanted to see SpongeBob fail at a task so he and the Jellyspotters could laugh at him. The sponge was acting more like a butler or slave instead of a jester.

S-S-S-S-S

Several more minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was doing a ballet dance as he was jellyfishing. He twirled on one foot, held out his jellyfishing net, and caught five jellyfish. He had been given the task to catch fifteen jellyfish while ballerina dancing for the duration of the jellyfishing.

The Jellyspotters were laughing at the silliness of what SpongeBob was doing. Although it was not as funny as a failure, the sponge's dancing satisfied their appetite for amusement from the sponge anyway.

Once SpongeBob caught fifteen jellyfish, he stopped ballerina dancing and skipped towards Kevin. "Now?" He twirled his jellyfishing net to the air and caught it with his other hand. He did that to show how many jellyfish were inside his net.

"Nope." Kevin shook his head. "You have a few more tasks to go." The sea cucumber was saving the best for last. The yellow square was close to reaching the prolonged test's end.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up the sea cucumber. In his net were abnormally-colored jellyfish. Each jellyfish's pigment was a different of pink. The yellow square had to look through many areas of Jellyfish Fields during his search to find all of the different types of pink jellyfish. "Now?" He asked a question that he had asked countless times by that point.

Kevin was becoming severely impatient. Ever since the task with the ballet dancing, SpongeBob succeeded every subsequent task without a single mishap or delay. That consequently made all of SpongeBob's attempts boring or unfunny. The sponge did not have a single injury. His desire for more sources of laughter eventually worsened his grumpiness. His failure at making SpongeBob fail a task was damaging his pride as well. His injured pride and ill-temper proved to be an ugly combination. "Okay, SquarePants, it's YOUR turn to get zapped!" He spoke what was exactly coming from his mind. He then immediately realized what he was saying and shook his head. "I mean, are you ready for your final task?" The sea cucumber had one last hope.

"I'm ready!" SpongeBob furrowed his brow, smiled, and made a military salute. His facial expression resembled that of Sandy's when participating in a competition. His determination was increasing because his passion was finally paying off.

Kevin smirked. "You'd better be 'cause we're gonna capture a queen jellyfish." The sea cucumber was afraid that the sponge was going to realize his malicious intentions so he made the task sound more easy by adding "we". He did not underestimate the sponge too much because he was noticing that the sponge was completing the assigned tasks at a faster rate.

"A queen?" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. He was not afraid of completing the task at all because he thought that he was going to get full support from the Jellyspotters. "Can I help?" He did not know that capturing the queen jellyfish was the final task.

"Oh, don't worry. We can't do it without you." Kevin carefully chose his words and deceived SpongeBob that way. "If you didn't know already, it's your final task." He clarified an ambiguity so the sponge would no longer ask that annoying "now" question if the sponge miraculously manages to catch a queen jellyfish.

Patrick's eyes bugged out. He became extremely concerned for his best friend because he knew that catching a queen jellyfish was one of the most dangerous feats that a jellyfisher could accomplish. The sea star was disgusted by the Jelllyspotters' repulsive treatment of his best friend. 'That's it! They've crossed the line!' He narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists. He then patiently waited for SpongeBob and the Jellyspotters to leave. He did not want to get seen by any of those jellyfishers.

"Follow me. I'll explain the whole plan to you." The sea cucumber walked towards a place that was famous for containing one of the largest jellyfish colonies in the plain. He was looking forward to seeing the sponge's mistakes and the pain that the sponge had to endure. He felt no sympathy for SpongeBob because he viewed the yellow square as inferior to him. "C'mon, guys." He motioned with his hand for the others to follow him.

Once SpongeBob and the Jellyspotters walked away to a certain distance, Patrick stood up, stepped out of the batch of tall grass, and silently followed them. He moved from hiding spot to hiding spot as the group of jellyfishers walked towards the large colony.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square and the Jellyspotters were standing before an enormous entrance of a cave that branched out into numerous other caves. Hive combs could be seen sticking to the cave's ceiling and there was also some jelly on those combs. A small amount of that jelly dripped to the cave's floor.

"Wait right there." Kevin pointed at the sponge. "I'll come right back." The sea cucumber then ran towards a hidden treasure chest that he owned. He kept a hidden chest in Jellyfish Fields so he could replace old or broken nets without having to leave the plain. The materials he needed for the scheme were in that chest.

The Jellyspotters patiently waited for the sea cucumber to come back. They stood behind the yellow square, as Kevin had commanded, so the sponge would be unable to run away from the cave in fear.

Patrick was hiding behind several batches of tall grass. He did not hear the whole plan that Kevin said during their walk to the cave. Consequently, he considered the likelihood of SpongeBob entering the cave in search of the queen jellyfish.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin returned while carrying a pile of old net handle parts and a few long strings of jellyfishing net fiber. All of those objects came from his old jellyfishing nets that were stored in the treasure chest. "Keep standing there." He pointed at the yellow square and then walked up to the foolish sponge. He dropped his objects to the floor and then put the old handle parts together until they formed two equally long sticks. He pricked those sticks into the ground and made sure that they were on both SpongeBob's left and right. The sea cucumber looked at the other Jellyspotters. "Can one of you come 'ere and help?"

An anchovy walked up to Kevin.

"Tie the strings to the pole and then tie the other ends to this sponge guy's ankles and wrists." Kevin gave an order and tied two of the strings to the left pole. He then tied the upper string to SpongeBob's wrist and tied the other string to SpongeBob's ankle.

The anchovy carefully watched how Kevin tied those strings and then perfectly emulated how the sea cucumber did it.

SpongeBob was tied by two strings to two poles. The whole picture of SpongeBob being tied to poles was similar to Mr. Krabs' punishment for stealing Clamu's pearl. However, the sponge did not notice that similarity because he was focused on becoming a Jellyspotter. "This is fantastic!" The sponge was very eager to see the Jellyspotters demonstrate their massive potential by catching a queen jellyfish. He deeply trusted those jellyfishers. "I've never been bait before." He was saying his own thoughts again.

"Have you used a queen jellyfish call before?" Kevin took out a pink whistle from his pocket. He rarely attracted queen jellyfish because he usually did that for collecting jelly from caves. One had to blow into the whistle in a certain way in order to attract the queen jellyfish without making her angry.

SpongeBob shook his head.

"Why don't you try it out?" Kevin was going to use SpongeBob's lack of experience at attracting jellyfish for the Jellyspotters' benefit. He knew that by giving the whistle to the sponge, he set the sponge up for failure. The sea cucumber predicted that the result was going to be hilarious. The sea cucumber then smirked and gave the whistle to the yellow sponge by putting it into the sponge's mouth.

**BRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEET**

SpongeBob blew as much air into the whistle as he could.

Kevin and the Jellyspotters walked towards a large group of bushes. They were going to hide so they will not have to deal with the queen jellyfish. After getting stung many times, the sea cucumber did not want to meddle with the affairs of jellyfish too much.

SpongeBob spat the whistle to the ground. "Hey, where you guys going?" Like Patrick, he did not hear the entire plan. His fantasies prevented him from remembering everything that Kevin said. d.

"Oh, don't worry, we'll be right behind these bushes." Kevin pointed at the group of bushes. He tried to assure the yellow square in a deceitful manner. He then walked into the group of bushes and crouched until the bushes covered him. During the walk to the cave, he had not said anything about what the Jellyspotters were going to do. He had fooled the sponge by saying "we" when describing the plan instead of "us" or "you".

The Jellyspotters hid behind the bushes as well.

A jellyfish who had zapped Kevin before saw the sea cucumber and then flew towards him.

**ZAP**

It stung Kevin on the head before flying towards elsewhere. It still did not like Kevin since it believed that the sea cucumber was a threat.

"Who's got my sting ointment?" Kevin glanced at the other jellyfishers. He had used that ointment when he was treating the many marks and bumps he received from the angry jellyfish.

A non-anchovy Jellyspotter gave Kevin the sting ointment.

Patrick was hiding behind a large piece of coral. He was waiting for an opportunity to rescue SpongeBob from the trap that the sponge was in. The main problem that he was currently facing was the possibility of the Jellyspotters seeing him.

"This is great! When I pass this test, I'll be an official Jellyspotter!" SpongeBob loudly whispered to himself. The yellow square believed that he and the Jellyspotters were completely prepared for catching a queen jellyfish. However, the opposite was true.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten long minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob had waited for what seemed to him like a whole year. His enthusiasm was beginning to eat his patience into tiny pieces. "Hey Kevin," He looked at the large group of bushes from the corner of his eye. "I don't think it's working." He began to express his doubts because he expected the queen jellyfish to leave the cave immediately.

'I guess we'll have to try a second time.' Kevin stood up from the bushes and walked up to the whistle that SpongeBob had spat. He picked up the whistle and put it into the sponge's mouth again. He was willing to go the extra mile if it meant getting a good laugh at SpongeBob in the end. The sea cucumber then dove back to the bushes.

**BRRREEEEEEEEEET**

SpongeBob blew into the whistle again.

A pause.

**BRRRRRRREEEEEEEEET**

**BRREEEEET**

**BRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET**

The yellow square blew into the whistle a few more times just to make sure that the queen jellyfish could hear the whistle. He then spat the whistle to the ground again.

Some people, including Patrick, had to cover their ears during SpongeBob's whistle blows because the whistle was deafeningly loud.

A long pause.

Faint buzzing could be heard.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The queen jellyfish emerged from the cave. She was as large as a typical hill in the grassy plain. She was furious because she found the whistle's sounds to be highly annoying. She noticed the yellow sponge and flew towards him. She assumed that SpongeBob was the source of the irritating sounds.

"Hey, hey, Kevin! She's here! Look, she's here! She's here, Kevin!" SpongeBob became excited to the point where his limbs were shaking rapidly. He now expected the Jellyspotters to jump out of their positions and put their skills into good use.

A pause.

The Jellyspotters did not move from their hiding spots. They were waiting for SpongeBob to get stung by the queen jellyfish.

Kevin had a wide smile on his face. His long wait for a funny moment was going to end very soon.

Patrick was glaring at the Jellyspotters. 'Jerks." He viewed those jellyfishers as no better than the people who had bullied him during high school. The sea star would have given those arrogant people a piece of his mind but he had something far more important to deal with. The starfish turned to look at SpongeBob and noticed that the queen jellyfish was closing in on the sponge.

SpongeBob noticed that the queen jellyfish's stingers were filled with nearly fatal amounts of electricity. He was becoming afraid of the sparks coming from those stingers and could tell that the giant jellyfish was going to sting him. "Please don't be angry, your h-highness. I-if I caught you, I would have let you g-go!" He tried to sound friendly but sounded frightened instead.

Patrick ran towards SpongeBob and pulled the poles out of the ground. He carried the poles on his shoulder and then ran as fast as he could from the queen jellyfish.

The fiber threads restricted SpongeBob's movement more than before. His body was nearly wrapping around the poles since Patrick did not untie or cut the threads.

"**BUUUZZZZZZZZ!" **The queen jellyfish's anger intensified. She could not tolerate any pest to her colony that flees at the sight of danger. She then flew towards Patrick and charged her stingers with even more electricity.

"P-Pat..." SpongeBob sweatdropped. He could no longer endure the uncomfortableness of being pinned to the poles. His fear of the queen jellyfish worsened as the giant jellyfish got closer and closer to him and Patrick.

"Yeah?" Patrick was jumping over rocks and other obstacles. He was looking for a way to quell the queen jellyfish's anger. Hearing SpongeBob's voice gave him the energy to run even faster.

"I'm getting stretched by these poles... can you cut the threads?" SpongeBob was struggling to speak because his body was getting constantly moved by Patrick's running. The pressure on his tied limbs only worsened the ordeal.

"Not yet." Patrick shook his head. He was running towards the fence that enclosed the area of an ongoing competition. He was becoming desperate in his attempts to find some sort of solution to the situation. The sea star then hopped across the fence and dodged jellyfishers. By that point, he was running aimlessly because he could not find anything that could assist in stopping the queen jellyfish.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The jellyfishers looked up at the queen jellyfish and screamed in terror. They dropped their jellyfishing nets and ran until they were out of the area's border.

The announcer dropped his megaphone in fright and leaped across the nearby fence. The jellyfishing competition was pushed to the back of his mind. He had also been demonstrating the effectiveness of a harpoon (that was not from the convention) by pricking a jellyfish with it. The crowd who had watched that had fled as well.

The tranquilized jellyfish was peacefully sleeping on the ground. The dropped harpoon was next to it.

Patrick glanced at the harpoon and remembered that harpoons were used to tranquilize jellyfish. The sea star then made a turn towards the harpoon. He dodged a few stinger jabs from the giant jellyfish before he grabbed the harpoon. The starfish made a huge jump across the fence and ran until he reached the limits of his stamina; he was trying to gain some distance so he could properly throw the harpoon.

"**BUUUZZZ!" **The queen jellyfish charged her stingers with so much electricity that the stingers looked like glowing rods. The jellyfish began to consider the option of calling for reinforcements.

S-S-S-S-S

The Jellyspotters had moved out of the bushes by that point. They were all watching the queen jellyfish chase Patrick and SpongeBob and were heavily entertained by the chaos unfolding before them. Those prideful sportsmen, like Kevin, viewed the non-Jellyspotter jellyfishers as inferior to them and consequently had no sympathy for them. They even laughed at times when they saw a frightened jellyfisher trip to the ground

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was putting all of the remaining energy in his muscles into his running. However, he was losing more and more speed as the chase continued. 'I gotta wait for the right moment.' The sea star thought with a miraculous increase in intelligence. He was highly focused and was also highly aware of his surroundings. He was swiftly hopping off of rocks or obstacles when needed.

The queen jellyfish lost her patience. "BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ!** BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ! **BUZZ!**" She called for the jellyfish from her colony to come out of the mountain and attack the starfish.

S-S-S-S-S

Loud buzzing was coming from the cave.

The Jellyspotters turned to look at the cave. They then became confused since they were unsure if the source of the buzzing was another giant jellyfish or a horde of jellyfish.

"Hide!" Kevin yelled to the other Jellyspotters and then dove to the bushes. "More of 'em are coming!" He recognized the call that the queen jellyfish had vocalized.

The Jellyspotters jumped to and hid in the bushes.

A massive group of jellyfish flew out of the cave. They were unsure about who was attacking the queen jellyfish. They then quickly assumed that the Jellyspotters were the attackers because they were nearby. The jellyfish flew towards the jellyfishers.

Kevin looked up and yelled in fright. "RUN!" He sprinted as fast as he could from the bushes. However, it was too late.

**ZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZ-ZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAP ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZ-ZZZZ-ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAAP**

The jellyfish began to furiously zap the Jellyspotters.

The Jellyspotters were wincing and falling back to the ground as they got stung. The assault was too relentless for them to handle by themselves.

**ZZZZZAAAAAAP  
**

**ZZZ-ZZZ-ZZZAAAAAP**

**ZZZZAAAAAAP**

**ZZZAAAAP**

**ZZZ-ZZZAAAAP**

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick ran up a large hill and turned to face the incoming queen jellyfish. He was sweating profusely as he raised the harpoon. The sea star took a deep breath as he waited for the right moment.

Time slowed.

The queen jellyfish raised her glowing stingers towards Patrick. They were certainly going to kill the sea star if they were jabbed at him enough times.

Patrick aimed the harpoon at the queen jellyfish's top.

SpongeBob was looking directly at the harpoon. Where the harpoon was going to land will determine the fate of him, Patrick, and the Jellyspotters.

Time resumed.

Patrick threw the harpoon with all of the strength he could muster into his arms.

The harpoon flew like a missile towards the queen jellyfish's top.

**THUNK**

The harpoon landed on the queen jellyfish's top.

The queen jellyfish stopped moving her stingers. The tranquilizer contained in the harpoon quickly spread throughout the jellyfish's body. After several seconds, the giant jellyfish slowly floated towards the ground until...

**CRASH**

...she collapsed to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

The horde of jellyfish stopped stinging the Jellyspotters when they heard the queen jellyfish's collapse. They then saw their queen's sleeping body and quickly flew towards it. They were placing the queen's safety above her orders.

A very long pause.

All of the Jellyspotters except for Kevin shakily stood up. They had red marks and bumps all over their bodies like their leader.

"Help me, mommy... help me... I want my blankie... I want my blankie..." Kelvin was sitting on the ground and his arms were wrapped around his knees. He was rocking because he traumatized by the assault of the jellyfish horde. He only had gotten attacked by large jellyfish groups two times in the past. Nothing would have prepared for the number of stings that he had just received. His ego was crushed to atoms and his only current concerns were his health and safety.

The Jellyspotters looked at Kevin. They made deadpan faces because they were unsure about how they should react to seeing their leader in such a state.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick ran away from the queen jellyfish's still body as fast as he could. He did not want the group of jellyfish to notice him and his best friend. Once he reached a certain distance, he put SpongeBob on the floor and broke the threads.

SpongeBob slowly stood up from the poles and moved his hands, arms, feet; and legs so he can get the blood to move back into his veins. Once he no longer felt strange sensations in his limbs and muscles, he made a slight smile. The yellow square then looked up at the queen jellyfish. He was grateful for Patrick's assistance but also knew that he and the Jellyspotters failed to capture the queen jellyfish. "Looks like we didn't catch her." He then made eye contact with Patrick. "I don't mean to be rude or anything." He indirectly expressed his gratitude.

Patrick made a satisfied smile and patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "It's alright." He was glad that SpongeBob was safe. He then turned to glare at at the distant Jellyspotters. "I'm gonna give that pickle guy a piece of mind anyway." He walked towards the Jellyspotters.

SpongeBob followed the sea star. He was curious to know if he became a Jellyspotter or not.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked up to Kevin and made a soul-piercing glare at the sea cucumber. The starfish noticed the formerly arrogant jellyfisher's traumatized state. "Think you could treat my friend that way, eh?" He spoke with utter contempt. "I can't believe SpongeBob likes scum like you." He pointed at Kevin. 'You don't deserve all of the fans you got. You deserve haters like me." He pointed at himself.

SpongeBob walked up to the sea cucumber. "Am I in the Jellyspotters now?" He was not as excited as before because he was tired from that battle with the queen jellyfish. He was still not aware of the Jellyspotters' malicious intentions.

Kevin stopped rocking and made eye contact with SpongeBob. "No..." He shook his head. "You didn't catch a jellyfish." The sea cucumber knew that the sponge failed to complete the task.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at the sea cucumber. He was disgusted by Kevin's treatment of SpongeBob after all of the suffering that his friend had to undergo. The sea star picked up Kevin by the crown and raised his other fist. "You better tell the truth to my friend, or I'll beat you to a pulp." He tightened his fist. "I know karate."

"Okay, okay, okay!" Kevin sweatdropped and flailed his limbs. The last thing he currently wanted was to get assaulted by another angry person.

Patrick released Kevin from his grasp. He folded his arms and watched the sea cucumber.

Kevin stood up and looked at SpongeBob. "Sponge guy, listen up. For this whole time, I didn't want you in the Jellyspotters at all. You're just not worthy enough to be in our group. That starfish guy doesn't make the cut either. When I thought up of those tasks, I was trying to make them really hard so you would fail. We view you as some sort of joker, not a jellyfisher. When we were coming here, we made you do most of our work because we think that you're worthless." The sea cucumber revealed everything. He almost had no choice because Patrick was standing behind him.

SpongeBob's eyes slowly widened and moistened; he became heartbroken. The sponge could not say a single word; his heavy throat prevented his voice from escaping his mouth. Reality hit him hard; the person he idolized was actually a demon in disguise. Like his new view of Mr. Krabs, the yellow square began to have a new and less biased view of the sea cucumber.

"And that's why he's a jerk!" Patrick pointed at Kevin. He then glared at the other Jellyspotters. "All of you are jerks too!" He pointed at those jellyfishers. "I saw you laugh at the people who were running away from the queen." He then turned around and walked up to his best friend. "Can't believe that bullies like them always become famous." He spoke in a lower voice to SpongeBob.

A long pause.

The Jellyspotters turned to look at the fallen body of the queen jellyfish. It took several seconds for them to realize the magnitude of Patrick's feat. They then turned and glared at Kevin. From their perspective, Patrick certainly deserved to be a Jellyspotter because of his bravery and quick thinking. The members stomped up to the sea cucumber and grabbed the cucumber's 'hat'.

"H-hey, what're you doing?!" Kevin raised his brow and then flailed his limbs in a desperate attempt at escaping the other Jellyspotters' grasp. However, that attempt proved to be futile.

**RRRRIP**

Kevin's 'crown' was ripped off of his head. 'Crowns' were the sea cucumber version of hair. The other Jellyspotters then put the 'crown' on Patrick's head to show that the sea star was a new Jellyspotter.

"You're not our leader anymore," An anchovy Jellyspotter spoke to Kevin. He then pointed at Patrick. "he's our new leader." The other Jellyspotters appointed Patrick as the new leader because of his loyalty, sense of justice, passion, and (as stated before) bravery.

Patrick smiled widely. The Jellyspotters' change of heart boosted the starfish's happiness. "At least you guys learned your lesson." He looked at the Jellyspotters.

Kevin fell to the ground and covered his face with his hands. He began to cry since the source of his pride had been taken away from him; he was no longer a Jellyspotter.

An awkward pause.

Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder again; he tried to cheer up his best friend. "C'mon, Sponge. Let's go home. Hero worship isn't healthy." The starfish gave words of wisdom.

Another pause.

SpongeBob looked up and nodded. Patrick's last spoken sentence certainly applied to him when it came to his views of Mr. Krabs, Kevin, or other famous people. The yellow square then smiled. "Yeah." He walked towards his pineapple. He completely forgot about the competition.

Patrick and the Jellyspotters followed him.

Kevin continued to sit in his spot. He was not going to leave anytime soon.

* * *

**Any criticism so far will be appreciated. **


	69. Jellyfish Hunter

**Chapter 69: Jellyfish Hunter**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Monday morning.

A jar that was half-filled with jellyfish jelly was on the ground of Jellyfish Fields.

"La, la la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!" SpongeBob was singing a made-up song as he was chasing a jellyfish. His net was raised and he was waiting for the jellyfish to slow down slightly. The sponge leaped over rocks and ran up hills as he chased the jellyfish. It was the hardest one to catch out of the other eleven jellyfish that he had caught today.

The jellyfish tried to fly to the side; it was moving out of the way of a jellyfish group.

SpongeBob swiped the net and caught the jellyfish. He turned the net so the jellyfish would face him. "You're my twelfth catch of the day. I'm gonna call you 'twelvey'." The sponge was in high spirits as he usually was every morning. He had quickly gotten over the truth about Kevin and the hurtful words that the sea cucumber had spoken. The sponge then walked towards the jar and sat down. The yellow square opened the jar and took a deep breath. He was about to do a dangerous procedure.

A pause.

SpongeBob slowly set the jellyfishing net to the ground and then slowly put his hands on the jellyfish's top. He gently tickled the jellyfish by quickly moving his fingers on its top.

The jellyfish was shaking rapidly. What it was doing was the jellyfish's way of laughing. It stimulated the jellyfish to produce jelly and consequently turned off the 'electric mode' of its stingers.

Jelly dripped from its stingers and landed into the jar until the container was almost three-fourths full. The jellyfish eventually slipped out of SpongeBob's grasp and flew away.

SpongeBob closed the jar and stood up. He saw the blue jellyfish from his eye's corner and recognized it immediately. He then turned to look at the blue jellyfish who was floating near the sponge (it was inspecting the yellow square). "Well, it's just you and me again. I've caught and named almost every jellyfish in this area of Jellyfish Fields." He began to walk towards the blue jellyfish. "Except you, No Name." He yelled a battle cry by moving his tongue and sprinted towards No Name. "OLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOHLOOH!"

The yellow square stepped on a soda can and...

**THUD**

...fell to the ground. The sponge jumped to his feet and resumed his run towards the jellyfish.

The blue jellyfish flew through several large groups of bushes in an attempt to lose SpongeBob.

The yellow square hopped from bush to bush and tried to swipe down at No Name. Each attempt was a failure.

No Name flew away from the group of bushes and made a quick turn to the east.

SpongeBob ran towards the east and eventually caught up with No Name. He then raised his jellyfishing net and swung it down at No Name.

The blue jellyfish made a turn to the north in less than a second. It joined a massive group of jellyfish.

"Barnacles!" SpongeBob continued to look at No Name. He was wondering about the color of its jelly and how it will react to getting 'jellied' (a mammalian equivalent would be milking). "How'd he do that?" The yellow square tilted his head to the side in wonder. "Someday I'll catch ol' No Name." He had seen that blue jellyfish many times in Jellyfish Fields. That did not weaken his determination.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting on his bed and was looking through his bedroom's window. He was wondering about the whereabouts of Mrs. Puff. The pufferfish had left Bikini Bottom for her summer vacation and had been gone for almost two weeks. She will return to her home on Wednesday of this week. The crab was seriously considering the option of telling his girlfriend about the evil acts he had committed. However, doing such a thing may strengthen the trust between them or break the relationship altogether. If he was going to confess, timing and word choice was everything. After minutes of mental battles, he could not make a decision. He stood up from the bed and walked towards the bedroom's exit.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs poured some hot coffee from a coffee jug into his cup. He then put the coffee jug back into the coffee machine. That machine was one of the cheapest yet best-performing coffee machines that the crab could find. The crab gently held his cup's one handle and drank the coffee. He was sitting in the table at the kitchen as he was drinking. Once the crab finished drinking, he put the cup into the sink and walked out of the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs entered the living room and sat in the couch. He was thinking about a more sneaky yet lawful way to get more money. The Krusty Krab was suffering from its biggest decline in profits for the year so far. The crustacean needed some extra cash to make up for that money gap. The crab struggled to come up with a new idea because nothing that had recently happened to him gave him any material for new ideas.

S-S-S-S-S

More than five hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was around noon.

**CRRRREEEAAK**

SpongeBob opened the door in the kitchen that led to the office. "I'm going on my lunch break, Mr. Krabs." The sponge and Nicholas, since they were hard workers, had the privilege of having a short lunch break during afternoons. The sponge had waited until he had made and served all of the ordered food so far. He and the intern always had to inform the crab before taking a break.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs looked up at SpongeBob. A turned-on radio was on his desk and he was listening to old-school music. "You've got five minutes." He then looked down at his desk to resume his work. He was neatly organizing dollar bills from the safe into stacks.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grinned and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

"Wow. One more minute than the one on Saturday." SpongeBob said a positive thought of his out loud. The sponge was in a particularly good mood today. He walked up to a bag on the table and grabbed the bag. The sponge walked towards the door to the dining room and...

**CRRREEEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked across the dining room. He reached an empty table and halted. "SpongeBob ready for lunch." He tried to sound like an announcer. He then imitated a launching rocket by lifting his bag and making mouth sounds that sounded like rocket noises. The sponge then turned the bag until it was upside-down.

A Krabby Patty and a jar of jellyfish jelly landed on the table. The Krabby Patty was very basic because it consisted of a patty between a bottom and top bun. There were no vegetables or other additives on the burger.

SpongeBob opened the jar, took out a spreading knife from his pocket (the knife came from the kitchen), and took out the top bun from the Krabby Patty. He dipped the spreading knife into the jar and put some jelly on the patty. He put the top bun back on the Krabby Patty and took a bite. The burger was surprisingly delicious.

Fred was walking by when he noticed the burger that SpongeBob was eating. "Hey buddy, what the heck is that?" He looked at the burger and scratched his head. He had never seen a burger like that being served at the Krusty Krab before.

SpongeBob thought that Fred was looking at his holes. "Why, this is a hole, sir." He pointed at one of his holes. He was trying to be polite. "You see, I am a sponge, and-" He got interrupted by Fred.

"No, not that." Fred shook his head. "That." He pointed at the burger to clarify what he was talking about.

"It's kinda like an ol' Krabby Patty but with jellyfish jelly. I call it a Krabby Patty with jellyfish jelly." SpongeBob gave a simple explanation. He was somewhat proud while being humble at the same time. He did not want to sound as proud as Sandy or as arrogant as Kevin.

Fred became curious. He wondered about how such a Krabby Patty would taste. "Can I try some?" He knew that SpongeBob was enough of a kind person to comply to his request.

SpongeBob stood up from the table and ate the rest of his burger. "Wait right here." The sponge then jogged towards the kitchen and...

**CRREAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen. He was holding a fresh basic Krabby Patty. He walked up to the table and spread some jelly on the burger's patty. The yellow square gave that Jelly Patty to Fred.

Fred took a bite. He immediately loved the flavor and then quickly ate the rest of the burger. "Amazing! I've got to tell someone about this..." He turned towards the crowd in the dining room. He heard the faint sounds of Mr. Krabs' radio and a light bulb lit up in his head.

"_Hey all you people,_

_hey all you people,_

_hey all you people won't you listen to meee?"_

Fred began to sing. He ran from table to table as he sang the beginning of his made-up song.

People in the dining room looked at Fred; the green fish successfully caught their attention.

"_I just had a sandwich, _

_no ordinary sandwich, _

_a sandwich filled with jellyfish jelllyyyy."_

Fred walked up to a group of people who were sitting at a nearby table.

"_Hey man, you've got to try this sandiwich!_

_It's no ordinary sandwich!_

_It's the tastiest sandwich in the seaaa!"_

Fred scat for a few seconds. _"Yeeeaahhh..." _The song ended.

Many people were clapping; they were very impressed by Fred's abrupt performance.

Fred bowed to show his gratitude for his audience's appreciation of his singing. "Thank you..."

**CRREEEAAAK**

SLAM

Mr. Krabs exited his office. The crustacean walked up to the yellow sponge. "SpongeBob, who's playing Squidward's records again?" He had made an assumption.

"Noone, Mr. Krabs. I was just sharing my jellyfish jelly with a customer and he liked it so much that he started singing. As a matter of fact, I'll be right back." SpongeBob humbly informed the crab and then raised his index finger. He jogged towards the kitchen and...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the kitchen with a basic Krabby Patty in his hand. He ran up to the table and quickly added jelly to the burger. "Here you go, Mr. Krabs." He handed the burger to his boss. "Send your taste buds on a journey." He spoke with confidence and a wide smile.

Mr. Krabs gave the innovative burger a funny look. He immediately noticed a difference between it and a normal Krabby Patty. The crab smelled the burger to see if the patty was tampered with. However, the smell was normal; the patty was normal. "Messing with me patty's formula, that's mutiny!" The crab disapproved of the Jelly Patty because SpongeBob did not ask for permission before doing that morally grey alteration.

Fred walked up to Mr. Krabs with a wide smile on his face. 'This would be perfect for the menu.' He was trying to indirectly persuade the boss to make the Jelly Patty part of the Galley Grub. "Sir, that Jelly Patty was one of the greatest things I've ever eaten." He was completely honest. "I'm going to come back here for lunch for the rest of my life." He exaggerated to show how much he liked the Jelly Patty.

Mr. Krabs' jaw dropped and he stared into space. A light bulb for an amazing idea lit up in his head. The idea was so profoundly shocking that the crab was using all of his willpower to prevent his consciousness from short-circuiting. His wait was finally over.

"Hey, buddy, are you okay?" Fred continued to look at Mr. Krabs and raised his brow. He was becoming concerned for the boss because the crustacean was showing signs indicating imminent fainting.

SpongeBob tapped Mr. Krabs on the shoulder. "You okay, Mr. K?" He was becoming concerned as well.

Mr. Krabs made a wide smile and turned to look at his yellow employee. "SpongeBob, I got a proposition for ye. How's about you go catch me some of those little moneyfish?" The crab's mind was full of fantasies about the profits that the Krusty Krab was going to earn from selling all of those Jelly Patties. However, he expected those profits to be above average instead of massive. The profit decline over the month had affected his optimism. Regardless, he still saw Jelly Patties as an excellent opportunity.

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled. "Oh boy. Getting paid to jellyfish." The sponge could not believe that one of his childhood dreams was becoming a reality. Ever since middle school, he thought that having a career in jellyfishing was almost impossible because of scarcity of jellyfishing jobs. The opportunity given to him boosted his happiness to a new level.

"By the way, your jellyfishing will use up your work time. Since those Jelly Patties look easy to make, I think Nicholas can handle kitchen duties for a while. I've tried his cooked patties many times and I believe he has improved enough to be a worthy cook." Mr. Krabs told SpongeBob about the schedule changes that was going to occur for the sponge. The crab could only see minor problems in his plan because SpongeBob was enthusiastic for his new role.

"Aye aye, sir!" SpongeBob enthusiastically replied and quickly made a military salute. He wanted to begin jellyfishing as soon as possible.

Fred walked away in relief. He thought that if Mr. Krabs fainted and had to go to the hospital, the Krusty Krab would have to be closed for a while. His desire for more Jelly Patties was the main reason for his relief.

"Now go get me some jellyfish, and make it quick." Mr. Krabs patted SpongeBob on the shoulder and then pushed the yellow square towards the double door. Like his yellow fry cook, he wanted jellyfish to be caught immediately. He was eagerly awaiting the bounty from the Jelly Patties.

SpongeBob nodded and...

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob rapidly headed for his pineapple. He had to urge to tell Patrick the good news and retrieve his jellyfishing net for the work that was ahead of him.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the ordering window and looked through it. "Nicholas, you're going to be the main cook for the time being. New types of patties are going to be made here. You don't have to worry about all that cooking 'cause you'll only be cookin' the patties. SpongeBob will come back here now and then to bring some jelly. Got it?" The crustacean spoke sternly. The boss did not want the intern to start panicking over 'imperfections' in the workplace and consequently slow his working speed to a snail's pace.

"Roger." Nicholas nodded. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the next customers coming up to the register will order simple foods like Jellly Patties. He knew what Jelly Patties were because he had heard Fred's song.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the dining room. He was holding a jar that contained a jellyfish. The yellow square walked up to his boss who was waiting for him. The yellow square then held out the jar to the crustacean. He had wanted to bring back a jellyfish as fast as possible out of a fear about Mr. Krabs' possible impatience.

Mr. Krabs felt like SpongeBob had came too soon. He looked down and raised his brow at the jar. "SpongeBob, we're gonna need more than one puny jellyfish." The crab had high expectations for his employee. He wanted enough jelly for the cooking of fifty Jelly Patties.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "But Mr. Krabs, how many jellyfish do you need?" He could not exactly follow the boss' orders without clarifications to them.

"SpongeBob, we have a whole ecosystem full of hungry paying customers. I want an amount of jelly that can make enough of those patties to last for a whole day." Mr. Krabs spoke seriously. He did not want to waste too much time on getting rid of an ambiguity. "Don't tell me you've stopped caring for the customer!" He widened his eyes a bit. He wanted to fool his gullible employee into doing his bidding.

SpongeBob could somewhat see through the deception but decided to play along so he would not get in trouble. "Never." He shook his head and sweatdropped.

"Then go out there and get me some more jellies!" Mr. Krabs pointed at the double door. His eagerness for the incoming profits was worsening his impatience. "Time is money." He folded his arms.

"Aye, aye." SpongeBob nodded and dashed down the dining room.

**C-CREAK  
**

**S-SLAM**

The yellow square exited the restaurant again.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was quickly catching jellyfish left and right. He was in the middle of the jellyfish group so catching jellyfish was quite easy for him. The yellow square had bought ten jars and had left them in a place in the plain where he will always remember to look in. A jar costed $0.50 so that allowed the sponge to buy as many jars as he liked. Once the yellow square caught a satisfying amount of jellyfish, he walked towards the jar. He then tickled and jellied them one-by-one until all of the jellyfish in the net left.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob ran into the restaurant and jogged up to Mr. Krabs. He was holding ten jars full of jellyfish jelly. "More jellies, Mr. Krabs." He simpered and left the jelly jars next to the boat.

"That'll never do. More!" Mr. Krabs had noticed the high demand for the Jelly Patty. It seemed like Fred's song boosted the Jelly Patty from a slight modification to a popular new food. There was a long line of waiting customers who wanted to try a Jelly Patty or eat it again. The crustacean now knew that he was going to need far more than fifty Jelly Patties in order to satisfy the customers for the rest of the day.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM.

The Jelly Patty was added to the Galley Grub. The food and its price was put below the last item of the menu with black paint.

Mr. Krabs was in high spirits, just like SpongeBob in the beginning of the day. The extra profits gained from selling Jelly Patties covered a fraction of the losses over the month. It was going to take a few days before the Krusty Krab regained its former monthly revenue. The crab flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'. "C'mon, boys." He signaled with his claw for his employees to leave the restaurant.

**CRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Nicholas exited the kitchen. The yellow square had cleaned the dishes while Nicholas had cleaned the jars.

"How did the cooking went?" SpongeBob was making eye contact with the intern as they walked towards the double door. He had wondered for a long time about the other two employees' activities while he was gone.

"It actually turned out great. Although my patties aren't as good as yours no matter how hard I try, the jelly kinda hid the lowered flavor so alota people liked the burgers anyway." Nicholas spoke honestly. He talked in such a manner because he took his job seriously and wanted to look professional and experienced.

SpongeBob nodded and took a deep breath in relief. "I've been worried for a while 'bout stuff like that. I didn't want you and Squid to get overworked 'cause of my jellyfishing." The sponge sincerely cared for the other employees. He viewed the Krusty Krew more as a family than a pirate crew, the Krusty Krew (as Mr. Krabs said) was an extension of the Krabs family after all.

Squidward stood up from the boat and walked towards the exit. Today's amount of customers was more than he was used to; he was used to the unusually lower amounts of customers that had happened over the last month.

Before SpongeBob exited the Krusty Krab, he turned to look at Mr. Krabs. "Mr. Krabs, by the way, if I have to buy a thousand jars, can I use some of the Krusty Krab's profits to pay for some of it? I don't think I can afford to buy all of them at this rate." The yellow square was aware of a problem with the increasing demand for Jelly Patties. He was worried about such a flaw because he wanted to continue jellyfishing for pay.

Mr. Krabs thought critically for several seconds. "Very well. But don't use up to much of me profits, we've lost too much money during this month." The crab thought that the jars were a worthy investment because jelly could be brought to the restaurant in bigger amounts.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. K." SpongeBob...

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...merrily skipped out of the Krusty Krab. He was glad for Mr. Krabs' consideration; he initially had a hidden fear that Mr. Krabs was going to become greedy again like he was during Free Day.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was chasing a jellyfish when he saw Patrick from the corner of his eye, he was doing another round of jelly collecting. The sponge then halted and turned to look at his best friend. "Hey, Pat." He waved.

Patrick had a question that stuck with him since yesterday. He walked up to SpongeBob. "Sponge, why're you doing all of this jellyfishing?" He scratched his head. "I thought you had work."

SpongeBob giggled for a second. "This is my work. Mr. Krabs wants me to get more jellyfish." The yellow square began to explain his reason for jellyfishing when a light bulb lit up in his head. He could not bring all of the jars to the Krusty Krab in one try and had thought about getting an assistant to help him with the delivering.

A pause.

"Pat, isn't it kinda boring when I'm not around?" SpongeBob tried to get Patrick into the right mindset. He thought that he and Patrick could have fun as they deliver jars to the Krusty Krab; he did not have an intention to deceive.

"Hmm..." Patrick put his hand on his chin as he considered. "Yeah." He nodded. He did not like doing nothing for too long, that was one of the reasons why he disliked SpongeBob's workdays.

"Why don't you help me with the delivery of the jars? I can get my work done faster while we can chat." SpongeBob gave a very attractive opportunity to Patrick. By the way the sponge said, the sea star could not reject the option.

"Alright." Patrick made a thumbs-up. His initial plans for having jellyfishing sessions with the Jellyspotters became cancelled. "If catching gets really tough for you, can I help you out with jellyfishing?" The sea star thought that not jellyfishing while being in Jellyfish Fields was a crime.

"Sure." SpongeBob nodded. The yellow square saw no harm in having extra help. He then turned to look at the fleeing jellyfish. The sponge ran towards that jellyfish and eventually caught up with it.

Patrick wondered about the location of the jars.

S-S-S-S-S

Many hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM.

SpongeBob swiped his net and caught the last jellyfish for today. He walked up to a nearly full jar, opened it, slowly took out the jellyfish, tickled the jellyfish; and jellied it until the jar was full of jelly. He then released the jellyfish and closed the jar. The yellow square picked up the jar and also took a few other jars.

Patrick picked up the remaining jars.

The two best friends walked towards the Krusty Krab.

Kevin was watching them. The sea cucumber was aware of SpongeBob's long sessions of jellyfishing. He noticed that there were decreases in the jellyfish populations of the areas where SpongeBob had jellyfished. His injured pride had transformed into a strong desire for revenge. He wanted to prove to SpongeBob that he was still #1 at something. Out of that desire and his own curiosity, he decided to follow the yellow square. He assumed that he was eventually going to find a method of revenge.

S-S-S-S-S

Four and a half minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the dining room. They put the jars on the massive jar pile that was at the corner of the dining room. Some of the jars in that pile contained jellyfish. The crab had ordered SpongeBob to contain any jellyfish that had above-average amounts of jelly.

Mr. Krabs flipped the sign from 'OPEN' to 'CLOSED'.

**C-CRREEEAAK  
**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward exited the restaurant. The octopus was relieved because the stressful workday was over. SpongeBob's absence had made Mr. Krabs put massive pressure on the octopus and Nicholas to work harder.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Nicholas exited the Krusty Krab as well.

SpongeBob walked up to Mr. Krabs. "Mr. Krabs, why do you want me to put those jellyfish into the jars?" He had never figured out his boss' motives for that order.

"I wanted the business to have those jellyfish 'cause we could easily make a spare supply of jelly in case of emergencies. Doing that also allows the jelly supply to grow quicker since you can jelly those jellyfish in this very building." Mr. Krabs provided valid reasons for his order. However, when it ultimately came down to the profits, he had another reason that was far more selfish. The crustacean thought that the consequences of collecting ideal jellyfish were not severe because he assumed that Jellyfish Fields had a nearly infinite population of jellyfish.

"Okay." SpongeBob smiled wider and nodded. He only saw one flaw in Mr. Krabs' plan. "But how're we gonna take care of the jellyfish?" He was conerned for the jellyfish's health. He did not want the jellyfish to be left alone for too long because they would possibly starve.

"Good question." Mr. Krabs put a claw on his chin as he thought about possible options. "I think we may need another assistant, that lad could have a caretaker role." The crab quickly figured out a solution. He did not look at Patrick because he already knew Patrick's role as jellyfishing assistant.

SpongeBob began to wonder about candidates for the assistant. He then nearly forgot something when he put his hand on the double door's handles. "Good night, Mr. Krabs." He looked at his boss from the corner of his eye.

"Nighty night." Patrick waved at the crustacean. He did not want to appear too friendly, however. He was not going to change his heart so soon after Free day.

"G'night, lads." Mr. Krabs...

**FLICK**

...turned off the lights in the dining room.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin was sitting behind a moderately-sized rock. He was hidden from the others' view and had heard the conversation that had occurred in the dining room. He predicted that an increased rate of jellyfishing and collecting was going to eventually decimate Jellyfish Fields' jellyfish population. The sea cucumber came to the realization that the sweetest form of revenge was taking away the thing that had caused his troubles; jellyfishing. If there was no jellyfish, there would be no jellyfishing. By that point, his hate had extended to Patrick because he was the one who became leader of the Jellyspotters. After several seconds, he gathered his thoughts into one plan.

A pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked towards their neighborhood.

Mr. Krabs locked the double door and walked towards his anchor.

Kevin waited until the two best friends were far away enough for him to feel safe. He stood up from the rock and briskly walked up to Mr. Krabs. However, he abruptly stopped walking when he thought about the possibility of Mr. Krabs become suspicious of him. Asking for the position immediately seemed to be too risky. The cucumber turned around and walked towards his home.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin decided to delay his action until Wednesday (this) morning.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the Krusty Krab's double door and unlocked it.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crustacean entered the restaurant.

On a window next to the double door was a sign that had red text saying 'Help Wanted'. A smaller sign was below the 'Help Wanted' sign and had text written neatly in pen saying 'Unpaid Internship'.

Within ten seconds, SpongeBob and Patrick walked into the Krusty Krab. The sea star had came to the restaurant for a specific reason.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick jogged up to the crustacean and poked him on the shoulder.

Mr. Krabs turned around. "Oh, mornin', Mr. Star." He was caught by surprise; he did not expect Patrick to show up at the Krusty Krab during its opening time.

"Mr. Krabs, I can't help Sponge with jellyfishing anymore. I wanna spend my jellyfishing time with other friends. I'll keep delivering the jars though." Patrick wanted to jellyfish with the Jellyspotters. He felt obligated to jellyfish with them because he was their new leader. He thought that by jellyfishing with them, his sense of righteousness would rub off of them and would consequently cleanse them of their prideful and bully-like ways. His desire to positively influence people with his hidden knowledge was just as strong as his desire to punish bulled or other arrogant people.

Mr. Krabs frowned slightly. He was only a little bit disappointed in the sea star, he could easily encourage SpongeBob to work harder and consequently take Patrick's place. "Alright. Just don't goof off too much." He folded his arms .

"Gotcha." Patrick made a thumbs-up and then turned around. He ran to the double door and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the restaurant.

"See ya later, Mr. K." SpongeBob turned around as well. He held his jellyfishing net with both of his hands and ran towards the double door. "I'll catch 'em in a jiffy."

**C-CRREEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The yellow square exited the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs walked towards the bathroom. He was going to manually put in SpongeBob's identification number into the machine; he did not want the machine to accidentally mark his yellow fry cook as absent.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward entered the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Kevin walked through the double door and walked up to Squidward. "Where is the boss of this restaurant?" He tried to be polite. "I want to get a position in the businees." He tried to make his request not sound too sudden.

"That way." Squidward pointed at the door to Mr. Krabs' office. He did not recognize Kevin at all because he barely knew anything about jellyfishing. He was in the middle of reading his novel and did not want his reading to be interrupted.

"Thanks." Kevin walked towards the office door and...

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered Mr. Krabs' office.

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin walked up to the desk. He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by the crustacean.

Mr. Krabs correctly guessed that Kevin had seen the 'Help Wanted' sign. "Have you came here 'cause of that 'Help Wanted' sign?" He was not fully confident in his guess. Strangers usually came to the office to ask for a job application but there was also people who were exceptions.

"Yes." Kevin nodded. He acted like he had not heard the conversation that had happened during closing time. "What is this internship about?" He felt proud for knowing ahead of time but resisted the urge to make his signature smirk.

Mr. Krabs stood up and walked towards the door to the dining room. "Follow me." He signaled with his claw for Kevin to follow him.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crab exited his office.

Kevin slipped through the closing door.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs walked up to the pile of jars and pointed at the jars that contained the jellyfish. "You see those jellyfish?" He looked at the sea cucumber from the corner of his eye.

"Mm-hm." Kevin nodded again and maintained his neutral facial expression. It was difficult to resist his arrogant impulses because he knew exactly what the crab was talking about.

"You have to take care of 'em. One of my employees, SpongeBob, brings 'em here 'cause they produce alota jelly. We use that jelly to make our famous Jelly Patties." Mr. Krabs turned to face Kevin. "It is your job to feed 'em. The other employees can't do that because they're busy with their own roles." The crab folded his arms to show his seriousness. "Do you think you can do that? Your role as an intern will be very important."

"Absolutely." Kevin nodded with confidence. He had experience with taking care of jellyfish. When he was a child, he used to have a pet jellyfish.

"Very well. Wait right here." Mr. Krabs walked back to his office and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered his office.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEEAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office while holding a job application. He walked to Kevin and gave the application to the sea cucumber. "Fill this out. When you're done, give it back to me." The crab turned around and walked away.

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean re-entered his office.

Kevin sat down at a table, took out a pencil from his pocket, and began to fill out the application.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Kevin entered the office, walked up to the desk, and put the filled-out application on the desk.

Mr. Krabs read the application. He did not see a single spelling error or incorrectly filled-out space. He then put the application on the desk and looked up at the sea cucumber. "Bring a large bag of jellyfish food." The crustacean began to test Kevin's ability to take care of jellyfish. He was not going to give Kevin the business position so easily.

Kevin promptly turned around and...

**CREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Kevin exited the Krusty Krab and briskly walked toward Barg'N-Mart. He knew that the pet food section of the supermarket had jellyfish food being sold.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Kevin entered the Krusty Krab while carrying a bag of jellyfish food with both of his arms. He slowly walked towards the office door and then...

**KNOCK KNOCK**

...knocked on the door.

A pause.

**CRRREEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and saw the large bag. He nodded and then pointed at the jars that had the jellyfish. "Feed the jellyfish." He gave another test and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door.

Kevin carried the bag to the jar pile. He dropped it to the floor and opened it. The sea cucumber took hold of all of the jellyfish jars and put them in front of him. He digged into the bag of jellyfish food with one hand and opened a jellyfish jar with the other. The sea cucumber then dropped a handful of food into the jar and closed it.

The jellyfish began to eat the food.

Kevin did the same thing for the other jellyfish jars.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**KNOCK KNOCK**

Kevin knocked on the office door again.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door. He walked up to the jellyfish jars and noticed that the jellyfish were eating the food in the jars. He smiled and turned to look at Kevin. "Good job, me lad. You're hired!" He patted the sea cucumber on the back and then walked back to his office.

**SLAM**

The crustacean closed the office door.

Kevin suddenly remembered that he wanted to be an assistant to ultimately hasten the disappearance of the jellyfish in Jellyfish Fields. He then walked up to the office door and...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin walked up to the desk in a manner that exuded confidence and seriousness. "Mr. Krabs, I do not want to be only a caretaker. I want to assist in the jellyfishing when there are no more jellyfish to feed." The sea cucumber spoke calmly. He controlled his revenge-fueled eagerness for jellyfishing at Jellyfish Fields.

Mr. Krabs nodded. He thought that if Kevin could feed and handle jellyfish, then the sea cucumber could also jellyfish. "Do you have a net?" His greediness sneaked into his words and actions as frugality. He did not want to spend extra money on a jellyfishing net.

"Yep. I have a lot of experience in jellyfishing." Kevin said two truths. There was no need to hide anything about him when it came to talking about jellyfish-related activities.

"Go ahead." Mr. Krabs moved his gaze back to the stacks of coins that were on his desk. He resumed the counting of yesterday's massive profits. The crab, although nobody else could notice, was excited for his return to his home at the end of the day. He could not wait to call Mrs. Puff to check on what she had did and the sighs she saw during her vacation.

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Kevin exited the office.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

A massive amount of customers were pouring into the Krusty Krab like a flash flood. Their hunger for Jelly Patties could not be satisfied. Wave after wave, customers entered and left the restaurant. The Krusty Krab had not seen such massive success and fast paced demand since the some of its annversaries in the 1990s.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Thursday evening.

Mr. Krabs was walking through Jellyfish Fields to see how many jellyfish were left in the plain. The massive amount of jellyfish that were captured and contained in the Krusty Krab made the crab concerned about the sustainability of the jelly supply.

Some groups of jellyfish were roaming around the fields. Only half of the area's original population remained. The area that Mr. Krabs was in was one of the areas that SpongeBob and Patrick had jellyfished in.

The Krusty Krab had gained historic profits. Several renovations for the restaurant's building were now complete affordable. By that time, the business had went far above the loss of profits that had occurred last month. Mr. Krabs kept the recent profits a secret and did not make renovations to the Krusty Krab because he had another use for them that he did not tell to anybody else except for his daughter.

The crab walked up to a wide open space and gazed at it. A light bulb lit up in his head. It was an idea that could make him gain profits even faster at the expense of a small fraction of the current revenue. The other, selfish goal for gaining profits required an amount of money that could not be gained in a week by the current rate.

Mr. Krabs ran towards his anchor as fast as he could. His greedy desires spurred him to run ar that speed.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Friday morning.

A massive building whose walls were made out of brick was standing on an open space that was behind a large hill. It had been built overnight. The materials needed and the construction workers who built the building were all paid by Mr. Krabs. The crustacean's wealth from the Jelly Patties was vast enough for him to afford the expensive construction. However, the things inside the building were the ones that gave the highest expenses.

S-S-S-S-S

The only room that the factory had was one giant room that consisted of the entire interior of the factory. The room had massive glass containers that contained hundreds or thousands of jellyfish, all of them had been caught by SpongeBob, Patrick, or Kevin. They were also ones that produce abnormally high amounts of jelly. Those jellyfish were important members of their groups because of their jelly production; the jellyfish population in the plain had been decreasing as a consequence of their leaders' disappearance. The glass containers were connected to many poles that would suck the jellyfish to several places in the room.

Robotic arms were still and were connected to metal poles; they were currently turned off. Their function was to squeeze jelly out of the jellyfish and to close the lids of the jars. Conveyor belts criss-crossed like streets in a city, their purpose was to bring jellyfish jars to delivery-men who would ship it in trucks back to the Krusty Krab. Those delivery men had to be paid once a week but Mr. Krabs saw it as a worthy investment because of his desire for extra jelly supplies.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the factory. He had watched some of the construction and had been taught by the workers about how to use and control the functions of the machines. He walked towards a control panel and pressed a red button that had the word 'ON' on it.

The conveyor belts, tubes, and robotic arms came to life. Tubes sucked jellyfish out of the containers and pushed those jellyfish through the circular tunnels until they landed in the grasps of the robotic arms. The metal arms then tickled the jellyfish and quickly squeezed the jelly into the jars that were on the conveyor belts. Massive metal cubes that contained thousands of jars and lids were connected to the conveyor belts.

S-S-S-S-S

A small delivery truck parked in front of the factory. Five delivery men came out of the truck and slid open the door to the truck's storage compartment. They took out a box each from the compartment and then walked towards the factory.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The delivery men entered the factory. They were the first people of the first wave of delivery men that were going to enter the factory.

S-S-S-S-S

The delivery men walked to the conveyor belts and opened their boxes. They put the incoming jelly jars into their boxes until their boxes became full. By that point,

**C-CRREEEAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...more delivery men holding boxes entered the factory.

The first delivery men walked away while carrying their boxes and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the factory.

Mr. Krabs, confident that the workers were going to deliver at a decent pace, walked towards the factory's exit. He had came to the factory forty minutes before the opening time of the Krusty Krab.

**C-CRRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crustacean exited the factory.

S-S-S-S-S

As the crustacean walked across the plain, he noticed that jellyfish were no longer as common as they used to be. He was now only see lines of jellyfish following their leaders instead of jellyfish in a group that formed a sphere when huddled. The crab was realizing the damage he was doing to the environment for the sake of his and the Krusty Krab. Those thoughts were troubling because it made him predict the consequences of his actions; those consequences were: people noticing the decrease of the jellyfish population in the plain or the factory and subsequently boycotting the Krusty Krab in protest; or unintended results that were caused by the environmental damage related to the lowered jellyfish population. The environmental damage that Mr. Krabs could already see was the increased height of the area's grasses. Without a lot of jellyfish eating them, the grasses were easily going to take over the plain within a week or two and consequently harm other creatures.

Mr. Krabs needed an escape from his anxiety. He did not want to deal with the consequences of his greedy actions because it would distract him from his goal of obtaining enough wealth to afford a certain things. After walking for a few minutes, he dove into the trap of rationalization. He wishfully thought that he was going to give the jellyfish back to the environment once the he and the Krusty Krab gained a "large" amount of money. He also wishfully thought that he was curing the plain of overpopulation because there were going to be massive seasonal jellyfish migrations regardless. The crab then smiled in relief; his mind was cleansed of all worry related to the Jelly Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Kevin was sitting behind a rock. He was hiding from SpongeBob and Patrick. He and the yellow square had caught some jellyfish at the same time. He did not want to reveal himself to SpongeBob because he wanted to keep his internship a secret; he wanted his act of revenge to be executed silently. The sea cucumber put more effort into his catching than SpongeBob and also caught more 'leader' jellyfish than the yellow square; he always focused on his goal of depopulation when jellyfishing.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

They put the jelly and jellyfish jars at the pile. SpongeBob then noticed that there were giant boxes near the Krusty Krab. Out of curiosity, the yellow square walked towards the office door so he could get an answer from his boss.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered the office.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the desk. "Mr. Krabs, why're there huge boxes near the building?" The yellow square was smiling slightly. He was only being a little bit serious.

"They have jars full of that jelly. Have you seen those delivery-men?" Mr. Krabs looked up at the yellow sponge. He had been using a calculator to estimate the average profit for the week. He did not show signs of nervousness because he easily hide other facts.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded.

"They jelly the jellyfish you captured earlier, put that jelly in extra jars, and then bring 'em back here. Although it costs some money for them to do it, it saves alotta time anyway." Mr. Krabs said a plausible half-truth. If he said the full truth to SpongeBob, it could spread to others like wildfire.

SpongeBob fell for the half-truth. What the crab said was certainly something that Mr. Krabs would do. The yellow square then assumed that the crab would be too frugal to own a factory where jelly could be produced even faster. The sponge smiled more, turned around, and walked away.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

7:15 PM.

The sky was dark blue.

Patrick and the Jellyspotters walked into Jellyfish Fields. The sea star had accepted a request from the Jellyspotters to jellyfish with them. They then looked for some jellyfish to catch. After a few minutes of searching, they realized that the area they were in barely had any remaining jellyfish. Such a scarcity was very strange since there usually was an abundance of jellyfish that go there during the night; the Jellyspotters picked that area because of those usual abundances.

'Sponge must've caught too many jellyfish.' The sea star immediately and correctly guessed that SpongeBob was the culprit. However, that guess was not the entire truth. He knew that his best friend was still jellyfishing because the sponge had told him during closing time that he was going to jellyfish some more. The starfish looked at the other Jellyspotters. "Guys, we gotta find my best friend. He's been jellyfishing a lot lately. I think he might have caught too many jellyfish." The sea star's intelligence increased by a level.

The other Jellyspotters nodded.

Patrick walked towards a place that was one of SpongeBob's possible locations.

The other Jellyspotters followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

They reached the top of a large hill and looked around for any signs of a yellow sponge.

SpongeBob was nowhere to be seen.

"Fish paste..." Patrick loudly whispered to himself. He then kept his calm and walked down the hill. "C'mon, guys. Let's keep moving." He did not want to dwell on any mistakes. He had a strong will to find his best friend as soon as possible.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and the Jellyspotters looked down at a chasm. Some of them crouched so they could have a better look at what was at the bottom of the dark line that was marked on the plain. The sea star walked along the chasm to see if he could find at least one sign of SpongeBob's presence.

SpongeBob was not there at all.

Patrick took a deep breath to calm himself down. He walked to the other Jellyspotters. "He's not here." The starfish turned around and walked towards elsewhere.

The other Jellyspotters stood up and quickly caught up with the sea star.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick and the Jellyspotters entered a small cave.

S-S-S-S-S

The cave's depth was hidden by a shroud of darkness. The group walked until the shroud of darkness made it too difficult to see ahead.

"Does someone have a light thingy?" Patrick looked at the other Jellyspotters, he had to squint in order to see them. He viewed any source of light as suitable because he cared more about the end of the journey instead of the journey itself.

**FLICK**

A Jellyspotter took out a flashlight and turned it on.

"Thanks." Patrick looked at that Jellyspotter and made a thumbs-up. He made a wider smile.

The group walked until they reached the end of the cave. The cave was quite small compared to the other caves that were in Jellyfish Fields. Patrick had picked this cave because of its size; he wanted to explore a cave that was easily navigable because those cave types were more likely to have roaming people like SpongeBob in them.

Like the other locations, SpongeBob was not in there.

"Tartar sauce." Patrick whispered to himself more quietly than the last time he cursed.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was searching around the area that the Jellyspotters were in and other areas for jellyfish that produced high amounts of jelly. He was so focused on his task that he did not notice the absence of jellyfish in those areas. He assumed that the jellyfish groups had moved to somewhere else because they were aware of SpongeBob's jellyfishing. "They can't hide from me forever." The sponge spoke to himself with a silly smile as he skipped across the plain. He then giggled to himself; he was enjoying the activity a lot. His enjoyment of jellyfishing prevented him from questioning Mr. Krabs too much over the current week. He also trusted the crab to a certain degree because the Krusty Krab was becoming very successful thanks to some of the crabs's efforts. He loved the recognition that he received from his boss for initially having that Jelly Patty idea.

_Mr. Krabs made a pirate laugh. He found the idea of Pretty Patties to be ridiculous since it was similar to that starving and homeless man's ideal of eating with 'atmosphere'. From his perspective as an experience pirate, people did not eat food just for their looks. "Mr. Squidward, come look!" He signaled with his claw for Squidward to come over to the table._

_Squidward stopped reading his novel and looked up at Mr. Krabs. He then noticed the dye Krabby Patties on the table and became interested in them due to their strange looks. He had overheard Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, and Nicholas' conversation. He stood up from the boat and walked up to the table._

_"Don't they look appetizing?" Mr. Krabs made eye contact with Squidward and smirked. He tried to make a joke._

_"Mmm, mmm! Good, sir!" Squidward spoke with sarcasm that was more bitter than the taste of grapefruit._

_Mr. Krabs made another pirate laugh while Squidward laughed by honking his nose._

_They laughed for several seconds._

SpongeBob still remembered how Mr. Krabs and Squidward made fun of Nicholas' idea.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

After thorough searching, SpongeBob still could not find any jellyfish. However, he had a strange hunch that someone was watching him. That hunch made a slight chill run down his spine. He cautiously looked at his surroundings before he made a guess at who was watching him. "It feels like somebody..." He jumped, turned around mid-air, and landed on his feet. "...wants to sell me something!"

S-S-S-S-S

Two businessmen were hiding behind a rock. They were looking for jellyfishers so they could sell their products to them. Their products were in their suitcases. The two were going to walk up to SpongeBob and persuade him into buying the product until SpongeBob frightened them with his yell.

"I told he you he was onto us!" The green businessman loudly whispered to the blue businessman.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square saw nobody behind him. He then turned around, shrugged, and resumed his wandering. He briskly walked for several minutes before he saw a blue dot on the edge of the horizon. He squinted at that distant object and gasped at the assumption that it was No Name. SpongeBob dashed towards the blue dot and raised his jellyfishing net. The sponge thought that the quietness of the plain provided the ideal conditions for catching rare jellyfish like No Name.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-s

SpongeBob eventually got close to the blue object. It was No Name indeed. However, the blue jellyfish was floating instead of fleeing from SpongeBob. The jellyfish was looking at something that was from a very large distance. It seemed like the blue jellyfish had a strong desire that was currently unsatisfied.

SpongeBob swung down his jellyfishing net at No Name and caught it. "Yes!" He loudly whispered to himself and fist-pumped. His moment of triumph finally came. The sponge then walked towards a nearby jar station. He had set up stations of jars throughout Jelllyfish Fields so he could get jars more easily.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob took a jar from the station, took off its lid, and put No Name into the jar. He then quickly closed the jar with the lid. The sponge looked at the blue jellyfish as he began to think of a new name for the caught creature.

The blue jellyfish pushed the jar in a certain direction. It had waited for an opportunity like this one to knock on its door. It wanted to expose the atrocities that it had witnessed inside a certain building.

SpongeBob tightened his grip on the jar and shook his head. "Not yet, little fella. I gotta give you a name first." He did not want the blue jellyfish to halt his train of thought. He had a lot of excellent ideas in his head and was considering which one would fit No Name the most.

No Name pushed harder. "BUZZ! BUZZZZ! BUZZZ!" It was buzzing at SpongeBob. It was saying that it wanted to show the yellow square something very important.

SpongeBob, thanks to his jellyfishing experience, recognized the type of message being sent to him from No Name. The yellow square smiled. "If it makes you happy, I'll let you guide me." He was in such a good mood that he thought that allowing No Name to do what it desired would, after those desires were fulfilled, make the naming of it more special. The sponge loosened his grip on the jar.

No Name pushed as hard it could towards a specific direction. It was so serious about revealing the dire situation that it was relentless with its pushing.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was being pulled towards the factory. The blue jellyfish was pushing against the jar as hard as it currently could because it was close to achieving its goal.

The yellow square looked up at the brick building and slightly tilted his head to the side. "What is this place?" He could not figure out the reason for why No Name wanted to go to that place either. SpongeBob became confused. He could hear buzzing but could not tell if the building was abandoned (Mr. Krabs did not want to pay too much when it came to the quality of the bricks). After some critical thinking, he assumed that it was a home for a colony of jellyfish. He then smiled as he looked forward to meeting No Name's friends. However, the sight of the parked delivery trucks made him confused again. He recognized those delivery trucks since he had seen people come out of those trucks and leave giant boxes in the Krusty Krab's vicinity.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

No Name pulled SpongeBob through the double door.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out at what he was seeing. He saw the tubes, the robotic arms, the delivery-men who were putting jelly jars into boxes and then putting those boxes into giant boxes, the conveyor belts, the empty jars; and the massive glass containers. "What is this horrible place?" He was resisting the urge to leave his mouth agape. He did not expect to see such a place in Jellyfish Fields. He knew that most of the jellyfish in the building were the ones caught by him because there was a certain person near the edge of one of the giant walls.

Mr. Krabs was jogging on a treadmill. He had set up a plan with Mrs. Puff for a date that was going to occur tomorrow. He had bought a low-quality treadmill with the wealth earned from the Jelly Patties. The crab had been doing vigorous exercises since forty-five minutes ago because he wanted to look his best for the date.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes at Mr. Krabs. The crab had fought over treasure with him and Patrick, made him and Squidward work a night shift that was potentially dangerous, bet his status as Krusty Krab fry cook with Plankton, and stole a pearl from Clamu; SpongeBob forgave all of those acts. However, by deceiving SpongeBob, the crab violated the trustful between the crab and the sponge at the wrong time; Mr. Krabs had pulled the last straw.

The sponge stomped towards the crustacean and tightened his fists. He was filled with anger but tried to control it somewhat. "You tricked me again!" SpongeBob pointed at Mr. Krabs. His glare was soul-piercing since SpongeBob rarely made such facial expressions.

Sweat ran down Mr. Krabs' neck like rain. Such a glare from a normally innocent-looking sponge made him dread the consequences of his greedy actions. "Uh... uh.. this... this isn't what it looks like, SpongeBob! Why... uh... we're... uh... having a little tea party!" He made a nervous smile and bit his lip at the same time. He stepped out of the treadmill and crossed his claw behind his back.

"Stop it!" SpongeBob spoke boldly and continued to point at his boss. "I'm not one of your little toys anymore, Mr. Krabs. I'm not as gullible to you anymore as you think." He spoke in a very serious manner. The sponge could not tolerate liars who commit despicable acts such as leaving jellyfish in terrible living conditions (the factory). "You took advantage of me and my idea. You found out that I liked jellyfishing so you made me do that as much as I wanted so you could get more jelly and money. You also lied to me about those giant boxes so I wouldn't ask anymore questions. I bet you wanted all of that money from those Jelly Patties so you could keep it to yourself!" The sponge's statements were direct readings of the secrets that Mr. Krabs tried in vain to hide.

Mr. Krabs' delusion was shattered by SpongeBob's statements. The crustacean no longer had any other option but to tell the truth. He frowned and looked at the floor. "You're completely right; all of what you said is true." He looked up and made eye contact with the yellow square. "I took advantage of your Jelly Patties idea because the Krusty Krab, if you didn't know, had the lowest profits in the year so far before all of that Jelly Patty stuff happened. That was also kinda why I stole that pearl from that oyster. The Krusty Krab had been losing profits over the summer 'cause restaurants that are much like the Kuddly Krab were opening up throughout town. Since they were appealing and hip to teens, the Krusty Krab ended up losing most of one of her major sources of revenue; teenage customers." Like SpongeBob stating what he believed to be fact, Mr. Krabs spilled the truth to the yellow square without restraint. The fear of damaging the environment too much and consequently losing all of the factory's jellyfish compelled him to do such a thing. "Raising profits wasn't the only reason. I wanted to make some renovations to the restaurant as well. I thought that improvin' the looks of me restaurant would bring in more customers. I also wanted to renovate me home because it had been a long time since any sort of construction was done to it; a pirate gotta have some pride for his ship, y'know. Pearl wanted it for a very long time but I rejected that idea until recently 'cause she began to persuade with me with very good arguments. To sum it up, I have both valid and selfish reasons." The crab was no longer nervous. His mind became purified from the fears that someone would discover his secrets.

SpongeBob understood Mr. Krabs' words but had a different viewpoint when it came to Mr. Krabs' actions. The crustacean had said the reasons for his greedy actions in a way that made them seem like they were out of control. "Mr. Krabs, it was mostly your fault anyways. If you wanted to renovate your home, you could've used a bit of the profits that the Krusty Krab had got or your income. And for the problem about those teens, you've made a good point but you could have done something else, such as fundraiser, instead of making big business out of those Jelly Patties." The yellow square was trying to stop Mr. Krabs from continuously passing the buck.

Mr. Krabs took a few steps towards his yellow employee. "Me lad, you've gotta understand that back at that time, I was so desperate to get some extra profits that I didn't think straight. Different ways of getting money was all that filled me mind back then." The crustacean continued to defend himself. He provided a valid perspective that SpongeBob was not seeing.

The yellow square narrowed his eyes at his boss. "Mr. Krabs, since you're the owner and manager of the Krusty Krab, it is part of your job to think straight. You make the most important decisions for the restaurant so you need to make good decisions in order for the Krusty Krab to survive. Also, can your excuse justify the injustices you've committed here?" He pointed at the glass containers that had the jellyfish. "I wouldn't have collected all those jellyfish if I knew that this was their fate. No matter what you say, this isn't right. Jellyfish need wide-open space and fresh air."

SpongeBob suggested something that Mr. Krabs feared almost just as much as the destruction of the environment. He was desperate to preserve his earned money. The crustacean fell to his knees and put his claws together. "I-I'll make super-large ranches for the jellyfish! J-just don't free the jellyfish and m-me money!" He was sweating again. His anxiety rapidly increased.

SpongeBob could no longer keep his temper. He could only tolerate selfish people like Mr. Krabs for a certain amount of time. "WHEN WILL YOU THINK ABOUT OTHERS?!" He grabbed Mr. Krabs by the shirt collar and shook him. Although he sounded rude, the sponge wanted his boss to look beyond his greedy and self-preserving views.

Mr. Krabs returned an equal glare.

The sponge's question ignited a fiery anger that consumed both of them. They began a passionate argument over the justness of Mr. Krabs' actions and what they should do to the jellyfish. This was the first time that SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs fought, it was like the nightmare SpongeBob had more than a week ago.

S-S-S-S-S

A king jellyfish was flying towards the factory. He was looking for his lost colony and had heard buzzing coming from the factory. Once he reached the building, he buzzed to see if any of his colony members were in there. "BUZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZ! BUZZZZZZ! BUZZZZZ!"

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out. "SpongeBob, did you hear that?" He heard the king jellyfish's buzzing. A fear about a possible attack from that giant jellyfish began to invade his mind.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded and widened his eyes a bit. He recognized the buzzing as well.

"**BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZ! BUZZZZ!" **The jellyfish in the containers desperately called out for the king jellyfish to enter the factory and free them.

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He was going to do something drastic so him and Mr. Krabs could be safe from the king jellyfish's stingers. "Anyways, I'm gonna do something that I should've done a _long time ago!_" He ran towards the control panel and looked for a specific type of button. He eventually found a button that had text saying 'EVACUATION' and pressed it.

**C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CLACK**

All of the lids on the giant glass containers opened.

All of the jellyfish flew out of their glass jail cells and then flew towards the double door.

"FREEDOM!" SpongeBob was hopping around in joy. He had strong sympathy for the jellyfish; the yellow square was acting like he was one of the freed jellyfish. "FREEDOM!" The sponge grabbed Mr. Krabs' wrist and dragged him towards the double door. He was very aware of the imminent danger that was above and outside of the factory."C'mon, everybody! Let's get out of here!" He yelled at the workers.

SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, all of the delivery-men; and all of the jellyfish exited the factory. They all knew or realized that the factory was going to become wrecked very soon.

S-S-S-S-S

They ran from the brick building until they reached a distance of fifty feet. They stopped when they heard electricity coming from the king jellyfish's stingers. All of them then turned around to look at the king jellyfish.

The king jellyfish wanted to destroy the factory so no other jellyfish could become enslaved by its grasp. He despised abominations like factories, especially when they were in his colony's area. The jellyfish charged his stingers until they were as bright as lightning. He aimed them at the building.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPP**

**B-B-B-B-BOOOOOOMMMMM**

**RRRRRRRRUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMBBBBBLLLEEEE**

The jellyfish stung the factory. Electricity that was just as powerful as lightning bolts were coming out of his stingers.

Several cracks appeared on the surface of the brick building. They became bigger and bigger until...

**BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM**

...the machines in the building overheated and made the entire building exploding into an orange cloud. That orange cloud quickly became covered by a shroud of dark smoke.

The jellyfish flew towards the king jellyfish and reunited into one group.

The king jellyfish flew with its colony back to their base. Their base was located in the cave of a mountain.

Mr. Krabs fell to his knees and began to weep. The explosion of the factory signaled the end of his period of success. He did not know what he was going to say to his daughter and he predicted that everybody, including Mrs. Puff, were going to know the truth very soon. Pearl had been looking forward to seeing the anchor's renovations. Knowing that he was inevitably going to disappoint her made his throat become very heavy.

Patrick and the Jellyspotters ran up to SpongeBob. They had heard all of those loud noises.

"Finally!" The sea star grinned in joy and bear-hugged his best friend. "After seeing that explosion, I thought something really bad happened to you." The starfish expressed his relief.

SpongeBob was struggling to breathe under Patrick's tight grasp. "Can... you... let go... of... me now?" He spoke in a whisper-like voice. The yellow square was smiling slightly.

"Sorry." Patrick sweatdropped and let go of his best friend.

**THUD**

SpongeBob fell to the ground. He stood up and looked at the sobbing Mr. Krabs.

Patrick felt slightly sorry for the saddened crab. However, he was not sure about the cause of the crustacean's sudden sadness. "Should we do something with him?" He pointed at the crab. The sea star did not comfort Mr. Krabs immediately because of the crab's previous crime.

SpongeBob shook his head. "Don't worry, Pat. Time will heal him." He did not want to comfort the crab because he wanted the crab to overcome his self-destructive greedy nature. An action that would normally considered to be cold was actually out of benevolence. "Let's go." He walked towards his pineapple. He looked at the ground and realized that he forgot to release No Name. "Oops." He smiled nervously and opened the jar. "I'll name you Liberty." His smile changed into a warm one.

Liberty flew out of the jar and headed for the base of its colony.

"Nah. I'll stay here with my buddies here." Patrick politely rejected SpongeBob's offer. He did not want to leave the plain because jellyfish were abundant now. He also did not want to miss one of his first opportunities to jellyfish with a large group.

SpongeBob nodded and continued to walk towards his home. He respected Patrick's decision because he assumed that Patrick had searched for jellyfish to catch for a very long time.

S-S-S-S-S

Bubbles was standing on the cliff and had witnessed the explosion of the factory. The loud noises of the factory had caught his attention. "I believe the sponge is starting to comprehend what I am talking about." He was said a thought of his own. The dolphin could tell that SpongeBob had seen an excellent example of the flaws of the 'money system'. After watching SpongeBob for a few more minutes, he swam back to his home. That home was deep in the wilderness.


	70. Artist Unknown

**As of April 26, 2015, I have a Wattpad account. Under the Sea is already on there. Check my profile if you want to find the address for my Wattpad profile. **

* * *

**Chapter 70: Artist Unknown**

* * *

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered his pineapple. He was going to have some fun with Gary so he could remove all of the stress that had squeezed his heart over the past hour. The sponge was glad that the jellyfish regained the freedom they rightfully deserved.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked downstairs and entered the living room. He had just finished writing an entry in his journal about the hectic hours of work caused by the Jelly Patties. His written venting had given him over time a higher tolerance for sudden and unfair changes to Krusty Krab work duties. Since SpongeBob was the creator of the Jelly Patty, he was somewhat irritated at that sponge. However, not seeing SpongeBob for most of his working hours was a nice exchange for a more stressful work schedule.

The octopus walked into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened the refrigerator and took out a gallon of orange juice. He grabbed a cleaned cup from the sink, opened the gallon, and poured the juice into the cup was full. The octopus closed the gallon, put it back into the fridge, closed the fridge, and sat in the table while holding the cup. He took a sip from the cup of juice.

A pause.

The octopus noticed a closed newspaper in the center of the table. He then remembered that he had forgotten to read that newspaper; it had came to his doorstep this morning but he had left it at the table to be read later. Out of boredom and lack of books to read, Squidward pulled the newspaper and then opened it. He had recently finished his novel and was currently thinking about the next novel he should buy.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

As he skimmed through job listings in search for the next article, he stumbled upon a classified that caught his attention. The job title was: Art Teacher. The location of the job was: Bikini Bottom Recreation Center. The octopus had heard about the Recreation Center on TV, in the newspaper, and during his art classes in college. Squidward had waited a very long time for an opportunity such as this because it would be something he would actually enjoy. Jobs related to the humanities were rare in Bikini Bottom . The scarcity existed because most of the job slots for humanities-related jobs were already filled in by competent people.

'No way am I gonna miss this.' Squidward thought with a wide smile. Fortunately, very few people in the town hunted for humanties-jobs, especially ones related to art. He ripped the job entry out of the page and put it into his shirt pocket. He was going to visit the Recreation Center immediately.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Saturday evening.

SpongeBob was walking towards his pineapple. Gary was slithering with him. The yellow square had pleasantly walked Gary; the two had visited the park.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was gripping the shell-phone next to his ear very tightly. Sweatdrops ran down his forehead as he waited in anticipation from the employer at the Recreation Center to make a confirmation response. The octopus hoped he performed well during the interview. The employer had told him yesterday that Squidward was the first stranger in a few years to apply for a job in the Recreation Center; most of the employes in the Center closely knew each other. The employer had also told him that the job entry had been up for nearly a month and Squidward was the first person who applied and got interviewed.

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Squidward gasped and shook the shell-phone furiously.

The shell-phone stopped ringing.

"_This is the employer from the Bikini Bottom Recreation Center. You're hired. Report to the Center tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning." _A familiar electronic voice was heard. The employer then put the shell-phone down on his end.

Squidward slammed his shell-phone into the tiny table. A wide smile was on his face. He jumped around the living room in joy. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!" He loudly whispered to himself and fist-pumped for every "Yes!". The octopus could not wait to begin his second job as an art teacher. It boosted his narcissism to ridiculous levels.

The ripped job entry slipped out of his shirt pocket and flew through the bottom slit of the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

The job entry got pushed towards SpongeBob by a light breeze.

SpongeBob grabbed the job entry and read it. He then made a correct assumption. "Squid got hired for a new job." The yellow square turned to look at Gary. "Maybe I'll go to his working place to support him." The sponge was saying his thoughts out loud. "I've always been interested in art." During all of his time at school, art was one of his favorite classes because it allows and encouraged a freedom of expression not found in other classes. The yellow square then walked towards the tiki's front door and...

**CRREEEAAAK**

...opened the front door. "Congratulations, Squid." SpongeBob was smiling sincerely. He felt like his neighbor deserved those words because he assumed that Squidward reached a major achievement.

**SLAM**

The yellow square closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward took a glance at the front door. He did not expect to hear those words from SpongeBob but then shrugged his shoulders. Being congratulated instead of getting annoyed was better anyway. The octopus then walked upstairs so he could play with his clarinet. He was going to celebrate by playing special compositions that were only played on certain occasions and joyful compositions.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Gary entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

8:15 AM.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki. He was wearing the clothing of a traditional artist. He felt like wearing such clothes was appropriate for a teacher of such "high standing and grandeur". The octopus walked towards the Recreation Center.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the bedroom window. He was watching Squidward walk away from the tiki. When Squidward went far enough from the tiki, SpongeBob...

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the bedroom. He could tell by Squidward's clothing that the octopus was going to begin his job very soon. The sponge was determined to go to the Recreation Center. He wanted to have fun and help Squidward at the same time. Patrick was jellyfishing with the Jellyspotters and Sandy was busy doing some extra work so the sponge had to do other fun activities.

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward walked into the building. Above the entrance was a green sign with red text saying 'BIKINI BOTTOM RECREATION CENTER'. The building consisted of the top half of a barrel and a red can whose roofs were connected by a pipe. The barrel half and the red can each had a chimney. The two objects seemed to be stuck together and a hallway that went between was what kept them together.

SpongeBob stood before the building and looked at his watch. He was going to wait for a few minutes so Squidward would not suspect that he had followed the octopus. The sponge did not want to accidentally annoy Squidward and unintentionally ruin the octopus' day by embarrassing him.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the classroom. His grandiose view of himself increased tenfold when he saw the works of art in the room. He was imagining himself teaching people that would become artistic geniuses later on. "Ah, how I have dreamed of this day." The octopus began to say his thoughts out loud. "Professor of Art. What a marvelous opportunity for the people of Bikini Bottom. Bring me your masses of bored housewives and I will shape them into my image. And I'll go down in history someday. And there will be a wing with my name on it in all the museums of the world." Most of what Squidward said were half-truths. What he said was just a symptom of the severe case of narcissism that he had.

"Dude, you're teaching art at the Rec Center. Calm down." The janitor who was cleaning the room with a mop and a water bucket brought Squidward back to reality. What Squidward said, in his opinion, was ridiculous and silly.

Squidward glared at the janitor. He disliked anybody who did not accept his narcissistic view of himself as fact. Those types of people would remind Squidward that he was only protecting the little self-worth that he actually had. "Uncultured trash urchin."

The janitor mopped the last unclean parts of the floor and then...

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the room.

Squidward looked up at the clock. "8:45 AM. Time to let the class in." He walked towards the door. "Well, don't want to keep them waiting any longer." His delusion made him think that students were excited to receive lessons from the "master of art".

**CRREEAAAK**

Squidward opened the door. "Welcome to art class!" He greeted 'his' students with enthusiasm.

A male student looked up at the sign above the entrance. The sign had a red number on it: '118'. The students confused the art room with another room because of their similar room numbers. "Oh, isn't this cooking?" He scratched his head. "Sorry." He smiled with slight nervousness and then walked towards the cooking room.

The other students followed him. That class completely consisted of relatively new students.

SpongeBob walked down the hallway and stepped up to Squidward. "Hi, Squid." He grinned and waved. "Did class start yet?" Several different types of pencils and pens were in one of his pockets, all of them were the types used by artists.

Squidward raised his brow. "You? In art class?" The octopus was astonished. He wondered how SpongeBob heard about or discovered the Recreation Center. "How did you-" The thought of the sponge embarrassing or annoying him before a whole class made him cringe. Even though he was on slight friendly terms with the sponge, how they normally interacted made the duo unsuitable for classroom instruction. "Wait!" He yelled towards the class that was walking away from the art room. "This is cooking! Come back!"

A long pause.

Squidward's attempt was vain. The octopus sighed. "You gotta be kidding." He could imagine the challenges he will have to face when teaching SpongeBob something as complex as art. The sponge's playful and enthusiastic nature will likely prove to be a major distraction from the instruction of the course material; Squidward was not an expert teacher. The octopus then entered the art room while looking at the floor.

SpongeBob stepped into the art room and...

**SLAM**

...closed the door. He had went into the main office and had registered himself as a **student.**

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob promptly walked to a desk and sat in it. He took out all of his pencils and pens and put them on the desk. "I'm ready, Mr. Tentacles." He called Squidward by a formal name to show respect.

Squidward stood before SpongeBob. "So, you wanna be an artist, eh, SpongeBob?" The octopus was not going to tolerate any of SpongeBob's antics since they were in a well-respected and famous location. Those antics would also make teaching too difficult for Squidward to bear.

"Yes, please." SpongeBob made a neutral face and quickly nodded.

"Well, art is not all fun and games. It's a lot of hard work. However, it's most rewarding once you complete something. Ok. First, repeat after me: I have no talent." Squidward decided to sneak in a boost of narcissism into his instruction. Making SpongeBob feel inferior might prove to be a good way of dealing with SpongeBob's childish behavior.

"I have no talent." SpongeBob repeated Squidward's words. He made a serious facial expression. He was thinking critically about what Squidward was trying to teach.

"Mr. Tentacles has all the talent." Squidward spoke with a smile. He was glad because the sponge was being obedient and was 'accepting' that he was a superior artist. The octopus also wanted to hide the fact that there were better artists than him.

"Mr. Tentacles has all the talent." SpongeBob broke his serious face with a smile. The yellow square was certainly aware of the art pieces Squidward had produced over the years. However, his definition of 'talented' was different than Squidward's.

"If I'm lucky, some of Mr. Tentacles' talent will rub off on me." Squidward smiled even more. However, he was secretly hoping for some other students to enter the classroom. He thought that having more students would make the task of teaching SpongeBob less of a challenge.

"If I'm lucky, some of Mr. Talent will rub his tentacles on my art." SpongeBob decided to change Squidward's words into what he thought was better and more appropriate for the class. He smiled and then giggled.

Squidward stopped smiling. He just saw the beginning of SpongeBob's antics.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes of lecturing later...

S-S-S-S-S

Several sentences had been written down in chalk on the chalkboard. Some drawings and diagrams in chalk were on the board as well.

"Since you're telling me you have little to no prior college training, we'll have to start from square one, or should I say circle one." Squidward had been lecturing about how high school art classes were not recognized as experience due to them being too basic to develop any competent artists. He took out a piece of printing paper from his desk and put it on SpongeBob's desk. The octopus then took one of the sponge's pencils and drew a crooked circle on it. "Am I going too fast for you, SpongeBob?" He then took another piece of printing paper from his desk and put it on the sponge's desk.

SpongeBob drew a circle on the blank paper. "How's this, Mr. Tentacles?" He held out the paper towards Squidward. He wanted to show how much he learned by drawing a circle to the best of his ability.

Squidward widened his eyes a bit at what he was seeing. "What the?" The octopus could not believe that the yellow square was capable of achieving such a feat. "H-how the?"

A perfect circle was on SpongeBob's paper.

The octopus became intensely curious. This was the first time he ever saw someone draw a perfect circle without any other tools. Squidward flipped the paper to show the other blank side. "Do it again. Show your process." The octopus could not stomach the thought of SpongeBob having more artistic talent than him; he was searching for any flaws in SpongeBob's art process and the art itself.

"Well, first I draw this head." SpongeBob sketched a head that looked almost like one from a statue or painting. He wanted to make such highly-detailed heads because doing so would allow him to make the best possible circles. "Than I erase some of the more detailed features." He flipped his pencil. "And one, two, three." He erased at certain spots until he revealed a perfect circle. The yellow square had built up a hidden artistic talent because he had a lot of experience with properly making all different types of Krabby Patties. Making a presentable Krabby Patty required skills that most artists needed. "A circle." He pointed at the perfect circle and beamed.

Squidward glared at the circle. His fists tightened and shook. His body became filled with the vile green liquid of envy. He was not going to accept the fact that someone who had annoyed him for most of his adult life was a more talented artist than him. "Gimme that." He grabbed both papers and crumbled them until they became very small paper balls. "Forget the circles." The octopus no longer had the air of an experience teacher. Although he was trying to hide it, he was acting more like an arrogant student than a normal teacher.

SpongeBob assumed that Squidward gave him to permission to do whatever he wanted to the papers. "Ooh, nice one, Squid. Let me try." He grabbed the two papers, uncrumpled them, ripped them into pieces, and formed them into paper versions of him and Squidward. "Looky, Squidward. It's you and me playing leapfrog." He moved the paper figures to make it seem like they were playing 'leapfrog'. "That's you on the bottom." He pointed at the paper version of the octopus, who was on all-fours.

"Gimme that!" Squidward became even more envious. If he was a competent and ideal teacher, he would have accepted SpongeBob's talent for what it was and would also try to nurture that. "There is nothing artistic about leapfrog." He ripped up the pieces into tinier ones. His fantasies of grandeur were more important than his job duties.

SpongeBob grabbed the paper pieces and tried to form them into another piece of art. He made a silly smile and stuck his tongue out as he focused on his task.

"What're you doing now?" Squidward folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. He decided that he was going to find a form of art that SpongeBob would be too difficult for the sponge to handle. He was still hoping for some actual amateur students to come into his classroom.

"I call it: Rippy Bits." SpongeBob stood up from his desk and spoke ardently. He pointed at the formed image with both of his hands. The image consisted of ripped paper pieces put together like a jigsaw puzzle; they resembled a square and a star in a framed canvas. "You take a bunch of old ripped paper, and make a new picture out of it?" He explained his process in case if Squidward asked. "See?" The sponge's untapped potential was overwhelming Squidward.

Squidward inhaled deeply and then blew on the paper image.

The tiny pieces separated and scattered to several different areas of the classroom floor.

"Do you want to learn art, or not?" Squidward was becoming highly annoyed. From his perspective, a student learning art in his class must be in a status of inferiority in order to 'learn' anything. The octopus deceived himself by thinking that he should not have any rivals in order to teach effectively. His selfishness was becoming obvious.

SpongeBob realized that he had been fooling around by deviating from Squidward's teachings. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tentacles. I'll listen." The sponge thought that he was ruining his neighbor's reputation as a teacher by being a 'bad' student. Out of his desire to help Squidward with his new job, he decided to be obedient.

Squidward nodded and stopped glaring. He turned around, walked up to the chalkboard, and erased whatever was on the board. "We're gonna begin a new lesson."

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

After a long lecture about the ways that statues can be made, SpongeBob and Squidward were now standing before an upright rectangular prism of marble. There were several other marble rectangular prisms in the room and several workers had brought them into the room by Squidward's request. The octopus was teaching SpongeBob how to make a simple statue within a few steps.

"Alright, SpongeBob, pay close attention. Look at your marble. Visualize the sculpture within." Squidward was recapitulating the most important part of his lecture. He was holding a nail and a hammer. He was firmly holding the nail on the marble prism's surface. "And..." He closed his eyes. The octopus raised his hammer and...

**CLANG**

...swung the hammer into the nail.

**C-CRACK**

The marble block broke into many pieces.

**RUMMBLLE**

The pieces spilled to the floor.

Squidward frowned in disappointment but quickly made a deadpan face, he was still trying to maintain the air of an experienced teacher. In the futile hope that SpongeBob would make a 'sculpture' worse than his, he gave the hammer and the nail to the yellow square.

SpongeBob walked up to a clean marble rectangular prism. He put the nail's tip on the prism's surface and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths so he could focus on visualizing what form he wanted the prism to be. The sponge slowly raised his hammer and swung it to the nail at a gentle speed. How he was doing it was a slight deviation from the method that Squidward had taught.

**Clink**

The hammer tapped the nail's top. The nail then dug into the marble prism.

**C-CRACK**

The rectangular prism broke into many more pieces than the one that Squidward had used.

**POOF**

The pieces became a large amount of dust and flew from the remaining part of the prism.

SpongeBob and Squidward coughed for a few seconds until the cloud of dust cleared.

The yellow square widened his eyes and smiled from ear to ear once he saw the fruit of his concentration and careful listening.

Squidward dropped his jaw and nearly became speechless.

A marble statue of a nearly naked male human in a tense pose was standing before SpongeBob and Squidward. A marble shell was covering the statue's genital area. It had a striking resemblance to Michelangelo's David.

Stars appeared on Squidward's pupils as he gazed at the marvelous statue. "It's beautiful..." The statue went far beyond his aesthetic standards. For a few seconds, his envy, selfishness, and delusion of grandeur vanished. Squidward viewed the statue in a completely honest light; he considered it to be one of the few 'perfect' statues. Such a thought was miraculous because Squidward had extremely high standards when it came to artistic pieces that were not his own. However, regardless of the beauty of the artistic pieces, they would all eventually be viewed as garbage by the octopus' envious eyes. "I mean, this isn't a sculpture." Squidward quickly made a grumpy face and tightened his fists. He no longer showed any signs of awe. "A good sculpture takes... more time. You can't just sculpt Willie-Nillie. You've got to go by the book. Follow the rules. Otherwise, you'll never get past Amateur Hour, here. Besides, you've got the nose wrong." Squidward walked up to his desk and took out a clay version of his nose. He had created that nose to demonstrate one way of creating a sculpture. The octopus then walked to the statue and put that clay nose on its nose. Squidward deceived his student because his envy prevented him from appreciating the art piece at all. The octopus was becoming frustrated as well because he could not make SpongeBob be inferior in some way.

SpongeBob was on the verge of tears. He was taking the advice of his teacher very seriously because he thought that Squidward was a highly experienced artist. The yellow square remembered his art pieces always being praised during his art classes in high school. He dismissed that praise because he believed what Squidward said about those classes. His self-esteem was diminishing every time Squidward criticized his playful nature and art pieces. "Ohhh, it's so obvious. I would've never thought of that. I'm sorry, Squidward. I came here to learn and I arrogantly not took your lessons too seriously." He fell to his knees and began weeping. He thought that he was being a horrible friend by trying to 'compete' with the teacher and consequently not helping him at all. "I'll never be a great artist like you! I don't deserve your tutoring. I don't deserve to be in your presence." SpongeBob shakily stood up and walked towards the classroom's exit. "I don't deserve to use your doors." The yellow square lost almost all of his self-esteem. He thought that joining the class was a mistake. Squidward's selfish criticism broke the sponge's heart.

**CRREEAAK**

A celebrity in the art industry entered the room. He was a male red fish named Monty. "Hello, there." He friendly greeted the yellow square and then walked up to the octopus.

SpongeBob walked through the open doorway while looking at the floor.

"Good day, sir." Monty greeted Squidward and then walked around the room as he examined the art pieces.

Squidward took off his beret. "Sorry, class dismissed. You're too late." The octopus assumed that Monty was a student. He was aware of the fact that each class period should be no more than two hours and forty-five minutes.

"Oh, I beg your pardon, but I've forgotten my manners." Monty sweatdropped and made a confident smile. "My name is Monty P. Moneybags." He said his name with a healthy amount of pride.

Squidward's eyes bugged out. Monty P. Moneybags was famous for collecting art pieces from all oceans in the world. "World famous art collector?" The octopus wiped his eyes to see if what he was seeing and hearing was an illusion. To his surprise, what was happening was real.

"The one and only." Monty made a grin. He took pride in his hard work and feats.

"Well, what're you doing here?" Squidward raised his brow slightly. What he said was the first question that came to his mind. He thought that Monty should be exploring a museum instead of a Recreation Center.

"I'm on a shopping spree. Buying art for my new museum." Monty wanted to look for amazing art in the Recreation Center because he would pay the people who made those pieces much more than famous artists. Such large amounts of money would also encourage those people to continue producing high-quality art.

Squidward did not think objectively at all; his narcissism took over his decision-making. "Your search is over. I am Bikini Bottom's greatest artiste." The octopus walked to his desk and took out several of his paintings from a drawer. He had brought those paintings to the building yesterday and had showed them during the interview. He took, in his opinion, the best painting and held it out to Monty. "I call this one: Squidward en repose."

Monty scratched his head and raised his brow as he looked at the painting. He thought that the painting looked quite awful. "I, uh, don't think that will fit in with the other pieces in my collection." He tried to state his opinion on the painting's quality in a polite way.

"Why not?" Squidward looked at the painting. His delusion of grandeur prevented him from honestly thinking about the painting's quality. The art collector was pulling the octopus back to reality.

"Because, it's an art collection." Monty tried to politely remind Squidward that he was looking for high-quality art. The red fish then laughed as he saw Squidward put that painting away and bring in another painting. He found Squidward's misunderstanding to be very humorous.

Squidward held out the painting. "How about this one?" His delusion did not make him give up so easily. He thought that an opportunity to become more famous was knocking on his door. "I call it: Bold and Brash." All of the paintings in his desk were self-portraits in some way.

Monty tried to suppress his chuckling. He felt like he had to say his opinion outright and bluntly. "More like: Belongs in the Trash." The art collector then laughed again. He thought that his joke was funny because of its cleverness.

The janitor was walking down the hallway when he overheard Monty's words. "Sorry, must've missed that one." He entered the room and walked up to grab the painting. He did not hear the context of the joke.

Squidward backed away from the janitor. "The painting's mine. He was just joking around." The octopus misinterpreted Monty's joke. The art collector's joke was not blunt enough. If there was a weakness in any of Monty's statements, the octopus' instinct to protect his self-worth would quickly interpret the words in a way that does not harm Squidward's ego.

"Oh." The janitor turned around and exited the classroom.

Monty continued to look at the art pieces in the room and eventually saw the David-like statue. "H-huh? What is that?" His eyes bugged out and his face became slightly pale. The sight of the magnificent art piece nearly blew his mind into pieces.

Squidward noticed that Monty was looking at the statue. He then sweatdropped at the thought of SpongeBob receiving recognition instead of him; his selfishness knew no limits. "Wait, wait. That's not uh, uh..." He futilely tried to divert Monty's attention back to his art pieces.

Monty walked up to the statue and carefully examined it. "Angelic form, amazing detail," He looked at the shell covering the human's groin. "perfect censorship. This is the work of a true genius." The red fish looked up at the statue's head. "Hello? What's this?" He raised his brow at the sight of an imperfection. "This is the only flaw." He climbed the statue and removed the clay octopus nose from the statue's face. The art collector then jumped to the floor. "Ah, that's more like it. I simply must find the artist responsible." The art collector walked up to Squidward. He was very eager to buy the statue. "He shall have fame."

"Fame..." Squidward began to delve into a highly-detailed fantasy after hearing that word; his narcissism went into overdrive. He stared into space as he daydreamed.

S-S-S-S-S

In his mind...

S-S-S-S-S

_A limousine parked in front of a stadium. The stadium was hosting a classical concert. _

_Thousands of people were gathered around the stadium. They were screaming and cheering for the star of the show, Squidward Tentacles. Helicopters above the stadium had TV crewmen in them, those crewmen were recording the beginning of the concert on camera for TV shows being broadcasted around the Pacific Ocean. _

_A red carpet was laid by security guards between the limousine and a protected entrance to the stadium. The personnel guarding the entrance were constantly warding off rabid fangirls. _

_One of the limousine's doors opened, Squidward walked out of the vehicle and closed the door._

_People were screaming even more. Police officers came in to guard the octopus from the cult-like and nearly insane fanatics. _

_Squidward walked along the red carpet and waved at his loyal fans. A satisfied smile was on his face._

S-S-S-S-S

Back in the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

Monty was snapping his fingers. "Hello?" He was trying to catch Squidward's attention.

Squidward shook back to his sense and looked at the red fish. "My bad." He did not want embarrass himself in the presence of such a well-respected person in the art community.

"As I was saying... fortune." Monty held out his hands towards the ceiling. He could imagine the massive wealth that the creator of the statue was going to receive. He was saying these words because he wanted to express the awe he felt when he looked at the statue.

"Fortune..." Squidward stared at a wall as he daydreamed again. The words were too powerful for the octopus to resist. His narcissism brought him into another vivid fantasy.

S-S-S-S-S

_**CRREEEAAK**_

_**SLAM**_

_Squidward entered a house that looked similar to his tiki. It had a surface that was the color of ivory and was a hundred stories taller than Squilliam's house. There was a beautiful garden that surrounded the home. A fountain of the cleanest water was in that garden. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward walked through the elaborate and castle-like hallways until he reached an elevator. He then pressed a button._

_The door to the elevator promptly opened._

_The octopus walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the highest floor. He wanted to have some fresh air while being in the comfort of his home._

_The door closed and the elevator rose to that floor in less than a minute. _

_**DING**_

_The elevator door opened._

_Squidward stepped out of the elevator._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_A large statue of Squidward was on the center of the roof. The body was made out of gold while its clothes were made out of diamonds. The pedestal that the statue was standing on was made out of silver. _

_Men and women in fancy suits and dresses began to play the harps that they were holding. Soothing melodies entered the octopus' ears. _

_Squidward sat on a long chair and looked at the bright blue sky. He had used his wealth to create his own paradise on Earth._

_S-S-S-S-S_

Squidward made eye contact with Monty before the red fish could notice that he was daydreaming. The octopus acted like he was paying attention instead of daydreaming.

"Anything his heart desires." Monty was beginning to daydream as well. The words he was saying were all of the things he thought that the statue's creator deserved. Fame, fortune, and owning everything were the things that most artists dreamed about and desired.

"Anything?" Squidward stared into space again. He instantly fantasized about the things he wanted the most because the words were overwhelming in their power.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward was standing on a tall pedestal made out of marble. He had long blond hair and was wearing golden armor. There were three golden belts on his waist area and they were already buckled. The middle of his chest was exposed since the piece of armor for his torso was not completely closed in. He was very muscular and even had a six-pack. He was in some sort of church. _

_Thousands of people were standing around the pedestal. They were bowing before the almighty Squidward and were saying prayers of gratitude for all of the great and generous acts that the octopus had done. _

_Squidward was gaining energy and power from their prayers. He was the rightful owner of Bikini Bottom and he could obtain anything at will because of his immense magical powers. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

Squidward returned to reality when he saw Monty looking at other art pieces. His selfishness and 'grandeur' would not allow him to give SpongeBob any credit at all. "It's me! It's me!" He jogged up to the red fish. "I'm responsible." He knowingly lied so his dreams of fame and other fantasies could become true. He assumed that SpongeBob would not take credit for the statue anyway because of the sponge's current upsetness and thought that taking credit for himself would not harm the sponge in the long run.

Monty turned to face Squidward and gazed at the octopus. "I can see it now. Your name in the world's most prestigious museums" He grabbed the octopus' shoulders. " I'm gonna make you, immortal!" He guaranteed that Squidward was going to be one of the most famous artists in history. The red fish then walked to the statue. "Now, uh, help me get this in the car." He sweatdropped when he thought about the difficulty of moving the art piece out of the building.

Squidward walked up to the statue and grabbed the pedestal with both of his arms. However, his intuition was telling him that something was wrong. Although that 'something' was not pinpointed.

Monty grabbed the other side with both of his arms as well.

The two then picked up the statue with some difficulty. It was not as heavy as they expected it to be. They then carried that statue towards the open doorway and tried to fit it through.

**CRACK**

**BONK**

**POOF**

The sculpture's head broke off from the rest of the body because the statue was not fit through the doorway correctly. When it landed on the floor, the head broke into small pieces and dust.

The two let go of the statue and pushed it from the doorway.

Squidward fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands in despair. "My fame, my fotune, my hair..." He said his dreams because he knew that those were not going to happen as long as the statue was not complete.

Monty looked at the dust pile that used to be a marble head and bit his lip. "Well, that's a bit of bad luck right there. But, this shouldn't be a problem for an artist of your magnitude. You can whip up another one." He tried to stay optimistic. He was determined to buy one of 'Squidward's art pieces.

Squidward stood up and stop covering his face with his hands. He viewed Monty's words as an opportunity to make his dreams more likely to become true. His selfishness continued to be a powerful force. Selling the statue to Monty was the key to escaping his miserable life at work and at his neighborhood. "Yeah, no problem." He made a faux smile so Monty could not tell that he was lying. "You know, between you and me, this isn't my best work. Why don't you come back tomorrow and I'll have something that will really knock your socks off." He had to make SpongeBob come back and try harder at making the statue. The octopus then decided that he was going to sell the statue tomorrow morning.

Monty pointed at his feet. "Between you and me, I'm not wearing socks." He was wearing shoes but was not wearing socks. The red fish laughed at what he thought was a clever joke. Monty then walked through the open doorway.

"Yeah, no socks." Squidward maintained his fake smile. "Okay, see you tomorrow. Bye." He stood in the doorway and waved at Monty.

A pause.

The octopus ran down the hallway. 'I gotta find SpongeBob!' His intuition continuously told him that something was wrong, it was now saying that that 'something' was related to SpongeBob. However, that 'something' was not about SpongeBob's statue.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the neighborhood. He saw SpongeBob who was sitting before the pineapple's front door. The octopus walked up to the sponge. He was still not going to give SpongeBob any credit for any of the statues that the sponge makes. He justified his actions by assuming that SpongeBob would not care about the future of the statues anyway. For some reason, he felt like he was doing something wrong. However, he still could not figure out the reason for why his intuition was sending those messages.

"Go away, Squidward. I don't deserve your kindness." SpongeBob turned around and face the door while still sitting. His low self-esteem had not improved at all.

"Hey, cheer up. I have decided to give you another chance. Why, with a great teacher like me, anything is possible." Squidward smiled as he lied. If he could persuade SpongeBob, the end of his miserable life would become certain.

"Don't look at me, Squidward. Don't look at my shame." SpongeBob held out his hands in front of his face. "These hands weren't meant to create. They only destroy. I can't look at them." The sponge put his hands into his pockets so he would not have to glance at them. Squidward's criticism and envious teaching style mentally broke the sponge. The yellow square's disappointment over his 'poor' artistic ability made his throat heavy.

"Aww, c'mon, SpongeBob. You've got yourself a pair of yellow dandies here." Squidward pulled SpongeBob's hands out of the sponge's pockets. He had a strong will to exploit SpongeBob's status as a student. "With my help, we'll turn them into tools of beauty."

SpongeBob stood up and turned to face Squidward. His eyes were sparkling in wonder. "Really?"

"Really." Squidward nodded with confidence.

"Really?" SpongeBob did not expect Squidward to forgive him. The sponge was amazed at the fact that Squidward could tolerate him after the sponge had made so many 'mistakes'.

"Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Wow." SpongeBob could not believe that Squidward had enough patience to tolerate his constant repetition of 'really'. "Really?"

"Let's go." Squidward walked towards the Recreation Center. He wanted the statue to be recreated as soon as possible so he would no longer have to worry about it.

SpongeBob nodded and then caught up with his teacher. The sponge was smiling and was skipping. He was back to his merry self.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"Okay, SpongeBob. Just do what you did before." Squidward stepped out of the way. His arms were folded and his foot was tapping because he was eagerly awaiting for the beautiful art piece that SpongeBob was about to make.

SpongeBob was standing in front of the marble block. He was holding a hammer and a nail. He was holding his nail firmly on the marble. "I... can't..." The octopus' criticisms of what he had previously done in the classroom had severely affected his confidence in making more art.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "Ah, ah. Wait, wait. Let me help." He ran to his desk. He took out a blank paper and a pencil. He then ran back to the yellow square. "Let's start with the circle again." He hoped that the idea would assist SpongeBob in regaining his former confidence.

SpongeBob sat down in a desk and drew a crooked circle on the paper. "I did it, Squidward." The sponge grinned and held out the paper to his teacher. It seemed like the sponge was going to create art in the ways that Squidward told him to do or unintentionally encouraged, unless the octopus tells the truth. However, the sponge had another reason for his actions.

"Huh?" Squidward raised his brow. "B-but what about the head, and the erasing, and t-the-" The octopus could not immediately figure out the cause of SpongeBob's behavioral changes.

"I dunno, Mr. Tentacles. That stuff's not in the book." SpongeBob shrugged. In an attempt to make Squidward happy and assist him in maintaining the octopus' job position, he was abiding by his teacher's former instructions. He wanted to both be accepted by the octopus and help the octopus.

Squidward began to feel remorse for allowing his envy and selfishness to contaminate his instruction. However, his instincts were telling him that his biased teachings were not that 'something'. The octopus grabbed the paper in frustration, crumpled it, and shaped the crumpled paper into a cube. "How about this? Remember?" He thought that SpongeBob forgot the sponge's former way of creating art.

"That's not in the book, either." SpongeBob shook his head and stood up from his desk. He was waiting for Squidward to begin a new lesson.

"Forget about the book." Squidward walked back to his desk and took a empty notebook. He walked back to the sponge and ripped the notebook's pages into pieces. The octopus allowed the pieces to fall to the floor. "Ha! Look at all this mess, SpongeBob. What do all these little pieces of paper make you want to do?" The octopus was becoming desperate. He knew one way that will certainly make SpongeBob unlearn his teachings; telling the truth. However, doing that would be pointless because he would become unable to take credit for the statues.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Wait, I know this." He quickly took all of the paper pieces and put them back together into pages. He put the newly formed pages into the notebook. "Ta-da!" The yellow square was glad because this was the longest time that Squidward went through without getting angry.

A pause.

Squidward sighed. His hope diminished with each attempt at making SpongeBob 'relearn'. "Let's just move on to the marble." He slowly walked back to the marble block.

The yellow square grabbed the hammer and the nail and ran towards the marble block. He put the nail on the block's surface and raised his hammer. The sponge was ready to create another 'statue'. "First, an artist must concentrate and visualize his concept." The yellow square closed his eyes and said what he had learned so Squidward could be at a peace of mind.

Squidward's hope in becoming famous increased. Reality had to shoot him with a bullet in order for the octopus to realize what he had been doing for all the time that he taught SpongeBob. "Now you've got it." He smiled sincerely and made thumbs-up.

"I've gotta embrace the marble." SpongeBob made the front of his more free hand touch the marble's surface. What he was saying was a logical next step in Squidward's advice on statue-making; he thought that what he said was part of Squidward's former instructions. Ironically, he was deviating from the instruction again.

Squidward was smiling even more. The realization that SpongeBob was doing something different increased his hope significantly.

"I've gotta sniff the marble!" SpongeBob smelled the marble several times by taking deep inhales.

"Right..." Squidward scratched his head in confusion. The octopus was not sure about why someone would need to smell a marble in order to create a sculpture.

"I've gotta embrace the marble!" SpongeBob hugged the marble block. He wanted to get a complete feel of its surface.

Squidward nodded and made a thumbs-up. The sponge's current step made more sense the previous one. 'Just get on with it already.' The octopus was becoming impatient. He was looking forward to see the fruit of SpongeBob's efforts.

"I've gotta lick the marble!" SpongeBob licked the marble's sides except for its top and bottom. The yellow square was forming a clear mental image for the sculpture that he desired.

Squidward cringed. 'Why in the world would he do that?' He became utterly puzzled.

SpongeBob raised his hammer again and beamed. "With this tool, I shall give birth to art."

Squidward smiled again and began to jump up and down in excitement. He had clear images of the mountains of money he was going to earn from that statue. "Oh boy!" The octopus almost could not control his excitement.

**CLANG**

SpongeBob swung the hammer to the nail very quickly.

**C-CRACK**

**RRRUUMMBLLE**

The marble block broke into a plethora of pieces. The pieces fell to the floor and gathered into a pile.

"One more thing." SpongeBob grabbed the clay octopus nose from a desk and put it near the pile's top. "There." The yellow square folded his arms in satisfaction. The sponge could not remove the smile on his face. "Now it's art." He turned to look at his teacher. "What do you think?"

Squidward was staring at the pile wide-eyed. The sponge's creation looked like the wrecked remains of a statue he had made in high school. The similarity had triggered an influx of unpleasant memories.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward, who was a young teen, was adding finishing touches to a sculpture that portrayed him in a heroic pose. He was a sophomore in high school and his current period was art class. He was in the section of the art room where sculptures and clay were stored or made. Back then, he was not as delusional about his talents or as narcissistic as he was in the present. However, the octopus still had a level of narcissism that was higher than the levels of the majority of people. The octopus had been bullied ever since he was in elementary school. People picked on him for being intelligent, creative, artistic, and "different"._

_A group of envious students were sitting at a nearby table. They were all troublemakers and bullies and were also close to failing Art for the marking period. They were almost always jealous of Squidward because of how he was able to get excellent grades in school and how he was able to survive high school by enduring the bullying he received. The group were so envious and were in such a bad mood that they were going to take their bullying to the next level: vandalism. Two of them stood up and walked up to Squidward. They currently had an opportunity since the teacher was not in the room._

_The two pushed Squidward out of the way. They then began to touch the statue in search of any weak points._

_"Stop that!" Squidward was becoming extremely irritated. He did not want the fruit of his labor to be altered by contemptible people like the group of bullies. As the school year went by, he was becoming tired of the constant bullying and often lost his temper as a consequence._

_The two bullies punched and kicked the statues rapidly._

_**BONK**_

_**BONK**_

_**BONK**_

_**BONK**_

_**C-CRACK**_

_**RRUMMMBLE**_

_The statue broke into pieces. Those pieces fell to the floor and broke into smaller pieces. _

_Squidward fell to the floor on his knees and covered his face with his hands. His throat became heavy when he thought that all of the effort and time he put into the statue had been wasted. Despair filled his mind and he had a strong urge to leave school so he could escape from all the torture of those bullies._

_The other bullies stood up and stomped on the remaining pieces until those pieces became piles of dust. The group of bullies were satisfied with what they had done; they and Squidward were now 'equal'._

_The statue became a huge pile of clay dust. The only remaining piece was the nose and it was on top of the pile. The nose was left alone because the bullies mistook it for the piece of another statue._

_S-S-S-S-S_

That memory from his high school years made Squidward reflect on his instruction. He had told SpongeBob to redo an art piece out of envy many times, regardless of how much effort that SpongeBob had put into creating them. He felt like he was no better than the bullies who had ruined his artistic creations.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Squidward, who was a fourth grader, was painting on a canvas in the art room. All of the other students in his class were painting as well._

_The octopus was almost completely finished with his painting. He then tapped Squilliam on the shoulder. (During that time, he and Squilliam were not rivals) He wanted someone to find any errors in his painting because he remembered that the teacher gave very specific instructions for painting on the canvas. _

_Squilliam turned to look at Squidward._

_"Can you see if I did something wrong?" Squidward pointed at his own canvas. The octopus chose Squlliam as his helper because Squilliam was just below him in artistic talent._

_Squilliam had been jealous of Squidward ever since the beginning of the school year. He always made a poker face whenever he sees or hears Squidward get recognition from other students or teachers for Squidward's artistic work. The jealous octopus had been waiting for a moment like this where he can finally get an advantage over Squidward. He walked up to the canvas and controlled his urge to smirk. He acted like he was closely examining the painting._

_A pause._

_"You'll have to redo it. Mr. Core said that we can't have too many watercolor marks." Squilliam said a lie that was obvious to the students who had listened carefully, including Squilliam. The octopus wore a serious face and then walked back to his canvas._

_Squidward became heavily disappointed and made a long face as he looked at his painting. He believed what Squilliam said. In the back of his mind, he wished that he could still hand in the painting regardless if it followed the rules or not. Most of the class would pick that painting as the most creative painting out of their paintings anyway. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

That memory made Squidward realize that instructing SpongeBob based on lies would make him no better than his snotty rival, Squilliam. The octopus finally found that 'something' that was bothering him. He felt like a total hypocrite because he despised people like Squilliam and those bullies. If he was going to prevent his self-esteem from diminishing, he would have to tell SpongeBob the truth. Such an action was the only way to satisfy his conscience.

A very awkward pause.

SpongeBob was giving Squidward a puzzled look. He could not figure out the true reason for Squidward's staring so he assumed the truth instead. "It looks like the excitement of my artistic triumph is too much for Mr. Tentacles." He then walked towards the open doorway and exited the classroom. 'I should go back home and leave him alone for now.' The yellow square wanted Squidward to take his time with his 'recuperation' from the shock.

Squidward began to heavily consider the option of opening SpongeBob's eyes to reality. The octopus thought that doing something with his hands would make him more focused on weighing the current options. He was so deep into his thinking that he unintentionally grabbed a hammer and a nail; he was allowing his subconscious to take control of his limbs. The octopus then walked up to the last marble block in the room, put the nail deep into the block's surface, raised the hammer; and...

**Clink**

...swung the hammer to the nail at the perfect speed. The octopus was making a statue with the same technique that SpongeBob had used. He was not aware of what he was doing until...

**C-CRACK**

**RRRRUUUUUMMMBLE**

...the marble block broke into pieces. "Huh?" He returned to his normal senses and noticed that he was holding a hammer. "I must've been acting subconsciously." He said a thought of his out loud. The octopus put the hammer on a desk and then exited the room. Squidward needed some time and an ideal place so he could think more clearly. He was focusing more on his morality than his desires because the one thing that spurred him throughout his later life, envy, was becoming questioned. He assumed that he broke the marble block into pieces.

However, a dust cloud had formed around what remained of the marble block.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The janitor entered the classroom, he was the janitor from before. He began to mop the room's floor when he noticed a statue that caught his attention immediately. "Monty, you have to see this!" He cupped his hands, turned to the open doorway, and called for the red fish.

Monty entered the room.

The janitor pointed at the new statue.

The red fish looked at the statue and his jaw fell. His eyes bugged out at the pulchritudinous work of art. He became entranced by it when he took a close look at its fine detail and its pose. After several seconds of gazing, he regained his normal senses. "W-what the? Who is responsible for this?" He thought that whoever created that statue was god-like.

"Beats me." The janitor shrugged.

A pause.

"Well, whoever made that is the greatest artist who ever lived!" Monty did not mince his words.


	71. Frankendoodle

**Chapter 71: Frankendoodle**

* * *

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting in his bedroom and was thinking very deeply about what he should do next. Him caring for SpongeBob's well-being was very rare and it was even more rare for it to be of this magnitude. The octopus was predicting that telling the truth to the sponge was going to ultimately damage the thin relationship that the two had. Squidward was very aware of the importance of SpongeBob's existence in his life; the pie that nearly 'ended SpongeBob's life' was enough of a reminder for the preciousness of that yellow source of optimism. Telling the truth may make him look just as bad as Mr. Krabs when it was revealed that the crab had robbed Clamu's pearl (although his envious tendencies were caused by mostly external factors).

An influx of memories worsened his doubt over deciding to tell the truth.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob took out his employee hat and slowly put it on. "Don't worry, Squid. I was thinking about going back to work anyway." He beamed. His confidence and dignity had been fully restored._

_Squidward felt something that he had felt when SpongeBob apologized to him about the bubblestand incident and when SpongeBob moved him out of the way to get hit by the laser. The sponge was willing to go back to the Krusty Krab and that would allow Squidward to keep his job as a consequence, SpongeBob indirectly saved him from poverty. His grudge against the sponge was lifted by a small amount. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

"_I know this is a good idea. I'll show you! I'll prove both of you wrong by making my own successful restaurant!" SpongeBob decided to announce an idea he had thought up while Mr. Krabs and Squidward were joking around that would prove the validity of Pretty Patties. He then stomped up to Nicholas and grabbed the intern's arm. "C'mon, Nick. Let's get out of here." SpongeBob dragged Nicholas with him as he walked towards the double door. He threw his employee hat and Nicholas' employee hat to the floor as he walked._

_**C-CRRREEEAAK**_

**S-SLAM**

_SpongeBob with Nicholas in tow exited the restaurant. _

_Squidward resumed his laughter. He did not take SpongeBob's idea of a Pretty Patty restaurant seriously at all; he assumed that its execution will end in failure._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_It was the morning._

_SpongeBob and Squidward could see the Krusty Krab but were still far away from the restaurant. The two were extremely exhausted and could barely move their limbs or pull the rocks. They hadn't slept or eaten anything in more than eleven hours and it took a toll on their bodies. Just like how the race began, no person was ahead of the other._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Plankton pressed a button on the backpack._

_**ZZZAAAAAP**_

_A bright green laser beam was shot from the gun._

_SpongeBob pushed Squidward out of the way so the octopus could not be injured. He decided to get hurt by the laser beam instead. The laser beam hit his left thigh and left a large burn mark._

_**THUD**_

_SpongeBob fell to the ground. _

_S-S-S-S-S_

Squidward felt like an awful person; SpongeBob had treated him with . Although he had committed questionable acts against the sponge in the past, the act he had committed today took one of the top spots for his worst committed offences against SpongeBob. The octopus was truly afraid of the possibility that SpongeBob will feel betrayed after hearing the truth. There was another possibility that was just as terrible; an erupted and unpleasant argument between him and the yellow square.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting in the pineapple's living room. SpongeBob had discussed about what had happened at the Recreation Center. Once SpongeBob had finished telling the tale, he had decided to play rock-paper-scissors out of Patrick's suggestion.

"Okay, ready, Patrick?" SpongeBob put his fist on his open palm. He was smiling confidently because he figured out some sort of pattern in the types of 'weapons' that Patrick uses.

Patrick nodded and put his fist on his palm. The starfish sometimes used a 'weapon' randomly and at other times changed between 'weapons' in a certain pattern so he could have a chance of catching SpongeBob off-guard.

"One..." SpongeBob began the countdown.

"Two..." Patrick tensed his fist.

"Three!" SpongeBob and Patrick spoke at the same time.

SpongeBob had 'scissors' while Patrick had 'paper'.

"Scissors beats paper, Patrick." SpongeBob smiled widely at his small success. He was currently winning the competition. Whoever won nine points first was the winner of the game. The yellow square currently had five points while the pink star had three points. Playing rock-paper-scissors was a refreshing break from the intense session of art education and creation. He then put his fist on his open palm again. "One..."

"Two..." SpongeBob and Patrick spoke in unison. The sea star put his fist on his palm. They then looked at each other closely for any faint hints of what 'weapon' that the other was going to use. "Three!" They swung their fists to their palms.

SpongeBob had 'scissors' again while Patrick had 'paper' again.

The sponge tilted his head in confusion. "Patrick, how come you always do paper?" SpongeBob thought that Patrick was going to pull of some more tricks before resorting to what seemed to be a desperate measure.

"Dunno." Patrick shrugged. "I thought that you would pick something else by thinking that I'm gonna use something else." The sea star explained his reasoning in a very simple manner. The starfish also wanted to sound intimidating in an attempt to make SpongeBob perform more poorly in the competition.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Sponge, you've improved your art skills a lot, right?" The sea star was curious to know more about what happened at the art school. SpongeBob usually does not change his Sunday plans so the sea star thought that the art school must have been very important for his best friend.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. "I can draw, make circles, and sculpt better. Squid talked a lot about techniques and stuff like that." The sponge enjoyed talking about the artistic adventure he had at the Center. He had did not regret over taking that art class at all.

Patrick became even more curious. "Can you show me?" He was itching to see SpongeBob's improved and possibly attractive artistic style. SpongeBob's tale about the fun he had and the one turbulent moment at the Center spurred Patrick's interest into art. He was thinking about doing a new activity today and he viewed drawing as the best current opportunity.

SpongeBob nodded and took out a pencil. "I'll need a paper though." He was eager to demonstrate his 'improved' skills. He thought that impressing people was a useful way of using the skills he learned at the Recreation Center.

"I'll get one." Patrick stood up from the couch and jogged across the living room. He was acting out of impulse.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick ran towards his rock and...

**CRREAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered his rock.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick crawled into the bottom of the couch and took out one of his two magical pages. The sea star crawled out of the couch and then...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the rock.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was standing on his lawn. He wanted to draw outside because today's gentle breeze will relax him and consequently make concentration easier. The sponge wanted to draw to the 'best' of his ability so he could impress Patrick as much as tried to hide his excitement but ended up revealing it a few times by giggling.

Patrick walked up to SpongeBob. "What's so funny?" Today was one of those days where the starfish had increased intelligence and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He was wondering why SpongeBob was outside and was suppressing his giggling.

"I'm kinda excited to show you my drawing skills, that's all." SpongeBob smiled normally. "I came out here since the wind relaxes me. If I'm gonna draw well, I'm gonna need a good atmosphere, y'know." The yellow square controlled his excitement by playing around with his pencil.

"Here you go." Patrick gave SpongeBob the magical page. "I'll wait." He was patient because he could tell that SpongeBob wanted to draw his best. He knew that making high-quality art required time and brain power.

SpongeBob looked at the magical page and tilted his head to the side. "Pat, are you sure that I can draw on this? Doing that might cause a side-effect or something like that." The yellow square had not used the magical pages a lot and consequently did not want to take too many risks when using them.

_**Nobody had drawn on these pages before; the answer to your question is outside of my knowledge. **_

The ghost spoke.

"I dunno." Patrick shrugged. "Just try it and see what happens." The sea star saw nothing wrong with taking a small risk. He had taken many unnecessary risks in his life because of his temporary stupidity.

"Even the ghost doesn't know what's gonna happen." SpongeBob looked at the glowing paper and sweatdropped. Since the pages could fulfill desires, he wondered how they would react to marks drawn on them or words written on them.

"What're you talking about?" Patrick scratched his head in confusion. He could not see any souls or transparent floating bodies.

"The guy who gave us those pages, remember?" SpongeBob tried to jog Patrick's memory. He began to play with his pencil again because he had a strong desire to draw something.

"Oh." Patrick grinned, he remembered. "Can you start drawing?" The sea star pointed at the magical page. He was becoming impatient because his best friend was taking an excessive amount of time to begin drawing.

"Mm-hm." SpongeBob nodded and put the magical page on the ground. He thought that he should draw on the page anyway because it was made out of paper; he was silencing the doubts circling around his head. The yellow square then began to draw.

Patrick crouched behind SpongeBob to see what his friend was drawing. He could not initially figure out what the sponge was trying to depict. "Whatcha drawin'?" The starfish tilted his head to the side.

"Stand back, Pat. I can't draw with you breathing down my neck." SpongeBob tried to be as polite as possible. Feeling Patrick's exhales was not the most pleasant sensation in the world. The yellow square then thought that he sounded too harsh.

Patrick stood up and stepped back. He could tell by the slow movements of SpongeBob's drawing hand that the sponge was trying to concentrate. The sea star then focused on watching SpongeBob.

Once SpongeBob was finished with the drawing, he stood up, turned around, and he held it out towards Patrick. "It's a jellyfish." The yellow square beamed.

Patrick walked up to his friend and closely looked at the drawing. The starfish became disappointed because, in his opinion, the drawing was quite simple. Regardless of its simplicity, it was still a better depiction of a jellyfish than most of the jellyfish drawings that normal people make. "Pretty good, Sponge. But it's lacking basic construction, and your perspective leaves a lot to be desired." He used a bigger vocabulary to express his opinion more exactly.

"Eh, everybody's a critic." SpongeBob thought that his drawing was excellent. However, his view of his drawing was not caused by arrogance or a delusion. It was caused by what Squidward had taught him at the Recreation Center. Squidward had told SpongeBob that he was one of the best art teachers. The octopus also had said that the sponge's skills were going to improve to the point where the sponge can rival artists in terms of quality.

The drawing peeled out of the magical page and became alive. Unlike other objects or living things, it was two-dimensional.

Patrick's eyes bugged out. "SpongeBob, your drawing's coming to life!" He yelled and pointed at the floating drawing. The starfish was surprised instead of frightened because he expected such crazy side-effects from the magical page.

SpongeBob became flattered by Patrick's compliment. He was also surprised by Patrick's quick change of heart. "Why, tha-"

"No." Patrick shook his head. "I mean its swimming away." The sea star pointed at the drawing again. The starfish found the 'jellyfish' to be fascinating because of its two-dimensional properties.

Since the best friend duo were thinking about jellyfish, their thoughts transferred to the alive drawing and consequently made it act like a jellyfish.

SpongeBob looked at the living drawing and gasped. A light bulb immediately lit up in his head. "Do you know what this means, Patrick?" He looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. He was grinning with enthusiasm.

"Your art can never hang in a museum." Patrick said a very obvious statement. He could not predict what SpongeBob was going to say. The sea star, although very capable, was not thinking critically about the situation.

"It means we can create anything we want!" SpongeBob turned to make full eye contact with his best friend. The tone of his voice revealed his eagerness to draw more depictions of everyday objects and living things.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I want a magic mustache." Patrick jumped up and down in excitement. His mind brimmed with endless possibilities of what could be drawn on the page.

SpongeBob laughed. He thought that Patrick's request was a little bit silly. "Coming right up!" He quickly drew a mustache on the page. He shaded the 'mustache' until it was almost pitch black.

The 'mustache' popped out of the page and landed on the ground.

Patrick grabbed the 'mustache' and put it on the area between his nose and mouth. "Life is good!" The sea star made a thumbs-up. He had dreamed since he was a little kid about getting a mustache.

The mustache became alive and flew from Patrick's face. It was using its ends as wings by flapping them.

Patrick shrugged and smiled in satisfaction. "Easy come, easy go." The sea star only desired to know how it was like to have a mustache; he was not interested in keeping and preserving one.

The mustache flew towards Squidward's tiki and entered the home through an open window.

S-S-S-S-S

The mustache flew across the music room and flew down the staircase.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was walking along the hallway towards the staircase, he had exited the bathroom. The octopus wanted to see what SpongeBob and Patrick were doing outside and was also going to consider if he should reveal the truth to them immediately.

The mustache landed on the top of Squidward's head.

"Huh?" Squidward touched his head and felt the mustache. "What the barnacle?" The octopus took hold of the mustache and closely looked at it. 'Where did this come from?' He raised his brow. He then assumed that it must have come from SpongeBob and Patrick in some sort of manner. The octopus resumed his walk and went downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

"My turn!" Patrick snatched the magical page and the pencil from SpongeBob's hands. He had some ideas of his own that he wanted to make into realities. The starfish then began to think about which idea he should create first.

"Be careful, Patrick. Being an artist is a heavy responsibility. Each work of art is like a child and must be treated as such." SpongeBob spoke in a serious manner. The sponge was aware of the destructive and unpredictable potential of the magical page's drawings.

"I was just gonna draw a cartoon." Patrick wanted his best friend to relax and not worry over unknown variables. He thought that making a few small drawings would not harm anybody.

SpongeBob took a deep breath in relief. "Okay." He smiled widely. "Why didn't you say so?" He was glad that Patrick was not going to draw something that can damage people, objects, or property.

Patrick quickly drew a depiction of a complaining Squidward.

'Squidward' popped out of the magical page and fell to the ground. The 'octopus' landed on its feet.

"Hey, another jellyfish." SpongeBob made an assumption. He thought that the jellyfish looked strange because it had physical features from other species of sea creatures. He knew that Patrick was not as skilled in the arts as him so he expected such drawings from the starfish.

"It's Squidward, silly." Patrick grinned and tried to resist the urge to giggle. He now thought that his drawing looked silly because of the physical similarity between it and a jellyfish. He would have laughed to tears if Squidward left his tiki and became shocked at the sight of the drawing.

'Squidward' began to crawl around the page. It had an ill-tempered manner because the sea star's thoughts and opinions about Squidward had formed its personality. _"Erehw__ auqa__ eret." _It spoke in a language that was incomprehensible to those who did not pay close attention to the spoken words. Its language was based on the languages that Patrick knew or had heard in real life and in the media. "T**s**e ij**nopus**?" It walked up to SpongeBob and closely examined him.

SpongeBob shuddered. The drawing's face, body, two-dimensional properties; and strange language combined to form a surprisingly unsettling being. However, the sponge could not figure out what was so disturbing about the drawing. "I-it's kinda creepy-looking w-when it moves." The yellow square stepped away from the drawing and sweatdropped.

The drawing walked up to Patrick. "Alle**rts**e vosu? 'Tadzos?" It had an instinct to gain information and become more powerful. It did not have a full personality yet.

Patrick shuddered as well and sweatdropped. "You're right, Sponge." The starfish thought that the drawing was creepy solely because of the language that it spoke.

The drawing's creepiness worsened SpongeBob's anxiety over the magical page's destructive potential. "We can't let it go into town. Who knows how much power it can gain and how many people it'll harm." The sponge made eye contact with Patrick and expressed his fears. He had a face that expressed concern.

Patrick quickly erased the drawing. He completely agreed with SpongeBob because he the drawing was too creepy for him to tolerate. "Poor Squidward." The sea star had thought of fun activities that he could have done with the drawing.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. That idea might assist Squidward in the octopus' 'recuperation' from the 'shock' of the sponge's 'artistic triumph'. The yellow square still thought that Squidward was suffering from an 'extreme amount of shock'. "Okay, my brain just hatched an idea." He said a thought of his out loud. He grabbed the page and pencil from Patrick's hans. He drew a dollar bill on the page and then drew a line that started from a corner of the dollar and went around the dollar bill until it reached the page's edge.

The 'dolllar bill' and the connected 'string' fell to the ground.

SpongeBob grabbed the dollar bill and held the string with his other hand. The sponge then threw the dollar bill towards the tiki.

The dollar bill landed on the doormat.

From SpongeBob's point of view, the trick was going to be both helpful and hilarious. The yellow square predicted that laughing at Squidward would trigger more of an emotional response out of the octopus. "This is gonna be a classic!" He loudly whispered to his best friend.

Patrick giggled. He looked forward to how Squidward was going to react to the fake dollar bill.

**CRREEAAK**

Squidward opened the front door. He considered that now was an opportune time to reveal the truth to the yellow square. He had waited until it was more quiet outside before opening the door, he did not want to interrupted the two best friends during the peak of their fun activities. The octopus noticed the dollar bill and smiled in delight. The string connected to the dollar bill was thin enough for it to be concealed by the doormat's thick carpet-like surface. Although it would not make up for the opportunity for fame that he had lost, it reminded Squidward about how fortunate he was to get this far in life. The octopus picked up the dollar bill and turned around.

SpongeBob pulled the string.

The dollar bill slipped out of Squidward's hand and flew back to the yellow square.

SpongeBob caught the dollar and quickly tucked it into his pocket. He and Patrick were laughing. The yellow square thought that the prank was hilarious because Squidward completely fell for it.

Squidward gave SpongeBob a look that indicated displeasure. He only became slightly angry because telling the truth and what he had done to the sponge was still on his mind. The sponge's goal of 'curing' Squidward's 'intense shock' had failed.

**SLAM**

Squidward entered his tiki and closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat in the couch and entered a deep state of thought. The fake dollar bill reminded him of why he hated his current position in life. He was thinking about how he constantly failed to reach his goals and how opportunities manage to escape his grasp; he felt like he was trapped from living a satisfying life. The octopus pessimistically predicted about how his talents were going to be 'unappreciated' for the rest of his life. Frustration, rage, and sadness sprouted in Squidward's mind. Those emotions were seeds that were formerly suppressed from growing by the octopus' feelings of hypocrisy and regret over how he instructed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Wait, I've got another idea." The yellow sponge snapped his fingers. 'This one'll surely make Squid respond to me.' "This'll be the ultimate prank." The yellow square looked at Patrick, his optimism was a fire that could not be doused. "I'll draw me, and when Squidward answers the door... it won't be me." The sponge was smiling widely as he chuckled.

Patrick covered his mouth with a hand of his in an attempt to hide his giggling. He did not want Squidward to become suspicious of him and his best friend.

SpongeBob put the paper on the ground and carefully drew a self-portrait. He made sure that he drew a complete depiction of his body. "Aww, look at him. Isn't he a doll?" In his opinion, the self-portrait was cute. "All he needs is a tie." He drew a tie on DoodleBob's shirt. "Ready for action." The sponge stepped back and made a thumbs-up. He wanted to leave some space for Doodlebob so the drawing could get out of the paper without any difficulties.

The gentle breeze of the late morning intensified into a gust for several seconds before becoming a breeze again.

The magical page flew around Squidward's tiki. The gust gave it enough time to gather Squidward's negative emotions and make them part of the drawing's personality. The octopus' intelligence and sense of superiority also became part of the drawing's personality.

Once the page got close enough to the ground, SpongeBob leaped and caught it with both hands. "Phew." The sponge wiped some sweat from his brow. "I almost thought that you were a goner." He smiled in relief at his self-portrait and put it on the ground.

A two-dimensional hand rose from the page like the hand of a zombie rising from a grave. The head soon rose out of the page as well. After several seconds, DoodleBob managed to squeeze himself out of the magical page. He was just as big as SpongeBob. DoodleBob then walked towards the tiki, he thought that he was the rightful owner of the tiki.

"He's going to the door." Patrick loudly whispered to the sponge. He almost could not control his excitement. He predicted that Squidward was going to become frightened by the sight of the drawing.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

DoodleBob knocked on the front door.

"He's knocking on the door." SpongeBob loudly whispered to Patrick. He was jumping in place so he could suppress his giggling. The thought of Squidward seeing DoodleBob was almost too funny for the sponge to resist.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door. "What the-?" The octopus raised his brow. He tried to figure out why a two-dimensional figure was standing before his home. However, he could not come up with a valid conclusion immediately.

_"Moi, soretona, __**soretona**__, soretona, soretona, __**soretona**__, __**soretona**__, __**SORETONA!**__" _Doodlebob yelled something that sounded like a chant.

**SMACK SMACK**

The drawing slapped both of Squidward's face cheeks.

"He's beating up Squid!" Patrick screamed in shock. He thought that Doodlebob was insane and erratic. The starfish then ran towards DoodleBob so he could end the drawing's assault.

**THUD**

DoodleBob pushed Squidward out of the way and made the octopus fall to the ground. He then stomped into the tiki.

SpongeBob followed Patrick. He also had a desire to make Doodlebob stop injuring the octopus.

Patrick ran through the open doorway.

SpongeBob saw Squidward's fallen body and stopped. His kind disposition would not allow him to leave his neighbor in an uncomfortable state. The yellow square crouched next to Squidward, he was concerned over Squidward's physical state. "Are you okay?"

Squidward shakily stood up. "No, I'm not okay." The octopus shook his head. "Just get rid of that damned white creature or whatever it is." He was being somewhat quiet instead of yelling with rage because he did not want to attract DoodleBob's attention. He thought that being silent and calm was better than getting brutally assaulted by the drawing.

SpongeBob nodded and took out his pencil. He was determined to erase DoodleBob; he wanted everybody in Bikini Bottom to be safe from the drawing's evil deeds. The yellow square then ran through the doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick ran upstairs as they chased DoodleBob.

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob entered the music room and grabbed Squidward's clarinet. He thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were invading his 'home'. He had taken the clarinet because it was his most 'precious' object out of all the objects in the home and could be used as a weapon.

SpongeBob and Patrick entered the room.

Patrick charged towards DoodleBob so he could tackle the drawing to the floor.

SpongeBob was running behind the sea star. DoodleBob had to be still or restrained in order for the yellow square to completely erase the white abomination.

DoodleBob turned around and swung the clarinet at the incoming starfish.

**BONK**

The clarinet hit Patrick's forehead.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the floor.

DoodleBob widened his eyes at the sight of SpongeBob's pencil. He thought that staying in his tiki was too dangerous because the pencil's eraser could easily kill him. He ran towards a window and held out the sharp end of the clarinet towards it.

**SHATTER**

The drawing broke the window and dove through the opening.

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob eventually succumbed to gravity.

**THUD**

The drawing fell to the ground. A sand cloud formed around it and then dissipated after a few seconds. DoodleBob looked at his clarinet and became relieved that the clarinet was intact.

Squidward gasped and then lost his temper. "Give that back!" The octopus rushed towards the drawing. He could not allow one of his most prized possessions to be stolen by malicious strangers like DoodleBob. He would rather get assaulted and keep all of his possessions than to be unharmed and have his home taken away.

"_S__**i**__A__ma__j!" _DoodleBob shook his head and ran as fast as he could from Squidward.

SpongeBob and Patrick exited the tiki and dashed towards DoodleBob. Their failure to immediately stop DoodleBob only strengthened their will to erase the drawing.

"_At em __niso rreaf__." _DoodleBob saw a magical page from the corner of his eye. SpongeBob had forgotten to pick up his page after DoodleBob had came out of it. The drawing then ran towards that page and quickly grabbed it. He wanted the page because of the its shininess. The drawing felt like he deserved everything in the world because he viewed everybody else as inferior. _"__EGO __yeseg nooryam." _The drawing then ran just as fast as before. He was desperately trying to lose the three neighbors.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The four were still running.

SpongeBob and Patrick were running at a moderate pace so they would not get tired so easily.

Although biking one of his hobbies, Squidward was jogging because he was not very athletic.

DoodleBob noticed that he was running directly towards the Bikini Bottom Recreation Center. He was lucky to have reached such a building because he had been running aimlessly for the last ten minutes. The drawing had been searching for buildings like the Center.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

DoodleBob entered the Recreation Center.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The three neighbors entered the building as well.

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob ran down the main hallway and dodged or pushed people who were blocking his way.

"'xcuse me. Coming through." SpongeBob tried to avoid the people in the hallway in a polite manner. His gaze was completely focused on the white figure in the distance. After a minute of cutting through thick amounts of people, the people decided to move out of the way so SpongeBob and the other neighbors could run and get out of the people's way.

The three neighbors caught up with DoodleBob in less than a minute.

Patrick managed to run faster than DoodleBob and blocked the entrance of a statue exhibit. "You're not going anywhere!" He glared at the drawing and then dove towards him. The sea star thought that it was impossible for DoodleBob to escape his grasp.

DoodleBob held out the clarinet's sharp end.

**PRICK**

The clarinet's sharp end pricked Patrick's stomach.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the floor back-first. He then stood up but reeled in pain. The puncture from the clarinet felt like a bee sting. "Oww..." When injured, the starfish usually did not feel pain in the stomach area because of his obesity. Patrick could tell that the puncture was very deep because of the pain it was causing.

SpongeBob saw the puncture and grimaced. From his perspective, the puncture looked like a stab wound.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

Doodlebob entered the art exhibit. He was trying his best to avoid capture and subsequent erasure.

S-S-S-S-S

Squilliam was looking at the statues in the exhibit. The Thinker-like statue that Squidward had created was among the statues.. He had came to the Recreation Center because he was bored and was also taking a break from composing his latest piece of music. The statue exhibit was a feature that was recently added into the building. When not making works of art (both in physical and musical form), he usually gazed and marveled at other art pieces. Although he and Squidward were similar in personality, a key difference between them was that Squilliam knew when an artist deserved respect for marvelous work and also drew inspiration from such works.

DoodleBob ran across the large room and saw a large trash can that was full of dust. A clay nose was on top of that dust pile. The drawing widened his eyes at the sight of the statue remains because he had also absorbed fragments of Squidward's most unpleasant and painful memories. The drawing then looked at his surroundings and noticed Squilliam, he recognized who that octopus was. A sudden fury boiled within him and consumed the tiny shreds of rationality and cautiousness that he had. He dropped the clarinet and his pupils dilated._ "rrrrrRRRR__RRRRRRRRRR__**RGGGGGGGHHH!**__" _He clenched his teeth and his body shook violently. His voice became much more deeper. He tightened his fists so much that he was nearly crumpling the magical page with his other hand. The drawing was awakening to his true power.

Everybody in the exhibit room looked at DoodleBob with bugged-out eyes. They could not figure out how such a bizarre creature managed to get into the building and why it was becoming irrationally angry.

**C-CRREEEEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The three neighbors entered the room. Patrick was slumped on SpongeBob and Squidward's shoulders because the puncture had made walking quite difficult for him.

Squilliam raised his brow at the drawing. "W-what in Neptune's na-" The octopus became puzzled by the sight of DoodleBob.

DoodleBob saw Squilliam's facial expression and lost all of his sanity. Since the drawing was created and made out of the page's magical power, it was gaining power from Squidward's negative emotions and memories. His body was acting like it was an actual Holy Page that was gathering energy from Squidward's desires._** "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"**_ It was screaming so loud that everybody in the Recreation Center could hear him. Its voice was so deep that it almost sounded like it was a demon.

The magical page was glowing. DoodleBob was gathering so much negative emotional energy that it was unintentionally giving the Holy Page the energy needed for the page's full power to be unleashed. It could use the magical page because it had no mind; the Guardian Spirits could not mentally control it and limit its usage of the page.

"_**MUAHAAHAAHAAAHAAAA! MUAHAAHAAAHAAAHAAAHAAAAaaa!"**_ DoodleBob proceeded to laugh maniacally. It was laughing in that manner because it was a representation of the darkness in Squidward's heart.

**B-BOOMM**

**R-RRUUMMBLE RUMMBLE**

**B-BOOM**

**R-RRUMMBLE**

**B-BOOM**

**R-RRUMMBLE RUUMMMBLLE**

Lightning bolts were coming out of the Holy Page and were being absorbed by DoodleBob, the bolts contained magical energy. The surge in emotional energy was so powerful that the page was giving DoodleBob more power regardless of the drawing's intentions (the page could not handle so much energy without having other pages nearby). The magical power combined with DoodleBob's gathered negative energy to form the first flashes of a dark aura.

A very long pause.

SpongeBob's jaw had dropped and his face was pallid; the sponge was utterly terrified. His hearbeat was quickening as he thought about the murderous deeds that DoodleBob was possibly capable of doing. The yellow square had underestimated the power of the Holy Pages.

_**That entity is certainly evil. **_

The Guardian Spirits in the three neighbors' minds said the same comment in unison. They recognized the aura being emitted from the drawing because they had felt it many times in the past.

The exhibit room's temperature had suddenly dropped to chilly levels. DoodleBob's aura had slightly affected its surroundings.

Squidward, after several seconds, noticed that DoodleBob was glaring at Squilliam. He then assumed that Squilliam was the cause of DoodleBob's anger. He turned to look at that octopus. 'If this doesn't calm that thing down, we're done for.' The octopus thought with a sweatdrop. He was one of the most horrified people in the room. If the drawing attacked him, he would be almost completely defenseless because he did not any advanced type of self-defense.

Squilliam saw Squidward from the corner of his eye and also noticed that Squidward was looking at him. The octopus, who was heavily afraid of the bloodthirsty drawing, turned towards Squidward. He deeply hoped that Squidward had a solution to the situation. He no longer cared about who would be helping him; his urge to escape DoodleBob's deadly grasp was overwhelming.

'Squilliam, don't move.' Squidward communicated to Squilliam by moving his lips while not using his voice. He thought that uttering even a single syllable would aggravate DoodleBob even more.

Squilliam glanced at DoodleBob and sweat ran down his neck. He noticed that the drawing had taken a few steps closer to him. "H-huh?" He could not read the octopus' lips and stepped away from DoodleBob by a few steps. His intense fear took over his actions and ways of thinking.

DoodleBob's pupils shrunk and its entire body started to shake violently with magical energy. It lost its temper because it could not tolerate cowardice from its source of hatred. _**"RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"**_ It roared like a dragon. Its aura became a sphere of pitch black. Purple lights were coming out of its eyes and mouth.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM**

The black sphere exploded. DoodleBob's aura was taking a physical form.

Everybody in the room was pushed by the blast.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

"DEAR NEPTUNE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"MY LEG!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Almost everybody screamed in fright and terror. Only a few people got injured by the explosion. None of the art pieces sustained any damage.

**T-T-THUD**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward fell to the ground.

Dark purple flame-like lights were surrounding DoodleBob. That was the aura's complete physical form. The magical page was glowing as bright as a lighthouse light. The drawing was looking at Squilliam with narrowed eyes. He pointed at the octopus. _**"You, first!"**_ It spoke its first lines of comprehensible English.

SpongeBob gasped and then stood up. He ran towards the drawing. The sponge had an obligation to protect everybody in the building because he was DoodleBob's creator.

DoodleBob leaped towards Squilliam.

As SpongeBob was running, he dropped his pencil.

**KLOK**

SpongeBob karate-kicked DoodleBob in the face.

Black ink came out of DoodleBob's mouth. The ink was the magical drawings' version of saliva. The drawing fell to the ground with a **THUD **and then hopped back to its feet. It snatched the pencil from SpongeBob because he felt like it could be useful in the future. He then punched SpongeBob with a **BAM**.

SpongeBob reeled in pain and flew back by a few feet. The drawing's aura had increased DoodleBob's strength to the point where the drawing was between Sandy and Larry in terms of strength. 'W-why weren't you talking before?' The sponge began to mentally communicate with his Guardian Spirit.

_**I did not say much because I thought that you and your friends were capable of dealing with that dark menace. However, I have learned that it was otherwise.**_

DoodleBob began to chase Squilliam.

SpongeBob karate-chopped with a **SHOOP**. He then made a combo of punches with a **BAMBAMBOPBAMBOMPBAMBOPBAM**. 'How can I defeat him? I bet he's at least ten times stronger than me.' The yellow square continued to communicate with the spirit as he fiercely fought with the drawing.

DoodleBob took a few steps back in pain and then kicked SpongeBob's chest with a **KLOK**.

SpongeBob flew towards the ceiling and then fell back to the floor with a very loud **THUD**.

_**You have to get your Holy Pages or a magical weapon. If you are going to get the magical pages, I recommend that you gather as many pages as possible. Once you gather those pages and injure the drawing to the point where it is severely weakened, you can squash the drawing and seal it or simply erase it with a type of eraser.**_

SpongeBob jumped towards DoodleBob and fell towards the drawing while sticking out both of his legs.

**K-KLOK**

DoodleBob fell to the floor and became flattened. He then stood up and uppercutted the yellow square with a** BASH**.

The punch made the yellow sponge fly away from the drawing by several feet. SpongeBob shakily stood up and noticed that a large crowd was watching him and DoodleBob. A light bulb lit up in his head. "EVERYBODY, GET OUT OF HERE!" He yelled as loud as he could towards the innocent citizens. "I'll take care of this!"

A police officer who had came to the Center because he was currently on a break walked up to SpongeBob. "You've gotta leave this to the authorities." He took out his pistol. "We've got far better weapons than you. We'll be able to handle that... thing, trust me." He aimed the pistol at DoodleBob. "Watch."

**P-TAFF**

The police officer pulled the trigger.

**CRACKLE**

The bullet became consumed into atoms by DoodleBob's aura.

The police officer raised his brow, he did not know why the fired bullet did not hit DoodleBob. He then assumed that the bullet missed or grazed the drawing.

**P-TAFF P-TAFF P-TAFF**

The police officer fired a few more times at the drawing.

**C-C-CRACKLE**

The three bullets became consumed by the dark aura. DoodleBob was capable of making its aura do that by making its mind focus on the bullets. When its aura had transformed, its intelligence had increased significantly. The drawing then made a sinister smile and chuckled.

The police officer sweatdropping. "I-it's not working..." A fear of the drawing sprouted and then grew within the young man. His hands began to tremble because of his anxiety.

DoodleBob dashed towards the police officer and punched the officer's stomach with a** BASH**.

The police officer flew back by several feet and...

**SLAM**

...hit the wall.

"EVERYBODY, JUST GET OUTTA HERE!" SpongeBob yelled at the citizens again. "THE POLICE CAN'T HANDLE THIS!" The yellow square had made an accurate conclusion.

Almost everybody evacuated from the Recreation Center. The only remaining people were: SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, the fallen police officer, and DoodleBob.

DoodleBob slowly walked up to the police officer. It was smirking as it was walking. The drawing was going to finish off the defenseless man.

Patrick could no longer watch his friend and the officer get assaulted by that evil entity. The sea star had a strong will to help his friend and wanted to join the fight so he could prevent DoodleBob from hurting anymore people. He shakily stood up and then charged towards the drawing from behind. He leaped and flattened DoodleBob with a **SLAM**. He then sat on DoodleBob and rapidly punched the drawing with a **BAMBOPBAMPBOPBOPBOPBAMPBOMPBOPBAMBOPBAMP.**

**K-KLOK**

DoodleBob kicked Patrick with both of its feet.

Patrick fell to the floor with a **THUD**. He then stood up and did a rapid combo of karate moves.

**BAM KLOK BAMP BOP SHOOP BOMP BOP BAM KLOK KLOK BOP BAM BAM BOMP BAMP SHOOP KLOK SHOOP BAM**

DoodleBob dodged every hit and kicked Patrick's forehead with a **KLOK**.

Patrick fell to the floor again with a **THUD**.

DoodleBob wanted to leave the Recreation Center because Squilliam was not inside the building. It assumed that Squilliam had fled to a place that was far away from the Center. It thought that any attempts to find the octopus were futile. The drawing made a few stretches so its 'muscles' could relax. It then exited the building within three seconds, it was running at its maximum speed so it would lose its combatants.

A long pause.

The exhibit room became very silent.

"Fish paste, it got away." SpongeBob loudly whispered to himself. The yellow square was determined to destroy the abomination that he created. However, he knew that he had to properly prepare himself and possibly others if he was going to fight DoodleBob again.

Patrick shakily walked to his best friend. "What're we gonna do?" The starfish could not predict what evil deed that DoodleBob was going to commit next. The sea star was also nearly doubting that a simple prank that was meant for Squidward ended up being a threat to everybody in Bikini Bottom.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head again. The sponge smiled slightly because he thought that the idea was brilliant. "Let's call Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!" He spoke enthusiastically.

Patrick gasped and then made a wider smile. "Let's go, Sponge." He grabbed SpongeBob's wrist and then rushed towards the building's exit. "We don't have time to waste." The sea star wanted DoodleBob to be destroyed as quickly as possible so his normal Sunday could be resumed.

Squidward followed them and picked up his clarinet. He considered what they were going to do to be very important because he did not want his tiki become further destroyed. A fear of getting killed by DoodleBob was also in his mind because he had seen the drawing almost kill the police officer.

"Good luck." The police officer shakily stood up and made a thumbs-up towards the neighbors. He assumed that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were certainly capable of defeating DoodleBob. He slowly walked towards the building's exit so he could enter his parked police car.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down. He, Squidward, and Patrick were in the living room of the pineapple. The yellow square had a facial expression that was a mix of shock and disappointment. He had called the manager of Shady Shoals and found out that Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy, and several other seniors had went on a vacation to a beautiful resort in another county. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy had thought that the town was safe enough to be left alone for a few days.

Patrick noticed his best friend's face. "What happened?" He became concerned because there was a significantly high risk of losing if the sponge, him, and other friends had to fight the drawing without any superhero aid.

SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick. "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are on vacation." He spoke solemnly. "We're gonna have to follow our Spirit's advice." The sponge walked towards the door to the kitchen. He was going to retrieve his magical pages.

"My Spirit had say some stuff too. It was stuff like how the drawing was evil and how it could be erased and things like that." Patrick drank the orange juice in his cup in one gulp, he had asked the sponge for permission to drink some juice. A band-aid had been put on the puncture.

SpongeBob turned to look at the seastar somewhat. "Go get whatever remaining pages you have. You too, Squid." The sponge made eye contact with the octopus. The sponge then...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen.

Patrick and Squidward walked towards the front door and...

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick and Squidward entered the pineapple. They were holding a magical page each.

SpongeBob was holding two Holy Pages. "Guys, can you gimme those pages?" He signaled with his hand for Squidward and Patrick to come closer. He was trying to be polite.

Patrick and Squidward walked up to the sponge and gave him their magical pages.

"Why do I have to give you my page?" Squidward asked a question that was stuck to his mind. The two spirits had not mentally communicated with him about the evil drawing and the required method to defeat it. The octopus did not want to be uninformed because of his intense fear of DoodleBob.

"I need to gather enough pages so we can have a good chance at defeating DoodleBob. My Spirit said so." The yellow square spoke seriously. He was thinking about all of the destruction that DoodleBob was possibly doing at this very moment. The sponge had a strong urge to erase it as soon as possible. "As a matter of fact, you should go back to your home and stay there so you can be safe. You don't know karate or stuff like that and I don't want you to get hurt." The sponge was concerned for the Bikini Bottomites that could become affected by DoodleBob's wrath.

"Very well." Squidward turned around and walked towards the front door in relief. He had been worrying over the possibility that he would have to fight the white monstrosity. He wiped some sweat from his brow and...

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Why don't we bring Sandy with us? She had alota strength, y'know." The sea star thought that Sandy could severely injure the drawing; he was overestimating Sandy's physical abilities.

SpongeBob shook his head. "Sandy's strength can't compete with DoodleBob's magic. She'll get beaten up easily and her glass bubble might break if DoodleBob gathers enough magic." The sponge shuddered at the thought of Sandy drowning ultimately because of a mistake he had made. Such an abrupt end would make the 'potential' that had been building up during their relationship become wasted. The sponge's thoughts about Sandy gave him the urge to warn and protect her. "Hold on a sec." The yellow square walked up to the shell-phone and picked it up. He dialed Sandy's phone number and put the phone next to his ear.

A pause.

_"Hello?" _Sandy's electronic voice was heard.

"Sandy, have you seen the news?" SpongeBob spoke into the phone urgently. He assumed that DoodleBob's trail of destruction had became a breaking news report.

_"I'm watching it right now. What's the problem? You sound kinda worried." _Sandy could tell by the tone of SpongeBob's voice that something was wrong. The yellow square rarely makes such abrupt phone calls to her and the sponge is usually in high spirits during Sundays.

"Have you seen a news report a-about a w-white creature or a c-crazy drawing?" SpongeBob tried to sound calm but failed pathetically. The sponge's concern for the squirrel could not become more obvious.

Sandy's eyes bugged out. _"Yeah!"_ She nodded. _"They're showing it now. It's a breaking news report." _The squirrel was watching a news report about DoodleBob in the comfort of her living room.

"Sandy, it was all my fault. I was the one who created that drawing and it's my responsibility to erase it. I want you to stay in your home because it's far more safe there than what's going on outside. Don't worry about me, I've got those magical pages with me. Remember when I told you 'bout them? Their magic will help me out with fighting DoodleBob." SpongeBob blurted what was on his mind. The sponge felt like there was no point in hiding what he was truly thinking. "I'm doing this because I have to take care of anybody who gets hurt by DoodleBob; I'm the cause of all of this." The yellow square felt satisfied. He wishfully thought that Sandy was going to stay at the treedome.

_"Spo-" _Sandy immediately replied but got interrupted by SpongeBob. The yellow square interrupted her by putting his shell-phone back down.

"Woah." Patrick was surprised by how much information that SpongeBob emotionally poured out. "Buddy, you need to calm down." The sea star put both of his hands on SpongeBob's shoulders. Out of everybody in Bikini Bottom, he was one of the calmest. "If you worry too much about others, it'll only distract you from getting rid of that doodle." The starfish said some very wise words.

A long pause.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and tried to silence his doubtful inner voice. His kind and selfless nature was that voice's creator. The sponge tried to focus on looking at his situation from an objective perspective. "Pat, you're right. I was overreacting." The yellow square spoke in a more quiet voice.

Patrick turned around and walked towards the front door. "C'mon, Sponge. We got a drawing to beat up." The sea star looked at his best friend from the corner of his eye, made a thumbs-up, and smiled. He was trying to restore SpongeBob's optimism.

"Right!" SpongeBob grinned and folded the four magical pages. He then put those pages into his pocket. His determination increased by ten-fold. Optimistic thoughts filled his mind and consequently created valor. The sponge ran towards the front door and...

**SLAM**

...barged it open. He exited the pineapple.

Gary slithered up to him. "Meow." The snail had overheard the conversation in the living room. The idea of SpongeBob and Patrick almost carelessly risking their lives and safety to battle DoodleBob troubled the snail.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK**

SLAM

Sandy rapidly exited her treedome. She was extremely worried over SpongeBob's safety. The squirrel had saw footage on TV that consisted of DoodleBob destroying property and terrifying Bikini Bottom's populace. The squirrel could not tolerate the possibility of SpongeBob fighting such a monster by his lonesome. The squirrel ran towards the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were desperately roaming around Bikini Bottom for any signs of the horrid drawing.

"Where could he possibly be?" SpongeBob was scratching his head. The yellow square was puzzled because he could not figure out anymore possible locations for DoodleBob's hideout. He had heard from a citizen who watched the news that DoodleBob had created a hideout and was moving it constantly.

Patrick looked at his right and saw something that caught his eye. "Maybe he's in that poorly drawn pineapple." He pointed at the strange object.

A two-dimensional pineapple that was poorly drawn could be seen in the distance.

SpongeBob looked at the pineapple and gasped. The sponge then smiled widely; he was glad that he had brought Patrick along. "Thanks a bunch, Pat." He patted Patrick on the shoulder and then ran towards the pineapple. His lively side took control of his actions.

Patrick did not move at all. Battling DoodleBob would be more dangerous for him because he did not have any Holy Pages. "I'm not going in there." The sea star folded his arms and dove towards a large rock. He rolled on the ground until he was behind the rock.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The yellow square ran towards the rock that Patrick was hiding at and hid behind it as well. "I've got an idea. We'll sneak to the pineapple and you'll then distract him while I'll trap him with this book." The sponge whispered to the pink star. He took out a tiny yellow phone book from his pocket. It contained the phone numbers of family members, friends, and Krusty Krab coworkers.

Patrick nodded. "Better than nothing, I guess." The sea star saw no flaws with the sponge's plan. He even thought that the plan could work.

SpongeBob hopped out of the rock's back. "Let's go." He loudly whispered and then tip-toed towards the two-dimensional pineapple. He was trying to be as quiet as possible.

Patrick walked away from the rock. He then noticed that DoodleBob was peaking at him and SpongeBob from the left side of the flat pineapple. When he and DoodleBob made eye contact, the drawing quickly retreated to the pineapple's back. His intelligence increased by many levels. The sea star then realized that there was a possibility of him and SpongeBob getting ambushed by DoodleBob. He stopped moving so he could think of a possible counter-attack.

SpongeBob turned around to see if Patrick was following him. He saw a large distance between him and the sea star. "Don't worry, Pat. I'll protect you." He assumed that his best friend was hesitant.

Patrick, after thinking for several seconds, concluded that he cannot predict DoodleBob's ambush because the drawing's behavior was inconsistent. He decided that he and SpongeBob should eliminate DoodleBob as quickly as possible. The sea star quickly tip-toed towards his friend.

SpongeBob made a slight smile. "Baby steps. Almost there." He tried to encourage his best friend. His assumption about Patrick's hesitance lingered.

Once Patrick reached SpongeBob, the two best friends tip-toed at the same speed towards the pineapple.

Out of nowhere, DoodleBob landed in front of them. It drew a hole on the magical page with its pencil in less than a second. It held out the page towards the friends and jumped away from them.

A hole came out of the page and landed below SpongeBob and Patrick. The hole was not two-dimensional but certainly looked like it was hand-drawn.

S-S-S-S-S

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick fell to the hole's bottom.

A pause.

Patrick sat up. "What just happened?" He could not comprehend how a drawing could draw so quickly and make a hole land below his feet. It happened so quickly that it almost seemed like an illusion.

DoodleBob walked up to the hole's edge and looked down at the two best friends. _"Tedsu __hala__**d**__a__ rioreinfe. Amari-giallo angups tadap__** mourir**__. __**TADAP MOURIR. TADAP MOURIR. TADAP MOURIR. TADAP MOURIR. **__ Ego sum __**ZE **__**SHIN **__ijnopus__. Le wheke is satnala y gilesmra sowel." _The drawing spoke in an angry and arrogant manner. Like Squidward, it had a grandiose view of itself.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and then leaped to a ledge. He held on to the ledge and began to climb to the hole's circular wall. "C'mon, Pat. Give me a boost up." The yellow square was trying to climb as quickly as possible. He was making direct eye contact with his white enemy.

Patrick climbed the circular wall until he was next to the sponge. "I'm gonna push you to it, alright?" He whispered to his best friend's ear. He knew that surprise-attacking DoodleBob would switch the situation to their favor.

"Got it." SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He dug his fingers into the circular wall and tightened his muscles so his body would stay in place.

Patrick slid by a foot and then climbed to the left until he was below SpongeBob's body. The sea star bit his lip and then pushed the sponge's feet with all of the strength he could gather into his arms.

**THUD**

The starfish fell to the ground.

SpongeBob soared to the hole's exit and held out his fist.

The fist hit DoodleBob's chin with a **BAM**. DoodleBob fell to the ground with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob flew across the drawing and landed on his feet. The yellow square raised his leg so he could kick DoodleBob.

DoodleBob grabbed SpongeBob's foot, rapidly twirled SpongeBob's body, and threw the sponge towards a rock.

**BONK**

The yellow square hit the rock face-first. The sponge shakily stood up and got rid of his dizziness by concentrating on the drawing's body. The sponge then jumped towards DoodleBob and held out his leg. "Hi-yah!"

DoodleBob focused its gaze on SpongeBob's foot.

**CLINK**

The drawing's dark aura deflected the kick.

SpongeBob twirled in the air as he soared. The sponge eventually succumbed to gravity and flew back to the ground at a very fast speed.

DoodleBob stomped to the location of SpongeBob's growing shadow and pulled its fist. At the exactly right time, it swung its fist. The punch hit the top of the sponge's head with a **BOMP**.

SpongeBob flew across the flat pineapple and...

**THUD**

...landed on the ground. A sand cloud formed and eventually dissipated.

DoodleBob calmly walked to the flat pineapple and touched its surface with both of its drawing spread its dark aura to the pineapple until the pineapple became surrounded by the aura. DoodleBob concentrated its attention on the pineapple for ten seconds. The magical page that it was holding became brighter.

The flat pineapple became metallic.

DoodleBob lifted the pineapple with ease and repeatedly swung it at SpongeBob. The flat pineapple hit the yellow sponge's body with a **SLAM CRASH CLANK CLANG SLAM SLAM SLAM CLANG CLANK**. However, the metallic pineapple stopped moving in the middle of a swing.

SpongeBob's arms were glowing as bright as streetlights. He was pushing the flat pineapple so it would not hit him. The yellow square was intensely focusing on the metallic object and was getting power from the Holy Pages as a consequence.

"_RRRRRRRRRGGH!" _DoodleBob gritted its teeth. _"M__ure__v __p__**E**__rs__**O**__n__**A**__** sius**__ yo!" _The drawing threw the pineapple to the side and charged towards SpongeBob with a raised fist.

SpongeBob made a karate stance and raised his fist.

**B-BAM**

SpongeBob and DoodleBob's fists collided.

**BOOM**

The collision of the dark aura and the magical energy of SpongeBob's Holy Pages created an explosion.

DoodleBob and SpongeBob flew towards opposite directions. They landed on the ground with a **T-THUD**.

SpongeBob stood up, looked at the hole, and a light bulb lit up in his head. The yellow square ran towards the hole with all of the strength that he could muster into his legs.

DoodleBob narrowed its eyes at the fleeing sponge. It quickly hopped towards the sponge and held out its foot.

**THUD**

SpongeBob tripped on the foot.

**BAM BOMP BOP BAM BOP BOP BOP KLOK BAM KLOK BAM BASH BOFF BAM SLAM BOFF BOP BOMP BAMP BOP BAM SLAM**

DoodleBob mercilessly assailed the yellow square with punches and kicks. Its feet and hands were surrounded by purple 'flames' as they hit the sponge; it was spreading its aura to them so its hits could be more powerful.

SpongeBob was blocking the drawing's hits by putting his arms in front of his chest. His desire to give Patrick a certain object made a glowing shield form above his body. The shield deflected all of DoodleBob's punches and kicks with a **CLANG**.

DoodleBob rapidly flipped to the air and landed on a rock with a **BONK**. The drawing slumped to the ground and rolled across it. The shield's energy had severely pierced the drawing's aura.

SpongeBob jumped to his feet and walked up to the hole's edge. "PAT!" He waved with both of his hands. He could tell without looking that DoodleBob was walking up to him.

Patrick looked up at the yellow square. "You got him?" He smiled and stood up. The sea star wanted to go home and relax instead of sit in a hole where his best friend was being threatened by a murderous entity.

"No!" SpongeBob shook his head. "I need your help. Catch this." He took out his yellow phone book and tossed it to the starfish. The sponge looked behind and glanced at the approaching drawing. DoodleBob's dark purple aura was fully restored; the drawing was ready for another skirmish.

Patrick caught the tiny book. "I have to seal it myself?" The starfish scratched his head. Unfortunately, his intelligence had decreased.

"Yeah!" SpongeBob nodded. A white hand abruptly grabbed his head.

**BAM BOP KLOK**

DoodleBob punched SpongeBob two times and then kicked the sponge into the hole.

The yellow square fell into the hole. The drawing jumped into the hole and held out its foot.

Patrick dove to a corner of the circular wall and guarded by putting his arms before his face and chest.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and DoodleBob reached the hole's bottom. The yellow square was protected from most of the damage from the kick and the fall by a light aura. The light and dark aura then crashed and exploded with a **BOOM**.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and DoodleBob flew and hit back-first the opposite sides of the circular walls. The hole did not become damaged because erasing it was the only way to destroy the hole. However, the explosion and their collision made the ground in the vicinity of the hole rapidly vibrate for several seconds.

A medium-sized rock rolled into the hole and hit Patrick's head with a **BONK**.

SpongeBob slumped to the ground and then shakily stood up. He turned to look at his best friend. "You okay, Patrick?" From his perspective, the sea star had signs indicating that Patrick!/ mind was not in the best condition.

"Finland!" Patrick yelled a random name and then leaned on the circular wall. He was intensely dizzy because of the fallen rock.

SpongeBob jogged up to Patrick, grabbed the sea star's shoulders, and shook Patrick as hard as he could. Once Patrick showed signs that his mind was returning to normal, the yellow square took the phone book from Patrick's hand and held it out. "Remember?"

Patrick nodded and took the phone book. He shakily stood up and eventually became his normal self.

**BAM**

DoodleBob punched the sponge's back. It then began a series of punches with a **BAMBASHBOFFBAMBAMBASH**.

**FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH**

SpongeBob fended off the other punches with his hands. The yellow square then dodged the punches. He eventually uppercutted the drawing with a **BIFF**.

DoodleBob soared towards the hole's exit with a **SLAM**. It then tumbled to the bottom and landed on it with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob ran to the drawing, jumped to it and landed with his feet on top of DooldeBob, and then rapidly kicked the drawing with a **KLOKKLOKKLOKKLOKKLOKKLOKKLOKKLOK**. He was kicking by running in place while staying on top of DoodleBob. He turned towards Patrick. "NOW!" Now was the perfect opportunity.

Patrick ran towards DoodleBob as fast as he could and opened the phone book. He was about to make the book touch the drawing's forehead when...

**THUD**

...Sandy landed on the hole's bottom. She had discovered the location of the fight by hearing and seeing the explosions. The squirrel ran towards the drawing and kicked it as hard as she could with a **KLOK**.

DoodleBob tumbled to one side of the hole's bottom.

"Sandy, what're you doing here?!" SpongeBob spoke in a loud voice with bugged out eyes. He was amazed that Sandy was risking her life just to protect him. Although the squirrel had done similar deeds in the past, this was the first time that the squirrel had a higher risk of dying than him when doing such a deed. The Sandy he was seeing seemed to be more kinder than the one he usually sees during competitions or karate matches.

"I can't let you fight this monster by yourself. I can't stomach the idea of letting you risk your life without any of my help." Sandy revealed how much she cared about SpongeBob. However, there were slight hints of pride in her words. "If you get nastily injured anyway, at least I tried." She expressed how she would not give up without a fight.

SpongeBob blushed again. He could not help himself because of his lack of experience with the opposite sex. The sponge sometimes tried to hide his emotions from Sandy out of a fear that the squirrel would detect what he was truly feeling. However, those moments would end up being awkward because of his blushing.

**CLANG**

DoodleBob uppercutted Sandy.

The squirrel flew through the hole's exit and landed on the ground with a very loud **THUD**.

SpongeBob gasped and rapidly climbed the circular wall. His pages' magic increased the speed of his climbing.

DoodleBob grabbed Patrick and threw him towards the yellow square.

**SLAM**

Patrick hit SpongeBob's back like a cannonball. The two flew through the hole's exit and tumbled across the ground.

DoodleBob levitated until it was out of the hole. It took out the pencil, made the pencil's size increase until the pencil was more than ten times its original size, and then erased the hole. It shrunk the pencil back to normal and held out its Holy Page. DoodleBob was gazing at the shiny objects in one of SpongeBob's pockets. The drawing then drew a pair of tweezers on the Holy Page.

The pair of tweezers popped out of the magical page.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy ran towards DoodleBob. They all assumed that DoodleBob was now going to make weapons by drawing them on the page. Once they reached the drawing, the three tried to snatch the drawing's page.

DoodleBob intentionally punched a visible part of SpongeBob's light aura with a fist full of its dark aura. The drawing then formed a black sphere in less than a second.

**BOOM**

The auras collided to make an explosion.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy flew away from DoodleBob by several feet. They all landed on the ground with a **T-T-THUD** and then tumbled as they tried to stand up.

DoodleBob picked up the pair of tweezers from the ground and enlarged it until the pair of tweezers were eighteen times their original size. The drawing walked towards the three while holding the giant pair of tweezers.

The sponge, the sea star, and the squirrel stood up. Patrick and Sandy ran towards DoodleBob while SpongeBob made a karate stance. The sponge was the only one who was waiting because he wanted to see what DoodleBob was trying to do.

DoodleBob dashed towards the yellow square. It spread the dark aura to its feet and consequently ran so fast that it almost became a black blur. It held out both of its fists towards the incoming sea star and squirrel.

**B-BWOK**

Patrick got hit in the face while Sandy's helmet vibrated from the strong impact. They both became dizzy and collapsed to the ground.

DoodleBob halted with a **SCREEEECH**. The distance between SpongeBob and the drawing was less than a foot. The drawing then jabbed SpongeBob's glowing pocket with the giant pair of tweezers. The pair of tweezers took out SpongeBob's five magical pages. The drawing then tossed the pair of tweezers to the air and caught those five pages. DoodleBob folded its six pages into one crumpled page so they would be more easy to carry around. Once the pair of tweezers landed on the ground, the drawing erased it with its pencil.

SpongeBob's face became pallid and his eyes bugged out. "O-oh no..." He began to sweat profusely. With his only method of fighting DoodleBob gone, it was only a matter of time before he and his two friends would get killed by the drawing.

Cracks appeared on DoodleBob's dark purple aura. More and more cracks appeared until...

**SHATTER**

...the aura broke. However, purple particles came out of the six folded pages and surrounded DoodleBob. The particles gathered together to form large dark purple masses of magical energy. The masses then combined to form a dark purple dome that surrounded DoodleBob. Flames of bright purple were on the dome's surface. The drawing's personality began to change again. The constant collisions between its dark aura and sponge's former aura had made it inherit SpongeBob's personality traits. DoodleBob's personality was not fleshed out so it was still subject to personality changes.

_**You must escape. Gather your friends and retreat to your home. At this point, you must use a magical weapon.**_

SpongeBob ran towards the bodies of Patrick and Sandy. 'How can I find or use a magical weapon?" He rapidly shook the two bodies and wiped some sweat from his face. The yellow square was looking at DoodleBob from the corner of his eye.

Patrick and Sandy shakily stood up. The squirrel quickly recovered from her dizziness. The sea star was still dizzy because he had slight difficulties when it came to movement.

"Guys, DoodleBob stole all of my pages! My Spirit said that we need to go to my house ASAP." SpongeBob spoke with some anxiety. He and Patrick were feeling a chilly sensation coming from their left. DoodleBob's aura dome was so powerful that most people could sense or feel it without even touching it.

"Got it!" Patrick made a thumbs-up and then ran as fast as he could towards SpongeBob's pineapple.

SpongeBob and Sandy followed the sea star.

DoodleBob walked away from the three friends. It no longer cared about killing the friend trio because it wanted to build a better hideout. The drawing had a strong urge to make a plan for its takeover of Bikini Bottom.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy entered the pineapple.

_**There is a magical weapon in this very house... it is in a chest in your bedroom. I believe it is a golden spatula that you have received from some sort of competition. **_

The yellow square turned to look at his friends. "Guys, wait right here. I'm gonna go get something. My Spirit's telling me that it's really important." SpongeBob turned back and walked towards the open doorway to the kitchen. "Hey, Gary." He beamed when he saw his snail. The yellow square then resumed his walk.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked back to his friends with the Golden Spatula in his hand. "I'm ready to go." The yellow square smiled confidently. His Guardian Spirit had told him about the power of the Golden Spatula. He optimistically predicted that he could break DoodleBob's aura barrier with ease.

Patrick tilted his head to the side as he looked at the utensil. "You can use a spatula as a weapon?" His question was based on a few assumptions. He had expected the sponge to bring back a pencil instead of a spatula.

SpongeBob giggled. "Not all spatulas, silly." The yellow square held out the Golden Spatula. "Just this one. My Spirit said that its material and amount of magical energy was meant more for a weapon than a regular ole utensil. He even said that it's so powerful that its power totally depends on how good I am at using it." The yellow square gave a very valid explanation for why he was bringing the Golden Spatula with him.

"No wonder it was put on top o' that pile." Sandy had heard about the famous museum site of the Golden Spatula before the weapon had been pulled out by SpongeBob. "Is that all we need? Something could go wrong, y'know." The squirrel was deeply thinking about DoodleBob's current state. She knew that every skirmish with the drawing was dangerous.

"I need somebody to slow down and distract DoodleBob. I can't really hit it with the spatula if it keeps dodging it." SpongeBob quickly replied. The sponge looked at Patrick and Sandy with confidence. He was sanguine about the next battle with DoodleBob.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I can distract it with music." The starfish smiled at his tiny success.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up towards Patrick. "Good thinking, Pat. You can use my portable radio if you want." He pointed in the direction of his garage. The sponge then looked at Sandy. "How about you?" He assumed that Sandy had an idea as well.

Patrick exited the living room by walking down the hallway.

"The energy that this 'DoodleBob' emitted felt real familiar. When I was in Texas, I felt similar chills whenever someone got possessed by a malicious ghost. As a matter of fact, when I was around those special herbs whenever I got those chills, the herbs always make them go away. I still got some of those herbs at my home. My parents gave them to me as good luck charms." Sandy went into a tiny bout of nostalgia. A light bulb then lit up in her head. "Sponge, can you and Pat wait for a sec? I'm gonna bring those herbs over here really fast! If DoodleBob has the same negative energy as those ghosts, then maybe the herbs might work on him!" The squirrel explained her idea with haste before...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exiting the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy were walking in a specific direction. SpongeBob and Patrick's Guardian Spirit was guiding them towards DoodleBob's location. The aura collisions made the Guardian Spirit remember and sense DoodleBob's aura. The yellow square was holding his Golden Spatula, Patrick was holding a portable radio which was currently turned off, and Sandy was holding a bottle of magical herbs. The herbs were magical because magic had been fused into them by a master magician long ago.

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob was in an area that was several miles away from Jellyfish Fields. It was jumping from dune to dune and from rock to rock as it searched for a suitable location for its new hideout. The dome-like aura made its presence become very obvious to all living sea creatures. It had learned a spell because it had gotten used to having such a powerful aura.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The friend trio were several feet before the dark purple aura.

"Okay." SpongeBob whispered and turned around. He tapped Patrick on the starfish's shoulder because the sea star was daydreaming. He then spoke once he caught the sea star's attention. "Go, Pat!" He whispered loudly and pointed at the 'dome'.

Patrick nodded and made a solemn face. He pressed the 'ON' button and set the radio on the ground. He changed the station by pressing the 'NEXT' button. With each press, the number being shown on the radio's small screen changed by a digit. Once the starfish reached his desired channel, he blasted the radio to the maximum volume. The music on the station was free-form jazz.

DoodleBob turned to look at the radio. _"What?" _It raised its brow. This was the first time that it was hearing music in real life. Some of the memory fragments it had received from Squidward had snippets of music in them. The drawing, out of curiosity, walked towards the radio. Unlike Squidward, it did not have a musical preference yet.

SpongeBob smiled in delight. 'It's working!' He thought optimistically. He did not allow his excitement to control his body, however. 'I can't get too giddy. It might notice and catch on with the plan.' The yellow square then stood cautiously.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Once DoodleBob reached a certain distance towards the radio, SpongeBob looked at Sandy. "Now's your chance!" The sponge cupped his hands near his mouth and loudly whispered to the squirrel.

Sandy opened the bottle and ran into the aura dome unscathed. The magical herbs protected her from the damaging effects of DoodleBob's dark energy.

DoodleBob immediately looked at Sandy and glared at her. It considered her to be an extreme threat because of the herbs' properties. The drawing held out its hands towards Sandy and focused all of its attention on her. Dark purple 'flames' formed on its palms. _"__**MUDO**__." _It said the name of its recently learned spell.

The dark flames transformed into dark-colored letters of ancient languages. The letters darted towards the squirrel. The letters then surrounded Sandy and flattened themselves to the ground to form a circle.

"H-huh?" Sandy became perplexed by what she was seeing. The squirrel could not fully figure out what the letters were going to do or what was DoodleBob's exact intention. However, she could tell by the drawing's bitter face that that intention was malicious.

The letters began to glow in a light purple hue.

_**The drawing has casted a Mudo spell! If that spell hits her, she will surely die or become fatally injured. **_

SpongeBob gasped and ran as fast as he could towards Sandy. The spatula began to glow and he raised it as he got closer and closer to the purple barrier. The sponge then ripped his way through the aura with a **SLASH**.

DoodleBob reeled in pain. The slash into the aura felt like a bee sting. Since the drawing was made out of magical energy and had a direct connection to its spells, any damage to its magical manifestations would end up hurting it as well.

**SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH**

SpongeBob slashed all of the light purple letters into pieces. The yellow square pointed at the lurching DoodleBob. "Get it now!"

Sandy narrowed her eyes at the drawing, ran with all of the strength she could muster into her powerful legs, and threw the bottle towards DoodleBob.

**FASH**

DoodleBob blocked the bottle with its hand at the last second. It then rapidly shook its hand because the herbs' magic left a burning sensation on that hand.

'We're gonna have to do this the hard way.' SpongeBob ran towards the drawing and held out the Golden Spatula. He realized that there was no easy way to win this battle with DoodleBob. As he ran, he looked at Patrick. "PAT, SURPRISE DOODLEBOB!" He was desperate to have any advantage he could get.

Patrick nodded and then changed the radio's station to a heavy metal one within a second. He set the radio as close to the aura dome as possible.

The radio's sudden music change surprised DoodleBob. It made it unaware of its surroundings for only a few seconds.

**SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH SLASH**

SpongeBob rapidly slashed at DoodleBob.

Several cuts appeared on the drawing's skin. The drawing managed to endure the slashes and held out its hands towards SpongeBob.

**B-B-B-BOOM**

DoodleBob fired a volley of dark energy spheres at point blank range.

**C-C-C-CLANK**

SpongeBob deflected the dark spheres with the spatula.

Sandy stealthily ran around the drawing and picked up the bottle. She then tip-toed away from DoodleBob and charged towards it. She held out the bottle but did not make any karate vocalizations.

**SHATTER**

The squirrel swung the bottle on DoodleBob's forehead. The drawing's flatness cut the bottle in half. All of the herbs landed on DoodleBob's face.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHhhhhhh**_**hhhhhhh****hhhhhh**hhhhhhh..." DoodleBob screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground. The light magical energy in the herbs prevailed over the drawing's dark magical energy. It did not have enough Holy Pages to gather enough dark energy to overcome the herbs' light energy.

**SHATTER**

Its aura broke into a plethora of shards. Once those shards landed on the ground, they disappeared.

DoodleBob was now in an incredibly vulnerable state. SpongeBob's pencil rolled out of its hand.

A pause.

SpongeBob picked up his pencil and narrowed his eyes at DoodleBob. He knew what he had to do in order to serve proper justice. He crouched and put the pencil's eraser tip on the back of DoodleBob's head. "Take that and this and THIS AND THAT AND THAT AND THIS AND **THIS AND THAT AND THAT AND THIS!**" The yellow square nearly erased DoodleBob's entire body. The only body part left was the drawing's right arm. The sponge left that body part alone because he assumed that DoodleBob needed a 'brain' in order to move its limbs. "I AM SPONGEBOB, DESTROYER OF EVIL!" SpongeBob held out his pencil towards the sun. His victory cry announced the end of the long and grueling battle.


	72. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III

**Chapter 72: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III**

* * *

A long pause.

SpongeBob tucked his pencil into his pocket. He picked up the folded Holy Pages and unfolded them. He gave two of them to Patrick and kept the other three. The yellow square looked at the squirrel. "Thanks a lot, Sandy. That fight would've been much more harder without your help." The sponge spoke from the bottom of his heart. "How come you're so... nice all of sudden?" SpongeBob felt like asking a more personal question would not hurt.

"I just couldn't accept the idea of you fighting DoodleBob by yourself. After all of the nice stuff you've done for me and the friendship you gave me, I thought that it would be disrespectful to leave you alone like that." Sandy spoke from the bottom of her heart as well. "You've given more than you can credit yourself with and deserve much more nice things too." She smiled warmly.

"I know you aren't nice all the time though." SpongeBob smiled in a silly manner. "Especially when we do ka-rah-tay." The sponge was in the mood to fight the squirrel in a karate match.

"Is that a challenge?" Sandy raised her brow and smirked. Whenever SpongeBob said "ka-rah-tay", it almost always meant that SpongeBob wanted to have a karate match with her.

"Yep." SpongeBob nodded enthusiastically. "I'll go home real quick to get my gear." The yellow began to walked towards his pineapple. He continued to look at the squirrel. "I'll see you at your house." He smiled widely and then walked more quickly.

Patrick made a few stretches and took a few deep breaths. The starfish wanted to have a well-earned nap. He walked towards his rock as Sandy walked to her treedome.

A very, very long pause.

DoodleBob's arm crawled towards SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine and a half minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the front door of the tiki.

**KNOCK KNOCK**

The yellow square knocked on the front door.

**CRREEAAAK**

Squidward opened the front door. The octopus immediately felt like now was the best time to reveal the truth to the yellow square. The octopus, after the selfish acts he had committed against the sponge at the Recreation Center, thought that the yellow sponge deserved some hospitality. "You can come in." Squidward stepped out of the way.

SpongeBob gasped and then smiled in delight. This was the first time that the octopus had ever treated him with such kindness while being at the tiki's doorstep. The sponge walked through the open doorway.

**SLAM**

Squidward closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

"What drink would you like?" Squidward walked up to the kitchen's entrance and stood in front of it with his back facing the entrance. He was treating SpongeBob with an unusual amount of kindness because he predicted that the truth was going to upset the yellow square.

SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly. "What do you have?" He could not hide his happiness.

"I have orange juice, apple juice, Coca-cola, water, lemon iced tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea." Squidward said all of the drinks in the fridge that he could immediately think of.

"Iced tea sounds nice." SpongeBob smiled widely and entered the kitchen. Lemon iced tea was one of his favorite drinks.

Squidward followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward opened the refrigerator and took out a gallon of lemon iced tea. He took out two cups from a cabinet and poured the container's iced tea into them until the cups were full. He gave a cup to SpongeBob and sat in the table with his cup.

SpongeBob sat in the table as well and began to drink his cup of iced tea. The yellow square immediately fell in love with the iced tea brand that he was drinking because the tea was sweetened perfectly.

"SpongeBob, I've got something to tell you. I was going to tell you this not long after you left the Center. I've waited a long time for a moment like this because I wanted you to be as ready and willing as possible." Squidward tried to eliminate any possible questions that SpongeBob had. He wanted the confession to go as smoothly and painlessly as possible. "I will now begin. I was too selfish when I taught you about art techniques. My jealousy of your and other people's talents blinded me and found its way into my teachings. I tried to diminish your talents so I would feel like I am superior instead of vice-versa. I made you redo your wonderful art pieces because if I showed you mine, yours would obviously rival them. You should forget all of the techniques I have taught you and whenever you make any of the creations that I discussed, just do the techniques you had used before you came to my class. When I came to the Center, I expected my art to become famous and my class being students who were amateurs. As a matter of fact, a famous art collector called Monty P. Moneybags visited the Center when you were gone. I was planning on taking credit for the statue because I knew that Monty would not suspect me of any crime and it would also bring me alotta fame and fortune. However, the statue broke when we were getting it outta the classroom. That was why I brought you back to the Center. When you were not making the statue I wanted, I became angry." Squidward dropped a massive amount of information. Hiding any aspect of the information would not change the fact that he had acted no better than his former and current rivals and enemies.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped and he simply looked at Squidward for a long time. For the entire duration of the art class, Squidward, not SpongeBob, was the inferior person. The yellow square was the one who was being the ideal student while Squidward was one of the worst types of teachers. The sponge thought about what he should say but no words came out of his mouth.

"SpongeBob, I know what you're thinking." Squidward could tell that SpongeBob was thinking about how he was a teacher of poor quality during the class. "I'm sorry for what I did. You shouldn't come to the Recreation Center for art classes. Your art skills are good enough as it is." The octopus tried to cheer SpongeBob up with a compliment. If SpongeBob remained in an upset state, he would only feel more guilty and like a hypocrite.

A pause.

SpongeBob nodded and drank all of the iced tea in his cup. "Why would you need fame and fortune?" He finally came up with a question.

That question pierced into Squidward's soul. "You would have to take a good look at my whole life. I can't totally answer that unless you want to stay here all day." The octopus replied and drank some of his iced tea.

SpongeBob stood up from his seat and put his cup in the sink. He quickly forgave Squidward because he still considered him to be a 'friend'. "It's okay, Squid. I forgive you. Friends can't get along all the time anyway." The sponge beamed and made eye contact with the octopus. He had said a basic truth about friendships in a nearly child-like manner. He acted almost like the art class had never happened. "Even me and Pat argue now and then."

Squidward, however, did not allow the art class to leave his mind. It reminded him of the destructive effects of his enviousness and his potential to bring people down to his level of mediocrity. The art class also brought in some reality into his delusional view of himself. Ironically, the art class haunted Squidward instead of SpongeBob (who was more prone to shock and surprise).

"Well, see ya later." SpongeBob walked towards the open doorway. "And thanks for the tea." He waved at the octopus before leaving the kitchen and...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exiting the tiki.

Squidward marveled at the resilience of SpongeBob's optimism and cheerfulness. Throughout his life, such individuals were rare because he met people who are pessimistic whenever around him, put him down to their own levels of mediocrity, and humiliate him.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was cleaning his pineapple with a mop and a water bucket. He was currently mopping the living room's floor. The yellow square wanted to have a peaceful end to this turbulent Sunday.

**RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

SpongeBob stepped to the shell-phone and picked it up. "Yello? This is SpongeBob speaking." The yellow square spoke cheerfully.

"_SpongeBob, have you informed anybody about me factory?" _A very familiar electronic voice was heard.

"I only told Pat about it 'cause he saw the explosion. I simply said that the building was your factory." SpongeBob spoke honestly. His relationship with Mr. Krabs was currently very rough; he did not forget what happened last week. He stopped smiling.

"_SpongeBob, I beg of you, do not tell anybody about me factory! I will get sued to the point where I'll have to shut down the Krusty Krab. Even if I don't get sued, the Krusty Krab's reputation'll be ruined for sure. If that happens, it'll shut down anyway and you won't be the Krusty Krab's fry cook anymore. For the sake of the customers and me employees, please do not tell!" _Mr. Krabs sounded very serious and desperate. The crab had nightmares about SpongeBob telling the police about the factory and living as a vagabond. The crab then put down the shell-phone on his end. He predicted that the continuing the conversation anymore will make SpongeBob more likely to tell citizens and the authorities.

SpongeBob took several seconds to gather the information that was blurted at him. Telling people about the factory was the more moral option. That option almost might eventually lead to the creation of laws that gives better protection to jellyfish from unnecessary harm and environmental damage. He might also be thought of as a hero by the citizens since he would be going against his boss' wishes for doing the 'right thing'. However, the other option had its pros as well. Not telling anybody (except for Patrick) about the factory would ensure future employment at the Krusty Krab. It would also allow people to continue enjoying Krabby Patties and the other wonderful items on the Galley Grub.

Both of those options had major cons. Telling about the factory would almost certainly lead to the end of the Krusty Krab and his job. Not telling about the factory, on the other hand, could lead to repeated offenses from Mr. Krabs. However, Mr. Krabs non-selfish reason for the exploitation of the jellyfish (Pearl's desire for a renovated anchor) gave him some hope that Mr. Krabs could change.

'I gotta have some time to think this through.' SpongeBob came to a conclusion. Bedtime was less than two hours away. He had already reserved that time with other activities. The yellow square resumed his mopping.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary were sleeping tranquilly on the bed and on the newspaper pile.

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob's arm crawled to the pineapple's front door. It had waited a very long time because it wanted to attack SpongeBob during a time of vulnerability (when the sponge was sleeping). All of DoodleBob's body parts had some sort of intelligence. The arm jumped to the door's handle and twisted it with a **CRREEEAAAK**. It then jumped to the ground and crawled into the pineapple. It closed the front door with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

The arm crawled to a pencil that was laying on the floor. It picked up the pencil and redrew its former body slowly and carefully. DoodleBob searched through the living room for the yellow square while holding the pencil. When it realized that he was not in the room, it...

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

DoodleBob entered the bedroom. By that point, its personality had been mostly replaced with some intensified versions of SpongeBob's traits. It walked up to the bed and stared at the yellow square. It was waiting for SpongeBob to toss to the other side so it could punch him in the face.

The sounds of DoodleBob's entrance and footsteps woke up SpongeBob. The yellow square turned to the other side and sat up. He then sweatdropped profusely and his face drained of color when he saw who had entered the room.

_"You doodle!" _DoodleBob pointed at the sponge. _"Me SpongeBob!" _The drawing had inherited the sponge's idealism. However, its ideals were so divorced from reality that they were more like delusions than goals of perfection. It then punched the yellow square with a **BAM BOP BAM**.

**THUD**

The yellow square fell to the floor. SpongeBob then stood up and karate-kicked DoodleBob with a **KLOK**.

**SLAM**

DoodleBob hit the wall.

SpongeBob jumped over the bed, picked up the drawing, barged the door open with a **SLAM**, and threw DoodleBob to the stairs.

The drawing tumbled down the stairs and eventually landed on the floor. _"Me need page!" _It began its search for a magical page. It opened the kitchen door with a **CRREAK**.

SpongeBob gasped and slid down the banister. He hopped to the floor and ran through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw DoodleBob searching through a cabinet. He jumped and kicked the drawing's back with a **KLOK**. When he landed on the floor, he karate-chopped the drawing with a **SHOOP**.

**BIFF**

The sponge then finished his combo with an uppercut.

**SLAM**

The drawing hit the ceiling and then fell to the floor. It jumped to its feet and rapidly punched SpongeBob with a **BAM BOP BOMP BAM BOP BASH**.

**FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH**

SpongeBob fended off the other punches with his hands. The first several punches had hit him. The sponge pushed DoodleBob out of the way and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...entered the living room. He was going to the hiding spot for the Holy Pages.

DoodleBob barged the door with a **SLAM** and entered the living room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the closet with a **CRREEAAK **and took out his two magical pages. He quickly folded the pages and tucked them into his pocket. The yellow square ran towards DoodleBob and...

**SHOOP**

...karate-chopped it out of the way. The sponge then ran into the kitchen.

_"Rrrrrgh!" _DoodleBob became more determined to erase SpongeBob. It followed the sponge as fast as it could.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and DoodleBob ran through the dark hallway and entered the library. The yellow square punched and kicked with a **BAM KLOK POW BOP KLOK KLOK KLOK BOP BAM BASH KLOK**. The drawing rapidly karate-chopped with a **SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP**. DoodleBob had inherited SpongeBob's karate skills along with the sponge's personality.

Both of them became injured by the other.

SpongeBob ran to a shelf and randomly took out a book. The yellow square then ran up to DoodleBob. "I was voted most artistic in high school." He tried to confuse the drawing by saying a random fact.

DoodleBob stopped running and tried to decipher SpongeBob's 'cryptical' message. It assumed that the yellow square was playing around with it by saying important information in obscure ways.

SpongeBob opened the book and then closed it on DoodleBob's body. He was making a silly smile because he thought that he won the battle.

DoodleBob could not move. The close book had paralyzed its body.

_**In order to seal it, you must take out a Holy Page and put it on the book.**_

SpongeBob's Guardian Spirit said the final instruction for defeating DoodleBob.

The yellow square took out a magical page and put it on the book's cover.

**POOF**

DoodleBob shrunk and became part of a page. The yellow square flipped to the page that DoodleBob had been sealed to. He noticed that the abomination looked like it had been drawn on that page. With a satisfied smile, he took a deep breath and put the book on the couch chair. He walked up to the slide and quickly ran up on one of its edges.

**CREEAAK **

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom to resume his sleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The book was several feet away from the chair. Although it was sealed to the book, DoodleBob was still able to move by 'pushing' the book.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

After an arduous journey, DoodleBob reached the living room. There were two factors that the Guardian Spirit had overlooked: the drawing's ability to move and the minimum amount of dark energy that DoodleBob had. The drawing intensely concentrated on the thought of an escape from the book.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob had enough energy to exit and re-enter the book. It peeled itself out of the book's page and crawled out of the book. Its flatness allowed it to move through very narrow pathways. It quickly enlarged back to its normal size. The drawing walked towards the front door and...

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the pineapple. It decided that it was going to eliminate SpongeBob at a later date because it wanted to be better prepared.

S-S-S-S-S

A week later...

S-S-S-S-S

August 3, 2008

Sunday morning.

SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting on the couch, they were in the living room. The two best friends were watching another thrilling episode of The New Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The episode being shown was a rerun of one that was initially shown a few weeks ago. Regardless of how many times that they had seen the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick focused their attention on the TV screen.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

"I'll get it!" SpongeBob hopped from the couch and jogged to the shell-phone. He picked it up and brought it to his ear. "Hello?" He spoke in a friendly manner.

"_This is Barnacle Boy. Mermaid Man and I are gonna go to another town for a bingo tournament. We've practiced for a few months, including our vacation. We'll be out of town for the day so me and Mermaid Man expect you to watch the Mermalair while we're gone. We gave you and your best friend this responsibility because you two are the, if not, one of the most enthusiastic fans we've ever met. I believe you two are also loyal and responsible enough to do such a favor for us." _Barnacle Boy told SpongeBob some important news. He and Mermaid Man thought that the best friend duo were some of the most loyal fans because those two best friends always greeted them with enthusiasm and also always wanted to hold a conversation with them whenever they had walked out of Shady Shoals. He also did not forget the time when SpongeBob and Patrick got to see how it was like to be a superhero. _"If you don't guard the Mermalair, evil may start lurking around and you'll also disappoint us." _The superhero warned SpongeBob of the consequences so the chances of the friend duo coming to the Mermalair would be guaranteed.

The yellow square made a solemn face and nodded. "We'll be there right away!" SpongeBob spoke ambitiously. The volume raise in his voice piqued Patrick's curiosity.

The sea star stood up from the couch and walked up to his best friend.

"_Good. Meet us near Shady Shoals. We'll be waiting for you." _Barnacle Boy immediately replied and then put the shell-phone down on his end. He fully trusted SpongeBob and Patrick because the sponge's reply sounded assuring enough.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down and turned to look at Patrick. "Pat, we gotta go to the retirement home ASAP. Barnacle Boy just told me that we need to watch the Mermalair 'cause he and Mermaid Man are gonna leave for a bingo tournament. They're counting on us!" The sponge spoke hastily.

Patrick made a military salute. "Got it!" He made a very serious face. He ran to the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

The two best friends hurriedly exited the pineapple. Their concern for their favorite superheroes could not make their intense devotion to them more obvious.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick jogged to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. Only a few drops of sweat were running down their faces. "Man Sponge..." The sponge made a military salute and smiled slightly. The sponge considered doing a favor for the superhero duo to be such an honor that he had to give himself a superheroic name. "..and Boy Patrick." Patrick decided to play along with what his friend was doing. "Reporting for duty." They spoke simultaneously.

"Yeah, yeah, follow me." Barnacle Boy walked towards the Mermalair and signaled with his hands for the others to follow him. He was excited for the bingo tournament and consequently wanted his wait for the tournament to be shorter. Telling the two best friends about Mermalair maintenance only made his wait seem longer.

SpongeBob and Patrick made wide skips. "Up, up, and away!" The two best friends spoke in unison. They were saying the famous line that the superhero duo usually says before diving into a crime scene. The two were extremely excited because they were going to see the Mermalair with their own eyes for the first time ever.

"Evil!" Mermaid Man jumped in fright. He always associated that line with memories and mental images of crime scenes occurring throughout the city. That line always gave him a subconscious boost in urgency.

An awkward pause.

Once the old man realized that no supervillain was nearby, he caught up with the other three.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Barnacle Boy walked up to the large rock. He took out the key and twisted it into the small keyhole.

**SSHIIIIMMMMM**

The automatic door opened.

**FLICK**

Barnacle Boy turned on the Mermalair's lights by flicking a nearby switch.

SpongeBob and Patrick were speechless. Their eyes were wide as they marveled at the entrance to one of the most iconic places in the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy franchise. The two had never realized how awesome it was to look at and hear the Mermalair's door until now.

Barnacle Boy realized that the best friends were dazed. He walked up to them and snapped his fingers.

SpongeBob and Patrick made eye contact with Barnacle Boy, they remembered their task of guarding the secret base. They then walked into the entrance.

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy followed them.

S-S-S-S-S

The four walked down the long set of stairs. SpongeBob and Patrick took their time with their walking because they wanted to absorb the new scenery into their minds The best friends thought that they will only see the Mermalair a few times in their lifetimes.

S-S-S-S-S

The four eventually reached the lair's lobby.

Barnacle Boy stood in front of the yellow sponge and the pink star. "Now, we want you boys to keep an eye on _every single part_ of this place." He reiterated because he could tell that getting information into the awestruck best friends was going to be a challenge. "Water the plants and make sure that-"

SpongeBob had wandered to a large metal panel that had numerous cylindrical glass cases. Those cases had some of the sturdiest glass in the world. They were also airtight so any contaminants or other substances in the air would not damage the items contained in the cases. "Oh my gosh... this is the greatest wall of superhero super gadgetry ever!" The sponge released his thoughts of awe as spoken words. The sponge could not resist the lair's grandiosity.

Patrick could not resist the Mermalair's grandiosity either. His intelligence and rationality decreased as he continued to marvel at the lair. He had a powerful urge to savour his time in the Mermalair. "I'm gonna play with the Aqua-Glove!" The starfish began a desperate search for the Aqua-Glove. His excitement made him run at an absurd speed.

"Hold on there!" Barnacle Boy chased Patrick and caught him by grabbing the starfish's pants. "You cannot play with this stuff." He scolded the sea star and turned to look at SpongeBob. "That goes for you too. The weapons and tools in this cave are meant for professionals like us." He let go of Patrick's pants.

**THUD**

Patrick fell to the floor and stood up. "What about the Orb of Confusion?" The sea star walked to the glass case that contained the Orb of Confusion. The Orb of Confusion was a special weapon that made whoever was in its radius become unable to properly think or perceive reality. He always wondered about how it was like to get affected by that orb. The orb's shininess intensified its allure.

Mermaid Man shook his head. "No, no! Prolonged exposure from the Orb of Confusion will give you... uh... confusion..." The old man forgot the ending of his sentence. He was able to remember some parts of the missing word. "...it's on the tip of my tongue..." He put a hand on his chin as he struggled to remember.

Patrick walked away from the Orb of Confusion. He understood that the superhero duo did not want him to touch it. "What about the invisible boatmobile?" He held out his hands and eventually found the boatmobile by feeling its metal surface. He had wondered about how driving a car was like.

Barnacle Boy stomped to Patrick. "Especially not the invisible boatmobile. When we say don't touch anything, Don't. Touch. Anything." He reiterated the command so Patrick could fully comprehend what he should and should not do. "Do you understand?"

SpongeBob walked back to Barnacle Boy. He and Patrick made military salutes. "Loud and clear trusted boy companion!" They spoke in unison, with honesty, and with confidence.

Barnacle Boy smiled in relief. Like SpongeBob's reply during the phone conversation, it assured him of any doubts about the two best friends. "Well, great." He took out the key. "Here's the key." He tossed it towards the yellow square.

SpongeBob caught the key without much effort. He then repeatedly tossed the key from his dominant hand to his other hand and vice-versa.

"We'll see you in the evening." Barnacle Boy walked up the stairs that led to the exit. He took a final glance at the best friend duo before he stepped into the outside world.

"Up, up, and away." Mermaid Man hastily skipped up the stairs. He exited the cave as well.

A long pause.

SpongeBob noticed that there was a keyhole near the open doorway. He ran up the stairs and looked at the keyhole for several seconds. 'If there's a keyhole on the other side, then maybe...' The sponge twisted the key into the keyhole to test a notion of his.

**SSHHIIMMMM**

The automatic door closed.

The yellow square smiled at his tiny success. His notion was correct. SpongeBob then walked downstairs and made a solemn face. Unlike Patrick, he was very aware of the seriousness of his and Patrick's duty. He entered the lobby and walked towards Patrick. "Come, Boy Patrick. While our heroes are away, we will keep evil at bay."

Patrick was wandering down a hallway. He wanted to explore the whole lair so he could become familiar with its layout. "Huh?" Something alarming caught his attention. "M-M-M-MA-M-M-MA-M-MA-" It frightened him so much that he struggled to utter a complete word.

"What is it trusted sidekick?" SpongeBob was walking towards the sea star. He was looking at his surroundings in a search for what was disturbing his companion. He could not immediately find anything that was worrying.

"M-M-M-MA-M-M-MA-M-MA-" Patrick was sweating heavily, his face was a shade of light pink; and his limbs were shaking because he became absolutely terrified of what he was seeing. His heartbeat had quickened to a rapid pace. "M-M-M-MA-M-M-MA-M-MA-"

SpongeBob stood next to the sea star. He looked up and saw what was scaring his best friend. His eyes bugged out and he became equally as afraid of the object as Patrick was. 'M-M-M-MA-M-M-MA-M-MA-" He and Patrick were stuttering at the same time.

Man Ray, one of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's arch-nemeses, was trapped in frozen tartar sauce that had been shaped into a cylinder-like shape. His face was stuck in a sinister expression. His raised hands indicated that he had been attacking the superheroes when he had gotten trapped in the sauce.

"Man Ray!" SpongeBob yelled and then hid by a panel of gadgets. He thought that Man Ray was going to attack him and Patrick because he did not notice the frozen tartar sauce. The sea star ran to the panel and hid behind it as well because the starfish had thoughts similar to SpongeBob's.

A very long pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick were on their knees. They were guarding themselves by positioning their forearms before their faces. However, Man Ray did not attack them; the supervillain did not leave its tartar sauce chamber. The yellow square opened one eye and noticed that.

Another pause.

Patrick opened one eye as well. He made eye contact with his friend before looking at Man Ray and noticing the same thing. "Hey, SpongeBob, how come he's not chasing us?" He raised his brow and scratched his head. He was overlooking the tartar sauce that Man Ray was covered in.

SpongeBob stood up and walked to the frozen tartar sauce chamber. "Looks like he's frozen or something." The yellow square touched the tartar sauce, it felt like glass. The sponge then understood why tartar sauce was used; its sturdiness when frozen would make even the most powerful of supervillains unable to escape. "It appears to be some sort of prison chamber..." The sponge, out of curiosity, licked the frozen sauce. "...made out of frozen tartar sauce." He then stood back to marvel at the villain; the sponge felt safe. "This is incredible. Next to the Dirty Bubble, the evil Man Ray is the all-time greatest arch-nemesis of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy." His curiosity intensified. "I have so many questions to ask him." The sponge then turned around and walked up the hallway. "But I got no time for that. There's more important stuff to do." He looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. "C'mon, Pat." He signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him.

Patrick jogged up to his best friend. His intelligence increased and that boost consequently made him aware of his duty.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was extremely bored. He had explored all of the Mermalair's sections and looked at every item, gadget, tool, or weapon that were in those sections. Since no villain was nearby, there was nothing else to do except for making sure that none of the items in the lair become missing. The sea star was walking down a hallway and leaned against what seemed to be a comfortable surface, he was not able to see clearly because his eyes were half-open. He succumbed to his drowsiness by falling asleep.

The starfish was actually leaning on the lever that controlled the temperature of Man Ray's chamber. His back made the lever go down from 'FREEZE' to 'UNFREEZE'.

The tartar sauce in Man Ray's chamber melted until all of it was in a liquid form. The sauce spilled to the floor. Once all of the sauce melted, the supervillain awoke from his very long and deep slumber. He began to move his fingers and legs so sensation would return to them. He also looked around as he tried to figure out where he was.

SpongeBob heard the melting of the tartar sauce and ran towards Patrick. "Pat, what are you doing?! We're not supposed to touch anything!" The sponge was far more anxious than irritated. The yellow square assumed that Man Ray's actions were unpredictable. He reached the room that Patrick was in and saw Man Ray still standing on the metal pedestal of the former chamber.

"Huh?" Patrick woke up from his nap. He stood up and wiped his eyes. He turned around and his eyes bugged out when he saw Man Ray. "H-how-" He could not figure out how the supervillain 'broke' himself free from the chamber.

"We're _not_ supposed to_ touch anything_." SpongeBob pointed at the lever that had shifted to 'UNFREEZE'.

"I must've moved it when I was napping." Patrick made a correct guess. He certainly felt some sort of rod on his back when he napped. He then turned to look at his best friend. "Plus, why don't you ask him something? You said you had a question." The short nap improved Patrick's memory.

"Pat, if we do not freeze Man Ray again, we're gonna get in trouble!" SpongeBob sweatdropped and bit his lip. Man Ray was simply too powerful to be toyed with. He was not naive, unlike Patrick, because he was concerned for his and the sea star's safety. "Our lives are at stake."

Patrick's intelligence was not at its optimum level. "Well, that's not a question." He made an extremely obvious observation. He wanted SpongeBob to at least have some fun in the Mermalair. Returning to the boring and monotonous role of protecting the Mermalair was currently unbearable for him.

"Barnacle Boy said to not touch anything and that includes unfreezing a supervillain." SpongeBob pulled the lever to 'FREEZE'. The yellow square was better-fit for the duty because of his consideration.

The metal pedestal became a source of gravity. It pulled the tartar sauce back to it. The tartar sauce then froze back to its solid state. Nevertheless, Man Ray managed to jump high enough for his head to stick out of the frozen sauce. By that point, he fully regained consciousness. "I'm free! Hahahaha!" Man Ray smiled evilly. He knew that he was not completely free, however.

"Uh, actually, Mr. Man Ray, sir, only your head is free." SpongeBob smiled nervously as he corrected the supervillain. He knew that at any moment, Man Ray could lose his temper and assault him and Patrick.

"I, the supreme authority of wickedness, I, the evil Man Ray, command you to release me from this frozen prison at once." Man Ray thought that SpongeBob and Patrick were foolish and childish enough to believe and do whatever he says. The supervillain based that assumption on their physical appearance.

"Well, uhh, Mr. evil Man Ray, sir, we can't do that." SpongeBob made a crooked smile as he shook his head. Many drops of sweat were running down his face.

"Why **NOOOOOOT**?!" Man Ray screamed deeply in an attempt to intimidate the two best friends. Whenever he saw normal citizens, he always thought that they would kneel before him or fear him.

"Because you're evil and could kill us! Me and Pat also got a duty to protect the Mermalair from any harm." SpongeBob folded his arms and made a solemn face. He mustered enough determination and bravery to say those words.

"You mean, if I was good then you'd let me go?" Man Ray raised his brow. He was trying to form an escape plan. He could care less about the well-being of the best friend duo. He had a powerful desire to continue his attempts at conquering Bikini Bottom and make everyone submit to him.

SpongeBob shrugged and smiled more widely. "Yeah, sure, why not?" The yellow square looked at the supervillain's silver lining instead of the villain's dark and delusional core. His kindness was almost completely available to everybody.

Man Ray made a mental evil laugh. "Then, in that case... I am good." He wore a smile as he tried to fool the two friends. However, he overestimated SpongeBob's gullibility.

"Really?" SpongeBob smiled even more and gave Man Ray a funny look. He was skeptical because he had seen Man Ray commit many despicable deeds in the comics and the TV show. He could tell that the supervillain was underestimating him.

"Yes, really." Man Ray tried to sound like he was honest.

"Really, really?" SpongeBob wanted to test Man Ray's temper. He did not consider people who have short tempers and also have superpowers to be perfectly "good" people. The sponge assumed that Man Ray meant to say that he was as good as SpongeBob or the superhero duo.

"Yes, yes, really, really." Man Ray started to become irritated.

"Really, really, really?" SpongeBob walked up to the chamber's control panel. The yellow square was grinning.

"Yes, yes, already!" Man Ray lost his temper. "I'm good! I'm good! Now let me out of here or you'll suffer dire consequences." He glared at SpongeBob and Patrick. He now saw the two as annoying obstacles.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "I'll be right back." He ran down the hallway to get an important gadget. He wanted to see Man Ray's conduct when free from any restraints.

Man Ray eagerly awaited for SpongeBob's return. He could not wait to freely roam the outside world once again.

Patrick looked at the hallway. He was patiently waiting for his best friend. Nonetheless, chills ran down his spine because Man Ray was still behind him.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob returned with a remote in his hand. "For the last thing you said, it's good enough for me." The yellow square tricked Man Ray because he knew by that point that the villain had been trying to trick him. He pulled the lever to 'UNFREEZE'.

All of the tartar sauce melted again.

Man Ray jumped and landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He was several feet taller than SpongeBob and Patrick. "You fools, prepare to be eradicated." He held out his hands towards the two friends. He was going to fire lasers from his fingertips. He did not want SpongeBob and Patrick to alert the superhero duo about his escape.

SpongeBob pressed a red button that was on the remote. It was the only button that the remote had and text saying 'ON/OFF' was on it.

A blue belt that was on Man Ray's waist became turned on and vibrated. Its color was a nice match for the villain's uniform but was not a normal part of the uniform. It had been forcefully put on the villain by Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy during a previous skirmish.

The vibration created a potent tickling sensation that spread to Man Ray's stomach area. He fell to the ground and uncontrollably laughed. "What's wrong... with me...? What is this... infernal contraption?" He struggled to speak due to his laughter. He forgot how the belt ended up on his waist.

"Don't play dumb, Man Ray." SpongeBob giggled and stepped up to the supervillain. Man Ray's laughing was contagious. "You know that's the tickle belt Mermaid Man used on you in episode number seventeen." The sponge was trying to resist his giggling.

"Oh, I love that episode." Patrick smiled widely. He remembered when he had repeatedly watched that episode when he was a child.

"Oh, me too, me too." SpongeBob felt a wave of nostalgia when he said the number of that episode. He remembered looking at the schedules of channels so he could know the time when Episode 17 would be shown (he was a child during that time).

Man Ray tried to suppress his laughter. He was somewhat successful because he was chuckling instead. "I'll never... get out... of here... wearing this belt." He was saying his thoughts out loud. He shakily stood up. "I... I need a plan that... will trick them to... take it off me... time for those... acting lessons... to pay off." He had practiced many useful skills during his criminal career. He had even mastered some of them.

SpongeBob accidentally pressed the remote's button as he spoke to Patrick. The two were discussing about some nostalgic episodes and distant memories of watching them. "Remember that part when Mermaid Man and Barnacle-" The yellow square became interrupted by Man Ray.

Man Ray fell to his knees and put his hands over his face. He made a very convincing faux expression of sadness. "Oh, sob! Oh, cry. Oh, woe is me. You don't know what it's like being evil for so long. Oh, how I wish to be... good. If only some kind heroes would show me the path to decency." The supervillain's tone did not sound sincere; his acting skills were not the best.

The yellow sponge and the pink star gasped. Man Ray's statements were unprecedented because no other supervillains had made such profound confessions before. The unexpectedness of Man Ray's sudden confession was enough to convince the friend dup that the villain was sincere.

SpongeBob finally found the silver lining in the contemptible and battle-hardened supervillain. "We could teach you how to be good and then we'll let you go." The yellow square eagerly said his idealistic plan. He wanted to teach Man Ray his version of goodness (kindness, consideration for others, and cooperation).

'This will be fantastic! I'll fake my way through this just like I did in high school.' Man Ray mentally smirked. The situation was now in his favor. As long as he cooperated with SpongeBob, his escape would be guaranteed. He resisted the urge to laugh because that would look and sound suspicious.

"Okay, Man Ray. Are you ready for your first day at goodness school?" SpongeBob beamed. His optimism was a bright fire that would not fade quickly.

Man Ray nodded.

SpongeBob looked at his best friend. "Pat, get your wallet out." The first lesson was about consideration for others. 'I gotta keep these lessons simple. If he learns the simple things, he'll probably be able to do the harder ones.' He assumed that Man Ray will refine his goodness when the villain applies that goodness in more troubling real-world situations.

Patrick took out his wallet. He completely agreed with SpongeBob's plan. However, he did not fully trust the supervillain.

_"Assertive, huh?" Patrick thought about what Plankton just said. _

_A pause._

_"I'll pass." Patrick made a deadpan face as he became bored. His intelligence had decreased. He no longer became interested in Plankton's words due to not knowing what 'assertive' meant._

Patrick did not forget the day when Plankton invaded Goo Lagoon with his robot army. Ever since that day, he was aware of how easy it was for ordinary people to get deceived by wicked people like Plankton and the Dirty Bubble.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Man Ray. "Okay, goodness lesson number one. You see someone drop their wallet." He looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye."Patrick, drop the wallet."

Patrick tossed the wallet to the floor. He looked at Man Ray so he could closely see the sincerity of the villain's response.

"Now, what do you do?" SpongeBob stepped out of the way and folded his arms. He continued to look at Man Ray.

Man Ray made a faux smile and walked up to the wallet. He picked it up and walked towards Patrick. The villain then held out the wallet before the starfish. "Excuse me, sir, but I do believe you've dropped your wallet." He spoke politely so he would sound convincing.

Patrick decided that he should test Man Ray's patience. He thought that the lesson's situation was not realistic because it was not as hectic as some actual real-world situations. "Doesn't look familiar to me." He made a deadpan face.

Man Ray raised his brow. "What?" He pointed at where the wallet had been tossed to. "I just saw you drop it. Here." He did not expect Patrick's response at all.

"Nope, it's not mine." Patrick shook his head and folded his arms. He was successfully hiding his true emotions because expressing them would reveal his deceit.

"It is yours. I am trying to be a good person and return it to you." Man Ray was becoming impatient again. He reminded Patrick of the purpose of the lesson so the starfish would cooperate.

"Return what to who?" Patrick acted like he was incredibly stupid.

Man Ray facepalmed. The villain was trying his hardest to control his temper because he kept reminding himself of the reward awaiting him. He opened the wallet and took out Patrick's Citizenship ID Card. " He held out the ID towards Patrick. "Aren't you, Patrick Star?"

"Yup." Patrick nodded but did not smile.

"And this is your ID." Man Ray pointed at the ID. The villain supposed that Patrick had some sort of mental disorder because he had to make facts painfully obvious in order for Patrick to 'understand' them.

"I found this ID in your wallet." Man Ray put the Citizenship Card back into the wallet. "And if that's the case, this must be your wallet." The supervillain pointed at the wallet. He felt like he was a robot because he had to be super-specific with his explanation.

"That makes sense to me." Patrick nodded. He was going to make another attempt at fooling Man Ray before allowing the villain to successfully complete the lesson.

Man Ray held out the wallet. "Then take it." He crossed his fingers behind his back. He hoped that the protracted obstacle would end.

"It's not my wallet." Patrick gave the wallet a funny look.

Man Ray threw the wallet to the ground and stomped on it. He completely lost his temper and steam was coming out of his ears. **"YOU DIM-BULB! TAKE BACK YOUR WALLET OR I'LL RIP YOUR ARMS OFF!" **He tightened his fists and made a soul-piercing glare.

SpongeBob gasped and pressed the remote's button.

Man Ray collapsed and laughed to the point of losing his breath as the belt vibrated. He slammed his fists on the floor in a desperate attempt at standing up.

"Wrong." SpongeBob shook his head and pressed the remote's button again. 'Good people don't rip each others arms off." The sponge looked at the fallen supervillain and then looked up at Patrick. 'Don't be so harsh.' He communicated by moving his lips. He had figured out what Patrick had been doing.

Patrick nodded and made a thumbs-up.

Man Ray stood up and walked up to Patrick. With a grumpy face, he held out the wallet. "Take your wallet. I found it." He made a futile attempt at acting like the recent chain of events had not happened.

Patrick smiled and took the wallet. "Thanks." He put the wallet into his pocket and looked at SpongeBob as he waited for the next lesson.

"Finally." Man Ray spoke in relief and walked back to SpongeBob. "Go on to the next one. Let's get this over with." He spoke in a manner that almost sounded like a command.

"Goodness lesson number two." SpongeBob smiled nervously and sweatdropped. He was worried because even the slightest of mistakes or flaws in the lesson would infuriate Man Ray. "You see someone struggle with a heavy package. What do you do?" He pointed at Patrick and smiled more confidently.

Patrick opened an empty box and filled it with nearby rocks until the box was nearly full. He then acted like the box's weight was too much for his arm muscles.

"Hello, friend." Man Ray acted like he was friendly. He walked up to the box and grabbed one side of it. "I noticed you were struggling with that package. Would you like some help?" He was tapping his foot in impatience.

"Mm-hm." Patrick made a faux smile. He had to act and sound convincing so the situation would be as realistic as possible.

Man Ray pulled the box towards an empty space in the lobby. His gloves allowed him to have a good grip on the box.

The box's smooth surface made it difficult for Patrick to hold on to the box. The box slipped out of the sea star's grasp because it was too smooth for it to be gripped by the sea star.

**SLAM**

The box landed on Man Ray's foot. A sharp pain stabbed that foot. "Ow!" The supervillain grabbed his foot and hopped around the hallway. He was trying to make the pain quickly go away. Once the pain became completely gone, he walked back to Patrick with tightened fists. He looked like he was ready to pulverize the starfish.

Patrick sweatdropped. "Oops. Gotta start again." The sea star picked up the box and tried to hold it out to Man Ray. However, it slipped out of his hands again and landed on Man Ray's feet with a **SLAM**. "Oops." He winced in anticipation of a punch.

"You butter-fingered pink thing!" Man Ray hopped on one foot and shook his fist. "What's in that box anyhow?" He certainly felt hard and sharp objects inside the box. He also heard them bumping into each other when the box fell.

"Rocks." Patrick was smiling in a relaxed manner. He thought that a superpower that almost every supervillain had was smelling fear. The starfish maintained in air of calmness to prevent any fights with Man Ray.

"Arghh!" Steam came out of Man Ray's ears again. His anger could no longer be controlled. He grabbed Patrick and swung the starfish's body to the floor with a **SLAM**.

**SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM**

The villain repeatedly swung Patrick to his left and right side. His strength made Patrick seem like a toy.

"SpongeBob... tickle... him..." Patrick managed to speak. The pink star was trying to look at his best friend. The starfish was flailing his limbs as well so he could catch the sponge's attention.

SpongeBob was heavily afraid of Man Ray again. His fear worsened so quickly that he initially had forgotten about the remote. However, Patrick's words reminded him of the gadget. He took out the remote and pressed the button.

**THUD**

Man Ray fell to the floor and succumbed to the belt's vibration. He grabbed the belt as he laughed and let go of Patrick. The supervillain was trying to remove the belt as hard as he could.

Patrick limped towards SpongeBob. He was just as ill-tempered as Man Ray because the assault he received was completely unnecessary. He glared at Man Ray as he waited for the villain's belt to get turned off.

SpongeBob pressed the button and tucked the remote into his pocket. He walked towards the box and took hold of one side. "I'll do it instead."

"Do you need help?" Man Ray resumed his acting and walked to the box. He grabbed the other side of the box and firmly held on to it. He made eye contact and smiled slightly.

"Yep." The yellow square beamed. The sponge then pulled the box towards a table in the lobby. He made sure that the box would not fall.

After almost a minute, the two successfully brought the box to the table. They then walked back to Patrick.

"Alright, goodness lesson number three." SpongeBob put a hand on his chin. The other two lessons were about cooperation and consideration for others. He needed to make a lesson about kindness. "Uhh... let's see..." He was in a deep state of thought.

Patrick took the remote from SpongeBob's pocket. He wanted some revenge against Man Ray for the assault he had received. "I've got one." He narrowed his eyes at the villain. "I'm thinking of a number between one and a hundred. What is it?" The question was meant to be nearly impossible to answer correctly.

"Umm..." Man Ray scratched his head. He decided to make a wild guess. "Sixty-two?" He shrugged.

"Wrong!" Patrick shook his head. He pressed the remote's button and folded his arms. He folded his arms and glared at the villain. He was completely merciless with his dishing of justice.

Man Ray fell to the floor with a **THUD **and laughed for an extensive amount of time. He tried to speak but no words came out of his mouth. Every attempt at standing up failed as well. The belt had indirectly trapped him to the floor. However, after several seconds, he managed to say one word. "S-stop."

SpongeBob looked at Patrick. He was expressing concern for Man Ray. "Hey, Pat, that's got nothing to with being good." He rebuked the sea star for asking a ridiculous question and imposing a ridiculous punishment. The sponge grabbed the remote and tried to pull it away from Patrick's grasp.

"Let go of it, SpongeBob." Patrick tightly grasped the remote and pulled it towards himself. He wanted to prolong Man Ray's punishment until he felt like it would be the equivalent of multiple body swings. 'This stuff's getting too hard and boring. I wanna go home.' His thoughts revealed his dissatisfaction.

"Pat, we've got to use it only when he's bad." SpongeBob made a solemn face and pulled harder. The yellow square saw potential in the supervillain and wanted it to be unleashed.

"Let go!" Patrick kicked SpongeBob's shin and pulled the remote even harder. He allowed his grumpiness to get the best of him.

"No, you let go! If you allow him to finish the course, he won't do bad stuff anymore." SpongeBob became determined to change Man Ray's criminal ways. That determination gave him the strength to endure Patrick's pulling.

"LET GO!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled at the same time and the remote broke in half with a **SHATTER**. The sponge and the starfish were holding the halves and were looking at them with bugged-out eyes. They then looked at Man Ray and dreaded the consequences of their actions.

The belt vibrated to its maximum limit. Man Ray shakily stood up and managed to speak. "Frequency rising. Be-belt out of control..." He fell to the ground with a **THUD**. He laughed so much that his limbs were flailing like he was making a snow angel. The tickling sensation was overwhelming. "Belt on too hard... it's... tickling... my DNA. MAKE IT STOP!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks. **"PLEASE!" **He put his hands together and sat on his knees; he was begging.

SpongeBob smiled in delight and look at Patrick from the corner of his eye. "Did you hear that, Patrick? He said the P word." The yellow square felt a sense of accomplishment. 'My lesson's working.'

Patrick did not pay much of his attention to Man Ray's words. "Peanuts?" He shrugged as he said his guess.

"No." SpongeBob shook his head and giggled. "Please."

Patrick became mildly surprised. "Well, that's good enough for me. I guess he's reconstituted." His intelligence increased to a level that was close to his optimum level. He had learned from the media that villains rarely say words like "please" or "may I".

"Rehabilitated." SpongeBob raised his index finger and corrected Patrick. People often underestimate the sponge's wide vocabulary because of his childish air.

"Gesundheit." Patrick shrugged again. He did not know the definitions of "gesundheit" and "rehabilitated". He merely said them because Man Ray's situation was similar to situations where people would say those words.

SpongeBob stepped towards Man Ray. "It's graduation day, Man Ray. This is the key to your future." The sponge crouched, took out the key given to him by Barnacle Boy, and unlocked the belt. He then stepped back and stood next to Patrick. "Just look at him, Patrick." He pointed at Man Ray. "The picture of goodness."

Man Ray ran to the arsenal and snatched the Aqua-Glove while smiling sinisterly.

"Um, we're not supposed to touch that stuff." SpongeBob pointed at the arsenal and shook his head. He assumed that the supervillain was going to play with the weapons.

Man Ray put the Aqua-Glove on his dominant hand flicked its switch from 'OFF' to 'ON'.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and made a crooked smile. He did not like what Man Ray was doing at al. "We're not supposed to touch it that way either."

Man Ray grabbed the Cosmic Ray's glass case from a metal panel of tools. The Cosmic Ray looked like a light bulb that was connected to an ice cream cone. He threw the glass case to the floor and it **SHATTER**ed. He picked up the Cosmic Ray and connected it to the Aqua-Glove.

SpongeBob began to shake in anxiety. He could not predict Man Ray's future actions. "We are really not supposed to touch those, sir." He tried to politely remind Man Ray of the lessons that the villain had 'learned' today.

Man Ray held out his dominant hand towards SpongeBob and Patrick. The Aqua-Glove began to glow.

SpongeBob's face drained of color and his limbs were shaking violently. However, he still looked at Man Ray with rose-tinted glasses. His optimism made him think that Man Ray was trying the Aqua-Glove out of intentions that were not malicious. "Good people have no use for weapons such as..."

An extremely powerful gust of wind came out of the Aqua-Glove.

"THOOOOOOSSSE!" SpongeBob screamed as he finished his sentence.

**S-SLAM**

The two best friends were blown to a wall.

**S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-SHATTER**

Many glass cases broke into pieces and their shards littered the floor of the hallway and the lobby. The table flipped over and the rocks fell out of box. Those rocks then broke some glass cases by landing on them.

"You two are total simpletons." Man Ray took a last glance at SpongeBob and Patrick. He then flew towards the Mermalair's exit. "So long!"

**Z-ZZZAAAAAP**

His eyes fired two lasers. Those lasers drew a hole through the closed entrance of the cave. The supervillain then flew through the hole.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick regained consciousness.

The yellow square had heard Man Ray's final words. "We gotta find Man Ray!" SpongeBob shook Patrick's shoulders. "He took the Cosmic Ray and Aqua-Glove! He's gonna do more evil deeds!" The sponge had quickly accepted the cold truth.

Patrick stood up. "No wonder he was suspicious." He realized that his intuition about Man Ray had been correct for the whole time.

The two friends hopped over the glass shards and eventually reached the Mermalair's entrance. They looked through the door's hole. They could see the faint blue and red dot of Man Ray flying far above the town.

SpongeBob eventually figured out where Man Ray was heading. "He's heading for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!" He loudly whispered to his best friend. He knew the location of the nearby town where bingo tournaments were hosted because his grandfather on his father's side went to those tournaments.

A pause.

Patrick was smart enough to see a flaw in SpongeBob's claim. "Man Ray was still in that sauce when Barnacle Boy was talking about that bingo thingy." He looked at the yellow sponge.

"Oh." SpongeBob made a deadpan face. He looked through the hole again and noticed that Man Ray was leaving the town. "He's definitely leaving our town, though. He probably wants to stay out of the watch of the authorities." A light bulb lit up in his head. "Maybe we should chase him."

Patrick had a more practical idea. "Why don't we just call Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy?" He pointed at the floor downstairs. "The computer's right over there, y'know."

"But they're in the middle of a bingo tournament, Pat. It would be rude to call them now and it also might leave a bad impression. We gotta be considerate for them." SpongeBob continued to look through the hole. "I don't think Man Ray'll come back for a while anyway."

Patrick decided to combine his idea with SpongeBob's. "How about we tell them what happened once they come back?" The sea star smiled.

"Good thinking." SpongeBob smiled as well and made a thumbs-up.

Another pause.

The two best friends looked at the downstairs floor. A massive cleaning of the Mermalair awaited them.

S-S-S-S-S

Man Ray was contemplating about SpongeBob's lesson as he flew away from Bikini Bottom. He was flying from the town because he wanted to avoid the police and similar forces. No one had ever introduced him to or taught him about traits of "goodness". The villain had to create his own values when he was younger because his past was filled with troubles. No matter how hard he tried at not thinking about "goodness", those thoughts kept coming back.


	73. Shanghaied

**Chapter 73: Shanghaied**

* * *

SpongeBob was eating a bowl of Kelp-O cereal for brunch. He was in the kitchen. He was at ease because he thought that the Mermalair was safe from harm for the time being. Based on his childhood experiences of tagging along with his grandfather to bingo tournaments, he predicted that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were going to return around 4:00 PM. The yellow square was reflecting on his recent battles with forces of evil.

_SpongeBob narrowed his eyes. "Lay it on the line and..." Suddenly SpongeBob realized the likelihood of being hired. The majestic look of the Krusty Krab didn't help as it made the intimidation far worse. He was only 23 years old, he just finished college, and did plenty of odd jobs after that. This was the only reason he could afford a decent home. Unlike many people, SpongeBob just couldn't find his talent and he doesn't even know his own capabilities. _

The sponge smiled as he recollected his nervousness on the day when he became a Krusty Krab fry cook. His brave act of defying Mr. Krabs by freeing the factory's jellyfish and his battles with Plankton showed how much progress he made with his self-confidence. He had progressed so much that doubts about himself were virtually non-existent.

SpongeBob returned his focus to the Kelp-O cereal. There were diversions that were awaiting him. Once he finished eating the cereal bowl, he looked at the box's back and read it. "One of eight essential prizes inside..." He read out loud the line of text that caught his attention.

_**CLLAANNG**_

A very large object crashed into the pineapple's vicinity.

SpongeBob became alarmed and ran through the open doorway. He had rarely heard before such loud sounds coming from a place so close to his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged the front door open and stepped out of the pineapple. He ran around his pineapple's vicinity and noticed that an anchor had landed near his lawn.

The anchor had a hue of green; it contained some magical energy. It was connected to the Flying Dutchman's ship. The Flying Dutchman had anchored his vessel in such a location because he was going to play blackjack with his friends who dwelled in Bikini Bottom. The deceased pirate had greatly anticipated the gambling game since last week.

"Holy shrimp!" SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. "**SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD! SQUIDWARD!" **He wanted to inform the octopus immediately because he thought that a destructive threat was nearby. He predicted that more anchors were going to land in the neighborhood.

Squidward opened the left window. "What?!" The octopus became ill-tempered. SpongeBob had interrupted a 'perfect' clarinet performance of a composition.

"A giant anchor landed out of nowhere!" SpongeBob jumped up and down as he pointed at the anchor. "More of 'em could come and ruin our houses!" The yellow square looked at the octopus. He was very anxious.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited his rock. He saw the anchor and gasped. He ran up to his best friend. "SpongeBob, the sky had a baby!" His intelligence had decreased during his time at home after the Mermalair clean-up. The starfish could not recognize the anchor.

"Pat, it's not a baby. It's an anchor." SpongeBob turned to face Patrick. "It came out of nowhere and if we're not careful; more anchors could destroy our houses." The yellow square spoke nervously. His concern for others overwhelmed his optimism.

Patrick sweatdropped and ran towards his rock. He held out his hands as he ran. He was going to move away the rock from the neighborhood so it would not get hit by future anchors.

Squidward perceived a rope that was connected to the anchor. A light bulb lit up in his head. "Why don't you two go climb the anchor's rope? I'm sure it goes somewhere far away." The octopus assumed that the rope led to a place that might prove to be amusing. The octopus wanted to savor Sunday's tranquility.

The anchor move and...

**SLAM**

...hit the left side of Squidward's tiki. It left several cracks on the tiki's exterior wall.

S-S-S-S-S

"That's it!" Squidward stomped to the sheet holder and put his clarinet on it. He wanted to complain to whoever owned the anchor. He was going to give that person a piece of his mind so quietude could return to the neighborhood. He stomped down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than thirty seconds later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward barged open the front door with a **SLAM**. He walked towards the anchor and began to climb it. "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this thing." He spoke fiercely while gritting his teeth. The damage that his tiki sustained after the bubblestand occurrence was fresh in his mind.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "Wouldn't that be the top?" The yellow square interpreted Squidward's words literally instead of as an idiom. The sponge looked up and saw a dark spot in the sky that was emitting green light. He became concerned for Squidward's safety out of a fear of the unknown. "Squid, wait, wait!" He jumped to the anchor and began to climb it as well. By that point, Squidward was climbing the rope.

Patrick looked up and saw the dark spot as well. Since he was curious and his neighbors were climbing to that unknown place, he decided to climb the anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked up and he gasped. "Ship!" He pointed at what he was seeing. For some reason, the ship reminded him of the Flying Dutchman. The three were so close to the ghostly ship that it could not have been mistaken for any other object or place.

Patrick assumed that SpongeBob was playing around because he did not look up. He had to look at the rope so he would not slip on the rope. "SpongeBob, how long are you gonna stay in your little fantasy world?" His intelligence had improved by a few levels.

"I'm serious! Look! A giant ship!"' SpongeBob continued to point at the ship. He climbed at a faster pace so he could reach it and prove to Patrick that he was not lying.

Squidward was very close to the ship's deck. "Great. Let's go! Now I can finally give this anchor-dropper a piece of my mind." He climbed at a faster pace as well. He had a strong will to meet the ship's owner. He disregarded the dangers of entering the Flying Dutchman's ship.

SpongeBob looked up again and became uneasy. The ship's green aura made the vessel look uninviting. "I don't know, Squid. That ship had a spooky green glow around it." The yellow square's intuition made him think that the ship was dangerous.

"That's probably because its good-for-nothing owner is too lazy to clean that ship or drop its anchors in the right place." Squidward's words reeked with contempt. The octopus climbed as fast as he could. His grumpiness gave him the energy to overcome any obstacle.

"Squid, wait!" SpongeBob climbed almost just as fast as Squidward. The ship looked too creepy for his liking and his concern for the octopus intensified.

Squidward reached the ship's protective wooden fence and jumped to the ship's main deck. "Alright, who owns this crate?" He looked around the main deck and eventually saw the entrance to the captain's cabin. A white sign above the door had black text saying 'THE FLYING DUTCHMAN'.

SpongeBob and Patrick hopped to the main deck.

Squidward stomped to the door and knocked on it with a **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**. "Come on out! I wanna file a complaint!" He assumed that the ship's owner was a normal citizen who was from another town or city.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked around the ship. The ship looked oddly familiar to them because they had seen it as a picture in a storybook. That storybook had scary stories such as the one about the origin of the Flying Dutchman's ghost.

"Doesn't this place seem familiar?" SpongeBob transformed what he was feeling into spoken words. He made eye contact with Patrick.

Patrick closely looked at the forecastle deck and the quarter deck. "Yeah... why?" The sea star scratched his head. He did not know why the ship looked familiar to him. Whenever he tried to remember a previous time of seeing that ship, he could not look through the fog that surrounded that memory.

"I don't know." SpongeBob shrugged. "Doesn't it just kind of ring a bell?" He looked at the ship's floor and put a hand on his chin. He was looking through his large library of memories for any previous images of the ship.

"Uh-huh." Patrick nodded. SpongeBob's question described his current feelings perfectly.

**DING DONG**

Squidward rang the entrance's doorbell. He was becoming impatient because he wanted to play his clarinet again as soon as possible. Every minute he was spending on the ship were ones that could have been used for leisure and relaxation.

SpongeBob thought about the ship's owner. He knew that some sort of ghost owned the ship because the ship had a ghostly aura. "I know who owns this boat but I just can't place the name." The yellow square walked across the main deck and saw a barrel that had text saying 'Property of the Flying Dutchman'. However, the sponge did not have any time to react with shock.

**SLAM**

The Flying Dutchman barged the cabin's entrance open and flew out of the cabin. _"RAWR!" _He tried to frighten the three visitors.

Squidward frightfully fell to the floor with a **THUD**. His heartbeat quickened rapidly and he sweatdropped. He had thought that the stories about the Flying Dutchman were not true. He was not prepared at all to see the dead pirate face-to-face.

SpongeBob and Patrick turned to look at the ghost. They became frightened as well.

"_I am the Flying Dutchman!" _The Flying Dutchman folded his arms and glared at the three neighbors. _"Who be disturbin' the Flying Dutchman in his own lair?" _He looked at each visitor so he could scare them into responding.

'I can't lie. If he finds out that I lied, we'll all be toast.' SpongeBob decided to tell the truth. He was not being inconsiderate because his words would benefit the neighbors in the long-run. "It's Squidward." He pointed at the octopus. "He wants to complain to you." He made a crooked smile.

The Flying Dutchman narrowed his eyes at Squidward and tightened his fists. He hated having to deal with people who complained about where he had anchored his ship. He had figured out Squidward's complaint before hearing a single word from Squidward.

"I... no, I don't." Squidward sweatdropped and futilely tried to hide his anxiety. The Flying Dutchman's glare made the octopus fear about the possible punishments that the ghost was going to inflict on him.

"Well, what about all that stuff about him having a dirty ship and being lazy and all?" SpongeBob wanted Squidward to confess. He did not want the ghost to perceive him and the others as liars. The yellow square then bit his lip and crossed his fingers behind his back.

Squidward laughed in a nervous manner. "I never said that." His fear of the ghost was overwhelming. That fear made him disregard the obvious signs indicating that SpongeBob wanted him to confess.

"_Insultin' a man's ship be worse than insultin' his mother!" _The Flying Dutchman shook his fist. He was about to lose his temper and incur his wrath upon Squidward. The ghost thought that people who came to disrespect him and his ship were almost just as bad as pirates who plundered his ship. Many people who had complained about the location of the ship's anchor disrespected him as well because of their anger.

SpongeBob scratched his head. He was trying to quickly think up of a solution. "No, no, wait... it was his mother... you said... was dirty... not his ship." The yellow square was saying his ideas out loud so he could remember them and make a cohesion of them easily.

The Flying Dutchman misheard SpongeBob's words. He thought that SpongeBob was saying that Squidward had insulted his mother as well. He closed one of his nostrils with his index finger. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose.

A fireball came out of the ghost's open nostril.

**PHOOOOMMM**

It hit the octopus and exploded. Squidward fell to the floor with a **THUD**. However, the octopus was not on fire. "Ouch." The octopus moaned. The fireball was made out of magical energy and was meant to leave burn damage on Squidward instead of burning Squidward to ashes. Real fire would have burned the ghost's ship to pieces.

The Flying Dutchman glared at SpongeBob and Patrick. _"You're next!" _Since SpongeBob and Patrick did not say their cases of the story, the dead pirate assumed that the two friends were almost just as guilty as Squidward.

SpongeBob and Patrick instinctively jumped off the ship and aimed their falls towards the rope. "That was close one!" The yellow square wiped sweat from his brow in relief. The two wanted to preserve their own lives before saving anyone else's. There was no time for rational thought.

The Flying Dutchman held out his hand towards the sponge and the sea star. He concentrated on the yellow and pink bodies.

A magical gust pushed back SpongeBob and Patrick to the ship. The duo landed on the ship's main deck with a **T-THUD**.

"_Welcome back." _The Flying Dutchman smiled in a disquieting manner. He considered SpongeBob and Patrick to be fools because they had futilely tried to escape his ship.

"AAAAHH!" SpongeBob and Patrick screamed at the same time and jumped off the ship again. The two were heavily afraid of the ghost's powers. As the two were falling towards the rope, SpongeBob took a deep breath in relief. "That was a closer one!" The sponge spoke with a smile.

The Flying Dutchman held out his hand towards the best friend duo. Another gust of wind pushed against the two friends and made them fall back to the ship with a **T-THUD**. _"Welcome back." _The ghost spoke with folded arms.

SpongeBob and Patrick dove out of the ship like they were jumping off a diving board. They thought that they were being pushed back to the ship because of the manners of their jumps.

Squidward perceived an inequity between the treatment he had received and the treatment that the two best friends were receiving. He sat up and glared at the ghost. His grumpiness prevailed over his fear. "Hey!" He shouted at the ghost with cupped hands near his mouth.

The Flying Dutchman looked at Squidward. He was thinking about injuring the octopus again. He closed one nostril of his and took a deep inhale.

"How come when they act up, all they get is the welcome wagon? If you ask me, it's-" Squidward's complaint got interrupted by another fireball from the ghost's nostril.

**PHHOOOOOOMMM**

Squidward received more burns. He flew to the forecastle deck's exterior wall and hit it with a **SLAM**. He collapsed to the floor with a **THUD**.

The Flying Dutchman had blown another fireball at Squidward so the annoying octopus would remain silent. The pirate, after looking at the fallen octopus for a few seconds, held out his hand towards the falling friends.

**T-THUD**

SpongeBob and Patrick were pushed back to the ghost's ship for the third time.

"_So, are you gonna try that again?" _The Flying Dutchman narrowed his eyes at the friend duo. He was trying to intimidate them so he could easily injure them. The two friends' constant escape attempts were annoying him.

Patrick shrugged. "Probably." His actions currently depended on what his instincts would tell him. The sea star's intelligence had worsened by a few degrees.

The Flying Dutchman concentrated on Squidward's body and snapped his fingers.

**ZZZAAP**

A lightning bolt came out of his hand and electrified Squidward. "How 'bout now?" The pirate wanted to further and further intimidate the friend duo.

"Uhh..." Patrick scratched his head as he thought and sweatdropped. He was not sure about who was going to get injured next.

Squidward limped towards Patrick and covered the starfish's mouth with his hand. "No, no, they're not." The octopus thought that he was going to get repeatedly electrified by the Flying Dutchman until Patrick or SpongeBob said a negative answer. "Whew." He wiped his brow in relief.

**ZZAAAAP**

The Flying Dutchman flicked another lightning bolt at Squidward. The ghost began to consider the option of kicking the irritating octopus out of his vessel. _"Now listen." _He turned to look at SpongeBob and Patrick. _"Whosover sets foot on the Flying Dutchman's ship, uninvited or otherwise, shall be members of his ghostly crew until he says they are no longer part of the crew." _The ghost said a rule that made him very infamous among the spirit community. That rule was the reasons why one could find a few skeletons in a few of the ship's abandoned rooms.

Squidward heavily disliked what he was hearing. If he could not escape the ship, his work-life balance and peaceful Sundays would become a wreck of broken schedules. The octopus thought that the Flying Dutchman was despicable. He shakily stood up and glared at the ghost. "Will we be getting business cards?" He tried to bite the deceased pirate with his venomous sarcasm.

**ZZAAAAP**

"_Silence!"_ Within a second, Squidward receive a painful dose of electricity from the ghost. He fell to the floor with a **THUD **and became immobile for a while.

"_You're part of my crew now, and our job is to sail around, frighten our enemies, and plunder booty. It'll be grueling, mind-numbing, and repetitive. Just like... daytime television. It'll also be nerve-wracking, dangerous, and exciting; it isn't as boring as you think." _The Flying Dutchman was quite excited to have some new crew members. Because of the infamous stories about him, almost everybody who saw his ship avoided it. However, the pirate did not forget about the new crew's potential for mutiny against him.

Squidward had enough of the deceased pirate's arrogant demands and commands. He shakily stood up with tightened fists. By that point, he was truly pissed off. What the Flying Dutchman was doing was much more worse than most of the 'crimes' SpongeBob committed against him. "Now you listen here, mister." He pointed at the ghost. "If you think I'm gonna spend more than five minutes on this dumpster, then you're crazy. I mean, look at this place. It's disgusting! Whoever told you that having oil lamps next to hardwood paneling was a good idea. Let me tell you this, I've gotta life. I can make works of art far more superior than this piece of trash that out-of-touch seniors call a 'mighty vessel'. There's now way I'm gonna do your bidding without having any form of fair exchange." The octopus ranted passionately and ended it up with a deep breath. With his anger released, he stomped towards the ship's edge so he could return to his tiki.

The Flying Dutchman held out his hands towards Squidward. He focused his gaze on the octopus' head. His palm then became a center of gravity. Squidward's head was pulled towards it until Squidward was in the ghost's grasp.

"Oh, oh, now what?!" Squidward continued to be truculent. His face was red and steam was coming out of his ears. The octopus' anger was about to explode again. "I suppose you're gonna show me-" He suddenly became quiet when he saw the Flying Dutchman move his other hand quickly.

The Flying Dutchman took out a metal-like object that had the shape of a rectangle. He crushed it into pieces with his free hand. The piece then glowed, enlarged, and came together to form a zipper. He grabbed its slider and unzipped the zipper to reveal a portal to a repellent pocket dimension. That tiny dimension was known as the Fly of Despair. It had taken the dead pirate many years for him to master magic to such a level (creating pocket dimensions). He held out Squidward towards the portal.

"Oh, gee, that's very nice. What is this, some kind of magical act?" Squidward was allowing his anger to overwhelm his rationality. The idea of a ruined Sunday was simply too much for his mind to handle.

The deceased pirate threw Squidward into the portal.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was falling through what seemed to be an endless abyss. Fire and dark clouds filled the entire dimension. The Flying Dutchman specifically designed the dimension for punishing rebellious or defiant crew members. After several seconds of falling, Squidward began to scream in terror. The horrifying images that filled the dimension scared him even more. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!" Unfortunately, his desperate screams could not be heard from the other side of the zipper.

S-S-S-S-S

The Flying Dutchman pointed at the portal and looked at the other two crewmates. _"Feast yer eyes."_ He spoke while smiling sardonically.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the portal and looked at the dimension beyond its barrier. They became horrified by what they were seeing through that portal. They were very fortunate for not having to endure the ghost's wrath.

"_Would anyone else like to enter the Fly of Despair?" _The Flying Dutchman encouraged SpongeBob and Patrick to remain loyal to him. However, his method of doing that was very similar to intimidation.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The idea was about obeying the Flying Dutchman for now, rescuing Squidward when the dead pirate was not looking, and then escaping the ship once their opportunity comes. "No!" The sponge shook his head. "We know our place now, Mr. Dutchman." He smiled to make his lie look and sound more convincing.

Patrick somewhat figured out what SpongeBob was trying to do. "We'll do anything you say!" However, his words were somewhat sincere. He would rather serve a master and be safe then get endlessly tortured in a hell-like abyss.

"_Then, for starters, you can swab the deck." _The Flying Dutchman snapped his fingers. Two mops and two buckets full of water instantly appeared before the two friends' feet. He then flew to the forecastle deck and...

**CREEAK**

**SLAM**

...entered it. He began the preparation for the blackjack game that he was going to host.

A pause.

Patrick looked at the portal and thought critically about his possible options. However, he could not decide on an option. His intelligence increased by a degree. "Should we rescue Squidward?" The sea star loudly whispered while looking at his friend from the corner of his eye. He had a hunch that the Flying Dutchman could hear some of their words.

"Not yet." SpongeBob shook his head. "He's gotta trust us first before we can make any news." He gave Patrick a sense of the direction that the starfish should go in for the next hour or two. He and Squidward had similar views of the Flying Dutchman; the ghost was cruel and unfair.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEEAAAAK**

The forecastle deck's door opened. Many ghosts flew out of it and returned to their homes. The Flying Dutchman had played an intense game of blackjack with his associates. The Flying Dutchman was the victor of the game and had consequently received a large amount of wealth.

The Flying Dutchman flew through the open doorway as well. He closed the door with a **SLAM **and flew up to SpongeBob and Patrick. _"Are you finished?"_

"Yep." SpongeBob and Patrick looked at the Flying Dutchman. They spoke and nodded simultaneously. The floors of the ship's decks were sparkling and some parts were so clean that you can even see your reflection on them.

The ghost put his hand into the portal and pulled Squidward out of the pocket dimension. He zipped the zipper and crushed the slider by squeezing it. The slider's pieces shrunk and came back together to form the metal object. The dead pirate put the object away and dropped Squidward to the floor. He did not make eye contact with Squidward. _"Have you learned your lesson?"_

Squidward shakily sat up. 'Help me' He communicated to the sponge by moving his lips and not using his voice. The octopus was very desperate to escape the foul ship.

'Just wait. We'll get out once we get a chance.' SpongeBob communicated in the same manner. He smiled and made a thumbs-up in an attempt to assure and cheer up Squidward.

_"Listen! We're heading down to Bikini Bottom to grab some treasure. In order to get that treasure, we'll have to go on a haunting spree. The place I've targeted has quite a few people in or near it." _The Flying Dutchman turned and spoke sternly. Since the crew had adjusted and somewhat gotten used to the ship, he did not expect anymore tomfoolery. He turned to face SpongeBob and Patrick. _"I've told you two to clean this ship 'cause I wanted it to look good and scary. Now that you've done that chore, I'll do a bit of preparation and we'll then sail immediately._" The ghost spared no detail. He had to be specific in order for his crew to properly participate in the plan.

The pirate soared above his ship and held out his hands towards the sky. He closed his eyes and deeply concentrated on the mental image of clouds forming in front of and blocking the sun.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Flying Dutchman was still concentrating. He was taking deep breaths so he could remain focused.

Squidward, as he watched the captain, raised his brow. "What in the world is he doing?" He did not reveal all of his thoughts since some of them were too risky to be spoken out loud. 'I don't have time to watch some old pirate float and do nothing while I got a composition to play and a painting to finish.' He facially expressed dissatisfaction. His foot rapidly tapped in impatience.

"Is he doing that medicatetape thingy that some natives do?" Patrick recognized what the Flying Dutchman was doing. However, his increased forgetfulness made it very difficult for him to fully recall that activity's name. Meditation was indeed done by the native tribes residing in the area that Bikini Bottom was in.

"You mean meditate?" SpongeBob raised his index finger and looked at Patrick. He was patiently waiting for the Flying Dutchman to finish his meditation.

"Yeah." Patrick nodded.

A long pause.

The Flying Dutchman opened his eyes, snapped his fingers in unison, and lowered his arms. The pirate flew back to his vessel.

Dark clouds gathered to form a cloudy sky that covered Bikini Bottom from the sun.

SpongeBob sweatdropped and became concerned for the safety of the crew. He made eye contact with the Flying Dutchman. "Isn't Neptune gonna get mad when he sees this?" He knew that Poseidon becomes quite irate when people interfere with the weather for their advantage. He was not surprised by the sudden weather change because it was well-known that the Flying Dutchman appears and haunts people on cloudy days.

_"I always pick my days of pluderin' carefully. I plunder on days when that god is not surveying. He's got a meeting with th' other gods today." _The Flying Dutchman explained a portion of his procedure for stealing riches. He did not want his crew members to become afraid and unintentionally ruin the entire plan. The pirate looked at Patrick and pointed at him. _"You'll steer the ship."_

Patrick nodded and ran to the rear deck. He grabbed the steering wheel and made a military salute.

The Flying Dutchman took out a large map, opened it, and made it levitate towards Patrick. The map eventually stopped and remained in an open and floating state. The ghost flew towards the sea star. The deceased captain took out a pencil and drew a path that the ship needed to go through. The ghost then grabbed the anchor's rope and pulled it until the anchor was on the ship again. He opened the sails and floated above the center of the ship. He casted a spell by snapping his fingers. That spell created a breeze that pushed on the ship's sails and consequently made the ship move.

Patrick constantly looked at the ground below him and at the map. He steered the boat in the correct directions.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting against the wall of the captain's cabin. He was waiting for the ordeal to end. The octopus was daydreaming about what activities he could have done at home.

The Flying Dutchman was looking at the ground, hills, and buildings below the ship._ "What a day be this! Crew, howl with me so that we might set the Seven Seas ablaze with fear." _He wanted to intimidate the owner of the location they were heading to and whoever was watching the ship from below. The dead captain howled like a wolf.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" **SpongeBob screamed like a banshee. He thought that random screaming was more scary than howls. The yellow square thought that making loud sounds to scare people was somewhat entertaining and amusing.

Squidward folded his arms. He refused to participate in what he considered to be childish behavior.

"Leedle-leedle-leedle-lee!" Patrick made a random sound by using his tongue. He did not fully pay attention to the Flying Dutchman's words.

The Flying Dutchman howled again.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" **SpongeBob screamed again. He tried to make that scream louder than the previous one.

"Leedle-leedle-leedle-lee!"

The Flying Dutchman howled. However, he got interrupted by Patrick.

"Leedle-eedle-eedle-eedle-eedle!" Patrick liked the random sound that he was making. He no longer cared about who was going before or after him.

The Flying Dutchman howled.

"Leedle-eedle-eedle-eedle-eedle!"

The Flying Dutchman howled for the last time. That howl was louder than all of his previous howls.

"Leedle-eedle-eedle-eelde-eelde!"

An awkward pause.

"_Eh, that'll do." _The Flying Dutchman shrugged. He took out a small telescope and gave it to SpongeBob. _"Okay, Square One, since Pink Sone's working the navigation, it's up to you to spy on our victims and tell us 'bout what they're doin'." _He pointed at the telescope. _"Use that spyglass. You should wait a while, though. It's too early to use it 'cause we're not near our destination."_

SpongeBob made a military salute and stood before the protective fence. He was not sure about what the destination looked like. He could not spy on the victims if he did not know where they were.

"Where's our destination?" Squidward looked up at the Flying Dutchman. He asked the question that had been on SpongeBob and Patrick's minds as well. "We can't scare or steal from anybody if we don't know the location." He provided a valid reason for his question. He had a strong fear of the Fall of Despair and getting attacked by his captain.

"_The home of a very wealthy young lad who lives in this town. I believe his name was... Squilliam... Tentacles." _The Flying Dutchman quickly replied.

Squidward gasped and hopped to his feet. "Count me in!" He was smiling sincerely. He was eager to commit another act of sweet revenge against one of the people who had ruined his life. The octopus was acting like he was possessed by an enthusiastic soul.

_Squidward peeked inside the room and saw Squiliam sleeping inside a king-sized bed. "It's him alright." He pumped his gun, aimed it at Squiliam, and pulled the trigger. A gray net came from the gun and enveloped Squiliam. _

_The sleeping octopus didn't move or wake up._

_Patrick picked up Squilliam and carried him on his shoulder. "Let's get out of here."_

_The three neighbors quickly exited the hallway and ran down the stairs._

He still remembered the night where he and the other two neighbors captured Squilliam out of his request. That night always reminded him that SpongeBob and Patrick did not have any intentions to be enemies.

The Flying Dutchman raised his brow at Squidward's sudden change of heart. _"Has someone casted a spell, cursed you, or possessed you?" _He was highly skeptical of what Squidward was expressing.

Squidward looked at his captain again. "Squilliam is my archenemy. Doing some payback on him always makes me happy." The octopus said a fact and a thought of his without hesitance.

"_Very well." _The Flying Dutchman nodded. He considered the octopus' words and facial expression to be genuine.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was looking through the spyglass. He zoomed in on a few guards who were standing before the tiki mansion's entrance. The ship was going to reach the destination very soon. "Captain, there's a few guys we can scare." He looked at the Flying Dutchman from the corner of his eye.

The Flying Dutchman pointed at Patrick. _"Pink One, take us behind those nearby rocks. I'll anchor the ship." _The captain pointed at two gigantic rocks that were relatively near Squilliam's lavish home.

Patrick made a thumbs-up. "Moving behind the rocks!" He steered the ship towards the rocks and pushed the steering wheel so the ship would fly at a downward slope.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Flying Dutchman was carefully noting the slope of his ship's flight and the rocks' surfaces. He realized that if he did not take action, his ship will scrape against the rocks and sustain heavy damage. He raised his hands so he could gather magical energy. One palm gathered light while the other gathered darkness. He then clapped them together with a **SMACK**. The pirate put the two palms on the main deck's floor. Light and dark particles flew out of his hands and formed a very thin but extremely durable covering that covered the entire ship.

The ship's bottom scraped against the rocks with a **GRRROOOAAAAAAANN**. The ship was far away enough from the mansion for it to not attract the guards' attention. From the guards' viewpoints, they did not hear the ship and could barely see it.

"Keep going. You're good... you're good... you're good... and... stop!" SpongeBob guided Patrick's steering by giving the starfish a sense of what he should do. The yellow square made a thumbs-up once Patrick stopped steering the boat.

The Flying Dutchman grabbed the anchor and glanced at his crew members. _"Jump out when I give the signal." _He tossed the anchor to the ground.

The anchor landed on the ground and formed a sand cloud that dissipated after twenty seconds.

The Flying Dutchman flew out of the ship and signaled for SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward to follow him.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward slid down the anchor's rope and jumped to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward; and the Flying Dutchman were hiding behind a hill.

"_I'll try to catch their attention with my ghostly attributes. You'll then scare 'em to the best of your abilities. Got it?" _The Flying Dutchman made a very confident smile. He was eager to transform the tough and experience guards into cowards.

Squidward, Patrick, and SpongeBob nodded. They were trying to not make any noise because they could easily get assaulted by the guards. The guards were nothing when compared to the Flying Dutchman because the ghost knew advanced magical techniques and attacks.

The ghost flew towards the guards and floated before them. He then folded his arms and made a menacing glare.

The guards became astonished and fear quickly took over their minds. The Flying Dutchman's glare was highly unsettling and the dead pirate's transparent body only worsened their fears.

The Flying Dutchman held out his hand towards the guards. A ball of light came out of that hand and made numerous bright flashes. _"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh..." _The ghost uttered a stereotypical ghost sound. _"...oooooOOOOOO__**OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!**__" _He amplified the sound so it would sound more ominous. The bright flashes became even brighter and the light ball was rapidly orbiting the guards.

The guards were sweating profusely. They had no clue about who was floating before them. They did not know what the ball orbiting them was, why it was emitting flashes, and why the 'man' was saying prolonged "ooh" sounds. Regardless of their experience, the fear of the unknown got the better of them.

The light ball emitted a flash that was bright enough to block out the guards' eyevisions. The guards covered their eyes with their hands during the flash's duration.

"_Now!" _The Flying Dutchman loudly whispered towards the three neighbors. He signaled with his hand for them to come over.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward silently ran across the hill and reached the guards while they were still covering their eyes.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" **SpongeBob uttered a blood-curdling scream into a guard's ear. He was trying his absolute best at scaring the guards.

"Ee**D**LeEeDLEeELDEEeLDD**E**EdEelDeEEeELD**EEE**eLdEe**EEL!**" Patrick yelled his "leedle sound" in reverse and in a deep voice. He yelled in such a way that it made his voice sound demonic.

Squidward uttered the loudest whistle that his mouth could handle. **FWEEEEEEEEEEEEET**

The guards thought that they were getting attacked by evil spirits or otherworldly creatures. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" They shrieked at the same time and ran away from the pirate crew as fast as they could. Within minutes, they were far away from Squilliam's mansion.

SpongeBob watched the fleeing guards and fist-pumped. "Yes!" He whispered to himself. He was content with his victory. The sponge thought that the crew's scaring of the guards was harmless in the long-run since the guards would return to their posts anyway.

"_Our work is still not done." _The Flying Dutchman soared. _"The next part's awaitin' us." _He hovered once he reached a certain floor. _"I'll wait for you lads at the floor that I'll go to." _The dead pirate flew through the wall with ease. Since he had been a ghost for a long time, he could easily move through physical objects with ease.

**CRREEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The three neighbors opened the elaborately decorated front door and entered the tiki mansion.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward walked up another set of stairs. They reached the next floor and noticed that the Flying Dutchman was hovering at the end of the hallway.

"_He's in here." _The Flying Dutchman pointed at a wooden door that was next to him. A mischievous smile was on his face.

The three neighbors walked up to the ghost. Squidward, by that point, was the most enthusiastic and excited out of the three,

The ghost held out three fingers. _"On the count of three, we'll barge into the room and scare the soul out of him." _The deceased captain spoke in a solemn manner, it did not fit his smile. He did not want to alert any guards that were possibly inside the building.

Squidward quickly nodded. The octopus could barely control his limbs because of his excitement.

"_One..." _The Flying Dutchman held out two fingers. _"Two..." _The ghost held out one finger. _"Three..." _The pirate closed all of his fingers into a fist. _"Now!"_

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

The three neighbors barged the bedroom's door open. They stepped into the bedroom and tried to utter the same sounds that they had used for scaring the guards.

"**AAA**AAaaaaahhh..." SpongeBob tried to scream like a banshee again but lost his voice. His vocal cords were too exhausted from that recent scream.

"LEEDLE... EDLEEL... eedeleeeleee..." Patrick's vocal cords were tired as well. To make matters worse, he had a brain fart and then forgot how to utter his made-up sound. The sea star's memory had worsened by a degree.

Squidward could not whistle. The method he had used for whistling was not working. No matter how many times the octopus adjusted his hands (one of the steps of his method was to put his hands on his mouth in a certain way), no sound that resembled any sort of whistle escaped his mouth.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob gulped nervously.

Squilliam became irate and stood up from his bed. He had been listening to music on his expensive phone. He did not want random and unwanted guests to disturb him. After a second, he recognized them as the 'astronauts' who had captured him. He grabbed a walkie-talkie from a small table and yelled into it. "SECURITY!"

Several guards seemed to have came out of nowhere and they grabbed the three neighbors. They pulled them out of the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The guards rapidly carried them downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

The guards kicked SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward out of the mansion.. They then closed the door with a **SLAM**.

The three neighbors slowly stood up. SpongeBob was smiling nervously because he did not know how the Flying Dutchman was going to react to this failure. Patrick had a deadpan face because he thought that the crew could enter the mansion through some other way. Squidward was expressing an extreme amount of grumpiness; his desire for revenge was left unsatisfied.

The Flying Dutchman hovered before them. _"Get back on the ship." _He was folding his arms and looked displeased.

The three neighbors walked towards the anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick reached the ship's main deck.

Patrick was wondering about the ghost's reasons for saying that command. "Maybe he's gonna give us a reward." He said one of his thoughts and shrugged. That spoken thought was nearly a random guess.

"Like movie passes?" SpongeBob smiled widely. The yellow square's optimism reached a ridiculous level.

"Or an oversized coffee mug?" Patrick caught the yellow square's attitude. The sponge's optimism was contagious.

SpongeBob and Patrick began to jump up and down in excitement. They could not wait to see the reward that the Flying Dutchman had in store for them. They then hopped around the ship in circular paths as their excitement increased,

The Flying Dutchman reached the ship. _"Before I say anything, bring the ship back to the sky." _He grabbed the rope and rapidly pulled the anchor all the way back to his ship. He then flew towards the rear deck and flew into his cabin.

Patrick ran towards the steering wheel and grabbed it.

SpongeBob walked to the protective fence so he could check on Patrick's progress.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"You're good... you're good... you're good... you're good... you're good... you're good... you're good... you're good... you're good..." SpongeBob was watching the ship scrape against the rock's surface as it soared. He made a thumbs-up for every time that the ship rose by a few feet.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The ship was flying across the sky.

The Flying Dutchman flew through the rear deck's wall. He signaled with his hand for Patrick to come over to him.

Patrick jogged up to the dead pirate. He stood next to SpongeBob and Squidward.

"_I've been thinking... this whole crew thing isn't working out. At this current rate, we'll never find anymore booty. You three are simply too inexperienced to be of much use." _The Flying Dutchman spoke with a deadpan face and folded arms.

"You're setting us free?" SpongeBob smiled from ear to ear. He jumped up and down in excitement again. He had waited a long time for this moment to happen. Freedom was the best gift that the dead pirate could possibly give.

"_Well, actually, I'm just gonna eat you by sucking the life force out of your bodies."_ The Flying Dutchman was hungry and felt like eating a special treat. He viewed the three neighbors as special snacks (he did not 'eat' people on a normal basis). _"See you at dinner!" _The pirate flew towards them.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH!" SpongeBob and Patrick screamed at the same time. Terror filed the three neighbors' minds. The three then ran towards the ship's edge in a desperate attempt to escape the ship. Squidward's desire to return to his home became even stronger.

"_Usin' the old trick, eh?" _The pirate grabbed them by their shirt collars and pants. He carried them to a room in the forecastle deck and threw them into it.

**SLAM**

The Flying Dutchman closed the door and flew away so he could tend with other business.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Wait, I have an idea!" The starfish turned to look at his neighbors and beamed.

"Really?! What is it?" SpongeBob beamed as well. He optimistically thought that Patrick's idea was innovative.

"Let's leave!" Patrick walked up to the door and tried to open it. However, the sea star realized that the door was locked. "Oops..." He sweatdropped and smiled nervously. "Didn't see that coming."

SpongeBob noticed that there was another door in the room. He opened that door with a **CRRREEEEEAAAK **and saw a room that had massive stores of perfume and cologne. He saw another door at the end of that room.

Patrick looked through the open doorway. "Let's do it!" The starfish ran through the room. He thought that the room was a perfect opportunity for an escape.

SpongeBob and Squidward quickly followed him.

The three neighbors coughed and sneezed as they ran across the room. The room was surprisingly large. The aromas of the perfumes and colognes was too strong for their noses. After several brutal seconds, they...

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

...exited the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The three neighbors were on the main deck. The Flying Dutchman had overlooked the forecastle deck's other exits. The three walked towards the ship's edge.

SpongeBob heard mumbling coming from the rear deck. "Wait! Listen!" The yellow square whispered loudly and ran to the rear deck's wall. He put his ear on the wall and heard the Flying Dutchman talking to himself in the cabin.

S-S-S-S-S

The Flying Dutchman was writing with a quill pen on a blank page of a very large book. That book was a volume of his diary. His diary had become so large over the years that he had to get several volumes of blank pages so he could write more entries. _"Dear Diary: I told them I'm going to suck their life force soon. I made up some appetizers that my cousin had showed me for such occasions. It's a good thing I found my dining sock again. The last time I lost me dining sock, I couldn't eat for a whole week. Yessir, sometimes I wonder how I'd survive if anything should ever happen.." _The captain was loudly whispering what he was writing. He always ate his meals with a special old sock because he thought that the sock was a lucky charm. Choking on food was very unpleasant from the dead pirate's perspective and he thought that it could only be prevented by having the sock near him whenever he ate.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob abruptly barged into the room, snatched the sock, and dashed out of the room.

The Flying Dutchman turned around and shook his fist. _"Give me back my sock! Everyone knows I can't eat without it!" _The pirate was irritated instead of angry. Losing his sock was a common occurrence. He flew through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

"Never!" SpongeBob shook his head. He was determined to preserve his and his neighbors' lives. He ran as as fast as he could.

The Flying Dutchman eventually caught up with the yellow square and grabbed the sock. He pulled the sock with one hand and held out a hand towards the sponge. _"Okay then..." _His held-out palm became charged with electricity.

S-S-S-S-S

Man Ray was flying above Bikini Bottom's buildings. He had returned to Bikini Bottom because he thought that the police would not chase him by this point. He noticed that there was a nearby ship that was glowing a green hue. Out of curiosity, he flew towards it.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Man Ray felt magical energy that was different when compared to his, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's, and the magical energies of other supervillains. The different energy he was feeling was coming from a magic adept instead of a person whose magic originated from a source. A light bulb lit up in the supervillain's head. He thought that by harnessing this new magical energy, he could conquer Bikini Bottom more easily. The villain flew towards the source of this energy.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Man Ray hovered before the ghostly ship. He looked at the Flying Dutchman and noticed that that ghost was the source of the different energy. He focused his gaze on the ghost and lasers fired from his eyes with a** P-PEEEEWWW**.

The Flying Dutchman got hit by the lasers and tumbled to one edge of the main deck. He quickly floated and tried to find the source of those lasers.

Man Ray darted towards the ghost and rapidly assaulted the ghost with a **BAM BAM BAM BOMP BAMP BOP BOP BOP POW POW BAM BAM BAM POW BOP BOP BAM POW BOP BAM**.

The Flying Dutchman fell to the ground below the ship.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out when he saw Man Ray. "Man Ray came to save us?!" The yellow square jumped to a wild conclusion. The sponge could not believe what he was seeing.

The Flying Dutchman looked up at Man Ray. He had heard rumors about Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy and the main enemies that those superheroes have to battle against. The ghost recognized Man Ray. _"Came to steal me treasures, eh?" _He smirked and took out the metal rectangle.

Man Ray sped towards the dead pirate and kicked the ghost's face with a **KLOK**.

The Flying Dutchman twirled in the air.

**BAM BOP KLOK POW BAM KLOK BAM BAM POW POW BOP BOP BAMP BOMP KLOK KLOK BOP BAM BOP KLOK BAM POW POW BAM BOP KLOK**

Man Ray did a rapid series of punches and kicks.

The force of the received hits was so powerful that the Flying Dutchman flew towards his ship's bottom.

**SLAM**

The ghost's back hit the bottom and he then fell back to the ground.

The ship shook for several seconds.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward fell to the floor and tumbled for a few seconds.

**BAM BOP KLOK BAM BOP BAM BOP BAM BOP BAM BAMP BOMP POW POW POW BAM**

Man Ray was being relentless with his assault. He concentrated on the Flying Dutchman's back and fired several lasers from his eyes with a **P-PEEWWW PEWWW P-PEEEWWW**.

The Flying Dutchman rolled out of the lasers' way and held out his hand. A powerful gust came out of his hand with a **WOOOSSSH**. The gust blew Man Ray towards the sky. The Flying Dutchman returned to his floating position and held out both of his hands towards Man Ray. _"Eat this, scallywag!" _He did not take Man Ray's attacks seriously He had received worse injuries in the past. Numerous fireballs came out of his hands.

**P-P-P-P-PPPHHHHOOOOOOMMMM PHHOOOOOMM PHOOOOM P-P-P-PHOOOM**

Volley of fireballs darted towards the supervillain. Man Ray held out both of his hands and multiple lasers fired from his fingertips.

**P-P-PEEEEEWWWWW P-P-P-PEEEEEEEEEWWW PEEEEEEWWW PEEWWWWW**

The lasers and the fireballs collided and canceled each other out...

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM**

...and exploded.

The explosion pushed the ship. The three neighbors flew to the forecastle deck's wall when the ship quickly tilted to one side.

Squidward thought that the situation was too dangerous for him and the others to remain on the ship. "We gotta get outta here!" He ran towards the anchor. He also missed the comforts of his home because the fireballs and lasers reminded him of the dangers of the outside world.

SpongeBob and Patrick followed him. They wanted to leave the ship mostly because of their fear of getting eaten by the dead pirate.

"Your powers are inferior to mine!" Man Ray spoke with a confident smile. From his perspective, fireballs were not new since they were too similar to water balls (one of his arch-enemies main attacks). He put his hands together and created a shining ball that was also a center of gravity. 'Garu.' He mentally spoke the name of the spell and threw it towards the Flying Dutchman.

The ball flew towards the pirate at the speed of lightning. It hit the ghost because he did not have any time to react.

**MOOOOOOOOOOOOOB**

It became invisible and gathered the nearby ground and rocks. The Flying Dutchman shrunk to the size of a plankton and was being squeezed to his ectoplasmic body's limit.

A brutal pause.

**BOOM**

The invisible ball stop being gravitational and consequently made the contained objects scatter randomly and rapidly. The ball dissipated as the objects were released.

The Flying Dutchman hit a hill like a meteor. A massive sand cloud soared to nearly half of the average skycloud level.

A long pause.

The Flying Dutchman slowly soared out of the sand cloud and glared at Man Ray. He took out a book full of pages that had spells written in them. He opened the book and loudly whispered the spell names. "Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma." The spell names were written in magically-infused ink so that they would activate the spells when they are spoken.

Several ghostly allies came out of the book. They were all wearing pirate clothes and were looking at the Flying Dutchman.

"ATTACK HIM!" The Flying Dutchman pointed at Man Ray.

The ghosts flew towards the supervillain. They unleashed numerous balls of dark energy from their palms.

Man Ray quickly dodged each dark ball and made another ball of gravity. 'Garu.' He threw it towards the ghost group. The ball absorbed all of the dark balls and the ghosts except for the Flying Dutchman.

"Estoma. Estoma. Estoma. Estoma. Estoma. Estoma. Estoma." The Flying Dutchman rapidly whispered another spell. Several portals flew out of the book and surrounded Man Ray. Numerous swords and cannonballs came out of the portals. The ghost controlled which weapons came out of the portals.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW P-P-PEW PEW PEW P-P-P-P-P-PEW PEW PEW**

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

Man Ray hastily fired lasers from his eyes and fingertips. Those lasers were deflecting the weapons. The weapons then became absorbed by the gravity ball.

A pause.

The gravity ball became transparent and released all of the captured objects.

**SHING THUNK BOP BAM BANG CLANK CLANG SLASH SHING SLASH THUNK BAM BOP SLAMG SHING SLASH**

Most of the weapons hit the Flying Dutchman. The other weapons hit the ship or fell to the ground.

By that point, the three neighbors landed on the ground. The neighbors then ran towards their neighborhood. The three wanted to return to their homes as soon as possible. They all had a massive fear of getting hit by the ghost and the villain's attacks.

**PHOOOM SLASH BAM BOP BAM BOP POW BAM PHOOM P-PHHOOOM BAM SLASH**

The deceased pirate's ghostly allies were punching, throwing fireballs at, and slashing Man Ray with their knives. They were doggedly attacking the supervillain.

The Flying Dutchman took out his metal rectangle. He was about to crush it with both of his hands when...

Man Ray tightened himself into a fetal position and gathered magical energy into all of his muscles. He then released all of the pressure he had built up. 'Zan.' He mentally spoke the name of the spell.

**BOOM**

Gusts that were at hurricane speeds exploded out of Man Ray. It blew away everything and everyone that was near him.

The Flying Dutchman no longer wanted to fight Man Ray. The fight was dragging too much for his liking. He predicted that neither him or the supervillain will win the fight. He had a desire to sail to other ghost pirates' ships and steal their treasures. He flew towards his ships, took out his book, and opened it again. "Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma. Necroma." He undid the previously casted spell.

The pirate's ghostly allies were sucked back into the book and returned to their previous locations in the world. Whenever the Flying Dutchman casted that spell, they would be transported by the book to the Dutchman's location.

The Flying Dutchman reached his ship. He grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and held out the book with his other hand. "Trafuri." He loudly whispered one of the book's spells.

Man Ray was flying towards the ship with eyes that were full of red light; he was ready to fire another volley of eye lasers.

The Flying Dutchman's ship flashed brightly and then vanished to another location. It was an anticlimactic end to a fight that had the potential to erupt into an all-out conflict.

A long pause.

Man Ray took a deep breath; he was feeling bitter disappointment. He flew in a random direction.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Man Ray flew into an empty cave and sat criss-crossed. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths until his concentration was focused purely on his soul.

A very long pause.

_S-S-S-S-S_

"_Master, I have been released from the prison of tartar sauce. However, I have not made any progress in my quest for ownership and purification of Bikini Bottom. I also showed a few signs of arrogance. What have I done wrong?" _

"_You are simply adjusting to your state before you became frozen. Time will heal your troubles. Do not become overcome with sloth. You are a tool of my will and you must function properly in order for our plan to succeed." The person Man Ray was talking to spoke in an booming voice/_

"_Thank you, Master." _

_S-S-S-S-S_

Man Ray opened his eyes.


	74. I'm with Stupid

**Chapter 74: I'm with Stupid**

* * *

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was watching TV in his living room. He was currently in a relaxed state and was trying to focus on the news report being shown. Today had been thrilling, dangerous, and stressful. He could care less about the world outside of his rock because he wanted to reduce the stress he had built up.

**RING RING RING RING**

The shell-phone rang.

Patrick stood up and walked up to the shell-phone. He picked it up and put it next to his ear. "Hello?"

A familiar electronic female voice was heard.

"U-umm..." Patrick sweatdropped and scratched his head. He was becoming nervous. The pink star took a few glances at his pigsty of a living room.

The electronic voice continued to speak.

"A-alright. Bye, Ma." Patrick spoke anxiously. He then put the shell-phone down and sat on a seat. He no longer cared about watching TV. His mind was now occupied with different methods on how he could become presentable to his parents. His anxiety revealed his low-confidence when it came to social events.

S-S-S-S-S

More than a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

6:00 PM

SpongeBob and Squidward were coming back from work. The octopus entered his tiki while SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick's rock. The rock caught his attention because it was shaking rapidly. The yellow square became concerned for his best friend and walked up to the rock. He knocked on it several times with a **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**. However, Patrick did not respond.

A long pause.

**CRRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened and Patrick climbed the wall. The starfish was so nervous that his anxiety was affecting his vision. He dusted the yellow square with his feather-duster because he mistook the sponge for a piece of sand furniture. He had been dusting all of the rooms in his home. "Need... furniture!" Patrick was desperate to make his home look as attractive as possible. He grabbed some outside sand and began to quickly from a drawer, a television, a stool; and a couch. He was mumbling to himself as he did this.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "Patrick, what's with the home improvement?" The sponge could tell that Patrick was worrying about an upcoming event. Patrick would almost never clean up his home unless it was for an important occasion such as a party.

Patrick continued to make furniture as if SpongeBob was not there at all. Once he was finished with forming the furniture, he waited for them to dry and harden.

"Hey, Patrick!" SpongeBob waved with both of his hands. He was trying to catch Patrick's attention. That attempt was futile because Patrick proceeded to move the living room's furniture into their proper places.

S-S-S-S-S

"Ooooooh, sweep sweep!" Patrick was mumbling as he moved the furniture. He was going to sweep all of the floors once he becomes finished with the moving. His mind was completely focused on one troubling event.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sighed. "Patrick, I came over to see if you wanted to go jellyfishing. But I can see you're busy having an episode." The yellow square spoke out of respect and sympathy.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick heard his best friend's words and stopped moving the sofa. He misinterpreted the words because his anxiety was also affecting his hearing. He tightened his fists, climbed the wall, and stomped to SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick's face was red and steam was coming out of the starfish's ears. "You know something, SpongeBob? It's just all fun and games for you. Nothing really matters." He made a face that looked like SpongeBob's grinning face. "Oh, let's go jellyfishing. We don't have any work to do! Life is a bing bowl of fancy assorted cashews, and nobody has anything to dust or to clean or to wipe! Or fabricate!" The pink star spoke in a voice that imitated SpongeBob's.

"But, Pat, a party we hadn't planned a party yet. You usually clean just your plate." SpongeBob sweatdropped and spoke honestly. "Why're you so nervous? I remember one time when you said that cleaning was one of the most relaxing activities." The yellow square's memory served him well.

Patrick fell to his knees and put his hands over his face. He began to weep. "I don't know what to do, SpongeBob... y-you gotta help me!" The pressure of an upcoming visit was too much for Patrick to handle by himself.

SpongeBob quickly came to a conclusion and then gasped. "Patrick, you forgot how to eat again!" The yellow square jumped to the living room's floor and landed with a **THUD**.

S-S-S-S-S

"Come on, we'll get the funnel." SpongeBob jogged throughout the rock's rooms in search of the funnel. As he had stated, Patrick would forget how to eat on rare occasions.

Patrick slid into the living room and landed on the floor face-first. He stood up and walked towards his friend. "No, it's not that, SpongeBob; it's worse." He was frowning and looking at the floor.

SpongeBob turned around. "Well, what is it, then?" He tilted his head to the side again.

"Look..." Patrick took out a rolled piece paper from his pocket. "The other person phone-called me about it before the sender sended that to me. The letter's just a reminder about that phone-call." He gave it to SpongeBob and looked directly at the floor as he waited for SpongeBob's response. The pink star's stress began to decrease since a trustworthy person was learning about his situation and could help him.

SpongeBob unrolled the paper and silently read it.

The paper had text saying:

'**Dear Patrick,**

**your mom and I are coming out tomorrow for Starfish Day. Please try to remember, but don't try too hard, or you'll hurt yourself like last time.**

**Love, Daddy.**'

"This is from your parents?" SpongeBob looked up at Patrick. He became even more concerned for his friend.

Patrick nodded. "SpongeBob, my parents think I'm dumber than a sack of diapers. As a matter of fact, whenever there's a family gathering, I always embarrass them with my..." The starfish forgot the noun form of the word 'stupid'. "...dumbness. I'm the only adult in the family who doesn't have a job. Some of them also like to crack a few innocent jokes about my dumbness, I know they don't mean it." The starfish took a deep breath. "I keep lying to my parents about my job search so they wouldn't become worried about me. Whenever they contact me, it always reminds about my low place in the social totem-pole. It's not just my family, either. People on the street make fun of me, or don't like me, or I embarrass them; just because I'm different." The sea star said a mini-rant about how people treat him unfairly.

A pause.

SpongeBob put a hand on his chin as he thought carefully. He eventually came up with a solution to Patrick's dilemma. "Pat, they don't mean that. Parents just like to push your buttons, y'know. That's what my uncle and aunt always does to BlackJack. Your parents aren't _that_ mean." The yellow square tried to solace the troubled sea star. He had seen Patrick's parents a few times before.

Patrick shook his head. "You don't get it, Sponge. The gist of the rant I said is also why I stay at home all the time. If I go out and tried to get jobs by helping people, I'll end up hurting me or them with my dumbness. Even if I landed a job, it wouldn't work out." His mind was clouded with self-doubt.

The yellow square's optimism shined brighter than before. "Patrick, if your parents think you're dumb, then they must not know what dumb really is." The sponge tried to put Patrick's viewpoint in perspective. He had seen and talked to people who were dumber than Patrick.

**SLAM**

The rock closed by itself. It had been open for a few minutes.

Patrick scratched his head. "But don't they watch television?" The sea star had seen characters in TV shows who were smarter than him. He assumed that his parents compared those characters to him in terms of intelligence.

"That's what I'm saying, Pat." SpongeBob grinned. He tried to put as much positivity as he could into Patrick's pessimistic perspective. "If your parents got to meet a real dummy, they'd realize what a genius you really are!" The sponge spoke cheerfully.

Patrick's intelligence was at a low level because of his nervousness. "But don't geniuses live in a lamp?" He raised his brow and then returned to a normal facial expression. "And besides, we don't know any dumb people." He had forgotten about the idiots he had encountered in high school and community college.

SpongeBob was aware of who Patrick had forgotten about but decided to play along with what Patrick was saying. "Don't worry, Patrick. I'll be the dummy! When your parents see how dumb I act, they'll think you're the smartest guy ever!" The sponge revealed how loyal he was to his best friend. The yellow square did not mind doing daunting favors for close friends. His childish nature allowed him to easily wear a foolish persona.

"Math is power!" Patrick grinned and raised his hand to the ceiling. His stupidity made him use an unrelated quote at an inappropriate time. The starfish then sat in his couch as he waited for his parents.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I , J, K, L, M, N, O-" Patrick was whispering the alphabet to himself. He was trying to remember all of the letters in the alphabet in case if his parents asked any alphabet-related questions. However, his whispering got interrupted by a few **KNOCK**s. "Oh!" He leaped from his couch, climbed the wall, and pushed the ceiling.

**CRREEEAAAK**

The rock opened.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick held on to the circular wall's edge. "Hi Mom, Hi Dad!" He spoke with enthusiasm and was smiling widely. His greeting was better than what happened during the last visit since he had forgotten his parents' physical appearances during that visit.

"Son, you recognized us this time!" A middle-aged male sea star smiled. He was wearing a somewhat dirty tank-top and blue pants. His skin was a pink that was a shade darker than the skin of Patrick and his wife.

"Why wouldn't I recognize my own parents?" Patrick jumped out of the rock and landed on the ground. He thought that the starfish couple standing before him were his parents. However, doubts of an unknown subject and cause were nagging his mind. The starfish quickly dismissed his intuition because he did not want to act and look stupid in front of his parents again.

"You never were a bright one." Marty laughed. However, the intention of his words were ambiguous. His words sounded like they both came from a loving father and a bully.

Patrick made a poker face. He did not want to express any sort of negative reaction. The sea star wanted to hide and deny his stupidity as much as possible.

"Well, aren't you gonna show us inside?" Marty looked into the living room and became impressed by the furniture that he was seeing. He noticed an improvement in the cleanliness of his son's home.

"He probably forgot where it is." Janet commented with a smirk. She wore a purple wig and a light blue dress.

For some strange reason, both of the parents were making fun of their son for his varying levels of intelligence. Their words could easily be misinterpreted as insults instead of innocent jokes. Patrick did not became upset since he was used to such jokes from younger family members.

"Well, I know where it-" Patrick turned around and was about to jump into the living room. However, Marty interrupted him.

"Okay, let me lead the way do we don't get lost." Marty held Patrick's left hand. He did not want another accident to occur during their visit. He turned his head to look at Janet. "Hold hands now." He pointed at Patrick's right hand.

Janet took hold of Patrick's right hand.

The three hopped into the living room.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

"Okay, let go on three." Marty smiled widely at his small success. "One... two... three!" He let go of Patrick's left hand while Janet let go of Patrick's right hand.

"Good job!" Janet looked at Patrick, beamed, and made a thumbs-up. The pink star was surprised at their success because she had predicted that they were going to fail at bringing Patrick into the home.

"Pats for Patrick!" Marty and Janet spoke in unison and patted Patrick's shoulders. The two parents then laughed because they thought that what they just said sounded silly.

Patrick tried to hide any signs of irritation. He noticed that his parents were much more annoying than when they had last visited him. However, he did not worry about that because he thought that their annoyingness was situational. "I'll go get the beverages." He walked through the kitchen's entrance.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick walked back to his parents while holding a tray of three drinks of lemon iced tea. His mood had improved slightly since he was smiling.

Marty looked at the drinks and widened his eyes. "Wow, son. You put something in the cups this time. You must've been working all night to put these together for us." He took a glass cup and drank the tea. He was smiling appreciatively.

Janet took a cup and drank the tea as well.

"We love you!" The couple spoke at the same time and they both kissed Patrick's cheeks. They had immediately liked the flavor of the tea. The brand of iced tea that Patrick had bought from Barg'N-Mart was one of the best brands that could be found in Bikini Bottom's county.

Patrick made a crooked smile. He always treasured such signs of affection from his parents.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Someone knocked on the rock.

Patrick knew who wanted to visit his home. He had arranged a plan with that person not too long ago. "Hooray, the idiot's he- I mean, I'll get it!" The starfish almost entirely revealed the secret. He then sweatdropped and smiled nervously. He jogged to the wall, climbed it, and opened the rock.

**CRRREEEEEEAAAK**

SpongeBob was standing before the rock while wearing his karate helmet. He was wearing a foolish face where his eyes were looking different directions and his smile was stretching from ear to ear.

"W-what a surprise!" Patrick was trying his hardest not to giggle. From his viewpoint, SpongeBob looked like a comedian. The starfish maintained his slight smile and signaled with his hand for SpongeBob to enter his home. "Come in!"

SpongeBob made a kangaroo pose and leaped into the living room. He landed on the floor with a **THUD**.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

"Mom, Dad, meet my neighbor, SpongeBob!" Patrick turned towards his parents. He patted the sponge on the shoulder. He assumed that his parents had forgotten SpongeBob because they were looking at the sponge with puzzled expressions.

"Hi." SpongeBob looked at Patrick's parents. He raised his hand and put it down within a second. The yellow square noticed that the couple looked significantly different than when he last saw them. However, the sponge ignored that fact because he had noticed physical changes in people over short amounts of time.

"Hello there!" Marty held out his hand towards SpongeBob. He was trying to be friendly. He could tell right away that the yellow square was not very smart.

"How do you do?" Janet curtsied. She did such a formal greeting because she noticed SpongeBob's stupidity. The sea star was trying to be sarcastic.

"Hi." SpongeBob walked like a robot towards the couple. He was still smirking and his eyes continued to look in opposite directions.

"Put'er there." Marty continued to hold out his hand. The sponge was creating an awkward situation because he was not shaking Marty's hand.

SpongeBob grabbed a nearby Barnacle Boy action figure and put it on Marty's hand. He interpreted Marty's words literally so he could act like he was even more stupid.

Patrick giggled. "He means 'shake'." He tried to help his best friend.

SpongeBob violently shook his entire body. He was acting like he was enduring a major earthquake. His limbs were moving like the lines on seismographs.

"No, SpongeBob, no! Shake hands!" Patrick covered his mouth with one of his hands. He was chuckling.

SpongeBob clasped his hands together and shook them as fast as he could. The sponge maintained a wide smile; he was successfully suppressing his giggling and chuckling. He was very aware of the silliness of his actions.

"N-no... SpongeBob..." Patrick could resist no longer. He succumbed to his urge of laughter a few times. "Grab my dad's hand." He took a deep breath and calmed down somewhat.

SpongeBob grabbed Marty's held-out hand with both of his hands and put his left leg on the hand. "Like this?" He rolled his eyes rapidly so he could look like he was almost mentally challenged.

"Grab it with only one hand!" Patrick facepalmed so he could look and sound more sincere. He was getting used to his role as SpongeBob's teacher. He felt like he was the father and the sponge was the son.

SpongeBob put his left leg down and let go of his other hand. His dominant hand continued to hold on to Marty's hand.

"Good boy!" Patrick clapped. He jumped up and down to show how 'happy' he was for his neighbor's small victory. "Now move your arm up and down." The sea star stopped clapping and his smile lessened.

SpongeBob and Marty's clasped hands moved up and down.

"Phew." Patrick wiped some non-existent sweat from his brow. He was aware of the moral grayness of deceiving his parents. However, he barely felt any guilt because his deceivement was giving him a positive image of himself to the couple.

"So, SpongeBob, do you live nearby?" Janet felt like now was the appropriate time to ask questions. She did not want to seem like a detective who was interrogating a criminal.

"Hi." SpongeBob released Marty's hand from his grip and stuck out his tongue. He fell to the floor and moved his limbs as if he was making a snow angel.

Patrick laughed again. "No, SpongeBob. Show... them your... house." He struggled to speak as he laughed. The pink star then smirked as a way of suppression. The starfish wondered about how his friend was able to think up of such silly acts so quickly.

SpongeBob stood up and pulled out his underwear so the couple could see it. He intentionally misheard his friend's words.

"No, I said your _house_." Patrick shook his head. He was thinking about how many times he had said "no" so far.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" SpongeBob screamed and ran towards the wall. He climbed the wall as fast as a squirrel and pushed the rock open.

**CREEAAK**

S-S-S-S-S

He jumped to the outside ground and landed on it. He ran towards his pineapple while still screaming. The yellow sponge hit his home's exterior wall face-first with a **SLAM**. He moved his limbs in a certain way so he would like he was stuck in the wall.

Patrick, Marty, and Janet climbed out of the rock and walked up to SpongeBob. The couple widened their eyes when they saw the 'stuck' yellow sponge.

"He lives in a fruit?" Janet raised her brow. She could not believe that some sea creatures, especially 'stupid' ones like SpongeBob, could live in such ridiculous and probably expensive homes.

"That's unhealthy." Marty commented with a chuckle. He and Janet's ideas for jokes seemed to have no end. The couple was acting as if they were trying their hardest at searching for joke opportunities.

Patrick covered his hand with his mouth as he giggled. Once he stopped giggling, he uncovered his mouth. "Hey, SpongeBob! You wanna stay for dinner?" He pointed at his open rock. The best friend duo's plan was going very smoothly.

SpongeBob 'struggled' to 'pull himself' out of the pineapple's exterior wall. Once his head 'popped' out of the wall, he turned around and nodded very quickly. He babbled like a lunatic for ten seconds. The babbling and constant "hi"'s were ruses to make Patrick's parents think that he was incapable of complex speech.

"Let's go, buddy." Patrick hooked his arm around SpongeBob's. He then 'guided' the yellow square back to his rock. He signaled with his hand for his parents to follow him.

Marty and Janet followed Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick, Marty, and Janet were sitting on the couch. They each had a plate of donuts and were eating them. They were also watching the news.

Marty looked at SpongeBob and raised his brow when the sponge began to do a foolish act. "Does he always do that after he eats?" He scratched his head in puzzlement. He noticed that SpongeBob's behavior was becoming more and more bizarre as time went on.

"Only on Wednesday." Patrick replied without taking a glance at his best friend. He knew that he would choke on his food if he giggled at the sponge's clownery.

SpongeBob was repeatedly pushing his nose. Every time his nose went into his head, he exclaimed: "BEEP!" as if the nose was a button. Every ten times he poked his nose, he performed a self-wedgie before resuming his nose-poking. The sponge was trying to hide his unhappiness. He had been the target of jokes too many times; his ego was sustaining damage. As a matter of fact, he perceived that Patrick was a hypocrite because the sea star sometimes joined the joking about his 'stupidity'.

Marty swallowed his last doughnut before he began to chuckle. "Uh, Patrick, I think your friend might be broken." He smiled nervously and sweatdropped. He thought that the yellow sponge should be sent to a hospital so a psychiatrist could diagnose Patrick.

"Yeah, and it would take more than some masking tape to fix that guy." Patrick moved his brow up and down and smirked. He pointed at the yellow square and giggled. The sea star was enjoying his parent's company so much that positivity overflowed into his heart. That positivity made him forget about his main goal.

Marty, Janet, and Patrick laughed.

SpongeBob ran into the kitchen while uttering monkey sounds.

S-S-S-S-S

He jumped from table, to fridge, to cabinet in rapid succession. He swung to other parts of the home like a monkey swinging from vines. He uttered ape-like sounds as he did that foolery.

S-S-S-S-S

"Whoa!" Marty goggled at the yellow 'monkey'. "Is he gonna be okay?" The pink star had never seen such profound behavioral changes from a mentally challenged person. From his perspective, the sponge was acting like he was another animal.

"Oh, that's nothing." Patrick smiled calmly and flipped his hand to express his indifference. "You should see him in the morning prancing around yelling 'I'm ready!' 'I'm ready!' 'I'm rea-" He imitated SpongeBob's voice again. "He drives all the neighbors crazy." He spoke in his normal voice. He said a half-truth so he could be viewed in an even more positive light. "Just the other day, our neighbor Squidward was... ...was really no help to him. I mean, look at the way he's dressed. Only somebody with holes drilled in their head would wear that stuff. And how about his shape! I mean, I've heard of barrel-chest, but never box-chested!" The starfish was getting carried away with his rude speaking of SpongeBob's 'inferiority'. He had stopped talking at random moments because the yellow square had been fooling around during his speaking.

The three starfishes laughed at Patrick's humorous comments.

SpongeBob stopped his idiocy and frowned. Patrick had crossed a line that had been set during the creation of their plan. He also noticed another problem that Patrick was not aware of. He folded his arms and waited for Patrick to finish saying his offensive remarks.

"Hey, SpongeBob, do you have any mascara I could borrow?" Patrick smirked and pointed at his best friend's eyebrows. His smirk revealed his sarcasm.

"The boy wears make-up?" Marty tittered. He had never heard of such an 'unmanly' man. He surveyed the sponge's eyebrows and was consequently trying his hardest at resisting the urge to laugh.

"What a card!" Janet said the most suitable joke at the best time. She had played many card games in the past.

The three starfishes guffawed. Patrick fell to the ground in laughter and tears were nearly rolling down his cheeks because of that laughter.

"Hey, Patrick!" SpongeBob stopped folding his arms and tightened his fists. His brows furrowed. When he noticed that Patrick ignored him. His irritation transformed into anger. "Patrick!" He waved with both of his arms to catch his friend's attention.

"Aw, he said my name." Patrick assumed that the yellow square was still acting. He smirked again and pointed at the sponge. He was being relentless with his constant joking.

"Wow, how'd you train him to do that?" Marty tilted his head to the side. He could not figure out how the sponge learned such a complex action. He was no longer certain about SpongeBob's true intelligence.

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and poked the starfish on the shoulder multiple times until the sea star made eye contact with him. "Patrick, meet me in the kitchen." He spoke solemnly and stomped through the kitchen's entrance.

Patrick's naivete was becoming obvious. "Oh, I guess the dummy wants to have a private conversation." The starfish spoke in a teasing manner.

Marty and Janet chuckled.

"A dumb one!" Patrick grinned and stood up from the couch. He continued to look at his parents as he walked towards the kitchen. After a few more steps, he turned to look at the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick stepped into the kitchen. He walked up to his best friend and casually leaned on the wall. "So, what's on your mind?" The starfish rapidly raised and lowered his brows; his playful intention could not be more obvious. "Oh, wait. I already know the answer. Nothing." The starfish laughed. He assumed that the sponge was still acting 'stupid' no matter how rude his jokes were. "See, that's funny. 'Cause you're dumb." He air-quoted when he said the word "dumb".

"Patrick, about those insults-" SpongeBob was about to reveal what he had noticed when Patrick interrupted him. He was no longer showing any signs of anger.

"Were those too complicated for you?" Patrick expressed slight concern for the "dumb" sponge. "I'll try dumbing them down a bit." The sea star was not paying attention to SpongeBob's signs of sincerity. He was specifically following the plan that SpongeBob had created. SpongeBob had specifically said that he will act like an idiot for one to two hours. So far, less than an hour had passed.

"Patrick, I'm being serious here. I'm not trying to act like I'm dumb. Anyways, your jokes went too far. You did not follow one of the directions I told you when we were talking about the plan. You were making fun of me for who I am instead of my 'stupidity'." He air quoted when he said the word "stupidity". "I think you were just doing that so you could feel better about yourself. Pat, I don't think that will help you in the future. If me or you mess up with our acting, they will find out that you're still stupid. Instead of being a phony, you should he true to yourself so your parents could accept you for who you are." The yellow square said some very wise words. He tried to not reveal the truth too bluntly.

"On, SpongeBob, if only you could see how stupid you sound right now, with your talk of imaginary plans. Tell you what. You've caught me at a good mood. I'll humor you. Go on, go out there and act 'smart' for everyone." Patrick did not take any of SpongeBob's words seriously. He was blinded by his desire for his parents' acceptance and also focused on the plan. Those two contradictory actions worsened his hypocrisy. He looked at the clock in the living room and noticed that it was twenty minutes to seven.

"Okay, I will!" SpongeBob took off the helmet and left it on the floor. He exited the kitchen.

Patrick picked up the karate helmet and put it on. "Don't worry, I'll keep this warm for ya." The sea star gestured a thumbs-up towards his best friend. He wanted to see what acts that the sponge wanted to perform in front of his parents.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood before Janet and Marty. "I have a confession to make. I lied about being stupid. I just acted like a fool so you would appreciate Patrick a little bit more. I know how to talk, and eat, and do laundry. I even separate the darks from the lights. So what do you say we start over and try again?" The yellow square beamed. "Hi! My name is SpongeBob SquarePants. And I am not a dummy." The sponge acted like he was meeting Marty and Janet for the first time.

"Amazing!" Marty clapped. "A minute in the kitchen and our son had taught him to talk in complete sentences. Good work, son!" He gestured a thumbs-up towards Patrick. He and Janet did not think that SpongeBob was capable of intelligent speech without any assistance.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick scratched his head. 'I didn't teach him anything...' The starfish shrugged. He decided to go along with his parents' assumptions since it would make his 'superiority' over SpongeBob become apparent.

S-S-S-S-S

"But... but... b-but... b-b-but..." SpongeBob was beginning to truly understand the insults and bullying that Patrick had to endure because of the sea star's varying intelligence levels. He could see why Patrick would insult him in order to be more accepted by his parents. Such a realization made the yellow square stutter and lose his words.

"It looks like it's time for your next lesson, young man." Janet thought that SpongeBob forgot how to make other complete sentences. However, the sea star did not have enough ideas to create a useful lesson.

SpongeBob took a deep breath and managed to gather some words. "Now, listen to me! I'm not dumb. I have a brain." The yellow square stuck one of his index fingers into a hole that was on top of his head.

"Must be the size of a peanut." Marty chuckled.

The three starfish giggled.

"No." SpongeBob shook his head. He thought that he had left a bad impression on Patrick's parents. The yellow square could not endure the insults for much longer. "It's normal size and fully functional, watch." He grabbed a piece of paper that was on a small table. He took out a pencil and wrote a very simple equation: '2+2=4'. "Two plus two equals four."

"Son, you taught him math too!" Marty goggled at SpongeBob. He could not believe that his son had enough intelligence to teach the yellow 'idiot' a subject that was very complicated. No matter how hard SpongeBob tried, Patrick always received praise.

SpongeBob crumpled the paper and tossed it to the floor. He sighed and sat on the floor criss-crossed. He decided to wait until Patrick realizes that his stupidity was a lie.

Marty contemplated the yellow square. "He must've short-circuited. I think you taught him a little too much." The sea star looked at Patrick from the corner of his eye. He assumed that his and Janet's constant praising of their son made SpongeBob become too nervous.

An awkward pause.

"Y'know, son, I've always known that when it comes to brightness, well, you're about a three-watt. But this guy," Marty pointed at SpongeBob. "He's a wet match in a dark cave. He makes phone operators seem smart." He chuckled and then cleared his throat. "But more importantly, son, he's shown me what a sharp, quick-witted boy you've become." He stood up, walked up to Patrick, and hugged him. "Ha! I feel like I'm really meeting you for the first time." He then turned to look at his wife. "Isn't that right, Janet?"

"You bet, Marty." Janet winked. She stood up and hugged Patrick as well.

Patrick noticed that his parents' skin felt strange. He also did not recognize their names. "Janet? Marty? Who are you people?!" His eyes bugged out and he backed away from the couple.

**CRRRREEEEEAAAAAAK**

The rock opened. Squidward was standing outside. "Excuse me. Does this lovely couple belong to you? They've been standing outside my house saying 'where's Patrick?' for the past half-hour. It's driving me nuts." The octopus was showing signs of grumpiness; his arms were folded and he was also tapping his foot. He then pointed at a starfish couple who was walking towards the rock.

Patrick quickly climbed the circular wall.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick ran towards his parents. "Mom! Dad!" The sea star embraced his was glad to be among familiar family members instead of creepy strangers like Marty and Janet.

Patrick's father and his son were wearing the same type of pants. The father also had a gray moustache and a light purple shirt with a light green floral pattern. "Wow, son. You actually recognized us this time." The father became delighted.

Patrick's mother was wearing a greens dress with a purple floral pattern. She had black hair and a flower had been put near the top of her head. "And you remembered to get dressed today!" She pat his son on the shoulder.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up and walked up to Marty and Janet. He noticed that they were standing completely still and were not even blinking. He poked both of them and realized that their skin was made out of some sort of metal. The sponge gasped and backed away from the duo. "Y-you two are... robots!" The sponge's eyes bugged out.

**C-C-C-CTHUNG**

Rocket boosters popped out of Marty and Janet's feet. The robot duo flew out of the rock's opening and dashed towards Patrick.

SpongeBob climbed the wall and cupped his hands near his mouth. "PATRICK, WATCH OUT!"

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick turned around and saw the incoming robots. He instinctively charged towards the robots and held out his hands. The moment Marty and Janet's faces touched his hands, he pushed them with all of the strength he could muster into his arms.

**C-CLANG**

The two robots bounced off the rock. A few of their limbs broke with a **S-S-SHATTER**.

Patrick walked up to the robot duo and glared at them. "You're all a bunch of phonies!" The sea star's fists were shaking. He correctly supposed that the robots were trying to kidnap him. He grabbed a nearby rock and...

**SLAM SHATTER SHATTER CLANG CLANK SHATTER SLAM CLUNG CLANG CLANK S-SHATTER**

...smashed them into pieces with that rock. The sea star suddenly noticed a piece of metal that caught his attention. He picked it up and saw engraved text that said 'PROPERTY OF THE CHUM BUCKET'. "SPONGEBOB!" Patrick ran to the yellow square and gave the metal piece to him. "Someone was controlling those robots."

SpongeBob read the metal piece's text. "So Plankton was behind all this." The yellow square narrowed his eyes. "He was probably try'na steal a Krabby Patty." He lifted himself to the outside world. "Who would've thought that he would try to steal it at this hour." The yellow square tucked the metal piece into his pocket; he was going to show it to Mr. Krabs tomorrow.

Patrick's parents walked up to the best friend duo. "What was all that about?" The mother was concerned for his son's safety.

"We'll explain." Patrick pointed at the living room and leaped into his home. He landed on the floor with a **THUD**. He had a crooked smile. SpongeBob jumped into the room right after him.

The parents slid into the room.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.


	75. Squid on Strike

**Chapter 75: Squid on Strike**

* * *

An hour and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAAAK**

Patrick's parents opened the rock and exited it. They were impressed by Patrick's increased intelligence. Their sense of pride in their son had been renewed when Patrick had told them about his short time of working at the Krusty Krab. Their needs for food and drink were also appeased.

"Bye, son!" Patrick's dad waved at the sea star below him. "Good luck with your next job!" The starfish had made an optimistic prediction. He had told Patrick about his prediction during their conversation.

"And make sure you remember us! Use it or lose it!" Patrick's mom wanted her son to maintain and improve his memory. In her opinion, Patrick's worst-case scenario would be him suffering from several episodes of amnesia.

S-S-S-S-S

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" Patrick waved at his parents as eagerly as they were doing to him. He enjoyed their visit because he had heard the latest news about his family members and he had also allowed SpongeBob to talk about himself to them.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick's parents entered a boatmobile. Patrick's mom sat in the driver's seat and twisted the key in the keyhole. Once the engine started, the boatmobile drove until it vanished from the horizon.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob turned to look at Patrick. "See what I mean, Pat? You don't have to conform to what other people say you gotta be. If everybody was the same; being idealized selves that other people told them to be, wouldn't the world be really boring? Just be true to yourself. Your unstable I.Q. may make you do silly stuff at times but that also allows you to outsmart others with your smart periods. It's not too hard to find work either. For people like you, you'll have to start from the bottom. It won't be so bad 'cause people always have to learn how to crawl before they can walk." The yellow square said more lines of wise words. His childish demeanor hid his capability for intelligent conversation.

_"...be true to yourself..."_

Those words from SpongeBob echoed in Patrick's mind. They triggered a major realization.

_Patrick turned around to face SpongeBob. He was no longer angry and made a neutral facial expression. "Nope," He shook his head. "getting an award wouldn't be worth it if you're gonna be hated for what you were awarded for. Sponge, you've helped me so much that I can't betray you. I wouldn't betray you even if I was given an award for doing the opposite." The sea star frankly said the thoughts that were in his mind. "If I want an award and also get praised for getting one, I gotta be myself as well, not just believing in myself." He added to the advice that SpongeBob said yesterday. He learned that he also had to follow his ideals and morals in order to get an award he should be proud of, he was focusing more on the achievement than the award._

The sea star realized that he had already been true to himself during that important incident. That memory eliminated the self-doubt that was lingering in his mind. A smile slowly formed on his face. Being true to himself had been easier to do during that situation since he valued friendship and family more than ultimately meaningless objects like money and awards. The recent situation had been different because it was a subtle conflict against his family and was triggered by his fear of rejection. In order to create an ideal path for himself, he would have to obtain a job and live a life that he would want instead of what others wanted. With this new insight, Patrick's smile became a grin. "Thanks, buddy." The starfish pat SpongeBob on the shoulder. The insight was so powerful that he could only utter a few words.

SpongeBob nodded. "See ya tomorrow." The yellow square skipped towards the circular wall; he was in high spirits again. He climbed the wall and stepped out of the rock. He then jogged towards his pineapple.

**SLAM**

The rock closed.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

11:19 AM.

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his desk. He was in his office. He had examined the metal piece that SpongeBob had gave him. He had decided to take action against Plankton later; he did not consider his archenemy to be a current threat. "Counting me money, money sweeter than honey, money, money, this, money, money, that, profits will make me wallet fat!" The crab was singing an old tune that he and his pirate crew used to sing when they were selling their treasure. He was currently counting this month's profits so far and last month's profits. After a few minutes of counting, he perceived that there was a major difference between the two profits that would still be there even if the current month ended.

The crab gasped. "What?! Profits down by three-thousand dollars from last month." $3000 was between four to five percent of the restaurant's profits. Mr. Krabs correctly assumed that the profit loss was caused by the attractiveness of other restaurants. However, all of his attempts at financial gains have failed because of moral or legal reasons. "I got to start running a tighter ship around here." The crab said a thought of his out loud. If he could not obtain money from the 'outside', he could certainly obtain money from the 'inside'. He stood up and walked towards rhe door to the dining room.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean exited his office.

S-S-S-S-S

"Thank you for choosing the Krusty Krab." Squidward said a line that all Krusty Krab cashiers were supposed to say. That rule was not enforced, even when Mr. Krabs was around. Since Tuesday to Thursday was the range in the week for pay day (only one of those days could be pay day), he tried to impress Mr. Krabs by saying that line. "Here's your change." The octopus handed the proper change to the female customer in front of him.

Mr. Krabs folded his arms and walked up to the octopus. "Mr. Squidward!" The crab glared at Squidward and spoke in a stern voice.

"What?" Squidward made eye contact with Mr. Krabs. He immediately became grumpy because he could tell that his boss wanted to look for a problem in the establishment.

"What's with all this 'change' nonsense?" Mr. Krabs thought that if he was going to boost the Krusty Krab's profits, he would have to make up 'baloney-sliced' reasons for cutting his employees' incomes. Although doing that was immoral and illegal, he thought that he could do whatever he wanted because the Krusty Krab was his restaurant.

SpongeBob was leaning on the metal wall. There were no customers to cook for or serve to. He was retying his tie. "Over and under, grab the end, put it through here, up and around, round the horn, bring it back home-" The sponge was whispering what he was doing. He was reciting what Gary had taught him about tie-tying (the sponge had forgotten how to tie a tie). He got interrupted by Mr. Krabs.

"Hm?" Mr. Krabs heard and saw what the yellow square was doing. "SpongeBob, I ain't paying you to play dress up!" He barked an order and shook his claw. He was now a dictator instead of a boss.

Squidward took a deep breath so he could hold his temper. Constantly hearing Mr. Krabs' orders took a toll on his patience and calmness.

Mr. Krabs looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye and narrowed his eyes. "Breathe on your own time. I don't pay you to breathe."

"You hardly pay me at all!" Squidward glared at his boss. He was not submitting to and accepting his boss' ridiculous orders and reasons. The octopus had a hunch that Mr. Krabs was up to something suspicious.

"Oh, that reminds me. I got something for you two." Mr. Krabs entered his office to retrieve the check envelopes. He knew that he had not given checks to his employees yesterday and on Tuesday.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office again. He was holding two envelopes. He gave an envelope to Squidward. He then gave SpongeBob an envelope that had SpongeBob's first name written on it in ink.

"Ah, yes!" Squidward smiled in delight. "Our meager restitution." He smelled the envelope. The octopus loved the smell of a fresh check envelope because receiving a check was one of the very few things that made his job somewhat enjoyable. "Ah, the sweet smell of pay day." He opened the check and saw a pair of underwear inside it. He raised his brow. "Huh?"

"Oh, sorry, that's me dry cleaning." Mr. Krabs had accidentally put his underwear into an envelope when he had been preparing for a visit to the dry cleaners. He also had brought that envelope by accident with the other check envelopes because they all looked the same from one side. He took the opened envelope and gave an envelope that had Squidward's first name written on it.

SpongeBob opened his envelope and saw a bit more than half of his usual weekly earning inside it. The rest of the missing money was replaced by a bill. The yellow square became content. "Thanks, Mr. Krabs." The sponge looked up at his boss. The yellow sponge was grateful for whatever pay he received (unless it led to the loss of his home or other precious possessions).

"What is this?!" Squidward goggled at what was inside his envelope. His brow furrowed and his grip began to crumple the envelope as he became filled with wrath. There was a bill inside the envelope that was written in pen on a piece of lined paper, not a single penny was in that envelope . A similar bill was in SpongeBob's envelope. Squidward's bill had charges for mundane actions like: breathing, talking, standing, 'lallygagging', and chewing. SpongeBob's bill had far less charges than Squidward's. "You're making me pay you to stand at the cash register? What is the meaning of this? Have you gone off the deep end?" The octopus shook his fist as he protested. This was the first time in his career that he was given reduced pay.

"There's going to be a few changes around here. Every time I catch you two goofing off, I'm gonna charge you for it." Mr. Krabs spoke coldly. He was narrowing his eyes at Squidward since his words were meant more for the octopus than the sponge.

SpongeBob took out his wallet and took out the amount of money for his bill's total charge. He saw no problem in Mr. Krabs' words because he assumed that the bills would boost productivity. "Here you go, Mr. K." He gave the money to the crustacean. "I think this should cover all my nonsense."

Mr. Krabs nodded and re-entered his office.

Squidward pulled SpongeBob by the sponge's shirt collar. The octopus loudly whispered into the sponge's ear. "SpongeBob, what do you think you're doing?" He could not believe that SpongeBob, a person with strong morals, would submit to a tyrant like Mr. Krabs.

"I'm just giving Mr. Krabs the money I owe him." SpongeBob whispered back. he made eye contact with Squidward and shrugged. He was too innocent to notice the subtleties of the crab's words. "The bills will help us in the long-run 'cause it'll boost production." He continued to whisper.

"Me and you should not pay that cheapskate Krabs one cent." Squidward spoke and narrowed his eyes at the door to Mr. Krabs' office.

"Why?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side.

"We've got to unite as workers and demand the respect we deserve from the boss. He exploited us and other people for too long. Don't you remember when we had the night shift? When he stole Clamu's pearl? When he constantly forced me to serve ridiculous amounts of customers without any help when we were selling Jelly Patties?" Squidward said a list of major grievances that Mr. Krabs had committed. The octopus' hatred of his job ended up creating a memory collection of mistreatment from his boss.

SpongeBob remembered the phone call from Mr. Krabs. He was the only person who could inform authorities and news outlets about the destroyed factory in Jellyfish Fields. The workers were unable to inform such people because Mr. Krabs had not fully informed about the work they would do at the factory. However, he should not be concerned with such matters right now. He looked at Squidward again, he had been zoning out.

"In fact, you and I should go on strike." Squidward let go of the sponge and stood straight in a prideful manner. He had yearned for a day where he could rebel and protest against his unjust boss.

"Wow! You and me go on strike?" SpongeBob stood up and beamed in excitement. He did not know the definition for a strike so he assumed that a strike was some sort of fun activity.

"Sure." Squidward smiled slightly. The sponge's eagerness was a possible sign for the eventual success of the strike. "After all, you like your job, right?" In order for SpongeBob to participate in the strike, all he had to do was persuade the yellow square.

"Right!" SpongeBob nodded.

"And you want to keep working here, right?" Squidward's smile widened slightly.

"Right!" The sponge began to jump up and down in excitement.

"And while you work here, you expect to be treated fairly, right?" Squidward's smile was now plain.

"Right!" SpongeBob's excitement was almost out-of-control. The sponge's limbs were shaking as he tried to control it.

"Then let's go on strike!" Squidward spoke with some enthusiasm. He was imagining the pleasantness of being treated and paid fairly in the Krusty Krab. He was adamant by that point.

"Yay! A strike!" SpongeBob skipped around the boat to express his excitement and avidity. He was so eager to do something fun in the Krusty Krab that he began to sing. "Goin' on a strike! Goin' on a strike! I still don't know what a strike means but we're goin' on a strike!"

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas looked through the ordering window to see what was going on. He saw the yellow square and wondered about why the sponge was singing. He had been deeply focused on cleaning the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office to retrieve something from the dining room. He bumped into SpongeBob who was still skipping.

"Hey, guess what, Mr. Krabs? Me and Squidward are going to go on a strike!" SpongeBob decided to inform Mr. Krabs about some 'great' news. The yellow was oblivious to the fact that informing his boss about such a major protest was very witless.

"A strike?!" Mr. Krabs goggled at the yellow square. He never knew that such an 'offensive' string of words ("going on a strike") could come out his most trusted employee's mouth.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded. He wanted Mr. Krabs to join the 'fun activity'.

"You mean you're going to make picket signs?" Mr. Krabs raised his brow.

SpongeBob supposed that whatever Mr. Krabs was saying was what 'a strike' meant. "Yeah.

"And you're going to make protest speeches?"

"Yeah, yeah!" SpongeBob nodded rapidly.

"And you're going to demand me respect?"

From the sponge's perspective, all of Mr. Krabs' questions were vague enough for them to be interpreted in a positive way. "YEAH!" The yellow square hopped to show how he excited he was.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was bawling before one of the Krusty Krab's front windows. He and Squidward had received a time-out instead of getting fired. The crab could not afford firing the two employees because he certainly knew that his business would go down the drain as a consequence. The time-out was for one day, it was given so it would make SpongeBob and Squidward reconsider going on a strike. "N-no! Squidward, you... didn't tell me I was going to get kicked out...! Without the... Krusty Krab, I-I-I..." The sponge struggled to speak as he sobbed. "Oh, Squidward... could you hold... me? I think I'm going to be sick." The sponge stuck his face to the window. He was like a child being separated from his parents.

Squidward wrestled SpongeBob off of the window. He folded his arms and looked down at his co-worker. "News flash, SpongeBob! I got kicked out too! This is exactly why we need to go on strike." He grabbed the sponge's shirt collar when the sponge made an attempt at returning to the Krusty Krab. "He can't treat us like this anymore!" The octopus was relieved to leave the restaurant; he and the sponge were feeling almost completely opposite emotions. "He owes us for all the precious, irretrievable moments we wasted in this trash heap. Soon, he';; realize he needs us more than we need him. We are workers united!" He tried to give SpongeBob the courage that the sponge needed.

The yellow square turned around, he was still crying. "If I can't work at the Krusty Krab, how am I gonna feed myself and Gary?" He had not fully heard Mr. Krabs' words. He thought that "getting a time-out" was a nicer way of saying "getting fired".

Squidward tried to alter SpongeBob's viewpoint. "SpongeBob, what would you do if you saw someone getting abused and poorly treated by their boss? Wouldn't you take action against the boss or give the victim some advice?" The octopus asked the questions in a solemn manner.

A pause.

"Y-yeah..." The yellow sponge slowly nodded and then wiped his tears. The octopus was completely right. He had clear memories of Mr. Krabs' grievances against the Krusty Krew. The sponge imagined himself having a meager amount of pay that would allow him to barely have enough food to eat for him and Gary. SpongeBob was also one who practices what he preaches. He decided to place his morality above stability; he was going to be true to himself.

"Just do exactly as I say, SpongeBob, and in no time you'll have your job back and more." Squidward folded his arms and assured the yellow square. He could tell that the sponge was now on his side. "Now listen up. I'm going to have to teach you how to strike. First, we must get rid of our uniforms." The octopus took off his hat. "They are a symbol of our oppression. I want you to throw your hat on the ground like so." He threw his hat to the ground as hard as he could. "Now, stomp it into the dust!" The octopus rapidly jumped on the hat until the had was covered with sand and was squeezed. Squidward then stepped away from the fallen hat and looked at SpongeBob. "Your turn."

SpongeBob nodded and gulped. He had never done such a blatant act of rebellion against the Krusty Krab before. He slowly took off his hat.

"That's the idea." Squidward nodded and smiled slightly. "Now, throw it on the ground." The octopus was optimistic about the strike's future. The procedure was testing where SpongeBob's loyalty truly lied.

SpongeBob shakily released his fingers one-by-one until only his thumb and index finger remained. However, he stopped releasing more fingers. He could not let go of the hat. "I can't do it, Squidward. This hat is my friend. It never oppressed me." The sponge was sentimentally attached to the hat, he had worn that hat since his first day at the Krusty Krab.

Squidward shook his head in disappointment. He looked down upon people who could not stand up for themselves. "SpongeBob, you're pathetic." The octopus pointed at his fallen hat. "Look, I threw my hat to the ground. It wasn't that hard. Focus on the future you could create by resisting Mr. Krab's tyranny."

SpongeBob took a deep breath. He was still unable to throw his hat to the ground. "Can I put it away instead?" The sponge made a crooked smile. He did not want to return to work with a ruined hat.

Another pause.

"Fine." Squidward replied with a frown. "As long as none of it sticks outta your pocket." He had a strong desire for him and SpongeBob to be viewed as responsible citizens instead of Mr. Krabs' 'obedient' employees.

SpongeBob beamed and put his hat into his pocket. His pocket was big enough to hide the hat completely.

S-S-S-S-S

More than fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Squidward were creating picket signs. All of the materials came from Squidward's tiki. The octopus was making the wooden signs while SpongeBob painted the signs that were already finished.

"SpongeBob," Squidward looked at the yellow square from the corner of his eye. "paint 'Krusty Krab Unfair' on the left picket sign." The octopus pointed at the leftmost sign which was also the one that was closest to him. When the sponge began to tilt his head to the side, he quickly answered an assumed question. "The name's short and sweet so it could be to the point."

SpongeBob nodded and painted the ordered words unto the picket sign in blue paint. He held out the sign towards Squidward. "How's this, Squidward?" He had misheard Squidward's directions. The words on the picket sign were: 'Krusty Krab Funfair'.

"SpongeBob, it's 'unfair', not 'funfair'!" Squidward became ill-tempered. His outlook on the future changed with his mood. He realized that the sponge could both be an ally and obstacle to his goal.

A young man had overheard what Squidward said. He walked up to the two former employees. "A funfair? Where? I could go for some fun." He was grinning.

SpongeBob immediately thought of one place that he considered to be fun. "At the Krusty Krab." The yellow square was being honest.

The young man turned around and whistled. Within seconds, a group of friends walked up to him. "Everybody, let's go to the fun fair!" The young adult pointed at the Krusty Krab and ran towards it. His friends quickly followed him.

**C-CREEEEEAAAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

They poured into the restaurant.

Squidward facepalmed.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was holding a large megaphone that he had bought from Barg'N-Mart under Squidward's orders. He was holding a picket sign with his other hand, it had text saying 'Krusty Krab Unfair'. When he saw a group of customers walk towards the Krusty Krab, he held out the megaphone towards them. _"Krusty Krab is unfair! Mr. Krabs in there! Standing in the concession! Plotting his oppression!" _The sponge recited a catchy phrase that Squidward had told him to memorize. The sponge was very serious about the strike, Squidward's lectures were finally bearing some fruit.

One of the customers walked up to the sponge. He was an adolescent who was in his mid-teens. He recognized the yellow square. "Aren't you SpongeBob SquarePants?" He had heard rumors about the famous Krusty Krab fry cook. The teenager was from New Kelp City.

SpongeBob could not help himself. He always felt a tingling and healthy sense of pride whenever people recognized him for his efforts. "Yep!" The sponge smiled widely.

"Dude, you're like a fry cook legend..." The teenager goggled at the sponge. He would have never believed that such a moment would come to pass. He then took out his spatula and held it out towards the sponge. "Will you sign my spatula?" He was an amateur fry cook and admired expert cooks. He took out a pen and gave it to the sponge.

"Anything for an aspiring fry cook." SpongeBob was delighted to be placed in a pedestal by a fan. He quickly signed his full name on the spatula. He gave both the pen and the spatula back to the amateur cook. "So, did you came down to help out the cause?" The sponge pointed at the picket sign he was holding.

"Nah. I just came here to grab a quick bite." The teenager wanted to eat a Krabby Patty. "Thanks for the autograph." He spoke enthusiastically and jogged towards the Krusty Krab.

Squidward stomped to the sponge, he was holding a megaphone that he had bought from Barg'N-Mart along with the yellow square. _"ATTENTION, SPONGEBOB! YOU ARE A TERRIBLE STRIKER!"_ The octopus yelled into his megaphone in front of the sponge's face. The sponge was too much of an obstacle for now. "You have been continually encouraging people, intentionally and unintentionally, to eat at the Krusty Krab. This is against our strike since we want people to stop eating at that establishment and inform them about Mr. Krabs' greediness." The octopus spoke without the megaphone.

SpongeBob looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry, Squid. How about I try the signs again?" The yellow square looked at Squidward and smiled nervously. He still had a desire to be part of the strike.

"In order for you to be of much assistance in this strike, you have to watch and learn. I'll demonstrate how to strike effectively." Squidward spoke in a serious tone. He cannot tolerate the consequences of SpongeBob's actions. He turned around and held out his megaphone towards an incoming large crowd of customers. _"Attention, people of Bikini Bottom! You have been cheated and lied to!" _He began to speak into his megaphone.

The entire crowd stopped walking and looked at Squidward. "I knew it!" A woman who was among the crowd became delighted to hear those words. She then slapped her husband on the wrist since he had thought that Mr. Krabs was not extremely greedy and autocratic.

_"The gentle laborer shall no longer suffer from the noxious greed of Mr. Krabs!" _

"Hey, what's that guy talking about?" A young male adult scratched his head. He stepped into the crowd a few seconds ago.

"I don't know, but he's got a megaphone." A friend of the young adult shrugged his shoulders.

_"We will dismantle oppression board by board! We'll saw the foundation of big business in half! Even if it takes an eternity." _

The crowd clapped and cheered for the octopus. Nearly all of them completely agreed with Squidward. Some of them were employees of small businesses that were negatively affected by the Krusty Krab's success.

"Gee, Squidward sure sounds convincing." SpongeBob was completely understanding what Squidward was saying. Especially the parts in the speech with the words "greed" and "oppression" since those two words exactly described what Mr. Krabs had done when he created the factory. As a matter of fact, he was able to relate to all parts of the speech to some degree by remembering some sort of grievance.

_"With your support, we will send the hammer of the people's will crashing through the windows of Mr. Krabs' HOUSE OF SERVITUDE!" _Squidward spoke in a very passionate manner.

The belly of a young woman gurgled. "Wow, all this supporting is making me hungry." The young woman looked at the Krusty Krab.

A light bulb lit up in the young adult's head. "Hey, everybody! Let's go get a Krabby Patty!" He yelled his idea at the people surrounding him. He was also hungry.

The crowd heard the young adult. They ran towards the Krusty Krab while avoiding Squidward so the octopus would not get trampled on.

Squidward sighed and threw his megaphone to the ground in frustration. "Nobody gives a care about the fare of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification." The octopus looked at the ground and said a thought of his out loud. In order to leave a lasting impact on Krusty Krab customers, he would have to do drastic actions; actions speak louder than words in a speech.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A familiar crustacean exited the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob walked up to the octopus and was clapping. "That was a great speech, Squidward." He said an honest compliment in an attempt to cheer Squidward up. "You practically had them eating out of your hands." He tried to describe how the entire crowd was captivated by the speech.

"But they didn't, did they, Mr. Squidward?" Mr. Krabs stood behind SpongeBob and Squidward. His arms were folded and he was smirking. His two former employees were unintentionally helping his business. "'Cause they were too busy eating out of mine. I wish you two had gone on strike earlier. Thanks for attracting all these paying customers with all your signage and your sloganeering." The crab's words were sincere. The strike had helped the Krusty Krab so much that he thought about the option of bringing the sponge and the octopus back to the restaurant.

SpongeBob narrowed his eyes and tightened his fists. He cannot let such words pass from Mr. Krabs' mouth without an appropriate reply. He turned around to face his former boss. "Alright, Mr. Krabs. You've crossed the line too many times and have repeatedly treated people and animals as tools. You can think that we're still your pawns but guess what? Squidward's a great leader." The sponge patted Squidward on the shoulder. "We are workers united! We're tired of your smelly greed! You have exploited too many jellyfish, too many oysters, and have searched for too much treasure and hidden goods! You will _reap _the consequences. We will saw your tables, we're gonna smash stuff with the people's hammer, and we're gonna..." The sponge tried to remember Squidward's fancy way of saying that they were going to destroy the business. He eventually found those words. "...dismantle your oppressive establishment!" The yellow square folded his arms and glared at the crustacean. He spoke just as passionately as Squidward had done during the speech.

Squidward glared at Mr. Krabs as well. "Wanna know something else, Mr. Krabs? We know your reasons for reducing our pay were_complete _baloney slices. You think you can just take rightly earned money away from us, eh? You think that your employees have lives outside of your business? Regardless of which of my questions that you answer, your greedy decision was foolish." He grinned devilishly. "Me and SpongeBob could complain to the County Restaurant Committee about this and they would consequently shut down the business. You would become divorced from your profits once and for all." The octopus could not remove his grin, he knew that he and the sponge were successfully intimidating the crustacean.

Mr. Krabs was goggling at the two former employees. He was sweating profusely and his face was slightly pallid. The yellow square's mini-speech showed how far the sponge's determination was going to go, it also accidentally revealed the secret about the factory. Squidward's speech was about a more realistic threat that the former employees could impose on his business. In general, the two employees were now threats to his love life and career life. He was at a loss of words. The crab turned around and walked towards the Krusty Krab so the situation would not become more awkward.

"We will not give up until we get what we deserve!" SpongeBob cupped his hands near his mouth and yelled a powerful final line.

**C-CRRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The crab entered the Krusty Krab.

A pause.

Squidward had paid his full attention to SpongeBob's mini-speech. "How did Mr. Krabs exploit those jellyfish, exactly?" The octopus was curious. He was trying to collect as much 'weapons' as he could, he was planning on using them all against the tyrannical former boss.

"Remember when the Krusty Krab sold Jelly Patties? Mr. Krabs created a factory and brought all of the jellyfish in the Krusty Krab to that place. The living conditions for the jellyfish were awful 'cause there was barely any space for them to roam around." SpongeBob had forgotten about the phone call he had received from Mr. Krabs. His mini-speech had put him into a highly emotional state.

Squidward slowly formed a smirk. "Was this shown on the news or on the newspaper?" From the octopus' perspective, the yellow square had said a possibly excellent idea that could be implemented into Squidward's plan to wreck Mr. Krabs' business.

"Nope." SpongeBob shook his head. "The media didn't talk about the factory at all. As a matter of fact, I released the jellyfish that were in the factory; there're barely any signs of the factory left." The sponge did not put his words through any filter.

"Do you have any other ideas?" Squidward was eager to hear more of the sponge's idea-rich words.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head when he remember how the factory became destroyed. "We could wreck the building, y'know. It would be just like what you said about dismantling the establishment." The sponge beamed at his own cleverness.

Squidward's smirk became a grin. He patted SpongeBob on the back. He was glad that he had allowed SpongeBob to become part of the strike. "SpongeBob, I can't believe I'm saying this but... thank you so much. Once we dismantle the Krusty Krab and spread the news about the factory, our strike will surely succeed."

SpongeBob's grin was equally as intense as Squidward's.

S-S-S-S-S

Many hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

8:00 PM.

Squidward walked up to Mr. Krabs' anchor. He knocked on the front door with a **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK** and then waited for a response. The octopus was smirking and was exuding confidence.

**CRREEEAAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the front door. He saw the octopus and became ill-tempered. He predicted that the octopus was going to give him another speech of threats and the wrongs he had committed. "What do you want?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Have you given up?" Squidward folded his arms and continued to smirk. "Me and SpongeBob are planning to tell news outlets about the factory you had created and the abuse that the jellyfish had suffered through. We are also planning to do something with the building of your business." The octopus spoke in both a serious manner but his facial expression indicated a different emotion. His visit was part of his and SpongeBob's plan. This part was implemented in case if the subsequent steps were not necessary.

Mr. Krabs looked at the ground in uncertainty. "Well... why don't you come to my place? We can discuss and debate about your strike." The crab looked at the octopus again. He no longer showed signs of grumpiness. Although he was not fully expressing himself, he was desperate to save his business.

Squidward nodded and walked through the open doorway.

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs closed the front door.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward sat in the couch. He moved to a slightly different spot since it was more comfortable.

Mr. Krabs grabbed a wooden chair, put it in front of the couch, and made it face the couch. The crab sat on that chair. "Mr. Squidward, I'm gonna be honest..." The crab suddenly fell to his knees before the octopus and clasped his claws together. "Please come back to work! The Krusty Krab is a wreck! I'm ruined without you and the little yellow guy. The workload of being a cashier and a fry cook is too much for Nicholas. He even said that he would have to stop workin' for a while if this keeps up. Whenever I tried to look for some temporary employees, they always say that I'm gonna oppress them and treat them unfairly and stuff like that. The people who wanna get hired are just teens who want some extra bucks! Some of 'em won't even leave me alone!" The crab pointed at the shell-phone. "I get at least one call from them every hour. These people think that you and SpongeBob got fired. As I said before, please come back!" Mr. Krabs saw no point in hiding his emotions. Squidward was right; his decision to cut his employee's weekly income was foolish. His anxiety had been building up ever since the moment he had seen Nicholas become distressed by the amount of customers who wanted orders. The potential employees' avoidance of Mr. Krabs was a result of Squidward' speech.

"If you want me and SpongeBob to work in your business again; first, you have to pay us with our normal incomes. You cannot cut our incomes ever again. My job is considered by our county's standards to be minimum wage..." Squidward began the civil debate.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was laying on his bed while wearing his underwear and socks. He was relaxing in preparation for the final parts of his and Squidward's plan. The portable radio was on and was near the bed. It was playing a song that the sponge considered to be particularly fitting for the occasion. The yellow square liked the song so much that he began to quietly sing the lyrics. "Hey, mean Mr. Bossman, I'm a-quittin' this here job. You've been outside gettin' tan and I've been gettin' robbed. My life is worth so much more than a dollar 'n' ten an hour. Wakin' up by the quarter to four and I'm startin' ta turn sour. So, hey, mean Mr. Bossman, I'm a-quittin' this here job. I'm sick of eatin' old bran and living like a slob. You've got me living like a slob."

The sponge then sat up when the lyrics in the song began to completely repeat. "Gee, being on strike with Squidward sure is a kick." He was saying his thoughts out loud. "Squidward's words are still buzzing around in my head like an angry jellyfish. Y'know what," The sponge hopped to the floor. "I can't just sit here, it's time for action." The sponge did not agree with all of the parts in their plan. He assumed that the debate between Squidward and Mr. Krabs would take an excessive amount of time. He knew for sure that he had to dismantle the building before Mr. Krabs arrives to open the building. He put on his clothes and shoes.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

The sponge briskly exited the bedroom and ran downstairs. He was heading for the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven and a half minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running towards the Krusty Krab. His dominant hand was holding a bag that contained his karate gear. His other hand was holding a saw. He stopped running when he reached the locked double door. "I will restore the working man to his rightful glory." The yellow square raised his saw and stabbed the double door.

**SHATTER**

One side of the double door broke into pieces.

SpongeBob walked through the opening.

S-S-S-S-S

"I will dismantle this oppressive establishment board by board!" He dropped the saw and the bag. He opened the bag, took out his karate gear, and put the gear on. He ripped several boards from the floor. "I will saw the tables of tyranny in half." He grabbed the saw and quickly cut several table tops into halves. "Gnaw at the ankles of big business!" He karate chopped the mast with a **SHOOP**. "I will free coworkers and customers alike from this archaic machine they call an enterprise." The sponge rapidly punched windows into pieces with a **SHATTER SHATTER SHATTER SHATTER SHATTER SHATTER S-SHATTER**. "I will save the environment from parasitic bosses like Mr. Krabs!" He grabbed the cash register and threw it to the floor. The register landed on the floor with a **CLANG**. "I will rework this place and the people who dine in it from the ground up instead of placing them in an oppressive hierarchy." He rapidly punched and kicked the tables out of the way. He climbed to the storage area and smashed crates into pieces. "I will destroy the old order, create an empty space, and sow the seeds for the next order." The sponge was saying his subconscious thoughts. He was not fully paying attention to what he was saying. Those words gave him the strength to continue destroying the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

"Well, Squidward, those were intense negotiations." Mr. Krabs was walking towards the Krusty Krab. Squidward was walking with him. The two were discussing about the debate they had last night.

"I'm glad you saw it our way, Mr. Krabs." Squidward was smiling slightly. He was going to resume his normal work duties. His boss had decided to restore his and SpongeBob's normal incomes. He and SpongeBob were also promised to receive treatment that was equal to the amount of their efforts. The strike was over because Squidward achieved his goal.

"Now I can get me two golden boys back." Mr. Krabs was content with the conditions set by the debate. He took out his key and unlocked the double door. He did not notice the massive destruction that SpongeBob had caused; he was thinking about the possible future of his business.

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered the Krusty Krab.

Squidward looked up and gasped at the sight of the destroyed Krusty Krab. All of the windows were shattered, all of the table tops were in halves, many floorboards were missing , the mast had fallen to the floor, all of the crates were in pieces, there were several large dents on the metal wall; and the ship flags above the double door were hanging upside down. He could tell that SpongeBob had wrecked the restaurant.

SpongeBob jogged up to Squidward. He was wearing his employee hat. The sponge handed Squidward's hat to the octopus. "Here you go, Squid. I cleaned it for you." He had washed it last night after he had destroyed the building.

Squidward goggled at SpongeBob. "S-Sp-SpongeBob, w-what have you done?" He was sweating heavily. He was anxiously anticipating a furious reaction from his boss.

"I did exactly as you said, Squidward. I dismantled the establishment. Now we'll get our jobs back for sure and free everybody from the burden of Mr. Krabs' old ways." SpongeBob beamed and admired the fruit of his efforts. Like Squidward, he was anticipating a negative response from the crustacean.

Squidward sighed. "Me and Mr. Krabs had came to an agreement. He'll pay us normally again and will treat us with more fairness." The octopus revealed the truth to the yellow square. "You shouldn't have wrecked this place so soon." His voice became somewhat quiet. He was waiting for the inevitable.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. "Uh... oh..." He sweatdropped as he looked at the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs entered his office. He walked towards the hidden keypad so he could access the safe. However, he could not find the keypad's place on the wall since the office was severely damaged. Fury boiled within him, he could not believe that one of his employees had rebelled against him even though fair conditions had been agreed to. **"SQUIDWARD! SPONGEBOB!" **He supposed that SpongeBob had vandalized the building.

A long pause.

**CRRRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Squidward nervously and shakily entered the office. The two employees were nearly cowering. The two were expecting a horrible punishment from their boss. "Y-yes, Mr. Krabs?" They spoke at the same time.

"In order to pay off these damages, I'll pay a third of the cost for the repairs. You'll pay the rest." Mr. Krabs folded his arms, glared at his employees, and spoke in an authoritative voice. He expected complete obedience. He gave them a mild punishment because he did not want to accidentally discourage them from working.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob and Squidward shakily nodded.


	76. The Fry Cook Games

**Chapter 76: The Fry Cook Games**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

10:30 AM.

Mr. Krabs had decided to worsen the punishment since he did not want his employees to be idle for the next few days. SpongeBob and Squidward were required to pay two-thirds of the expenses for the repairs and also clean the mess that the construction workers leave behind. Mr. Krabs had told Nicholas not to come to the Krusty Krab until the restaurant was completely repaired. The hours were long and grueling but the yellow square did not mind because the work was the only thing occupying his time.

The office was the first room to be repaired because that room was where the secret formula bottle was located. The other rooms were being repaired at an equal pace.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on a rock and was reading a newspaper. Reading was one of the few activities he could do during inactive and boring work days such as today. He eventually reached an article that made him gasp. He skimmed through its contents and then ran up to his employees.

**C-CRREEEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs walked through the recently repaired double door.

S-S-S-S-S

The crustacean walked up to SpongeBob and Squidward who were mopping the floor. "Lads, the Fry Cook Games are gonna start on Monday. I want one of you to participate in it. If we get enough gold medals, we'll win alotta money and it'll help us with paying the expenses." The crab was grinning. He knew that the amount of money given as a prize was much more than enough to pay for the construction, he wanted to keep the rest for himself.

SpongeBob gasped, dropped his mop, and raised his hand. "Me, me, me, me!" The sponge was jumping up and down in excitement. When he was a child and a teen, he sometimes daydreamed about participating in the Fry Cook Games. He will not let such an amazing opportunity to fly past him.

Mr. Krabs patted the sponge on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, me boy. D'you know every sport that is part of the event?" He was confident in SpongeBob's physical and cooking abilities.

"Mm-hm." SpongeBob nodded.

"Alright, you're dismissed from work for today. Start training today and tomorrow. I'll phone call tomorrow about how we're gonna go to New Kelp City, understand?" Mr. Krabs thought that what he said was very important.

"Loud and clear, sir." SpongeBob made a military salute. He took off his employee hat and tucked it into his pocket. He then ran across the living room and...

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...exited the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing in front of his rock and performing his daily activity of doing absolutely nothing. Although it was not obvious, the activity was very therapeutic for the sea star. It was one of the reasons for why he was calm for most of a day.

SpongeBob jogged past him.

"Why you came back early?" Patrick shifted his gaze to a jogging SpongeBob. From his perspective, what was more strange was that the sponge was not wearing the employee hat.

SpongeBob skipped back to Patrick. "I'm gonna participate in the Fry Cook Games. Mr. Krabs wants the prize so he could pay the expenses more easily. I'm gonna train today and tomorrow." The yellow square spoke in a lively manner. He could not wait to begin his first session of training.

Patrick nodded. However, he had a thought in his mind that had been stuck to it since Sunday. "SpongeBob, isn't being a fry cook easy?" He decided to reveal the thought.

The yellow sponge shook his head. "Nope. There's alotta responsibilities that you've gotta deal with." The sponge said an answer that was based on his own experience. His answer would apply to most fry cooks.

"Are you sure? All I've seen you do is flip patties, make food, and serve them to people. I think you're overthinking it, Sponge. It isn't as hard as you make it seem to be." The sea star based his reply on anecdotal evidence. He was not thinking critically.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge smiled widely and folded his arms. "Pat, can you cook a sandwich that had a patty and some vegetables?" The sponge was checking to see if his idea could become a reality.

"Yep." Patrick nodded confidently. "My mom always tried to teach me and sis her recipes. I think... no, she definitely taught us how to make sandwiches with cooked patties." Although his intelligence was noticeably mediocre, his memory served him well. He knew how to cook even though that fact was hidden from most people.

"I believe you, but I wanna see some proof. You could've forgot a few things, y'know." SpongeBob had a healthy amount of skepticism. He had rarely seen his best friend cook anything. He pointed at his pineapple. "I got all the ingredients for the patty sandwich. Cook one at my place." He walked towards his home.

Patrick followed him.

**CRRREEEAAAAK**

**SLAM**

The two best friends entered the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The two eventually entered the kitchen. SpongeBob went to different spots in the kitchen as he took out the ingredients for a patty sandwich. The plastic bag of patties that he took out were different from the patties used for Krabby Patties. However, those patties in the bag had an excellent taste regardless of their difference to Krabby Patties. The sponge put all of the ingredients on the table. He pointed at the oven. "That's the oven."

Patrick walked up to the oven and looked at its buttons, switches, and other parts. Once he became comfortable with the locations of its parts, he walked to the table. "I'm ready." He smiled with confidence.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up and beamed. "Good luck." He did not intend to be sarcastic with those words. He exited the kitchen through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"It's ready!" Patrick called for his best friend. A patty sandwich was on a plate. That plate was on the table.

SpongeBob entered the kitchen and walked up to the table. He picked up the sandwich and ate it slowly so he could get describe its flavor. "Wow. This actually isn't that bad at all." The sponge beamed again. "Wanna know why I made you do this?"

"Tell me." Patrick sat in a seat. His interest in fry cooking piqued.

"I wanted to show you how hard it is to be a fry cook. Did you notice how you had to know which ingredient goes where and how you had to cook at the right temperature range?" The yellow square finished eating the sandwich. He did not like people who underestimate his job. The sponge viewed his job as a career.

"Yeah. But it was pretty easy for me. The stuff you said is usually hard for beginners." Patrick laid back on his seat and put his hands behind his head. He smiled slightly at his small victory of proving SpongeBob 'wrong'.

Another light bulb lit up in the sponge's head. "If you think that fry cooking's easy, why don't you join the Fry Cook Games? Expert and amateur cooks participate in that event." The yellow square thought of the fun and the friendly competition he could have with his best friend.

A pause.

"I'll do it." Patrick stood up and grinned. He had watched the TV program for the Fry Cook Games a few times in the past. He thought that the event was very fun and entertaining.

"Follow me then." SpongeBob walked towards the open doorway and signaled with his hand for Patrick to follow him. The yellow square had the urge to skip in joy. His training would no longer be monotonous and tedious.

The two exited the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, and Squidward were standing at a bus stop. Patrick had told Mr. Krabs that he was going to participate in the event.

**SCRREEECH**

A bus parked in front of the bus stop. The side door opened.

The four entered the bus.

After ten seconds, the side door closed and the bus drove down the street with a **VVRRROOOOOOMMM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SCRREEECH**

The bus halted. It was in Ukelele Bottom. The side door opened.

Most of the people in the bus exited; SpongeBob, Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs were among them. The four looked up at the stadium where the Fry Cook Games were being hosted. They then walked towards entrance. There was a very long line for spectator tickets while there was a much smaller line for participat tickets. Squidward walked to the long line while the other three walked to the small line.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs were now in the front of the line.

"One ticket for this lad right here." Mr. Krabs smiled and pointed at the yellow square. He was very proud to have an excellent fry cook as a representative of the Krusty Krab.

The employee in the booth immediately recognized the crustacean. Mr. Krabs had been to the Fry Cook Games many times. He typed 'Krusty Krab' as the sponsor for SpongeBob (all participants had to have a sponsor [some sort of business related to food, usually restaurants]). "What's his name?" He looked at Mr. Krabs from the corner of his eye.

"SpongeBob SquarePants." Mr. Krabs immediately replied.

The employee quickly typed 'SpongeBob SquarePants' into the template for the ticket. He then moved the cursor to the print icon and clicked on it. A ticket was then quickly printed and slipped out of the printer. He gave the ticket to the crab. "Next."

SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs walked through the hallway and entered the stadium's main part.

Patrick walked up to the booth. The sea star assumed that a sponsor was a restaurant who he was representing for. He also assumed that one sponsor can have only one person. "I don't have a sponsor."

"That's alright. There's one sponsor that has not found a representative yet. What's your name?" The employee made eye contact with Patrick. He rarely encountered participants without a sponsor.

"Patrick Star." The sea star replied.

The employee typed 'Patrick Star' into the ticket template and clicked on the print icon with the cursor. Once the ticket was printed out, he gave it to Patrick. "The sponsor who needs a representative is sitting to the left-most edge of the stadium. When you find him, make him right the name of his business on the part where it says 'sponsor'." The employee pointed at the blank space on the ticket that was next to 'Sponsor:'.

Patrick nodded; he completely understood the employee's instructions. He walked into the stadium's main part.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick focused his gaze on the left part of the stadium. He dodged participants as he briskly walked towards his destination. Once he reached the left part, he looked around for the boss of the needy sponsor.

Plankton looked up at Patrick and noticed that the sea star's ticket had a blank space in the area where the name of a sponsor would be on. He wanted his business to be part of the Fry Cook Games so he could have a chance at obtaining the grand prize that Mr. Krabs was also pursuing. He wanted that money so he could be able to do large-scale projects and experiments. "Yoohoo!"

Patrick looked down and saw Plankton. "Plankton? What're you doing here?" The sea star scratched his head; he could not figure out a reason for Plankton's presence.

"The Chum Bucket does not have a representative. Since you don't have a sponsor, why don't you pick the Chum Bucket as your sponsor? If you manage to win the grand prize, I will give you a fraction of the money." Plankton tried to persuade the sea star. He tried to make his offer sound enticing.

Since there was no other sponsor, Patrick shrugged and nodded. However, he could tell that Plankton was lying. He almost did not trust Plankton at all. A stratagem quickly formed in his head, it was a way on how he was going to get all of the prize money. He predicted that Plankton was going to use the money for despicable and atrocious experiments.

"You have chosen wisely." Plankton smiled sinisterly. He wanted to give his representative some encouragement. He hopped towards the sea star and grabbed his ticket. "Do you have a pencil?"

Patrick took out his pencil and gave it to Plankton. Since his contract was sealed, he saw no point in not cooperating with the evil microorganism.

Plankton wrote 'Chum Bucket' on the blank space that was next to 'Sponsor:'. He then tossed both the pencil and the ticket back to Patrick.

Patrick caught both of them and put them into his pocket.

"_All participants, please form a single file line so we can check your tickets." _The announcer's electronic voice could be heard from all of the stadium's speakers.

Patrick stood behind several people who were in a single-file line.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-four minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Once all of the participants' tickets have been checked, the announcer spoke into the intercom again._ "Participants, you can now walk freely." _

The participants dispersed from the single-file line.

S-S-S-S-S

Johnny Erain and other people from the Bikini Bottom News crew were standing outside of the stadium with their equipment. "Starting... now!" One of the crewmembers snapped his fingers to initiate Johnny Erain's part of the TV program.

"_Welcome, sports fans, to the eighty-first annual Fry Cook Games." _Johnny Erain spoke into his microphone.

Several employees of the organization who runs the Fry Cook Games took out their trumpets when they saw a marathon runner who was holding a torch. They then played their trumpets as the runner ran towards the stadium.

Johnny Erain and the camera crew quickly followed the runner.

S-S-S-S-S

The runner entered the stadium's open space. The Games always had the tradition of beginning when a runner who ran a very long distance lights up a cauldron in the stadium's center. The runner did just that; he reached the cauldron and made the torch's fire touch the cauldron's coal.

The cauldron lit up in a bright blaze.

"I declare these Fry Cook Games... **OPEN!**" The runner announced in a booming voice.

"_So begins the eighty-first Fry Cook Games. I'm Johnny Erain and it's a beautiful day at Ukelele Bottom's Sports Colosseum." _Johnny Erain resumed his formal talking. _"They come from where microwaves hum." _

The camera crew turned their cameras towards a woman who was practicing for one of the Games' sports. She was tossing a straw into a cup that was twenty feet away from her.

"_Patties sizzle." _Johnny Erain was successfully making the Games sound exciting and dramatic.

The camera crew focused their cameras on another woman who was throwing uncooked patties onto a nearby grill. There was a lot of equipment on the field which contestants could use for practice. Some of the sponsors have brought their own equipment for their representatives.

"_And heat lamps keep the fast food spirit warm... and soggy. But the real story is the bitter rivalry between Mr. Krabs of the Krusty Krab and Plankton of the Chum Bucket. The two businesses have been competing sponsors for over a decade." _

The cameras focused on Plankton and Patrick and then on Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob.

"_Who could forget the year when the Krusty Krab won gold for the five-hundred pickle clean-and-jerk? Not Plankton."_

The camera crew focused on Plankton again. The plankton was shaking his fist and was speaking in a loud tone. He was angrily reacting to Mr. Krabs' attempt at intimidating him.

"_Or when the Chum Bucket won the hearts of millions by performing this perfect onion routine... while their robot was semi-broken?" _Johnny was referring to the a Fry Cook Games that had happened four years ago. The Chum Bucket almost always used robots as their representatives. _"Krabs wasn't moved. And now, late word is that this year, the Krusty Krab will be represented by a new competitor, on what is perhaps the greatest day of his young life." _

The camera focused on SpongeBob. The yellow square was putting on his sweatband. The sponge was wearing a sweatshirt, a pair of sweatpants, and a pair of sneakers. The sponge was doing a few stretches while holding his spatula. "I can't believe I'm representing the Krusty Krab in the Fry Cook Games." He said one of this thoughts out loud. The yellow square looked up at the bright sky. "To bring home the gold is to bring honor and glory to the Krusty Krab." He tried to encourage himself; he wanted to try his best in the competition.

Mr. Krabs was sitting on the bench. He was surveying the competitors to see who was going to be the biggest threats to his goal. "And all that free publicity will bring in customers!" The crab looked at the sponge with a smile. "So don't lose!"

SpongeBob faced his boss and made a military salute. "Aye, aye, Mr. Krabs!" The yellow sponge turned around, dropped himself to the floor, and broke his fall with his hands at the last second. He began to do pushups. "Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab." He repeated a mantra.

Patrick walked up to his best friend. His intelligence had decreased by a few levels. "Hey, SpongeBob." He waved at the yellow square. Almost nothing could make him more excited for the games than friendly competition.

"Hi... Patrick..." SpongeBob continued to do pushups. He beamed and looked up at Patrick for a few seconds before he resumed his repetition of the mantra. "Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab." The sponge was wondering about what business that Patrick represented. However, the exercise made him focus on his muscles instead of possibilities.

Patrick scratched his head. "Are you trying to move the ground? You'll never move it like that." His intelligence was not serving him well. "You gotta get under..." He grabbed a patch of fake grass.

SpongeBob stood up and held out his hand. "Pat, don't! It took alotta money and time for this stadium to prepare for the Games." He thought that Patrick would get kicked out of the Games if guards saw the sea star's foolish act. "I'm not trying to move the ground. I'm just doing some pushups." The sponge giggled for a second. "Y'know what they are, right?"

Patrick suddenly remember what pushups were. "Yep." He nodded he released the fake grass patch from his grasp.

SpongeBob resumed his pushups. "Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab."

"I still think being a fry cook isn't so hard. If a person with varying smarts like me can cook, I bet almost everybody else can do it too." Patrick's opinion has not changed. The sea star was confident enough with his opinion since he made a decent patty sandwich with ease.

"It's more than just cooking, Pat. You gotta cook and make high-quality food. You also got to follow orders carefully and serve the food to the right customers. You need some time management skills too 'cause there could be alotta customers that wanna order something. Restaurants don't let anybody be a fry cook. We're an elite corp." SpongeBob stood up and wore a smile. He politely explained and defended the difficulties of being a fry cook.

"But isn't it true that most of what you do as a fry cook is just flipping patties?" Patrick tilted his head to the side. He was aware of a certain difference between normal cooking and fry cooking.

"Flipping is not as easy as it sounds." The yellow square folded his arms and he stopped smiling. His face was neutral. He felt a growing tension between him and his best friend. Insulting his job was almost like insulting himself.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I got an idea! If I win more gold medals than you, I will continue to think that fry cooking is easy. If you win more gold medals than me, I'll change my opinion of fry cooks. Deal?" He held out his hand. He considered a nasty argument or fight between him and his best friend to be undesirable.

"Deal." SpongeBob grinned and shook Patrick's hand with his dominant hand. He was glad that their debate over the easiness of his job had not ended with a severe strain in their relationship.

Patrick walked back to Plankton's location.

"Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab. Krusty Krab." SpongeBob resumed his pushups again.

Mr. Krabs detected a familiar 'stench'. "What's that smell in the air?" He looked at a green dot who was somewhat far away. "I smell Plankton!"

Plankton heard Mr. Krabs' words. "Oh yeah?! Well, I smell... piu! He's right." The plankton detected his own stinkiness. 'Crap! I forgot to put on my deodorant this morning!' He thought as he bit his lip. He then ran up to Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs walked up to Plankton. In an attempt to show his superiority over Plankton, he did a Broadway pose. He was showing off his dance moves. He spoke when he finished. "Beat that!" He smirked.

Plankton did a Broadway pose that was as good as Mr. Krabs'. He was trying to show that he cannot be beaten so easily. Once he was finished with his dancing, he looked up at the crustacean. "Are you ready to do or die, Krabs?" He smiled evilly and folded his arms.

"Always ready, Plankton. Always ready." Mr. Krabs smiled confidently. Plankton's threats were not fazing him at all. The crustacean folded his arms as well. He was trying to show that he was resilient whenever Plankton 'threw' obstacles at him.

"Good. Because today, the Chum Bucket is going to kick your carapace!" Plankton glared at the crab and pointed at him. He was very serious about and determined to win the competition.

"That's what you think, but I got me a champion." Mr. Krabs looked at his yellow employee from the corner of his eye. "SpongeBob, show him!" He barked an order and continued to smirk. He still thought that he was superior when compared to Plankton and was also bound to win the grand prize.

SpongeBob picked up another spatula from a rack. He took out the spatula he used from work. He then rapidly performed a karate routine while moving the spatulas in a certain way as if they were nunchucks. He finished the routine by flipping the spatulas to the air and catching them. He put the other spatula back on the rack and put away his own spatula. He then giggled when he noticed that contestants were goggling at him.

"Look at him. In his prime. Your robots ain't got no chance!" Mr. Krabs pointed at SpongeBob. Showing off the skills of the Krusty Krab's representative gave him more pride in himself. This was one of the moments where he was so glad that he had hired the sponge.

"That's where you're wrong, Krabs. For I too have a champion." Plankton walked towards a microphone and grabbed its plug. He carried the plug towards a nearby outlet and connected the plug to that outlet. He walked to the microphone's head. _"Ladies and gentlemen, turn your attention to the southwest corridor!" _He spoke into the microphone.

The participants and the audience turned to look at the southeast corridor. They had misheard Plankton.

_"Other way, imbeciles!" _Plankton shook his fist.

The audience and the participants turned to look at the southwest corridor.

_"Representing the Chum Bucket, a creature so fearsome, so terrible, so mind-bendingly large, that those of you with weak constitutions may want to leave the stadium." _Plankton wanted to make his representative sound as intimidating as possible. His representative certainly had the talent of intimidating people.

A large shadow moved to the southwest corridor.

Two parents who were among the audience covered their child's eyes with their hands. The child was equally as afraid of the 'monster' as them so he covered their eyes with his hands.

"I gotta get outta here!" A panicking male bodybuilder stood up from his seat and hastily walked across the bleachers towards one of the exits. He pessimistically predicted that the 'monster' was going to beat him to a pulp since he was the second most muscular man in the stadium.

"_Too late!" _Plankton pointed at the fleeing bodybuilder. _"Ready or not, here he comes. Quake with fear, you mortal fools. Bow down before the awesome might of..."_

A very tall and brawny purple man squeezed through the exit and entered the stadium's main space. He was carrying a backpack that had a person inside it.

"_...this huge man who is carrying the real contestant..."_

The giant man turned around to reveal that Patrick was being carried in his backpack.

"_...Patrick Star!" _Plankton had hired that purple bodybuilder so he could make his representative's entrance as dramatic as possible. He originally reserved that man's backpack for the robot but changed his mind when Patrick came along.

"Hi!" Patrick waved at the crowd with both of his hands. He was delighted to receive so much attention from the audience and the contestants. He slipped out of the backpack and landed on the fake grass with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob stomped up to his best friend. "Patrick, why're you on Plankton's side?!" The yellow square was absolutely shocked that his best friend was representing the Krusty Krab's rival restaurant. "You could've joined the Krusty Krab's team instead. I bet Plankton'll be up to no good if he gets the money prize."

"Oh." Patrick made a blank face. The sponge had revealed the truth to him. He shrugged. "Too late. Plus," He leaned towards the sponge and whispered into his ear. "I gotta plan in case if I win the big prize. I know that Plankton'll do evil stuff." He then stepped away from the yellow square and winked.

SpongeBob smiled widely. He trusted the pink star. The yellow square thought that he and Patrick should roleplay as rivals so the audience would not suspect that Patrick had a plan against Plankton. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway 'cause you're gonna eat my dust." The yellow square furrowed his brow while smiling. He then winked at the sea star.

Patrick figured out what SpongeBob was trying to do. He furrowed his brow as well and smirked. "Nuh uh. I'm eating my own dust." He flexed his muscles in an attempt to 'intimidate' the sponge.

SpongeBob made a karate stance and hopped in place. "Not if I eat it first." The yellow square signaled with his hand for Patrick to come to him. In reality, he did not want to fight Patrick at all.

"Yellow!" Patrick pointed at the yellow square and then chuckled. He folded his arms.

"Pink!" SpongeBob tried to resist the urge to giggle. He pointed at the sea star as well. The yellow square stopped hopping and stood normally.

SpongeBob and Patrick walked in opposite directions back to their bosses.

Mr. Krabs walked up to the sponge. "SpongeBob, FYI, Patrick's not your friend in here. Don't get buddy-buddy with him at all. Being friendly here is a sign of weakness. Try to look as tough as possible, you'll have a high chance of scaring other players and consequently winning this place's events." The crustacean gave some advice to the yellow square. He was glaring at Plankton.

Plankton walked up to the sea star. "Patrick, he's not really your friend. It is highly probable that he is plotting your downfall. During the events, do not, I repeat, _do not_, let your guard down. It is even more likely that he has some sort of clever trick up his sleeve and will also stab you in the back. Just look at him." He pointed at the yellow square. "Square: the shape of evil!" He was trying to intensify Patrick's apparent hostility towards the sponge.

Patrick wore an angry expression. His mental self was smirking since he knew that he was ultimately outsmarting the plankton. He tightened his fists until they were shaking.

Mr. Krabs pointed at Patrick. "He had made a mockery of your profession. Are we gonna let some pretender take away what belongs to the Krusty Krab?" The crab added some lies and half-truths into his statements in order to trigger the biggest emotional responses from the yellow fry cook.

"No!" SpongeBob shook his head. He knew that he was fooling his boss but he only felt a pang of guilt since Mr. Krabs had lied to him far more than vice-versa. He and Patrick were 'wearing the masks' of zealots who completely their supported their sponsoring restaurants.

"Get angry!" Mr. Krabs thought that his method was working. He tried to 'give' the sponge as much 'energy' as possible so the sponge could perform his best during the events.

"I'm angry!" SpongeBob spoke in a deeper voice.

"Get mean!" Plankton copied Mr. Krabs' strategy.

"I'm mean!" Patrick puffed out his chest and swung his fists on it repeatedly like a gorilla.

"And win that medal!" Mr. Krabs and Plankton spoke simultaneously.

"**RAAAAAHHHH!" **The best friend duo uttered very loud warrior cries.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"_Our first event, the deep fry high dive." _The announcer spoke into the intercom.

A ladder and springboard was in front of a deep fryer. The participants were judged by how delicious or realistic they looked once they come out of the fryer. Anybody who goes into the fryer ends up looking like some sort of food.

Mr. Krabs patted the yellow sponge on the back. "Win this one for the Krusty Krab." He smiled reassuringly.

SpongeBob was wearing a blue speedo. All participants did not wear too many clothes since enough of their bodies had to be shown in order for them to be judged accurately. He put two giant popsicle sticks into two holes that were on his head's top. He climbed the ladder and hopped on the springboard. "For the Krusty Kraaaaaaaab!" He screamed as he dove to the fryer.

**SPLASH**

SpongeBob sank into the fryer's warm oil. The fryer was hot enough for it to cause no harm to the participants but also hot enough to change their physical appearances. The yellow sponge then leaped out of the fryer and landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He had the texture of a fried fish. He flipped across the ground like an acrobat and stood on the two popsicle sticks. He grinned with his mouth open and held out his hands.

The crowd whistled, cheered, and clapped. A large chunk of the audience had heard of or seen SpongeBob, rumors about the sponge's cooking abilities had spread across towns and cities within months.

Plankton glared at the sponge while gritting his teeth. He could not tolerate any obstacle to his goal. "Win this because I told you!" The plankton looked up at Patrick.

Patrick's lower body was covered in an ice cream cone. All of the contestants had decided on what type of food that they were going to end up being. The sea star hopped to the ladder and quickly climbed it. He repeatedly jumped on the springboard so he could target a landing spot. After a few seconds, he leaped from the board. "Because you told me tooooo!" He yelled as he fell.

**SPLASH**

Patrick became deeply submerged in the oil. His head was touching the fryer's bottom. He held his breath for several seemingly long seconds. The starfish then swam out of the oil and leaped to the ground with a **THUD**. His head was covered with cooled oil, the oil was brown and that made the starfish looked like a strawberry and chocolate ice cream.

The audience clapped and cheered for Patrick. They had rarely seen someone who had such a resemblance to an ice cream cone. However, they did not cheer for him as much as SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"_The next event: the one-hundred meter hot dog hurdles." _

SpongeBob, Patrick, and dozens of other athletes were in their specified spots. They were all making appropriate runner stances. The track was littered with hurdles. The runners were supposed to eat as many hot dogs in the air as possible while jumping across the hurdles. There were small holes on the circular wall to one side of the track where hot dogs were discharged.

"_On your mark..."_

SpongeBob and Patrick narrowed their eyes. They focused on the track that was before them.

"_Get set..."_

The yellow sponge and the pink star tightened their muscles. They were going to sprint once the race started.

"_**GO!"**_

The runners dashed down the track. SpongeBob was in the lead while Patrick was not too far behind. The sponge leaped across hurdle from hurdle and swallowed the hot dogs being discharged from the holes. He leaped in a certain rhythm so he would not lose his momentum too easily.

"W-woah!" Patrick tripped on a hurdle and fell to the track floor with a **THUD**. His weight was a major disadvantage; he was unable to jump high enough at times. The sea star regained his speed and managed to jump across the hurdles while biting on the hot dogs. After a few minutes, he was past most of the runners.

The victor was plain-to-see before the event was even over.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was standing on the highest spot of the pedestal. Two gold medals, one for the deep fry vault and the other for the hot dog hurdles, were on his neck. Just below his spot was '#1' in black font. To his right was the person standing on the '#2' spot. That person was a man from Ukelele Bottom who was famous for being both a fry cook and marathon runner. In the #3 spot was Patrick. He looked at the yellow square with an envious evil eye. However, he actually only felt slight jealousy. He simply 'intensified' the emotion so he would look like he was still SpongeBob's rival.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

"_The next event: the chocolate pole vault." _

A very long pole was lying on the ground. It was near a bowl full of warm chocolate syrup. Several different small areas that were surrounded by rectangular borders were behind the bowl.

SpongeBob shoved Patrick out of his way. He had once again put two popsicle sticks into his head's top, his strategy was working well so far. "Make way for the real fry cook, Patrick." He wore an arrogant smirk and swaggered towards the pole.

"_For his dive, SpongeBob will be attempting a full banana fudge pop with two sticks." _All contestants had to tell the announcer about what they were going to do in the event. The announcer had requested this so the audience would not get lost by the activity occurring in the events.

The yellow square took hold of the pole and took many steps back from the bowl. He held out the pole at a certain angle. His gaze was focused on a spot on the ground that he was intending to make the pole hit.

_"And now, absolute silence." _

A long pause.

"I scream for ice cream!" SpongeBob said those words like it was some sort of battle cry. He ran towards the bowl and made the pole hit the ground. The pole bended and when it became straight again, the sponge was flicked to the bowl.

**SPLASH**

The yellow square became submerged in the chocolate syrup. The sponge swam out of the syrup and leaped to an area that was near the bowl. It was full of different types of nuts. The sponge rolled across the area and the nuts stuck to his body.

_"Perfect entry! And a nut mix? That's unexpected."_

The yellow sponge leaped to an area filled with mint ice cream. He allowed most of his body to get covered by that ice cream before he flipped to the ground. He landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He looked like a popsicle of rocky road ice cream.

_"He stuck it!"_

The audience cheered for the sponge like he was a sports superstar. They were rapidly stomping their feet below their seats, clapping, and were chanting SpongeBob's first name. "SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob! SpongeBob!"

"That's me boy!" Mr. Krabs smiled in pleasure and made a thumbs-up towards the sponge. He was so excited to obtain the money that he was having vivid fantasies of him swimming in his future wealth.

SpongeBob swaggered towards the cleaning room. The room was in the left side of the stadium. He had went there after the deep fry high dive. "Top that, Pinky." He smirked again and took out the two popsicle sticks from his head.

Plankton walked up to Patrick. "Nuts? Curse him, that's good. But perhaps a bit too highbrow for this crowd. He thinks he's better than them!" The plankton mixed his statements with both fact and opinion. He was tossing coal into the fire of Patrick's jealousy and anger.

Patrick groaned in anger. He tightened his fists.

"Better than you!" Plankton pointed at the pink star. He was trying to vilify the yellow square. He thought that it would make Patrick perform even better in the events.

Patrick groaned louder. His fists began to shake because they were extra-tight. The starfish was gritting his teeth.

"Now get up there and show him how the common man prepares his frozen dairy treats!" Plankton raised his fist. His talk would not be complete without some encouragement.

Patrick yelled, it was his form of a battle cry. The only piece of clothing that he was wearing was a speedo. He stomped towards the pole and grabbed it.

_"Patrick will be resurrecting an old favorite. The star-shaped chocolate chip cookie." _

A lot of "ooh"s came from the audience.

The sea star took many steps back, lifted the pole until it was at the right angle, visualized where he wanted to go; and then dashed towards the bowl. He made the pole touch the ground at the right time and the pole flicked him to the bowl.

_"Just look at that concentration."_

**SPLASH**

The starfish fell into the bowl. He quickly swam out of the syrup and dove to an area full of cookie dough.

_"Ooh, a little shaky on that entrance."_

He rolled across the area for several seconds before jumping to the nuts area. He skipped and flipped around in that area for ten seconds before jumping back to the dough area. He rolled most of his body in the dough and then leaped to the ground. He landed on the ground with a **THUD**. Patrick looked like a star-shaped chocolate chip cookie.

_"But just look at that form!" _

The crowd clapped and whistled for the sea star. Almost half of them chanted Patrick's first name. "Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick! Patrick!"

Patrick marched towards the cleaning room. He was smirking and his arms were folded. In terms of total gold medals, he was in second place. The yellow sponge was in first place. "Take that, yellow boy!" The sea star marched at a faster pace.

SpongeBob turned to glare at Patrick. "Laugh while you can, Pinky. It's not over yet." The sponge shook his fist. He was not going to give up yet; he was determined to maintain his position.

Patrick turned his head a bit to look at SpongeBob. "That's only what you think." He chuckled and swiveled his head towards the cleaning room.

Mr. Krabs strolled to the sponge. "Take it easy, lad. He just wants to get a kick outta ya. That fool will eat his words once we win the Games." The crab patted the sponge on the back as he tried to relax him.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

_"The next event: spatula table tennis." _

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing at opposite ends of a table. Since SpongeBob had more gold medals than Patrick, he was the one who held the ball. The yellow square was also holding his spatula while Patrick was holding a spatula that the stadium had in stock.

The yellow square put his spatula in front of the ball. He then quickly served the ball to Patrick.

**PING**

Patrick swung the ball back to SpongeBob.

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

The ball flew out of the table. Patrick dove and swung the ball back with a **PONG**.

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

The ball bounced back to SpongeBob at the right angle. The yellow square raised his spatula and fiercely swung it at the ball with a **SLAM**. The ball bounced off of Patrick's table end with a **PONG **and flew too high for Patrick to reach. The ball eventually landed on the floor with a **TAP**.

Patrick took a deep breath so he could control his anger. Injuring his best friend would make him disqualified from the Games. He picked up the ball and swung it to the yellow square with a **PING**.

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

**PONG**

**PING**

The ball darted past the sponge. The yellow square could swing the ball in time.

"Yes!" Patrick loudly whispered to himself and fist-pumped. His point gain gave him a sense of hope that he will win the event.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours passed by...

_Patrick was dancing while his feet were covered with butter. SpongeBob's shoes were covered with butter and the sponge was dancing as well. They and many other contestants were on a giant grill. So far, Patrick was dominating the event because of his unique and witty dance moves; he was using his weight as an advantage._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob was tossing a very large patty towards the end of the field. Patrick and other competitors were next to him and were also throwing patties. The current event was the patty throw._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Patrick aimed his ketchup bottle at a target ring that was a few yards away from him. Once he was confident with what he targeted, he squeezed the bottle with all of the strength in his hands. The ketchup squirted out of the bottle and nearly flew as fast as a bullet._

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob, Patrick, and other contestants were running down a track while carrying trays of food. They were doing the 300-meter delivery dash._

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were standing before opposite sides of an arena ring. The arena ring was on top of a giant burger. The sponge and the sea star both had an equal amount of gold medals; the two were tied for having the most gold medals. Both of their shirts were removed and they were glaring at each other fiercely.

"_It's not over yet! With the score tied, we go to our final event! Bun wrestling. Who will take home the gold? Mr. Krabs of the Krusty Krab?"_

Mr. Krabs was rubbing SpongeBob's shoulders. His eyes were narrowed and his gaze was focusing on Plankton. "Don't forget, that sea star called ye yellow." He was fueling the sponge's fighting spirit with reminders about the insults that the sponge had received.

"_Or Plankton of the Chum Bucket?"_

Plankton was hopping across the starfish's shoulders. What he was doing was his version of rubbing shoulders. "Don't forget..." He hopped to one shoulder. "...he called you..." He hopped to another shoulder. "...pink!" He jumped to the ground, picked up a lemon that he had bought from a concession stand, climbed Patrick's back; and dropped the lemon to Patrick's hand. The plankton assumed that Patrick needed an extra energy boost.

Patrick ripped the lemon in half and squeezed both halves in front of his eyes. The juice touched his eyes and made them bloodshot. He uttered another warrior cry and pounded his chest. He wanted to look as threatening as possible.

Mr. Krabs handed a metal chain to the sponge. "Break it." He was testing the sponge's strength so he could create some sort of strategy.

SpongeBob broke the chain into many pieces. He was adept enough at karate to quickly figure out weak points.

The two best friends abruptly jumped into the arena. They charged towards each other and screamed at the same time. They then collided and tried to push each other to the floor.

**BAM**

**KLOK**

**BAM**

**BOP**

**KLOK**

**SLAM**

**BOP**

**BAMF**

**BOP**

They were punching and kicking each other as they were locked in each other's grasp. The two were desperate to win the decisive gold medal. Patrick eventually managed to lift SpongeBob off the sponge's feet. The sea star twirled the sponge rapidly and threw him to the floor with a **SLAM**. He did a series of punches with a **BAM BOP BAMF BOP BOP BAP POW POW BAMF**. He smirked and removed SpongeBob's shoe and sock. He began to lick the sponge's foot as a way of insulting his opponent.

SpongeBob shrieked in fright and kicked Patrick in the face with a **KLOK**.

The starfish fell to the floor with a **THUD**.

The yellow square put on his sock and shoe within a few seconds. He noticed that Patrick was still wearing a name tag (all Fry Cook Games contestants had to wear a nametag, the sponge was not wearing his nametag). He also noticed that there was a pencil lying on the arena floor (an engineer had left it there by accident after taking the ring's measurements). The sponge picked the pencil up, put his foot on Patrick's chest, and erased some letters on Patrick's nametag. The starfish's nametag now had 'rick' instead of 'Patrick'.

Patrick looked at his ruined nametag. He became filled with fury. "My name's..." He pushed SpongeBob's foot out of his way. "...not..." He stood up. "...**RIIIIICK!**" He screamed at the sponge's face. He did a barrage of punches. **BAM BOP BAMF BOP BAM BOP BOP BOP BAM BAM BOP BAMF BOP BAM**.

"I don't like you!" SpongeBob punched Patrick in the stomach with a **BAM**.

"I don't like you more!" Patrick punched a side of SpongeBob's body with a **BOP**.

"I never liked you!" SpongeBob uppercutted the starfish with a **BIFF**.

"I a thousand times never liked you!" Patrick did a combo of punches and kicks with a **BAM BOFF BIFF KLOK POW BAM BOP BAMF BAM BOP BAMF KLOK KLOK BAM KLOK BOP BAM. **He grabbed the yellow square and threw him towards the arena ring's border.

The audience gasped.

SpongeBob bounced off the border and tackled Patrick was a **SLAM**. "Pink!"

"Yellow!" Patrick lifted the yellow square and threw him to the side. He looked at Plankton and Mr. Krabs and noticed that they were eyeing the golden tropy and the huge stacks of money. The prizes were lying behind the announcer and were inside his room. He remembered why he had been acting in the first place. 'I can't beat Sponge; Plankton will do bad things if he gets all that money.' The starfish's eyes widened slightly. He then communicated to SpongeBob by moving his mouth but not moving his voice. 'SpongeBob, you have to throw me out of the arena. If I beat you, Plankton will get the money.' He 'said' the stratagem that he had planned all along.

SpongeBob read the sea star's lips and widened his eyes as well. He became aware of his actor role again. He could not help himself; he smiled at the cleverness of Patrick's stratagem. The yellow square ran towards his best friend and picked the starfish up.

The crowd gasped again.

SpongeBob threw Patrick out of the arena with all of his arm strength.

The sea star landed on the ground with a **THUD**.

"_The Krusty Krab is the winner!" _The announcer spoke enthusiastically.

Nearly the entire audience stood up from their seats and cheered for the yellow square. They chanted the sponge's first name while clapping and rapidly stomping their feet on the floor they were standing on. Some devoted fans even held out posters that had the words 'Krusty Krab' written on them.

Mr. Krabs was jumping up and down in joy. He leaped across the ring's border and patted the yellow square's back as hard as he could. "Atta boy!" Contrary to his actions, his mind was still filled with greedy fantasies. His heart was racing at the possibilities that were now in his grasp.

"**DAMMIT!" **Plankton cursed, shook his fist, stomped his foot; and then stomped towards one of the corridors. He eventually exited the stadium. The possibilities for the execution of his plans temporarily vanished.

Squidward walked down the bleachers. He wanted to leave the Games as soon as possible. His boss had told them that going to the Fry Cook Games was mandatory since the crab wanted the Krusty Krew to have some sort of camaraderie. The crab had also told him that he can leave the stadium once the games finished. When he reached the row that was closest to the open space below, he noticed that Squilliam was sitting in that row.

The other octopus was closely watching the game and was enjoying it. Squilliam had went to the Games out of boredom and curiosity (he had never went to one before).

Squidward glared his eyes at his archrival for several seconds before he turned to leave the stadium.


	77. Band Geeks

**Chapter 77: Band Geeks**

* * *

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on the couch and was looking at the many money stacks that were on the living room's floor. He was carefully thinking about how he should spend that money. He had persuaded Mr. Krabs and ended up receiving between 1/3 and 1/2 of the grand prize. He had persuaded Mr. Krabs by reminded the crustacean about the 'contract of fairness' that had been formed between the crab and the employees. Thinking about money reminded the sponge about the secret of Mr. Krabs' factory. He quickly removed that thought from his mind because his boss was treating him fairly so far.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was playing his clarinet. The Fry Cook Games was not on his mind at all. He was in the middle of a long composition when he heard a faint _ding dong_ coming from the living room. He then put the clarinet on the holder and walked downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the living room and opened the front door with a **CRREEEAAAK**. He saw a doctor standing in front of the doorway.

"Yeah, uhh, we're with the pet hospital not too far from here and I understand that you have a dying animal on the premises. Is it okay with you if we enter your backyard to take the animal?" The doctor considered the situation to be urgent. He was showing several signs of nervousness.

"Go right ahead." Squidward became shocked by what he heard. He assumed that animal had choked on one of the plants in his garden. He then closed the front door with a **SLAM**.

Squidward turned around and was about to look at his garden when...

**RING RING RING RING RING RING RING**

...the shell-phone rang. The octopus walked up to the shell-phone and picked it up. "Hello. You've reached the house of unrecognized talent." The Fry Cook Games was not very pleasant to watch from the octopus' perspective; it reminded him of his undesirable place of society. He was about to say more words but got interrupted by his caller.

_"I hear you're playing the cash register now." _A familiar and much hated electronic voice became released from the shell-phone.

Squidward tightened his free hand into a fist. He assumed that the other octopus was going to insult him like during old times. However, he had an idea for a decent comeback insult. "Sometimes. How's the unibrow?" He smirked.

_"It's big and valuable. I'm the leader of a big fancy band now, and we're supposed to play at. the Bubble Bowl next week." _Squilliam spoke with a bigger smirk. He was glad that he had bought the band because he could now brag about it to Squidward.

"The b-b-b... the b-b-b... the b-b-b..." Squidward was struggling to say the name of the event that Squilliam's band was going to. He almost doubted what he was hearing. Out of all people to undertake such a serious role, he would not have initially believe that Squilliam would be willing to do so.

_"That's right. I'm living your dreams, Squidward. The problem is, I'm busy next week and can't make it. So, I was hoping you and your band could cover for us." _Squilliam did not call Squidward just to brag about his purchase. He had chosen Squidward as the band's new leader because the two were equally as enthusiastic about music. He could care less about Squidward's musical abilities because he considered the other event he wanted to visit to be far more important.

Squidward's heartbeat quickened. A miracle just occurred. He began to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming. He felt the pain of each pinch; he was in the real world. "Ohh, uhh, I... I, uhh..." He could not utter a single word.

Squilliam made sure that Squidward was going to set up a prepared band by saying some clever words. _"I knew it! You don't even have a band! Well, I'll just let you get back to the service industry now." _

"Hold it! It just so happens that I _don't _sell fast food. I _do _have a band, and we're gonna play that Bubble Bowl! How do you like that, Fancy Boy?" Squidward blatantly lied. He was desperate to secure the offer.

_"Good luck, the Bubble Bowl will be on the upcoming Sunday. I hope the audience brings lots of... ibuprofen. I will pay you afterwards." _Squilliam knew that Squidward was lying. The octopus was actually setting up a form of payback against Squidward. He hinted of such a plot in his last words to Squidward. He felt like Squidward's two trespasses into his home deserved some sort of retribution. He could not wait to see how Squidward would end up ruining the Bubble Bowl. He was so confident of the Bubble Bowl's outcome that he was willing to pay the band if they performed well. He then put the shell-phone down on his end.

Squidward put his shell-phone down. "I gotta drum up a marching band fast!" His mouth was dry; he was highly anxious. His urge to prove his worth to Squilliam and to realize one of his dreams was what drove him forward. An idea for gathering a band lit up in his head. He ran towards the front door. "Drum... haha... band humor." He tried to laugh at his own 'jokes' as an attempt at calming himself down.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

11:00 AM

SpongeBob, Sandy, Plankton, Mrs. Puff, Mr. Krabs, and Larry were standing before the Krusty Krab's windows. There were posters on those windows. The restaurant usually did not have any posters unless they were important announcements. They were either hungry for Krabby Patties but saw the posters by chance, was curios; or in Plankton's case, about to steal the formula but became interested in the posters.

"Looking to add fulfillment to your dull, dull life?" Sandy decided to read a part of the poster out loud. She was trying to figure out why someone would write such a biased question.

"Then become part of the greatest musical sensation to ever hit Bikini Bottom." Plankton read the specific line that had caught his interest. He wondered if joining the 'sensation' would lower Mr. Krabs' guard and consequently give him a better chance at stealing the secret formula. He also predicted that his intellect would become known throughout Bikini Bottom (if enough liberties for modifying instruments were given to him). He was interested in music because of all of the parts and instruments needed to make certain sounds.

"And be forever adored by thousands of people you do not know." Mrs. Puff read the next line out loud without thinking much of what the others had read out loud. That line caught her attention because she did not want people (students) to sleep during lessons instead of appreciating them. She had that inner urge to become famous.

"Not to mention free refreshments." Mr. Krabs saw the band as an opportunity to advertise for the Krusty Krab. If he told audiences about the Krusty Krab, profits would reach historic levels and the crab would not have to resort to drastic measures at gaining profit.

"Practice begins tonight. 8:30 sharp." Larry read the final line merely so the poster would be fully read out loud. The band's practice time fit perfectly with his schedule. Like Mrs. Puff, he had a desire to become more popular with Bikini Bottomites and other sea-dwellers.

A pause.

"That sounds like alotta fun." SpongeBob beamed. He wanted to join the band because he viewed it as a new and interesting recreational activity. The yellow square began to wonder about the compositions that were going to be played by the band.

S-S-S-S-S

Many hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was standing in a very large garage that had been reserved by Squilliam for the band to practice at (Squilliam had informed Squidward about the garage during the morning). The octopus was muttering about the less than pleasant welcome into the garage. "Stupid music rental clerk made me late. That trilobite didn't know an eboe from an elbow." The rental clerk had also informed him about the compositions that will be played at the Bubble Bowl. However, the octopus had struggled to find the right instruments because of the clerk's ignorance. "Elbow, heh, more band humor."

Many citizens poured into the garage. Most of them were friends who had been told information about the band by friends who had seen the posters. They were speaking at a high volume because of they were a lot of them.

Squidward plugged a microphone's plug to an outlet. He grabbed the microphone from its holder. _"People, people, settle down! Okay, now. How many of you have played musical instruments before?" _The octopus wanted to begin immediately. He wanted to have some decent sleep.

More than half of the people in the room raised their hands.

Plankton walked up to Squidward. "Do instruments of torture count?" He was keen on catching the public's attention. He wanted the whole audience at the Bubble Bowl to know his name once the performance finishes.

Squidward shuddered. _"No." _

Plankton walked back to his seat.

Patrick's intelligence had decreased to a ridiculous level. He raised his hand, stood up, and jumped up and down while keeping his hand up. "I have a question!" He did not know what an instrument exactly was.

"_Yes, Patrick." _Squidward looked at the pink star. _"You can stop jumping." _He folded his arms. He deeply hoped that his neighbors would not embarrass him with their antics. With only a few days to practice, the stress took a toll on the octopus' temper.

Everybody became silent.

"Is mayonnaise an instrument?" Patrick put his hand down. He wanted to use 'instruments' that came from his home because he was more comfortable using them.

The crowd chuckled and giggled. SpongeBob giggled and shook his head. "Silly Pat." The sponge did not have any harmful intentions.

Squidward smiled at Patrick's absurd question. _"No, Patrick. Mayonnaise is not an instrument." _The octopus resisted the urge to chuckle. He wanted to maintain a serious air and composure so he would like an authority figure.

Patrick bit his lip and raised his hand again. He did not want to sound like he was stupid. "Squidward, if you do not mind, is horseradish considered an instrument?" He asked the question in a complex manner in an attempt at hiding his stupidity.

The crowd began to laugh. However, the sponge was respectful enough to chuckle instead of laugh.

Squidward shook his head. _"Horseradish is not an instrument, either." _He looked at the people who were laughing. "_Nobody should be laughing at anybody's ignorance. Most of you do not have much experience with instruments and that's fine. That's why I'm here; I have enough talent for all of you." _The octopus calmly disapproved of his students' laughing. He was trying to preserve some sort of order in his 'class'.

Everybody became silent again.

Mr. Krabs raised his claw.

"_Yes, Mr. Krabs." _Squidward made eye contact with his boss. He could tell that the crab had joined the band so he could earn a few quick bucks.

"When do we get the free food?" Mr. Krabs' stomach was empty. He had not ate anything for more than two hours. The crustacean could not go through boring practice sessions without some sort of energizing snack.

"_When we finish enough practice sessions." _Squidward promptly answered his boss' question.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Everybody found an instrument that they liked or was easiest for them to play.

He picked up his clarinet from a sheet holder. He put the microphone on its holder and stood in front of it. _"Okay, try to repeat after me." _The octopus played six notes with his clarinet. He played them correctly because he was only playing a few notes. He pointed at the brass section. _"Brass section, go." _

The brass section repeated the notes incorrectly. Since it somewhat sounded like what he had initially played, Squidward considered their repeat to be acceptable.

"_Good." _The octopus pointed at the wind section. _"Now the wind." _

The wind section struggled to repeat the notes, they were worse than the brass section.

Squidward cringed. He decided to save the criticism until all sections had repeated his notes. _"And the drums." _The octopus pointed at the drum section.

The drummers shrugged. Drums obviously could not replicate the sounds of a clarinet.

Squidward snapped his fingers as he remembered the sound difference between clarinets and drums. _"Right." _He looked at the whole band. _"Let's just try stepping in the rhythm. Now I want everyone to stand in straight rows of five." _

SpongeBob misheard Squidward's instructions. "Is this the part where we start kicking?" He tilted his head to the side. The yellow square was not familiar with musical terminology.

"_No, SpongeBob. That's a chorus line." _Squidward could not figure out why SpongeBob asked that question so he provided the best answer that he could give.

"Kicking?" Patrick smiled widely. He thought that the practice was becoming boring. The starfish assumed that now was where the practice becomes exciting. "I wanna do some kicking!" He jumped up and down in excitement and kicked Sandy's shin.

"Ow!" Sandy hopped on one foot. The sea star had kicked her with excessive force. "Why, you...! I oughta-" The squirrel dropped her trumpet and tried to grab the pink star. She could not tolerate the 'harassment' she received in 'public'. 'I'll teach 'im a lesson 'bout respect.'

Patrick became frightened and dropped his trombone. The starfish did not want to fight the squirrel because he was trying to avoid damaging other people's instruments; he was trying to not break any of the band's rules (they were on the poster). He ran towards the garage's exit.

Sandy grabbed Patrick's trombone and chased the starfish. She was smiling devilishly. The squirrel did not intend to cause serious harm to her friend.

**C-CREAK**

**S-SLAM**

The two quickly exited the garage.

"W-wait! S-stop! What're yo- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" According to the sounds coming from outside, Patrick was struggling to release himself from Sandy's grasp and then screamed in agony.

"Oops..." Sandy spoke in a more quiet voice.

**C-CRRRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Patrick slowly entered the garage. His head was stuck inside his trombone. "Whoever is the owner of the white sedan, you left your lights on." The starfish pointed at a certain boatmobile that was in the parking lot. The squirrel had meant to hit him on the head with the trombone instead of squeezing his head into the instrument. He walked back to his seat. The instrument was playing notes as he walked. Once he sat in his seat, the trombone played louder notes when he breathed in and out.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Sandy opened the double door and stepped into the garage. She jogged up to Patrick and swiftly took the trombone off of Patrick's head. "Sorry." She loudly whispered and looked at the floor. She thought that she now had a bad reputation among the band members.

Squidward sighed. 'You've got alotta work to do, Squiddy.' He took a few deep breaths and tried to forget that the brawl ever happened.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

6:49 PM.

The band was orderly marching down the street while carrying all of their instruments. Squidward had told them yesterday that the next gathering would be at a certain neighborhood and would begin at 6:30 PM. The band members, including Squidward, were all wearing the same red uniforms. Squilliam had delivered them to Squidward during the morning.

Squidward was holding a megaphone. _"Okay, that's perfect everybody. Bubble Bowl here we come. Flag twirlers, really spin those things." _The octopus made another joke and laughed at it. _"Okay, turn. Flag twirlers, let's go."_

The flag twirlers began to spin the flags that they were holding.

"_I wanna see some spinning. Flag twirlers let's move! C'mon move!" _Squidward wanted the band to put as much effort into their performances as possible so he could accurately judge any weaknesses.

The flag twirlers spun their flags until their twirling speeds were ridiculous. After several seconds, they accidentally let go of the flags. The flags flew in random directions and hit building walls and other band members.

Squidward took another deep breath and looked at the ground. In order for the band to succeed, he had to be patient with any mishaps.

S-S-S-S-S

Later on that day...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting on his bed. All of the tiki's lights were turned off. The moonlight was shining through his window. The octopus was doubtful about his concert's success. So far, not much progress had been made in making the band at least sound satisfactory when playing performances. This doubt had been gnawing at him ever since Patrick's head got stuck inside the trombone.

A long pause.

The octopus noticed that his diary was lying on the floor. He picked it up and opened it. He skimmed through some entries hoping that it will eventually make him fall asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward realized that he had endured and overcame many obstacles ever since the day he started writing in his diary. It gave him a sense of hope.

_The rocket soon escaped the Earth's atmosphere and entered space._

_The three neighbors and several other things in the rocket stopped falling and floated. _

He never forgot the day when he had visited space with SpongeBob and Patrick. That brief trip had realized a dream that he had held on to for a long time. The memory strengthened his hope and even gave him an optimistic view on the Bubble Bowl's outcome. A smile slowly formed on his face. He put the diary on the left drawer's top and laid down on the bed.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to Plankton. He was trying to constructively criticize how the band members played their instruments. "How's that harmonica solo coming, Plankton?" The octopus looked down at the plankton who was on a seat.

"It's tremendous, you want to see?" Plankton looked up at Squidward and smiled. He was very confident in his playing abilities. He had played the harmonica so many times that his endurance had increased by a noticeable amount.

Squidward nodded.

Plankton ran to one hole and blew into it, producing a note. He then ran to another hole and blew into that one as well. The plankton then rapidly ran from one hole to the next and blew into them. He eventually became so tired that he blew a raspberry instead of air. He collapsed to the seat's surface and took several deep breaths.

"Perhaps you should play an easier instrument." Squidward said a thought of his out loud. It was the best advice that he could give to Plankton. The octopus then walked towards SpongeBob, who was the band's singer.

S-S-S-S-S

Two days later...

S-S-S-S-S

_"Well, this is our last night together before the show. And I know that only a few of you improved since we began... stop chewing on your trumpet, Patrick." _Squidward was standing in front of the band and was speaking through the microphone. He pointed at Patrick who was chewing on one of the keys of the starfish's trumpet.

"Sorry." Patrick stopped biting the trumpet. His teeth left no marks on the trumpet's surface.

_"Anyway, I have a theory. People talk loud when they want to act smart, right?"_

"Correct!" Plankton nodded and made a thumbs-up. From his perspective, what Squidward said could not be more accurate.

_"So, if we play loud, people might think we're good._" Squidward smiled to hide his nervousness. He was worried about the possibility of his theory's failure. _"Everybody ready? And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three, four!" _

The band played their instruments so loud that the windows in the room began to shake and vibrate. Squidward covered his ears as he tried to block the incoming awful notes. He was going to reach the verge of insanity if their playing continued for a few minutes. The octopus grabbed the microphone. _"Everybody, STOP!" _His yell was louder than the unpleasant sounds.

The band stopped playing.

"_Okay, new theory. Maybe we should play so quietly, no one can hear us." _Squidward did not lose hope in the achievement of his dream. He thought that he needed to accept a bittersweet set of conditions in order to make that dream achievable. He knew that the end result will make him unsatisfied.

One of the most loyal band members lost his temper. He was as frustrated with the band members as Squidward. He had a strong will to reveal his musical talent to the world but that desire was being repressed by the poor abilities of most of the band. "Well, maybe we wouldn't sound so bad if some people didn't play with big, meaty claws!" He spoke in a fake British accent, he made his sentence sound like a joke on purpose. He wanted to give as much scorn to the worst instrumentalists in the band as possible.

Mr. Krabs turned to look at the frustrated young man and narrowed his eyes at him. He would not allow such a person to disrespect him before such a large amount of people. "What did you say, punk?!"

"_Big, _meaty _CLAWS!" _The young man was angry and bold enough to return a glare to the crab. He shook his fist as he yelled those three words.

Mr. Krabs dropped his instrument and held out his claws in a fighting pose. Since he was a former pirate captain, he had to defend his honor against anybody who insults or harasses him. "Well, these claws ain't just for attractin' mates. I'll teach you a thing or two 'bout respect!" The crab stepped towards the young man.

The young man dropped his instrument made a fighting pose as well. "Bring it on, old man! Bring it on!" He wanted to finish the brawl as quickly as possible so the band could perform better and then move on to the next practice sessions. He also allowed his frustration to cloud his critical thinking.

SpongeBob walked up to the two rowdy men and held out both of his hands towards them in an attempt at separating them. "No, people. Let's be smart and bring it off. It won't make us better at playing our instruments." The sponge said some wise words.

An ill-tempered and irritated young woman folded her arms. "Oh, so now the talking cheese is going to preach to us." She looked at SpongeBob from the corner of her eye.

Band members began to glare at other band members. Dynamite that had been set over the failures of inept band members was finally igniting. People were blaming each other for causing everybody else to slow down and suffer for their incompetence.

Squidward was very aware of what was going on inside the garage. If he did not do or say something, fights were certainly going to erupt. _"Wait, wait! I know tensions are high-" _The octopus held out his hand and was about to demand for order but stopped talking. It was too late.

**BAM SLAM BOP POW BAMF BOP BOMP BASH BOP BOP BOP KLOK SLAM THUD POW POW BOP BAM BAM BAM BAM BOP POW KLOK KLOK BAM SLAM KLOK POW BAM BAM**

A massive brawl erupted in the garage. The band members had endured too much obstacles and torture. Their desires for fame, wealth, or general success were blinding them from being supporting each other. SpongeBob was one of the few who knew better than to fight mindlessly.

Larry grabbed a drum and swung across an annoying man's face with a **SLAM**. That man had always annoyed him about his poor ability to play his instrument.

"_There's a deposit on that equipment, people!"_

Only a minority of the band members listened to Squidward's desperate words. The others continued to fight.

Mr. Krabs and the young man charged towards each other while holding out oboes. They then crash into each other with a** SLAM **and fell to the floor with a **T-THUD**. They then stood up and used the oboes as if those instruments were swords.

Mrs. Puff wanted to restore the peace that the garage once had. She grabbed two cymbals and held them out. Mr. Krabs and the young man were in between those cymbals. She then **SLAMm**med the cymbals together. She swung the cymbal on her boyfriend's more lightly because she did not want to injure him severely.

**BOINGGG**

The cymbals vibrated on Mr. Krabs and the young man's heads. The two men became dizzy and lopsidedly walked away from each other.

"_Settle down, please!"_

Sandy quickly regained her ability to think rationally. Like Mrs. Puff, she now wanted tranquility. She noticed that an angry man was attacking a young teen with a xylophone. She grabbed the xylophone and threw it to one end of the room.

The man ran away from the squirrel out of fright.

S-S-S-S-S

John jotting a ticket for a boatmobile that had been improperly parked in the driveway. He was sitting in his own police car with nobody else. Once he finished writing the ticket, he put it on the boatmobile's front window. He heard slightly loud sounds coming from the garage but dismissed it as some sort of accident (he assumed that the garage was a storage room).

S-S-S-S-S

A female teenager looked through a window and saw the officer. "THE POLICE IS HERE!" She screamed in fright and ran to the back of the room. Thoughts about her name being on the headlines of tomorrow's newspaper worsened her fear.

People gasped and quickly stopped fighting. They stood against the walls and waited to see what was going to happen.

S-S-S-S-S

John drove out of the parking lot and drove his boatmobile down the road.

S-S-S-S-S

A brave man peeked through the window and did not see a single police car in the parking lot. "He's not here anymore." He spoke with a smile of relief.

An older adolescent wanted to go home. He had a lot of homework to do and could not afford to waste anymore time. He walked towards the garage's exit. "Hey, class is over." He opened the door with a **CRREEEEAAAK** and exited the garage.

A major chunk of the band members followed him. They were frustrated enough with the band's problems for them to be easily persuaded by that adolescent. They eventually poured out of the garage and walked towards their homes or boatmobiles.

Squidward sighed in despair and looked at the floor. His dream was killed by the cold and non-empathetic entity called fate. Once the Bubble Bowl begins, he will be back to where he was before; a Krusty Krab cashier who was an unappreciated artist. The back of his mind had foretold his eventual failure. He had failed so many times at presenting his art to the world that he had ended up thinking that no one will ever appreciate his artistic pursuits. However, that did not stop him from thinking that he was the best artist. He picked up the microphone and tried to make the disloyal band members realize what they were doing. _"Well, you did it. You took my one chance in happiness and crushed it. Crushed it into little tiny, bite-size pieces. I really expected better of you people. I guess I'm a loser for that, too. I bet none of you will ever appreciate my passion for artistic pursuits. As a matter of fact, don't bother showing up tomorrow. I'll just tell them you all died in a marching accident. So, thanks, thanks for nothing." _The octopus' words were full of resentment. With a face expressing disappoint and dissatisfaction, he walked towards the garage's exit.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was about to walk towards his anchor when he overheard Squidward's words. They reminded him about the monetary reward awaiting him once the band's performances at the Bubble Bowl were finished. He also remembered the fame that he would gain for being part of such a plan. The crab turned around and re-entered the garage.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob felt sympathy for the octopus. He knew that when the band members came to the first meeting, they had 'signed' some sort of unwritten contract. That contract was that they had to be responsible for the realization of Squidward's dream. The sponge also remembered seeing Squidward calling all of the band members about the time of the next meeting. The yellow square realized how many sacrifices Squidward had made in order to get this far on the road. The sponge walked up to the holder and picked up the microphone. _"What kind of monsters are we? That poor creature came to us in his hour of need, and we failed him. Squidward's always been there for us when it was convenient for him." _He looked at a certain familiar woman who was leaving the garage. That woman was a regular Krusty Krab customer. _"Evelyn, when your little Jimmy was trapped in a fire, who rescued him?"_

The woman turned to look at SpongeBob. She was astonished that the yellow fry cook knew her name.

The yellow square looked at Larry, who was leaving the garage as well. _"And Larry, when your heart gave out from all those canning pills, who revived you?"_

Larry looked at the yellow sponge. "Some guy in an ambulance." He shrugged.

_"Right. So, if we can all just pretend that Squidward was a fireman, or some guy in an ambulance, then I'm sure that we can all pull together and discover what it truly means to be in a marching band." _SpongeBob tried to make the people who were leaving become sympathetic for Squidward. _"Squid had trusted us when we came here the very first time. We have to live up to our promises." _

A pause.

All of the band members returned to the garage. They were all moved by SpongeBob's honest and carefully picked words.

Squidward was sincerely grinning at SpongeBob. Out of all of the people who could save his dream, he did not expect SpongeBob to be that person. Like the time when he told the police officer about SpongeBob's innocence after the first fight with the thugs, he felt indebted to the sponge. However, his current feeling of gratitude for SpongeBob was one of the strongest ones he had ever experienced. "Thank you, SpongeBob..." The octopus faintly whispered.

"Yeah, for the firemen!" The young man who had assaulted Mr. Krabs raised his fist. He tried to encourage the band to achieve greater heights.

"**Hooray!**" Nearly the entire band yelled with a renewed sense of hope.

SpongeBob had obtained the role of being the band's new teacher. "Now let's make Squidward proud, a one, a two, and a skiddleliddledoo." He was able to read the music sheets that were on the microphone holder. Those sheets were all of the compositions the band was going to play, they were all picked by Squilliam.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

August 24, 2008.

**S-S-S-SCREEEECCH**

Several buses stopped in front of a stadium in Ukelele Bottom. The stadium was the same place where the Fry Cook Games had been hosted at. The entire band including Squidward exited the buses and walked towards the stadium's entrance. They were all wearing their uniforms and were holding their instruments. The octopus was holding his baton.

Once the band reached the entrance, Squidward saw Squilliam standing in the middle of the hallway, the other octopus was blocking their path. "What're you doing here?" Squidward raised his brow and folded his arms.

"I just came to watch you blow it. I got some time to spare before I go to my more important event." Squilliam smirked and folded his arms as well. For him, almost nothing could make a day less boring than having a good laugh. He was also still willing to pull money out of his bank account if the band was successful; he still expected the band to be an utter failure.

Squidward glared at Squilliam. His arch-rival's smug manner of speaking fueled his desire to become successful.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob poked Squidward's shoulder. "We're ready to perform, Squidward." The yellow square could not control his excitement. The thought of performing before thousands of people made his heart race to extraordinary speeds. He danced to prevent his excitement from making him do crazy acts.

Squilliam looked at Squidward's band and chuckled. "Well, Squiddy, this is exactly how I pictured your band would look." He looked at the sponge and began to giggle.

"That's his... eager face." Squidward scratched the back of his head and looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. 'Sponge, stop that! You're embarrassing us!' He decided to keep his potential command to himself. He thought that saying that command would make him look more inept from Squilliam's eyes.

Squilliam laughed. He then walked into the stadium's open space.

An employee sitting in a ticket booth looked up at Squidward's band. "You must be the band, right?" She was not sure if the uniforms were for the team or for the band. Ukelele Bottom's team was going to play in the Bubble Bowl, their uniform was orange and many fans wore orange to show their loyalty to the team.

"Yes." Squidward nodded. He looked at his band. "Show your instruments."

The band members held out their instruments.

The employee nodded. "You can proceed."

Squidward's band walked through the hallway and entered the main space.

S-S-S-S-S

The stadium, although not obvious at first, was covered by a metal roof. The main space's ground had been changed into a field of fake grass where there were white lines indicating the field's distances. The Bubble Bowl was the championship for professional bubble-blowers. The two teams competing against each other for this Bubble Bowl were Ukelele Bottom's team and New Kelp City's team. Ukelele Bottom fans were wearing orange while New Kelp City fans were wearing green.

Thousands of people were sitting in the bleachers. They were eagerly awaiting the beginning of the game and the songs that will be played by the band.

A coach walked up to Squidward. "You'll be playing in that metal circle over there." He pointed at a metal disc that had been placed in the field's center. The giant disc had bright lights within its perimeter that were shining towards the ceiling.

Squidward's band stepped onto the metal disc. They stood on the disc in an organized manner; each instrument section stood at a different spot. The instruments they were holding were almost completely different than the ones used for practice.

_"Okay, bubble-blowing fans. Put your hands together for the Bikini Bottom Super Band!" _The announcer spoke zestily.

SpongeBob looked at the screaming fans and noticed that some of them had painted themselves with orange or green. "There are some oddly looking fish." He said a thought of his.

From Patrick's viewpoint, the stadium's inside looked strange. He closely looked at his surroundings before he came to a wild conclusion. "Maybe we're in one of those toxic waste dumps."

Squidward turned to look at his band. "Alright, everybody." He held out his hands and tried to calm everyone down. He thought that there was no longer any room for error or failure. He looked at Squilliam who was standing near an exit. That other octopus was raising and lowering his unibrow as if it was bouncing. He then looked at his band again. "Let's get this over with, one, two, three, four..." His anxiety steadily increased with each utterance of a number. His nervousness began to get the best of him.

A pause.

The trumpet section were the first ones to play their instruments. They played the proper introduction for the first song. Their notes were wonderful and the entire audience stared at the band in awe.

Squidward smiled in delight. His nervousness faded when his smile reached his cheeks.

Squilliam's eyes bugged out. He realized that he had severely underestimated Squidward's band. However, he smiled again when he assumed that the band will fail eventually.

Plankton played a few notes on his mini electric keyboard. He was trying his absolute best so he could fool Mr. Krabs into thinking that he was serious about assisting the band.

SpongeBob held his microphone towards his mouth.

"_The winner takes all, it's the thrill of one more kill."_

The sponge's singing voice was so outstanding that it sounded like it was from another person.

Squilliam gawked at the band and his jaw dropped.

"_The last one to fall will never sacrifice their will. Don't ever look back on the world closing in. Be on the attack with your wings on the wind."_

Sandy and Mrs. Puff began to play their guitars. The notes they played were perfect.

"_Oh, the games will begin."_

Squilliam was pinching himself. He could not tell if he was in a dream or in the real world. He was dumbfounded by the amazing song that he was hearing. He could not comprehend the possibility of ordinary citizens being able to perform such a song.

Squidward tossed his baton to the side. The joy he was feeling was overwhelming. While grinning, he conducted the band by using his arms.

"_And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory, yeah. And it's our for the taking, it's our for the fight."_

The audience was swaying from left to right and vice-versa in sync with the song's rhythm. Most of them thought that the current song was one of the best Bubble Bowl songs they had ever heard. Most bands who play at the Bubble Bowl fail or make a mistake in some way. Squidward's band was one of the exceptions.

Squilliam fell to the ground back-first. He was staring at the ceiling. He was desperately trying to get out of the 'dream' that he was in. He focused so hard on escaping the 'dreamy realm' that he looked like he was unconscious.

"_And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory, yeah. And the one who's last to fall. We will have sweet, sweet victory yeah."_

Squidward raised his hands towards the heavens and leaped. He could not find any other expression to express the emotions he was feeling.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward's band marched out of the stadium. A major sense of pride and accomplishment filled their hearts. Squidward was the happiest out of all of them and was also marching the fastest. His band's amazing performance had left him almost speechless. The performance also changed his view of the yellow square. The Bubble Bowl's concert was very different from working in the Krusty Krab. The octopus usually dreaded having to work as a team with the sponge since the sponge always annoyed him during work hours. However, the concert revealed the sponge's determination in working towards a shared goal. The octopus' indebtedness towards SpongeBob grew even more; his dream could not have been accomplished without the sponge's assistance. He now saw the sponge as a capable adult when a situation takes a turn for the worse. He turned to look at the band. "SpongeBob, please come over here."

SpongeBob walked up to Squidward.

"Guys, we would've never played that good if it wasn't for SpongeBob." Squidward patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. The octopus truly felt like the sponge was an acquaintance instead of a typical neighbor or coworker.

The band clapped and whistled; they were congratulating each other for a job well done.

S-S-S-S-S

Unfortunately for Squidward, his situation was not as ideal as it seemed to be. News about his band's performance and the absence of certain citizens (they were part of the band) had spread like a wildfire throughout Bikini Bottom. The news made his tiki an open target for strangers who had heard of Squidward's absence.

**SHATTER**

One of the tiki's windows shattered into pieces by an incoming rock. Several men then dove into the living room.


	78. Squidville

**Chapter 78: Squidville**

* * *

Squidward hummed one of his favorite tunes as he walked towards the tiki's front door. He then opened the front door with a **CRREEEAAAK**, stepped into the home, and closed it with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus' jaw dropped by what he was seeing. His living room had been completely ransacked. Many valuable objects were missing. Many remaining objects were broken or on the floor. The octopus trudged through the messy floor and noticed that the TV had been spared. He quietly roamed throughout the tiki so he could know how much damage had been done.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked downstairs and entered the living room. Almost all of the rooms in his home had been damaged in some way. The anger in him was rising as if it was the lava in a volcano. The broken window in the room confirmed his suspicions that robbers had visited his tiki.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to his pineapple and noticed that there was a package in front of its entrance. He knew what was in the package. He picked it up and walked up to Patrick. "Patrick, look. I got my..." He widened his eyes slightly when he noticed that Patrick was holding a package as well. The sponge opened his package to reveal a new reef blower.

Patrick opened his package to reveal a flower vase.

The yellow square laughed and scratched his head's back. "I'm sorry." He had assumed that Patrick had ordered the same product that he had.

"It's just for a second I thought..." Patrick assumed that SpongeBob had ordered a flower vase as well when he saw SpongeBob's package near the sponge's home. He decided to not finish his sentence so the situation would become less awkward.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "I'll be right back." He turned around and jogged to his rock while carrying the opened package. He entered the rock with a **CRREEAAAK** and a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Patrick exited the rock. A reef blower was strapped on his shoulders. He rarely used the device because it was not necessary in most cases. He looked at SpongeBob's new reef blower and noticed that his and SpongeBob's were the same brand. "Hey, you got the same reef blower as me!" He flicked his reef blower from 'OFF' to 'ON' and aimed the nozzle at SpongeBob. He pulled and released the starter.

A small gust touched the sponge's face.

"Tag, you're it." Patrick ran away from the yellow square. He wanted to play childish games as a way of relaxing from the stresses of the Bubble Bowl concert.

SpongeBob giggled and put on his new reef blower. He turned it on and chased Patrick.

Patrick blew a can towards the sponge; he was trying to make the sponge trip on it.

SpongeBob hopped over the can and blew a small sand mound towards his best friend.

Patrick closed his eyes so the sand particles would not irritate them. With his eyes closed, he switched his reef blower from 'PUSH' to 'PULL'. The reef blower now functioned like a vacuum. It absorbed all nearby sand particles. The starfish opened his eyes, switched the reef blower back to 'PUSH' mode, aimed at SpongeBob; and pulled the starter.

What seemed to be a wall of sand flew towards the sponge.

The yellow sponge ducked and avoided the sand wall. The sand wall hit his opened package. The sponge backed away to the sand-filled box and switched his reef blower to 'PULL'. It sucked all of the sand out of the package. The sponge then switched the reef blower back to 'PUSH' within the blink of an eye. However, Patrick had ran to his location. When he pulled the starter and released it, Patrick pushed the nozzle towards elsewhere.

The sand came out of the nozzle and covered the tiki's exterior wall.

A pause.

Squidward opened the front door with a **CRRREEAAAK**. "What's going on out here?" He was annoyed by the unpleasant sounds of two activated reef blowers. He had been thinking about how he was going to deal with his damaged home.

"We're playing with our reef blowers!" SpongeBob informed his neighbor in an energetic manner. He switched the reef blower to 'PULL' and sucked all of the sand from the tiki's wall. The success of Squidward's band and the fun game he was having was what caused the sponge to be in such a good mood.

"Playing with a reef blower?" Shivers ran down Squidward's spine. He still remembered the horrible accident where the sponge's reef blower had sucked all of the water in their area of Bikini Bottom. "I'm gonna be honest, that's one of the most childish things I have ever heard of." He did not intend to insult the best friend duo at all; they had helped him achieve one of his dreams.

"But it's fun!" The yellow square grinned.

"Fun? How could playing with one of those over-sized hair dryers possibly be fun?" Squidward raised his brow. He sometimes could not understand the sponge and the sea star at all. He tried to mince his words slightly as a way of being kind.

"Like this..." Patrick aimed his reef blower's nozzle at a piece of coral. He switched his reef blower to 'PULL'. He pulled and released the starter. The reef blower then sucked the coral piece.

Squidward silently shook his head and re-entered his tiki with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus sat in the couch. He predicted that the robbers would come to his home again tomorrow once he leaves for work. He knew ever since he moved to his current neighborhood that the neighborhood was mediocre at best and a hell at worst. He had the urge to temporarily move from his neighborhood to a place where he could truly unwind after daily work.

A pause.

Squidward picked up a shard of a flower vase. "This is the final straw. I am going to move so far away, that I will be able to brag about it. I would rather tear out my brain stem, carry it into the middle of the nearest four-way intersection, and skip rope with it, than go on living where I do now... for now." SpongeBob and Patrick were not one of his reasons for moving. It was the crime rate in his neighborhood's area instead.

Another pause.

Squidward picked up the remote and turned on the TV. He wanted to do a few leisurely activities before beginning his preparation for his move.

A commercial was being shown. A male octopus with brown hair was speaking. _"Hi there! Is this the final straw? Do you want to move so far away that you can brag about it? Do you want more tranquility in your daily life? Are you sick and tired of your home getting ravaged by your neighbors or criminals?"_

**CREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

A pink hand snatched the remote from Squidward's tentacle.

A pause.

Patrick changed the channel. He thought that the commercial was boring and judged the entire channel's quality based on that commercial. "I hate this channel." He had entered the tiki out of boredom.

Squidward's eyes bugged out. "No! No!" He retrieved the remote from Patrick's hand and changed the channel back to the one that had the commercial.

"_-Tentacle Acres!" _A community of neatly organized tiki neighborhoods was being shown on the TV screen. _"Where happiness is just a suction cup away!" _The address of the community and the phone number for the staff was shown on the screen for ten seconds. A disclaimer was also shown, it stated that the community was for octopuses only. The commercial ended.

Squidward quickly memorized Tentacle Acres' address and phone number. He stood up from the couch and pointed towards the front door. "Patrick, get out." He spoke calmly and had a deadpan face. He viewed Tentacle Acres as the perfect place for a temporary stay. The commercial gave him so much hope that his mood improved significantly.

Patrick tossed the remote to the couch and exited the tiki with a **CRREEEEAAAAK** and a **SLAM**. He had perceived the messiness of the living room and assumed that Squidward was going to clean the room.

Squidward walked up to the closet and opened it. He took out a broom, a mop, and a few metal buckets.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward wiped some sweat from his brow. All of the buckets were filled with broken pieces of of the floors in the tiki were sparkling with cleanliness. He had finished the cleansing of the tiki. He then walked to the shell-phone, picked it up, dialed Tentacle Acres' phone number; and put the phone near his ear.

A pause.

An electronic voice was heard.

"My name is Squidward Tentacles. As you can tell by my name and voice, I am an octopus. I would like to have a reservation in Tentacle Acres." Squidward spoke with a smile. He was glad that a fellow octopus was on the other end.

The octopus on the other end asked some questions.

"I was born on November 5, 1983. My address is 122 Conch Street..." Squidward said all of the personal information that the other octopus asked him to say. He could tell that the other octopus believed that he was an octopus.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward put the shell-phone down. The conversation with the employee was over. He had booked a two-week reservation at Tentacle Acres. The octopus' excitement and enthusiasm for his new home increased when he thought about the friends he was going to make and the tranquility he was going to have every night. The octopus walked upstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

He entered the music room and grabbed his clarinet. He was going to play some compositions as he waited for the delivery trunk to arrive. The employee had told him that any visitor of Tentacle Acres will always have all of their belongings moved to their reserved home.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later..

S-S-S-S-S

After what seemed like an eternity, a **SCREEECH **from outside was heard.

Squidward looked through one of the music room's windows. He saw a parked delivery truck and gasped in delight. He put his clarinet on the holder and ran downstairs.

S-S-S-S-S

**CREEAAAK**

SLAM

Squidward jogged up to the workers who were coming out of the truck. All of the workers were octopuses. "I am Squidward Tentacles." He greeted them rapturously. He pointed at his tiki. "This is my lovely home." He was struggling to control his excitement. He was jumping up and down. From his perspective, the workers seemed to be demigods.

One of the workers sweatdropped and made a crooked smile. He had rarely met octopuses who were as enthusiastic as Squidward to move out of their homes. He and the other workers entered Squidward's home and began to move Squidward's belongings out of the tiki.

**CRREEAAK**

SLAM

SpongeBob exited his pineapple. He glanced at the workers and then looked at the trucker. He tilted his head to the side in wonder and then walked up to Squidward. "What's going on?" The yellow square became concerned for his neighbor, he noticed that the workers were moving furniture out of the tiki.

Squidward turned to look at SpongeBob. His facial expression was neutral. "I'm gonna move out of this neighborhood for awhile. Some robbers damaged my house and I've had enough misfortunes in this cursed street." His words revealed his bitterness against cold-hearted Fate.

SpongeBob gasped and grabbed the octopus' shoulders. "Y-you can't go, We just performed super-well in that concert, Squid. Isn't that enough of an achievement?" The yellow square was desperate to make his neighbor stay. He imagined how much more lonely he would feel if Squidward did not live in his neighborhood. "What about all the other happy moments that happened here?"

Squidward shook his head. "The place I'm going to is far more tranquil than this crime-filled dump. Plus, it'll only be a _temporary _stay, not a _permanent_ one. Understand?" The octopus folded his arms and spoke solemnly. He was very confident with his decision to leave the neighborhood.

By that point, the workers had moved almost all of Squidward's belongings out of the tiki. Squidward looked at them from the corner of his eye and noticed that. "I'm going to be leaving very soon, SpongeBob. It's too late for you to stop me." He calmly spoke the cold truth.

SpongeBob fell to the ground and grabbed Squidward's knees. He did not want his friend to temporarily abandon him. "Don't go!" His eyes began to moisten. "Pleeeasse?" He was already beginning to miss Squidward. A tear rolled down his cheek. The concert at the Bubble Bowl had made him go through extreme emotional swings; his joyfulness became sorrowfulness.

Squidward shook the yellow square off of his feet. "If you were in my situation, you would understand." He walked towards his tiki and stood near the front door. He was waiting for the workers to finish their task.

SpongeBob was bawling while his face was on the ground. He could not restrain his emotions. The thought of Squidward leaving the tiki after all of that hard work to make the octopus' dream become true was heavily saddening and hard to accept.

Squidward felt some slight sympathy for SpongeBob. He knew from his own past experiences that losing a friend was not pleasant at all.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty-eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

It was a long and exhausting walk, but Squidward managed to reach his destination. He stood before a giant door and a circular wall, they had a smoothed surface so trespassers would become unable to climb across them. The wall and the gate were made out of a very sturdy material. The door itself was golden. From Squidward's point-of-view, it was like the gate to paradise. He looked up at a loudspeaker. "Hello?"

_"Yes, can I help you?" _A male electronic voice responded. He was the guard of that section of the giant wall. There were other doors in other areas of the wall.

"I'm here about the happiness. I'll be moving in now." Squidward did not mince a single word. He wanted to be as honest as possible so he could leave a good impression. He was eager to enter the heavenly community that was awaiting him.

_"Are you alone?"_

"Yes. There's nobody with me. Just peace and quiet." Squidward replied immediately and with ease. He smiled gently.

_"Are you now, or have you ever been highly annoying?"_

"No." Squidward shook his head.

_"What about a-" _The guard was interrupted by Squidward.

The octopus was replying instinctively. "No, no, I'm not obnoxious either. Just a regular, normal, peace-loving-" His reply was interrupted by the opening of the giant door. Both of the door's sides moved slowly and **rumble**d. Once the door opened completely, he saw an orderly community which had homes that coincidentally looked just like his tiki. Feeling overjoyed, the octopus skipped through the open doorway.

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He took several seconds to look at his surroundings. He saw several octopus kids licking coned ice cream that was from an ice cream truck. "Heaven at last." He held out his hands towards the sky. He could not hide the grin on his face. He then merrily jogged down the street and accidentally bumped into an adult male octopus.

The male octopus became irritated. "I've seen more alert people in a retirement home." He tried to 'bite back' with a joke and then smirked. He was exuding a slight amount of arrogance.

Squidward narrowed his eyes at the other octopus. "Oh, which way to the living-without-a-brain seminar? Don't be late." He tried to say a joke that had even more sarcasm than the previous one. It also revealed what he thought of the other octopus.

"I've heard better comebacks from a turkey sandwich." The other octopus chuckled. He walked down the street while still smirking. "Get a life!" He had a strange sense of humor.

Squidward glared at the other octopus for several seconds before he came to a realization. He then beamed. The fact that some people in this community could become just as grumpy as him delighted him. "This place is even better than I expected!" The octopus then walked to an employee. He recognized the employee because all of the staff members wore a white shirt and dark blue pants. "Excuse me, sir. My name is Squidward Tentacles. What is the number of my reserved home?"

The employee took out a booklet, opened it, and skimmed through the pages. He eventually found Squidward's name. "Ah, a newcomer. Your house number is three-hundred and four." He then put the booklet away.

"Thanks." Squidward continued to jog down the street. He did not decide to have an employee tour him through Tentacle Acres; he thought that discovering the sites by himself was more fun.

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Six minutes later...

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"Three-oh two... three-oh three..." Squidward was whispering the numbers of the tikis that he was walking past. He reached his new home. "...and three-oh four." He spoke normally. He saw a tiki that had a front door with the number '304' on it in red paint. "Beautiful." He grinned and strolled towards his tiki. "And not a nuisance or criminal in sight." He said a thought of his. He entered the tiki with a **CRREEEAAAAK** and a **SLAM**.

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Squidward looked around the living room. His belongings except for the furniture were put in neat stacks. He took some of the lighter-weight belongings such as the paintings and began to arrange them as they originally were in his home. The layout of the tiki's inside was exactly like the layout in his original home.

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An hour later...

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Squidward wiped some sweat from his brow. He was finally finished with rearranging his belongings in their proper places. The inside of his new tiki was now almost an exact replica of his original home. He walked upstairs and entered the music room.

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Squidward walked up to the sheet holder and grabbed his clarinet. He decided to celebrate his temporary new life at Tentacle Acres by playing some special compositions.

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Several hours later...

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It was 9:00 PM.

**CREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered his bedroom while wearing his usual pajamas and holding his clarinet. He laid on his bed, put the blanket over himself, and snuggled with his clarinet. "Good night, Clary. Tomorrow, we begin life anew." He spoke with a warm smile. In general, today was one of the best days in his life. He had accomplished a dream and also had obtained some peace in his home. He then closed his eyes as he began to drift into the dream realm.

A long pause.

_RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING _

The faint ringing of shell-phone could be heard. The ringing was coming from downstairs.

Squidward opened his eyes and stood up from his bed. He walked towards the door and exited the room with a **CREEAAK** and a **SLAM**.

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Squidward hastily walked downstairs, walked towards the shell-phone, and picked up the phone. "304 New Life street. Squidward speaking." He spoke enthusiastically, he was in much more higher spirits than his caller.

SpongeBob was on the other end. He had become so upset over the 'loss' of Squidward that he struggled to speak in an understandable manner. The sponge ended up speaking gibberish instead.

Squidward immediately figured out the intention of the sponge's nonsensical words. "There is no way I am moving back there soon, SpongeBob. I will probably move back in two weeks. You gotta understand that I am finally among my own kind. Their values and rules are mine as well. Now, goodbye!" He put the shell-phone down and took a deep breath. For two weeks, the only time he deemed communication with SpongeBob to be acceptable was during work.

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SpongeBob and Patrick were silently sitting on the couch in the pineapple's living room. They deeply missed their dear friend. The starfish had not realized how much he had interacted with the octopus until that octopus was gone. The two felt more lonely because they were not used to playing with just each other. They had always thought of Squidward as an important playmate. However, the sponge knew when he had went too far with his antics. He still remembered the day when he took Squidward to Goo Lagoon as an apology.

Gary was watching them. He could not figure out why they were just sitting there while doing almost absolutely nothing. From his perspective, any crazy theory could explain their 'strange' behavior.

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The next day...

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7:24 AM.

Squidward exited his tiki with a **CRREEAAK** and a **SLAM**. "Ahh." He took a deep breath and a light bulb lit up in his head. "I think I'll take my bike today." The octopus opened the front door with a** CREEAAK** and stepped back into his home.

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A few minutes later...

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Squidward re-exited the tiki with a bike in his hands. The octopus closed the front door with a **SLAM**. He strapped on his helmet and sat on the bike's seat. He then pedaled down the street while admiring the beautiful neighborhoods. He wished every morning was as relaxing as this one.

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Ten minutes later...

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Squidward looked around and noticed that no one else nearby was biking. "Looks like I'm my own man." He said one of his own thoughts. After several seconds, a group of biking octopuses went past him. He smiled in delight when he saw them. "Now these neighbors know how to live."

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Twenty minutes later...

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Squidward stepped out of his bike and took off his helmet. He was finished with his bike trip. With his need for leisurely exercise appeased, he now had to satisfy his hunger. He opened his tiki's front door with a **CREEAAAK **and entered the home while holding the bike.

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A minute later...

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Squidward closed the front door with a **SLAM**. He had put his bike away. The octopus then wandered in one direction; he began his search for a grocery store. Although he had food at his tiki, he wanted to try out the food that Tentacle Acres offered.

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Fifteen minutes later...

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Squidward stopped walking and looked up at a store that had a sign above its entrance. That sign had text saying 'Full of Health'. He looked through the glass double door and could tell right away that it was some sort of supermarket. With a curious smile, he entered the store.

**C-CREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

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Squidward saw a lot of octopuses walking up and down the supermarket's aisles. He saw a plethora of appealing food on the shelves. "Intensive..." He quietly commented. The octopus then put a hand on his chin as he thought about which food he should buy first. He randomly picked an aisle and walked along it. "Hmm... I bet they won't have-" He then gasped and widened his eyes when he saw a can of one of his favorite foods on a certain shelf. The label of the can had text on its upper part saying: 'Best Thing Since Sliced'. The label's lower part had text saying 'Canned Bread'. Squidward's morning was only becoming better and better. "They have it!" With a wide smile, he took a few cans. He then jogged towards a row of shopping carts and took one. He put the cans into his shopping cart.

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About an hour later...

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Squidward skipped towards the Krusty Krab. His pleasant morning had set his attitude towards today's future events. Instead of being pessimistic, he was being optimistic and was eager to tackle any obstacles. Living in Tentacle Acres was restoring a 'level of energy' that had been lost and worn down by misfortunes and the Krusty Krab's workload. He halted before the Krusty Krab's entrance.

Mr. Krabs was holding his key. He inserted it into the double door's keyhole and unlocked the double door.

"Good morning, Mr. Krabs." Squidward greeted his boss enthusiastically. He ran through the double door.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The octopus entered the restaurant.

Mr. Krabs' jaw dropped. He had never seen Squidward being that enthusiastic for work before. What shocked him even more was the friendly greeting he had received. "M-Mr. Squidward..." He struggled to say a proper reply.

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Squidward sat in the boat and laid back. His mind was full of fantastical possibilities about the activities in Tentacle Acres. These daydreams are what kept the octopus from becoming his usual grumpy self.

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The crustacean, after several seconds, shrugged. He found nothing wrong with Squidward being more enthusiastic for the job; such enthusiasm would lead to better efforts from the octopus. He entered the Krusty Krab with a **C-CREEAAAAK** and a **S-SLAM**.

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Fifty seconds later...

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**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the Krusty Krab. His frown shifted to a beam when he saw Squidward sitting in the boat. His renewed positivity eliminated his desires for Squidward's return. He skipped up to the octopus. "How's it like at Tentacle Acres?" He asked a question that had refused to leave his mind.

Squidward made eye contact with the sponge. He was relieved that his coworker asked a question instead of distraughtly begging for his return. "It's paradise on Earth. There are no annoying neighbors. No annoying strangers. No thugs, robbers... none of those types of people at all. Nearly everybody has the same interests that I have. Some even have traits that are similar to mine. They also sell alota food that is really hard to find in Bikini Bottom and other places. They also have many amazing opportunities that people like me can't miss." The octopus looked up at the ceiling. With every word he said, his fantasies became more vivid. They were covering his vision and judgement with biased and idealized views. He did not dare to look beyond the closed room of bias that he had put himself into. "If I could, I would stay there for far longer than two weeks." He was not aware of the required costs for living at Tentacle Acres.

Squidward's words triggered SpongeBob's longing for Squidward's return. He thought that Tentacle Acres was a place where the octopus could permanently dwell in mediocrity. The sponge also thought that more of Squidward's dreams could be achieved by working together with the octopus. The yellow square was aware of Squidward's narcissism and self-deception; Squidward's lesson at the Recreation Center was still fresh in his memory. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. He did not want to say anything to the octopus out of a fear that the words would unintentionally encourage Squidward to stay at Tentacle Acres longer. With a sigh, he entered the kitchen with a **CRREEEAAK** and a **SLAM**.

A pause.

Squidward shrugged, he did not pay much attention to SpongeBob's body language and facial expression. He took out a novel, opened it to the last chapter that he was on, and began to read it.

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Many hours later...

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6:42 PM.

Squidward was joyfully roaming Tentacle Acres. He had gotten used to the layout of Tentacle Acres' streets very quickly. The blocks of the neighborhoods were almost exactly the same size. All of the tikis were of the same height and that consequently assisted him in moving through the neighborhoods. He glanced at a certain building and it caught his attention. He gasped. "An interpretive dance academy?!" He grinned again.

There were windows near the building's entrance. Through the windows, Squidward was seeing a teacher teaching a class certain dancing techniques. The teacher was also writing key dancing steps on a chalkboard.

Squidward ran towards his home to get the clothes needed for proper dancing. He was careful to not bump into anybody.

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More than ten minutes later...

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**C-CRREEEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Squidward walked through the double door and entered the building. He was wearing a purple headband and a leotard.

The building only had one room; the room was very spacious. The class was currently dancing to some eloquent music being played on the radio.

Squidward knew all of the dance techniques that the class was performing. He walked to an empty spot and danced simultaneously with the class. "Yeah, it's even better in a group!" He loudly whispered to himself. He liked the feeling of doing a leisurely activity with a like-minded group of people.

Out of everybody in the class, Squidward was the only one smiling. All of the other students were focusing on improving their skills while the teacher was contemplating about the next lesson.

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Forty minutes later...

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Squidward was walking down a street in his normal clothing. So far, Tentacle Acres was satisfying his very high expectations. His smile refused to change into another facial expression. He stopped fantasizing because Tentacle Acres was the embodiment of his idealized version of a neighborhood. "This place is perfect." He commented as he looked at the tikis.

The octopus then suddenly saw three octopuses sitting on a bench in the park while playing their clarinets. "A clarinet trio?!" A light bulb lit up in his head. Playing his clarinet with others would be, in his opinion, the perfect way to end his day. He ran towards his tiki.

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Less than ten minutes later...

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Squidward sat in a remaining empty spot of the bench. He played his clarinet and eventually figured out the notes that the other octopuses were playing. He then played in sync with the other octopuses; the clarinet trio became a clarinet quartet.

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The next day...

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**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

The octopus exited his tiki. It was another pleasant morning at Tentacle Acres. He took a deep breath and grinned. "Aah, another great day." He had strapped on his helmet and was holding his bike. He then pedaled down the street and other octopuses soon did the same thing.

Almost all of them were pedaling in a uniform manner. Except for Squidward, they all had deadpan faces. Almost all of them were wearing the same types of clothing. They were not too different in terms of height either. The octopuses looked and acted so similar that they seemed to be robots.

Squidward was the only living spark in the group of dark machinery. "Oh look, everybody's riding their bike today." He glanced at the others before returning his gaze to the road in front of him. He was enthusiastically riding his bike while the others were doing it like it was second nature. For the others, Tentacle Acres, was their abode. For Squidward, Tentacle Acres was an exciting and heavenly unknown frontier.

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Thirty-five minutes later...

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Squidward took some canned bread and dropped them into his shopping cart. He then took a few cans of meatballs and a few plastic bags of spaghetti. The octopus had an idea for a special breakfast.

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Many hours later...

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6:00 PM.

Squidward walked through the opened giant doorway and entered Tentacle Acres once again. He took off his employee hat and smiled in relief. He was now temporarily free from the chains of daily work.

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Thirty minutes later...

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Squidward was dancing with the octopuses in the school building that he had went to yesterday. His dance moves were the exact ones that they were using. The octopus' movements were graceful and full of energy. "It just gets better and better!" Squidward only perceived the positive aspects of the seemingly utopian community. Like when he had been riding his bicycle with other octopuses, the other students danced as if they were programmed to do it.

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Forty minutes later...

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"All together!" Squidward commanded the other five octopuses. He had taken the role as the group's leader. They then played a beautiful composition while being in complete sync.

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The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited his tiki. He strapped on his helmet and pedaled his bike down the street. He was less enthusiastic than yesterday.

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Several days later...

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August 30, 2008.

6:00 PM.

This is what Squidward's time at Tentacle Acres had consisted of over a few days: riding a bike, dancing, picking up canned bread, play clarinet, visit a museum; and visiting Tentacle Acres' other locations. By that point, he had seen all of Tentacle Acres' landmarks and had a moderate amount of experience with each location.

Squidward had decided to play his clarinet with the octopuses earlier than usual. However, dissatisfaction, boredom, and a longing for something 'different', had filled his mind to the brim. The octopus had begun to look at his schedule as too monotonous for his taste. He had also begun to look at Tentacle Acres as a boring place; he had a similar view towards the Krusty Krab. He stopped playing his clarinet and looked at the ground. "I sorta don't feel like playing my clarinet today." He said a thought of his out loud and then walked towards his tiki. He thought that a good book was what he needed in order to recharge his 'batteries'.

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The next day...

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Squidward was sitting on a bench. His head was resting on one hand. "Yep, this is great. They might as well rename this town 'Squidward's Paradise'. Or perhaps too much paradise." He said those words without thinking much about what he was going to say; he allowed his subconscious to take control of what he said. The octopus then came to a major realization.

He realized that the obstacles he faced in daily life; struggling to find his favorite food in the supermarket, dealing with SpongeBob and Patrick's antics, finding a musical group who do not insult him because of his skills, maintaining peace and silence on Sundays; were what made his successes worthy of obtaining. SpongeBob and Patrick's constant hindrances of his daily activities made the activities more enjoyable when done because the octopus had known that he would get interrupted sooner or later. Life would not be the same unless there were obstacles that would make victory sweeter. In Tentacle Acres, every activity he had done there was a victory so the meaningfulness of those activities had been lost as a consequence. Obstacles in life were also what made him adapt to changes. Such adaptations also have chances of introducing Squidward to new hobbies and experiences. Squidward would have never learned how to properly conduct a band without several failures. He would not have even achieved one of his dreams if the obstacle of forming a band had not existed.

_And it's sweet, sweet, sweet victory, yeah. And it's our for the taking, it's our for the fight._

A line from the first song played at last week's Bubble Bowl echoed in his head. The line reinforced the motto: no pain, no gain. The octopus then stood up and looked at the people in the park. The realization had significantly altered his view of Tentacle Acres. He began to see the community as a lifeless community full of robots who had been programmed to do boring activities.

The sound of a blowing reef blower was heard.

"SpongeBob?" Squidward looked in the direction of the sound. He unintentionally revealed his yearning for a challenge or hindrance. However, he saw an octopus using a reef blower.

That octopus, after several seconds, drops the reef blower to the ground. He took out a white sign that had 'Back whenever' written on it in black marker. He strapped that sign on the reef blower, turned off the reef blower and walked to the nearest public restroom.

Squidward looked at the reef blower and realized what he truly wanted; to escape the cold and lifeless community known as Tentacle Acres. Instead of being comfortable within a stable lifestyle and a secure neighborhood, he wanted to have fun. However, he also knew that having fun would consequently get him kicked out of the community since fun was based on risks and uncertainty. By that point, Squidward could care less about staying in the community. He walked towards the reef blower and touched it. He switched it from 'OFF' to 'ON' for a second then switched it back to 'OFF' in another second. He giggled when he imagined the other octopus seeing what he was doing.

When he saw walking octopuses that were near his location, he decided to act casual. He glanced in a random direction and whistled in a casual manner so he would look nonchalant. Once all of the nearby octopuses passed by, he turned on the reef blower again. He kicked the sign off of the reef blower. "Oops." He acted like the kick was an accident. He grabbed the reef blower's nozzle and put it in front of his face. His nose became stuck to the nozzle because it was the biggest nearby object. He switched the reef blower to 'PUSH' and his face became pushed back by a strong gust coming from the nozzle. After a few seconds, his nose began to float over the gust. Squidward thought that his nose looked silly and consequently giggled again. His current behavior was quite similar to SpongeBob and Patrick's foolish behavior.

A nearby female octopus walked past Squidward and saw what he was doing. She cleared her throat to express her disapproval of what Squidward was doing.

Squidward walked to a part of the park that had an abundance of kelp trees while carrying the reef blower. "Leaves. Just getting the leaves." He looked at the female octopus and said an excuse. His attention then returned to the part he was walking towards. Once he reached that area of the park, he sat down on a bench. He strapped the reef blower to his shoulders. He grabbed the nozzle with both of his hands and allowed it to blow its gust across his face. His eyelids moved in an upward direction. Squidward, out of curiosity, put the nozzle under his shirt. His shirt swelled to a sphere shape as air accumulated under it. The octopus laughed by honking his nose for several seconds. Squidward then put the nozzle directly on the left side of his body. The gust blew Squidward to the ground. He landed on the ground with a PLOP and stood up. He laughed by honking his nose for ten seconds. Squidward was laughing because he had not felt such innocent excitement and amusement in a long time. His current feelings reminded him of when he played a clarinet for the first time.

Two nearby octopuses who were playing croquet glared at Squidward. They were irritated by Squidward's constant laughing and giggling. They could not hold their tempers for much longer.

Squidward continued to laugh. He was not noticing the two octopuses.

One of the two octopuses, a woman, could no longer tolerate Squidward's behavior. "Would you pipe down over there, iron lung?" She folded her arms and stood towards Squidward. She tried to make a bitter joke.

A pause.

The two octopuses laughed by honking their noses. They thought that their sense of humor was slightly better than a majority of the Bikini Bottom population.

Squidward looked at the two octopuses and a light bulb lit up in his head. He wanted to give some minor payback since his ego was intolerant of people who laugh at him. He also saw their laughing as an excuse to do more silly acts. He walked up to those laughing octopuses. He switched the reef blower to 'PULL' and aimed the nozzle at the croquet balls. The croquet balls got sucked by the nozzle. The octopus then aimed the nozzle at the croquet stick of the male octopus.

The stick got sucked into the reef blower. The stick was the object that the male octopus had been leaning on. He fell to the ground with a **THUD**.

"Looks like when it comes to having fun, you don't have a leg to stand on!" Squidward said a clever joke and then laughed at it. He felt satisfied with his small victory. What made him laugh even more was the reaction on the male octopus' face.

The female octopus helped the male octopus up. "That's not funny!" She narrowed her eyes at Squidward. She did not appreciate Squidward's insensitive sense of humor.

"Yeah!" A male octopus chimed in. He was wearing a golf cap and was holding a clarinet.

"What's going on over here?" Another male octopus entered the scene. He was concerned for the safety of the two octopuses who had been playing croquet. He was wearing a vest.

The female octopus pointed at Squidward. She continued to look at Squidward with narrowed eyes. "It's that guy! He's been playing with a reef blower." By that point, she was mildly annoyed.

"Playing with a reef blower? That's the most childish thing I've ever heard of." The male octopus wearing a vest smirked. He assumed that Squidward was one of those adult children that often appeared in news stories and on TV shows.

Squidward widened his eyes slightly. He remembered saying words to SpongeBob that were very similar to the ones that the vest octopus had just said.

_Playing with a reef blower? I'm gonna be honest, that's one of the most childish things I have ever heard of._

The words he had said echoed in his head. The coincidence, in his opinion, was humorous. He began to laugh again.

The vest octopus raised his brow. He could not figure out the reason for Squidward's laughter. "How could you possibly have fun with one of those oversized hair dryers?" He could not comprehend how a nearly simple tool could be used for entertainment purposes.

Another light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "Like this!" He grinned and aimed the nozzle at the clarinet of the golf cap octopus. The clarinet got sucked into the reef blower. Squidward was trying his best at angering the octopuses. So far, his attempts were working.

"Give it back!" The golf cap octopus grabbed the clarinet's reef and tried to pull the clarinet out of the nozzle. He was slightly annoyed and desperate instead of angry. He then put his hands together and fell to his knees. "Please!" He looked up at Squidward. He could not imagine a day without playing at least one clarinet composition.

Squidward did not expect that reaction but quickly created a method that would infuriate the gathered group of octopuses. He aimed the nozzle at the golf cap octopus' face and switched from 'PULL' to 'PUSH'.

The clarinet hit the golf cap octopus' face with a **SMACK**. He fell to the ground with a **THUD**.

Squidward aimed the nozzle in random directions. The stick and the croquet balls flew out of the nozzle and landed in scattered locations. He ran towards an octopus who had passed him while riding a bicycle. He aimed the nozzle at one of the bicycle's tires. He was directly aiming at the tire's small hole.

The gust went through the tire's hole and inflated the tire to a nearly comical size.

"Tag, you're it!" Squidward spoke to the pedaling octopus with a faux smirk. He then waved at that octopus and ran in a random direction towards elsewhere. He was smiling more than before because he perceived eyes gazing and staring at him. His heartbeat quickened as he felt the thrills of mischief.

The bicycle's tire exploded with a **POP**. The cyclist octopus twirled in the air and fell the ground with a **THUD**. He then jumped to his feet and his face became crimson as his mind filled up with rage. He was going to beat his time record for riding around the park when Squidward interrupted that attempt. The irate octopus stomped to the group of octopuses. He had noticed whike biking that they had been affected by Squidward as well. With a serious face, he stood before them. "Let's give that nincompoop a piece of our minds!" He spoke authoritatively.

"Yeah!" The other octopuses nodded and raised their one of their fists towards the sky. The cyclist and the group then marched towards Squidward.

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A few minutes later...

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Squidward walked up to a cafe. A sign above the wooden double door entrance had blue text saying 'Le Cafe'. He entered the cafe with a **C-CRREEAAAK** and a **S-SLAM**. He squeezed the reef blower through the doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked up to the lady who was both the cashier and the server of the menu items.

The cafe was large and many people were drinking different types of coffee. Two other male octopuses sat on turnable seats that were in front of the main desk.

The female octopus looked at Squidward and the other two octopuses. "What can I get you boys?" She took a glance at her watch. She was anticipating the end of her shift. The shift was going to end in less than an hour.

Squidward aimed the nozzle at the two male octopuses's noses. Their heads jerked towards the nozzle as their noses got sucked by the reef blower. The male octopuses then struggled to free themselves from the reef blower because their noses were stuck inside the nozzle. As the male octopuses struggled, Squidward dragged them out of their seats until...

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

...they exited the cafe.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward lifted the male octopuses from the ground and made them spin rapidly by quickly rotating the nozzle. He then switched the reef blower to 'PUSH' at the right moment.

The nozzle pushed the male octopuses towards the sky. They spun in the air for several seconds before landing on the street with a **T-THUD**. The two men shakily stood up and struggled to walk since they were suffering from moderate dizziness.

Squidward laughed by honking his nose. He was struggling to breathe because of his intense laughter. The octopus felt like he was frolicking in an infinite playground full of rides and toys. In this case, the rides and toys are the dwellers of Tentacle Acres. He would have never been able to do naughty acts as a child without getting punishment. The reassuring fact that he will not get severely punished for his mischief was what gave him the urge to laugh.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked up to the giant gate of Tentacle Acres. Out of concern for their neighbor and for their longing of his return, they had decided to visit Squidward. The two were holding a box that had a cake inside it. The cake was a gift for the octopus. The two best friends eventually stopped once they reached a certain distance.

"Here it is, Patrick." SpongeBob loudly whispered into Patrick's ear. He cautiously looked at the gate. He was not sure of what type of community that he and Patrick were going to encounter. However, his desire to see Squidward curbed the fear of the unknown. "Now we've just got to find Squidward's house and then try to convince him to come back home." He wanted to refresh the plan into Patrick's memory.

A pause.

The best friend duo walked towards the giant gate until they were a foot away from the gate.

_"Hello, how can I help you?" _The guard's electronic voice was heard.

From Patrick's point of view, the electronic voice sounded familiar. He had taken a quick trip to a restaurant before he had entered the community's vicinity. His appetite made him forget that he and SpongeBob were standing before a gate to a community. "Can I get a large number one, extra size?" He wanted to eat more of his favorite menu item.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped. He had underestimated Patrick's unsatisfied desire for food. He wondered about the size of his best friend's stomach. "B-but you just ate three orders of fried oyster skins." He predicted that Patrick might have problems in the bathroom later on.

Patrick smiled in a silly manner. Both he and his friend knew that he had won eating competitions in the past. "I love fried oyster skins." He allowed his repulsive breath to completely escape his mouth. The terrible smell increased his appetite because of the smell's association with fried oyster skins.

The stench of Patrick's breath was so foul that it slipped through the slits of the gate and attacked the guard's nostrils.

S-S-S-S-S

The guard gasped for fresh air after a few seconds. He then exited his room so he could inhale some fresher air. Once he inhaled enough 'clean' air, he returned to his room.

S-S-S-S-S

_"We're sorry, but your kind isn't allowed here."_

SpongeBob and Patrick frowned and looked at the ground. Their throats became heavy since they were unsure about what they were going to do next. If the guard continued to refuse to let them enter Tentacle Acres, they would have to do an activity other than visiting Squidward.

The stench of oyster skins continued to come out of the starfish's mouth.

S-S-S-S-S

The stench did not leave the room. The odor was spreading to the hallway that was beyond his room. He tried to endure the odor but his body was not highly tolerant of foul smells. After eight seconds, the oyster skin odor became so nasty that he fainted. He fell to the room's floor with a **THUD**. As he fell, his hand touched a certain button by accident.

S-S-S-S-S

The huge gate opened slowly until the gateway was completely open.

The yellow square and the sea star smiled in delight. They walked through the open gateway and widened their eyes as they saw the neighborhoods of identical tikis. They could have never guessed that Tentacle Acres was an orderly and peaceful community.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was running down streets and took random turns to different neighborhoods. He was smiling because he knew that he was going to get kicked out of Tentacle Acres. The octopus was also imaging about how much more fun certain activities were going to be once obstacles lie on his path again.

A mob of angry octopuses was chasing Squidward. Once they catch that troublesome octopus, they certainly will kick that octopus out of the community. Those octopuses despised anybody who disrupted the peace just for fun.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick walked along a street. They noticed that there were only a few people walking outside in the neighborhood.

"I expected more people to be in this place." SpongeBob whispered a thought of his to Patrick. His face was deadpan because walking through Tentacle Acres was like exploring an unknown environment.

"Me too." Patrick whispered back and nodded.

"We shouldn't give up, though. I bet Squidward's around the corner." The yellow square whispered with a slight smile. His optimism gave him the courage to continue exploring the strange community.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward ran past SpongeBob and Patrick.

The sponge did not get enough time to figure out who that running person was; he only saw the octopus for about a second. However, he noticed a significant similarity between the 'stranger' and Squidward in terms of appearance. "Didn't that guy look like Squidward?" He looked at Patrick.

Patrick looked at the octopus wearing a brown shirt who was running. "Yeah..." He perceived the similarity as well.

SpongeBob looked at the angry mob who was chasing the 'stranger'. "As a matter of fact, they all look like Squidward." The sponge tilted his head to the side in confusion. Any of the male octopuses could be Squidward. Octopuses who live in this area of the Pacific Ocean were known for being very similar to each other in their physical appearances.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward reached a dead end. He had not paid much attention where he had been going. The octopus turned around and saw the incoming angry mob.

A policeman was leading the mob. "Hold it right there, Mr. Tentacles!" The officer pointed at Squidward. He wanted to end Squidward's series of mischief as soon as possible.

Squidward grabbed a shovel and a rake. He held them out towards the mob in a threatening manner. "Stand back! I've got gardening tools!" He spoke with widened eyes. He tried to sound like he was crazy so people would be more afraid of him and consequently avoid him.

"Here! Just read this!":The police officer gave Squidward an envelope. As he and the mob had chased Squidward, he jotted down their complaints.

Squidward looked at the envelope with a raised brow. "What is it?" He did not want to take the risk of finding a nasty surprise inside the envelope. He also could not figure out why the policeman would give him an envelope instead of arrest him.

"A well thought out and organized list of complaints." The policeman spoke in a serious manner. He folded his arms. He wanted Squidward to read the complaints and the leave Tentacle Acres. He assumed that Squidward knew that when given a list of complaints, it means that the receiver will get kicked out of the community.

The mob shouted at Squidward to show their agreement in Squidward getting kicked out.

SpongeBob walked up to a male octopus who was part of the mob. "Are you Squidward?" He could not tell who in the crowd was actually Squidward. The yellow square crossed his fingers wishing for that octopus to be the real Squidward. He did not want to create an awkward situation.

The octopus looked at SpongeBob and narrowed his eyes. He considered the sponge's question to be rude because Squidward, from his perspective, was obviously standing at the dead end. "No. I'm not Squidward." He spoke in a voice that indicated irritation.

SpongeBob bit his lip and made a crooked smile. "Sorry." The yellow square then tried to gently squeeze himself through the crowd. His best friend quickly followed him so he would not get lost among the octopuses.

"Grievances?!" Squidward looked at the crowd, dropped the gardening tool, and maintained his raised brow. "This town is a grievance!" He did not mince his words at all. "There should be a law against so many stuck-up tightwads living in one place who are militantly conformist. You all live boring lives where you all do the same damn thing at super-specific times. Although this city has a lot of opportunities, it honestly has no variety. People can't have fun or pursue exciting things in this hellhole. This city needs to be destroyed... or at least painted a different color." The octopus said words that almost everybody in Tentacle Acres would not dare to say. He revealed a truth that many of Tentacle Acres' citizens denied. He said such words because he was tired of the citizens' lack of understanding of his silly actions.

SpongeBob and Patrick looked at the real Squidward. They could tell by the voice and the brown shirt that that octopus was their neighbor.

A long pause.

The policeman nodded. "Very well. You can simply leave the community. You are aware that you can leave the community and cancel your stay whenever you want, right?" The officer felt like a continued battle with the mischievous octopus was not going to have any positive outcomes.

Squidward widened his eyes slightly. He felt foolish for thinking that causing mischief was the only way that he could escape Tentacle Acres. However, the mischief taught him the importance of having fun and it also made him understand SpongeBob and Patrick better. He believed that the mischief still had benefits anyway. "You're right. I'm leaving ASAP!" He jogged towards the mob and grabbed SpongeBob's arm and Patrick's arm. He knew that his two neighbors were among the crowd. He then ran towards the open gateway.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward, while still dragging SpongeBob and Patrick, exited Tentacle Acres. He was glad and relieved to have finally left that dull place.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sitting on the couch in SpongeBob's living room. He was eating a bowl of Kelpo cereal while watching TV. He was enduring a stay at his obnoxious neighbor's home; he was waiting for the delivery truck to come back with his belongings.

A pause.

Screeeeecch

The sound of a parking truck was heard from outside. The octopus drank the rest of the cereal and put the bowl on the floor. He dropped his spoon to the bowl and ran towards the front door. He barged the door open with a **SLAM **and exited the pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus ran towards the truck. He was just as eager to see the truck as when he had seen it before going to Tentacle Acres. Squidward was excited to return to his home where he could live a less stable and more free lifestyle. After a few seconds, he paused to reflect on his past actions. Moments such as this are milestones in his journey towards a decently paying job outside of the Krusty Krab.

_A sense of despair had filled Squidward's heart. The oppressive 'utopia' known as Bikini Millennium and the fact about most of the world getting destroyed by weapons of mass destruction was almost too much to bear inside his mind. However, the White's words added a heavy amount of fuel to that despair. Although his conversation with them was short, it was by far one of the most traumatic incidents. Squidward could not help himself but find what the White said to be at least somewhat true. He had to go through excessive amounts of suffering almost every single day and times of peace were only temporary. However, he was despairing over the possibility that such a society without suffering would end up being similar to or just like Bikini Millennium. _

Squidward widened his eyes as he thought about the day he gave SpongeBob the duty of both cashier and fry cook. He now knew which path to take for Bikini Bottom's future. After living in Squidville, he believed that a world of both suffering and prosperity would be the best outcome. The monotony of Squidville cemented the idea that Bikini Millennium, although a utopia, was not an ideal society. A sense of immense hope washed over him. Without suffering or obstacles, he would have never reached the point where he led a Bubble Bowl band.

_"What is this?!" Squidward goggled at what was inside his envelope. His brow furrowed and his grip began to crumple the envelope as he became filled with wrath. There was a bill inside the envelope that was written in pen on a piece of lined paper, not a single penny was in that envelope . A similar bill was in SpongeBob's envelope. Squidward's bill had charges for mundane actions like: breathing, talking, standing, 'lallygagging', and chewing. SpongeBob's bill had far less charges than Squidward's. "You're making me pay you to stand at the cash register? What is the meaning of this? Have you gone off the deep end?" The octopus shook his fist as he protested. This was the first time in his career that he was given reduced pay._

His situation in the Krusty Krab would not have improved if Mr. Krabs had not made that greedy decision.

The knowledge of what could go wrong in the outcomes of his decisions was what drove Squidward to reach this step in his journey. His desire for enjoyment instead of stability changed his view of SpongeBob and Patrick


	79. Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm

**Chapter 79: Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm**

* * *

DoodleBob was roaming across the nearly barren wilderness. It had been endlessly searching for some type of method that it could use to eliminate the sponge and control Bikini Bottom. Its personality had completely transformed into an intensified and worsened version of SpongeBob's personality. Because of its new personality, it had a strong will to change Bikini Bottom so that all of the citizens would respect its power and also be happy. It believed that the new Bikini Bottom would leave a positive impact on the people instead of a negative one.

A pause.

DoodleBob turned to look at a giant bullworm that was slithering nearby. The worm was so large that she could level small towns with ease. The worm was avoiding several rocks and was less than half a mile away from DoodleBob.

Another pause.

A light bulb lit up in DoodleBob's head. The drawing thought that it could use the worm as a weapon. Its magical potential was the one it had when it came out of a Holy page for the first time. The drawing had enough magical power to influence the worm in some way. It walked towards the slithering worm.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob reached a certain distance where it was close enough to the worm for it to magically influence her. It concentrated deeply on the worm and covered its forehead with both of its hands. The drawing closed its eyes and formed a mental image of the worm.

A long pause.

High-pitched vibrating sound waves moved out of DoodleBob's head. It magically created the sound waves so that only the worm would hear them. It had figured out how to cleverly adjust the sound waves' volume by listening to the sounds of the worm's slithering.

The worm heard the sound waves. She became distressed and frantically slithered in circles. The sound waves made her think that some sort of threat was approaching her.

DoodleBob jogged towards the worm.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

DoodleBob reached the worm. When the worm hastily slithered near it, it grabbed her tail and climbed it until it reached the top of the worm's body. It then sat down criss-crossed and faced the direction of Bikini Bottom; it had the memory of an elephant for important facts and details. It concentrated on that direction and became as still as a rock for less than a minute.

The sound-waves it was sending became less frequent and began to move in a more specific direction. The sound-waves consequently fooled the worm into thinking that she just found a way of escaping those maddening sounds.

The worm slithered towards Bikini Bottom as fast as she could. She broke several rocks and large coral pieces as she slithered; she did not care about which sea creature or obstacle was in her way. The worm began to leave a trail of destruction as a consequence.

S-S-S-S-S

Later on that day...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited Squidward's tiki. He had been listening to Squidward playing the clarinet and had also constructively criticized about how the octopus was playing the compositions. However, the octopus' narcissism prevented the octopus from changing his ways of playing the clarinet. The constructive criticism made the octopus try harder at playing instead. The yellow square had did such an unusual activity because he wanted to appreciate Squidward's company more (the octopus' stay at Squidville reminded him of the loneliness without Squidward). Squidward had not minded his stay at all and even appreciated it because the octopus had missed the company of him and Patrick and also never had an audience for a playing of his before.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square entered his pineapple.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at the living room's clock and noticed that it was a bit more than ten minutes before his bedtime (9:00 PM). He jogged into the hallway and quickly entered the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. He had turned off all of the other lights in the pineapple and had also brushed his teeth. He turned off the bedroom's lights with a **FLICK**. He sat on the bed, took off his shoes, and laid down on the bed. He put the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. "Good night, Gary." He became still.

"G'night." Gary opened one eye and then closed it. He had been comfortably sleeping on the newspapers.

The yellow square eventually fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The worm slithered along the neighborhood. The pineapple was in her way but she still did not care. She slithered through the pineapple with a**CRRAAAASSSH** and left a giant tunnel. By that point, the pineapple was just a small part of her trail of destruction.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob woke up with wide eyes. He barged open the right door with a **SLAM**. He looked through the doorway and saw the tunnel in the pineapple that the worm had left. The tunnel consumed parts of the stairway, the kitchen, the living room; and the hallway to the garage and the bathroom. For a few seconds, he saw the tail of the worm's body. A clear image of the giant tail was left in his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob barged into the Krusty Krab. His employee hat was in a pocket of his. An assembly had gathered at the Krusty Krab, they were all discussing about the worm and ways to prevent her from destroying more property. The yellow square had heard about the assembly from a news report (the assembly was official). The Krusty Krab had been chosen as the assembly place because it was near the center of Bikini Bottom.

"Isn't that worm considered a trespasser?" John spoke to another police officer. A light bulb had just lit up in his head. "He destroyed most of those homes after all. However, I'm not sure an arrest would be successful at all." Like a majority of the police officers, he tried to put the laws of guiltiness into consideration.

"I don't think the worm is smart enough to be aware of what he did. He can't be a criminal if he's as smart as a jellyfish, y'know." The police officer that John spoke to replied. He had thought critically about the situation.

Unknown to the people in the dining room, the worm was a female.

"I saw it!" SpongeBob stood in the middle of the room. "It was big! It was all wiggly! And it ate almost everything!" He spoke with widened eyes. He was informing the others so they would be better prepared for a possible visit from the worm. The sight of the worm's tail had frightened him significantly. The fear of the worm's return had given him an almost sleepless night.

Patrick gulped down an entire cup of soda. "That's horrible!' He wondered about the worm's size. The thought of a giant worm burrowing into his home whited his face slightly.

"I think it's an Alaskan... bull... worm!" The yellow square formed an educated guess of the worm's species as he spoke. His anxiety prevented him from thinking rationally. An Alaskan bullworm would never dwell in an area as south from Alaska as Bikini Atoll.

The chatter in the dining room became louder. People were sweatdropping and becoming uneasy as they thought about SpongeBob's account. The accounts that had been given by others varied slightly when it came to descriptions of the worm. The consistency of such descriptions confirmed the idea that the worm was giant.

SpongeBob's account inspired others to tell their accounts of the worm's invasions into their homes.

"He ate my wheelbarrow!" A middle-aged man decided to speak.

"He ate my children's homework!" A concerned mother was sitting at a table. Her children did not accompany her since they were going to be sent to school soon. She knew that her kids were fooling around at home because of their lack of homework.

"He ate one of my pants!" A green man who was wearing sweatpants was leaning against a window. He normally wore jeans.

A light bulb lit up in Mr. Krabs' head. He saw the massive conservation about the worm as an excellent opportunity to earn a massive amount of extra money. "I've got it!" He held out his claw and then lowered it. "Let's all buy a Krabby Patty!"

The crowd turned to look at Mr. Krabs. Most of them glared at the crustacean. Some of them booed and threw mustard and ketchup packets at the crab. Once their slight anger cooled down, their conversation became a brainstorm.

"We should lock our doors!" A young man held out his index finger.

"We should call my nephew!" An old lady chimed in. She was leaning on a cane.

A light bulb lit up in a police officer's head. He was the only police officer who was wearing sunglasses. "We should dig a moat!" He could care less about the zaniness of his idea.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. The sea star gasped and then grinned. He thought that his idea was excellent. "We should take Bikini Bottom..." He held out both of his hands towards one side. "...and push it somewhere else!" He held out his hands towards another side.

The crowd became quiet. They were thinking about the possible consequences of the implementation of Patrick's idea.

"That idea may just be crazy enough..." Squidward broke the silence. He spoke as he thought about Patrick's idea. He had came to the assembly because the worm had flattened his backyard garden and consequently killed all of his plants. He assumed that the worm was bloodthirsty since he saw news reports about people getting injured by the worm's invasions."...to get us all killed!" The octopus tried to remain rational.

Patrick scratched his head and raised his brow. He could not see any flaw in his plan. He thought that a simpler idea could be realized more easily. "What's wrong with my idea?"

A female teenager raised her index finger. "Let's get someone to go after it!" She formed the idea after thinking about her father's job as a zookeeper.

Mr. Krabs shook his head. He had seen monstrous worms like the one that had visited Bikini Bottom last night. He and his crew would never attack or pursue such worms because doing so would usually be a death sentence. However, the worms he had seen were much larger than the worm in Bikini Bottom. "There ain't no one fool enough to take on a bull worm." He folded his arms.

**SQUEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAN**

A hook was deeply scratching one of the windows.

S-S-S-S-S

An old man who was wearing a yellow raincoat had a hook as a replacement for his right hand. He was a sailor who endured many trials across the sea and in many other locations. He was scratching the window with the hook so he could catch everybody's attention. Once all of the people in the dining room looked at him, he entered the Krusty Krab.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The old man walked up to Mr. Krabs. He wanted to catch everybody's attention so nobody would talk while he was speaking. He had heard rumors about Mr. Krabs' greed and did not want to get in trouble over not paying a possible fee. "You got a bathroom in this place?"

"In the back." Mr. Krabs pointed at the door to the bathroom. He was slightly irritated because he thought that the scratch on the window was unnecessary.

"Thanks." The old man jogged towards the bathroom and entered that room with a **CRREEEAAK **and a **SLAM**.

A pause.

Sandy walked up to Mr. Krabs. She was smirking and her arms were folded. The squirrel was wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat. "I'll catch your worm for ya, if you're willing to pay." She tipped the hat up to completely reveal her face.

Mr. Krabs' eyes bugged out. "NO!" He ran towards the boat, hugged the cash register, and dove into the boat. He was not willing to sacrifice his profits or income to relive the town and his business from a temporary danger. Paying his employees their rightfully earned amounts of money was all the pressure on the profits that the crab desired. However, his mouth began to foam as he fearfully thought about the worm eating the Krusty Krab and all of his money. When people noticed the dripping saliva, he wiped it from his mouth and stood up. "Sorry." He sweatdropped.

Sandy laughed. She merely wanted to lighten the mood of the situation and therefore calm everybody down. "Aw, shucks. I don't want your money. I was just playing up the drama of the moment, is all." She took off the cowboy hat. The squirrel had a strong urge to commit an act of revenge against the worm. She also had enough pride in her physical abilities to think that she could successfully do such an act. "Nope. I'm gonna take that spineless critter down for nothing, 'cause this is personal." She turned to show her tail. "Look. A good chunk of my tail is gone." A few patches of fur were missing from the tail.

The crowd's eyes bugged out. Some of them even gasped. An ignorant fraction of the crowd did not know that fur could be removed from a squirrel.

She turned so the tail would be out of the crowd's attention. "That varmint must've got it while I had my back turned, the coward." Her hostility against the worm was revealed through her words. She shook her fist. "I am gonna get back what's mine!" She pointed at her tail.

The crowd whistled and clapped. They full supported Sandy's attempt at retrieving her fur and beating up the worm. The crowd knew that Sandy was the strongest person in Bikini Bottom. They believed that Sandy could scare the worm to the point where she would never come back to Bikini Bottom ever again.

Sandy's words triggered a memory.

_"Land squirrel." He closed the book and put it away. He noticed that the clam's fall is aiming directly at the squirrel and she could be crushed in any second. He sweatdropped. "That little squirrel is in trouble. I gotta help her." He carefully stepped over the cliff's edge. Using as much courage as he can muster._

_A deep breath._

_He jumped and slid down the cliff like a sled. His eyes trained on the squirrel, his limbs prepared to tackle the squirrel out of the clam's path._

_The clam made a crash-course down the cliff below SpongeBob._

The yellow square remembered the time when he met Sandy for the first time. He remembered how he had overestimated the clam and ended up being a burden instead of an assistant. He thought that Sandy was making the same mistake he had made.

_A white hand grabbed SpongeBob's wrist. It then began to pull SpongeBob up._

_The yellow square looked up and saw a white body. The darkness of the ocean concealed what the body truly looked like. For a second, it looked like a ghost. However, after a few seconds of scrutiny, the sponge noticed that the 'ghost' had a brown tail. As he got closer and closer to the ocean's surface by the 'ghost's pull, he could see more and more of the 'ghost's physical features. He only saw those features for a few seconds since the rays piercing through the rippling oceanic surface were now the ones that were concealing things._

_**SSSPLASH**_

_SpongeBob broke through the surface of waves. He was right next to the shore. He turned to see who was holding his wrist and saw Sandy. He then widened his eyes slightly in astonishment. He had expected Larry to save him._

_The squirrel smiled warmly. She had rescued the yellow square since she was the closest person near the sponge who could swim. "I had to give it back, Sponge." She had done such an act since she felt indebted to the sponge's kindness. "You did so many nice things for me that I had to pay it back somehow." The squirrel decided that saving SpongeBob's life was a decent return for the sponge's acts of ceasing his saying of squirrel jokes and his persuasion of Sandy to stay in Bikini Bottom. It was also a return specifically for making her get to know sea creatures better and his assistance in her lab experiments._

The yellow square remembered the time when Sandy saved his life. He felt like he was obligated to save Sandy's life; he believed that Sandy was risking her life by trying to end the worm's rampage. SpongeBob walked up to Sandy. "But, Sandy, you don't know what you're up against. We're talking about an _Alaskan_... _bull_... _worm..._" He tried to make Sandy face a harsh reality.

Sandy lessened her smile. Her pride refused to fade. "Well, I don't know nothing about Alaska, but looky here." She exaggerated her ignorance and then smirked. "Back in Texas, I wrangled bulls, and I wrangled worms too. Far as I'm concerned, doing 'em both together just saves rope." She shrugged as if the task she was about to do was not daunting at all. "Now I'm gonna kick some worm-tail!" She ran towards the double door. "Yee-haw!" She had felt the creature and had not seen it. The squirrel severely underestimated the worm's size.

**S-SLAM**

Sandy barged the double door open and exited the Krusty Krab.

The yellow square remembered the many moments where he and Sandy had karate matches. He wanted to experience more of such moments. "But Sandy, you don't know!" He held out his hand towards the squirrel. He was concerned over the squirrel's safety.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy did not look at SpongeBob as she ran. "Don't worry, SpongeBob. I won''t be for long." The squirrel had a sense of inner peace. She saw no possibility of anything going wrong during her attempt.

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob quickly exited the Krusty Krab as well. "Sandy! Sandy!" He was calling her and hopped each time he said her name. In his mind, Sandy was walking into a pit full of fire and other mysterious objects that are fatal.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs made a thumbs-up towards Sandy. "Go get 'em, Sandy! We have the utmost confidence in you!" He did not want the worm to come to his restaurant at all; not even within a mile of the Krusty Krab's vicinity. He then looked at Patrick. He had heard the starfish' s idea and liked it. "Now, what was that idea of yours?" He had forgotten about the idea.

Patrick made a pushing motion with both of his hands. "PUSH!" He simplified his idea into one word.

The word that Patrick said jogged Mr. Krabs' memory. The crustacean remembered the other aspects ofthe idea. Since his business was one of the most important aspects of his life, a light bulb lit up in his head. "Let's start with the Krusty Krab!" He barged open the kitchen door with a **SLAM** and then opened the backdoor with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

Sandy closed her treedome's front door. She was holding a very long lasso. The squirrel then resumed her search for the worm.

"Wait, Sandy!" SpongeBob was running even faster than before. He eventually caught up with the swift squirrel and stood before her. He then held out his arms to both his left side and right side.

"Hey, SpongeBob, you coming to watch?" Sandy grinned. If SpongeBob gave a positive answer, her pride would increase by several levels. Receiving encouragement from her friends would only make her more determined to capture the worm.

"Sandy, don't go!" SpongeBob shook his head. He was sweating out of nervousness. His mind was filled with thoughts of Sandy getting assaulted and swallowed by the giant worm.

Sandy raised her brow. "Why not?" The squirrel thought that someone had to attack the worm in order to make her stay away from Bikini Bottom; she believed that she was the most capable person at completing that task.

"Sandy, I saw it! It's big... scary... and pink!" The yellow square tried to change Sandy's view of the worm. He could tell that Sandy did not really know what she was going to face.

Sandy chuckled. "So's Patrick's belly button, but I ain't afraid of that neither." The squirrel began to resume her search. She strolled out of the yellow square's way. She appreciated SpongeBob's concern for her but also thought that he was worrying too much.

The yellow square fell to the ground and grabbed Sandy's ankles. "You'll get killed!" The sponge spoke with slightly moist eyes. He would have been worried over Sandy' safety even if Sandy had not saved his life before. The sponge felt like he had to maintain their bond and also thought that death was one of the worst ways that it could end. Such a concern was a few levels beyond their friendship, it was something that the yellow square felt but constantly hid.

"SpongeBob, I'm from Texas. What do you think is big and what I think is big are two totally different 'big's. Besides, he's got a good chunk of my tail. I can' take that sitting down." Sandy looked at SpongeBob from the corner of her eye. She was determined to take the worm down and still believed that the worm was not that large.

SpongeBob stood up. "Okay, but what if the worm didn't take your tail?" The yellow square tried to persuade Sandy into thinking that beating up the worm was a waste of time. The sponge could wanted her to see the situation from his viewpoint.

"If that worm ain't got my tail, who does?" Sandy folded her arms and smirked. She knew for certain that the worm took some of her tail because she heard a very loud slithering sound behind her when her tail fur had gotten removed.

The sponge sweatdropped. "Um, I do?" His new intention was to distract Sandy. He was afraid that Sandy was going to see through his lie easily. The possibility of Sandy staying with him instead of pursuing the worm comforted him.

Sandy giggled. "You do? Where?" She looked at SpongeBob's squarepants. She could tell that there was nothing suspicious inside the squarepants' pockets.

"Um... in my pocket." The yellow square was obviously lying. However, he did not know for sure if Sandy was believing the lie or not. He was taking his time at thinking about his words so his lie would be consistent.

"Well, why didn't you just say so? Give it here! Come on!" Sandy grinned and held out her hand so she could receive the fur. She knew for certain that the sponge was lying because she could see the sponge's sweat.

SpongeBob turned around, took out a paper clip from his pocket, twisted it so it would be in a 'S' shape, took out a piece of string, tied the string to the paper clip, turned to face Sandy; and held it out towards the squirrel.

Sandy stopped giggling and shook her head. "SpongeBob, that's a paper clip and a piece of string." The sponge's lie could not become more obvious for her.

SpongeBob took a step towards Sandy. "No it's not. This is your tail." He crossed his fingers behind his back. His hope was clinging to the slim chance that his insistence would make Sandy believe the lie.

"SpongeBob!" Sandy became irritated and then folded her arms. She was become annoying by SpongeBob's stalling.

The yellow sponge became desperate. He could not bear to see his dear friend get brutally assaulted by the worm. "How would you know?! It's always behind you!" The sponge was sweating even more.

Sandy walked away from SpongeBob. She did not want to waste more of her time. She did not say anything because she was trying to leave as politely as possible.

"Oh, don't go, don't go, don't go!" SpongeBob hugged Sandy's back. The sponge was trying to hold back the tears. If Patrick was endangering himself like what Sandy was doing, he would not have cried. His forming tears was a sign that there was something more in the sponge's view of the squirrel.

Sandy pulled SpongeBob off of her back and dropped him to the ground. "Sponge, what is the matter with you? Now, I'm gonna go give that legless rascal what-for, and there ain't nothing you can say to stop me!" She resumed her walk. After a few seconds, she began to jog. She thought that SpongeBob was being too clingy and was acting more like a father than a friend.

SpongeBob hopped to his feet and jogged until he caught up with Sandy. "Oh yeah? What if I said... 'blarben fedibble no-hip?" He asked while jogging next to the squirrel. He was determined to distract Sandy or change her mind.

Sandy stopped jogging. "Well, I gotta admit, you've been slowing me down, but I'm still going for him!" She resumed her hogging and began to run. The squirrel's gaze was focused on the horizon instead of the yellow square.

SpongeBob ran at an equal pace. "You know, tails are so overrated. Let's just forget about it and go home." The yellow square's will was unwavering. When he realized that Sandy was not slowing her pace. He made another attempt. "I've got ice cream! With nuts..." He became quiet when he noticed that Sandy was ignoring him. A light bulb lit up in his head and he smiled at the clever idea. "Sandy, this is your pappy speaking, and I forbid you to go after this worm! Y'all come back here, young lady!" He tried to speak with a fake Texan accent.

Sandy could tell that SpongeBob was acting without looking at him. "You ain't my pa!" She chuckled and then sprinted.

SpongeBob ran faster than Sandy and stood in front of her. Held out his arms and legs. "Sandy, if you want to get to that worm, you're gonna have to go through me!" The sponge was very serious about stopping Sandy from fighting the worm.

Sandy pushed SpongeBob to the ground.

The sponge fell to the ground with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob grabbed Sandy's ankles again. "Sandy, no! I can't let you! I'm not gonna let you get killed. If you find him, you'll get eaten for sure!" Tears were running down his face. He was weeping as he said those words. He could no longer control his emotions.

Sandy smiled confidently. "Ain't no way some dumb old sea worm's gonna make a meal of me. I'm too Texas tough!" Her pride was just as strong as SpongeBob's will to 'save' her. She flexed her arm muscles.

SpongeBob did not let go of Sandy's ankles and was still weeping. "No, not tough enough. Not tough enough!" The yellow square unintentionally said his reason for why he was distracting and persuading the squirrel.

"SpongeBob, quit your worrying. I can take care of myself." Sandy shook SpongeBob off of her ankles. "After all, who's the strongest critter in Bikini Bottom?" The squirrel tried to assure the yellow square of her might.

SpongeBob stood up. "Your are." The yellow square wiped his tears and stopped frowning.

"And who put the hi-yah," Sandy karate-chopped the air, "hi," She punched the air. "ho," The squirrel kicked the air. "'K' in karate?" She stood in a pose and held her limbs in a certain way so that her body formed a 'K' shape. Karate was not too popular in Bikini Bottom and Sandy had increased its popularity because of her strength.

"You did." The yellow square pointed at the squirrel. So far, he saw no flaws in Sandy's claims.

"And who saves your yellow backside from certain destruction on a monthly basis?" Sandy turned to face SpongeBob. 'He can't deny this one.' The squirrel smiled as she mentally spoke. Her first encounter with SpongeBob was a clear memory in her mind.

"You do." SpongeBob nodded.

"Right. I can handle your little bull worm too, 'cause I am the best there is!" Sandy flexed her arm muscles again. Her claims of superiority had increased her pride to an excessive level. "There ain't nothin' too big or too ornery for me to catch." The squirrel folded her arms. She was trying to change SpongeBob's mind.

"O-okay." SpongeBob insincerely replied. He disagreed with Sandy's statement. His belief that the worm was too large for Sandy to handle did not fade in the slightest.

Sandy raised her brow. She knew that SpongeBob could not have changed his mind that easily if he spent so much time trying to prevent her from seeking the worm. "Say it." She tried to make SpongeBob fully accept her claim.

"There isn't anything-" SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow and began to repeat Sandy's claim. However, he got interrupted by the squirrel.

"Ain't nothin'!" Sandy wanted her friend to exactly repeat what she had said.

"Ain't nothin," SpongeBob spoke in a high-pitched voice in an attempt to mimic Sandy's voice. He then changed back to his normal voice. "too big or too ornery for you to catch." The yellow square raised his index finger. He was going to say an opposing viewpoint. "But-"

"Mm-mm." Sandy shook her head.

"And-"

"Mm." Sandy interrupted the yellow square again.

"We-"

"Mm."

"I-"

"Mm."

"Yeah but-" SpongeBob was making a crooked smile. He became nervous again when he realized that Sandy was refusing to hear any viewpoint that was different from hers.

"No!"

"I-"

Sandy groaned and kicked a rock out of her way. She could tell that SpongeBob was still disagreeing with her. The squirrel decided that she could not persuade the sponge. 'Best thing to do is move on.' The squirrel resumed her search for the worm. After fifteen seconds of looking, she saw giant lines on the ground that were wide and deep. She then smiled in delight. Her search was finally bearing some fruit. "Worm signs." She said a thought of hers out loud. Her experience with catching worms made her recognize the tracks on the ground. The squirrel then followed the track until she reached a moderately large cave. "He's in that cave." Sandy glanced at the sponge and pointed at the cave.

SpongeBob sweatdropped at the sight of the cave. He was thinking up of several ways on how Sandy's pursuit could go horribly wrong. "Sandy, are you sure you-" He spoke with unease but got interrupted by Sandy.

"Course I am! I'm going in, and I ain't coming out 'til I got me a big heaping plate of worm stew." Sandy walked towards the cave. She said an exaggeration to express her confidence. The squirrel eventually entered the cave and continued to walk at the same pace. She held the lasso with both hands so she could catch the worm.

SpongeBob hid behind a rock and began to shake in anxiety. He anticipated one of the worst-case scenarios and was also heavily concerned for Sandy's safety. After several seconds of waiting, the horrifying thought of Sandy exiting the cave with a broken leg entered his mind. A chill then went up his spine since it would mean a temporary end to having fun with Sandy. After a few more seconds, he tried to focus on positive thoughts. He closed his eyes as he concentrated.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy saw the worm's tail slowly moving into the cave's deeper areas. "Aha!" She pointed at the tail and immediately recognized what animal that it belong to. "There you are, you tail-nabbin' varmint!" She twirled the lasso. "Hi-yah!" She threw the lasso towards the tail.

The lasso landed on the tip of the worm's tail.

Sandy pulled the lasso so it would constrict the tail tip. She then ran up to the tail. The squirrel punched and kicked it with a **BAM BOP BAMF KLOK KLOK BOP BAM POW KLOK BAM KLOK**. "I'm winning, SpongeBob!" She spoke arrogantly to the sponge and then resumed her assault. **BOP BAM KLOK POW BAM BOP BAMF KLOK BOP KLOK KLOK BAM POW KLOK.**

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up from the rock. His anxiety had worsened so much that he felt like he had to enter the cave and persuade Sandy to leave. The positive thoughts were not helping because the sounds of the assault blocked out his mental voice. His concern for Sandy made his pessimism linger. The sponge ran into the cave.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jogged up to Sandy's location. He saw what Sandy was beating up and noticed that the tail was showings no signs of injury. "Sandy, that's not-" He got interrupted by assault sounds.

**BAM BOP POW KLOK BAM BOP POW KLOK KLOK**. Sandy punched and kicked at a faster rate. "This shouldn't take long." She looked at SpongeBob and smiled in an attempt to reassure him. She then resumed her fighting. **BAM POW KLOK POW BAM POW KLOK**.

"Sandy, that's not-" SpongeBob tried to speak faster but got interrupted by Sandy again. The sounds of the squirrel's assault was blocking the sponge's voice.

"Almost done!" Sandy smirked. **SHOOP KLOK SLAM SHOPP KLOK KLOK SHOOP. **The squirrel karate-chopped, kicked, and pushed the tail in random directions as she tried to 'finish off' the worm. She assumed that the worm was about to faint because the tail stopped moving.

"Sandy!" SpongeBob desperately called. He perceived that the worm's tail was shaking violently.

"Yee-haw!" Sandy grabbed the lasso with both hands and pulled it. The tail moved by a few inches because of her strength. The tail then became completely still. The squirrel closely looked at the tail for several seconds before jumping to a conclusion. "I got him, SpongeBob!" Sandy turned to look at SpongeBob and made a thumbs-up towards him.

SpongeBob continued to look at the tail. He sweatdropped and bit his lip as his nervousness increased. "S-Sandy-" The squirrel interrupted him.

"Boy, howdy." Sandy tucked one of her arms into her suit and wiped some sweat from her brow. She then pushed the arm out. "This critter put up some sort of fight. But I'm from Texas, and as you can see, no worm is a match for me." She glanced at the tail. "It's too bad I can't find my tail though."

"The worm's not knocked out." SpongeBob spoke quietly. He noticed that the tail was shaking and was beginning to move again. He was sweating profusely.

"Pardon?" Sandy did not fully understand SpongeBob's words; the sponge spoke too quietly.

"You were only beating up a small part of the worm. The worm's still conscious." SpongeBob spoke in a louder tone. He took a steps away from the tail. His legs were trembling as he tried to predict the worm's next move.

Sandy turned to look at the tail. "Ohhhh." She came to a major realization. "If this is the tail, and the whole thing is the worm... and I... focused only on one part... of it... and it's still alive..." She was quietly saying what she was thinking. She then came to another realization. She became anxious within seconds. "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" She screamed in fright and dashed towards the cave's exit.

SpongeBob quickly followed her. When he caught up with her, he looked at the squirrel. "So, what's the plan, Sandy?" Ever since his pineapple got damaged by the worm, in the back of his mind, he wanted the worm to permanently leave Bikini Bottom.

Sandy was relying on her instincts. She looked back and saw the tail moving towards them at a rapid speed. "Run faster!" She looked forward and saw the incoming exit.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Sandy exited the cave. The two continued to run and kept their gazes at what was before them.

The tail soon slithered out of the cave. In less than a minute, the entire worm managed to get out of the cave. She then turned until she could see SpongeBob and Sandy. The worm then slithered towards the sponge and the squirrel. She was irate because of the squirrel's attack on her tail.

"I could've thought of that." SpongeBob commented on Sandy's answer. He then realized something. "Hey, wait a sec. I was right, wasn't I?" He looked at Sandy again.

Sandy knew what SpongeBob had realized. She had tried to ignore it or deceive herself because it damaged her ego. "Later!" She tried to defend her pride.

"He is too big for you, isn't he?" SpongeBob continued to look at Sandy. He was not smiling because they were still getting chased by the worm. He was trying to lower Sandy's excessive pride.

"Not now, Sponge!" Sandy was becoming desperate. She thought that admitting her overestimation of her own skills would bring shame to Texas because that would make her a poor representation of the state.

SpongeBob was trying to change Sandy's view of herself so a situation like the current one would never happen again. He deeply cared for the squirrel. "I wanna hear you say it!" He leaped over a rock.

"Can we talk about this another time?" Sandy focused on the obstacles in front of her. She was refusing to confess her mistake. She hopped from rock to rock and then jumped to the ground.

"Say it!" The sponge continued to pressure her. He was determined to make Sandy look at herself honestly.

"Not now!" Sandy looked at the ground in embarrassment. She thought that her overestimation of her abilities was very foolish and did not match the potential of her intelligence. She then looked up so she could hide her embarrassment.

SpongeBob ran faster than Sandy, moved until he was in front of the squirrel, turned around; and ran backwards. He folded his arms. "Say it!" The squirrel could no longer escape his gaze.

Sandy saw no point in denying what was now obvious to SpongeBob. The sponge's constant demands were torturing her ego. "Okay! You were right, and I was wrong. I was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!" She sprinted when she noticed that the worm was only a few feet away from her. "Are you happy now?" The confession made her more humble; safety was now above her ego in terms of priority.

"I knew it." SpongeBob said a thought of his out loud. He then moved out of the way so Sandy could catch up with him.

DoodleBob was glaring at SpongeBob as it emitted sound waves to the worm. The worm was able to chase the couple because the drawing was focusing its attention on them and consequently made the sound waves move in a certain direction.

The worm growled and slithered at a much faster pace. She noticed that there was a nearby cliff.

SpongeBob and Sandy hastily ran up a hill of sand. They then rolled to the ground once they reached the summit.

The worm burrowed directly through the hill. The hill then crumbled into several smaller mounds.

SpongeBob and Sandy took a sudden turn to the right in an attempt to lose the worm. They sprinted and leaped across rocks and sand mounds when necessary.

The worm did not slow down at all. She took a turn to the right as well and was catching up to them at a rapid rate.

SpongeBob looked back and realized that their attempt was futile. "Uh, Sandy?" He looked at the squirrel and he expressed unease. He did not have enough wits to quickly create a plan while running.

"Yeah?" Sandy did not make eye contact with the sponge. She focused on maintaining her running speed. She noticed that they were running towards a forest of coral trees.

"What do we do now?" SpongeBob tried to make wider steps to see if he was able to gain more speed without losing too much energy.

Sandy inspected the coral trees as they ran towards the forest. A light bulb lit up in her head. "I've got it!" She grinned and looked at the sponge. "SpongeBob, you still got that paper clip and that string?"

SpongeBob nodded. "I'm way ahead of you, Sandy." The sponge took out the string and the paper clip. He trusted Sandy's quick wits and excellent judgement. He was so confident in the squirrel that he twirled the string and then put the two objects together to make a necklace. "Look, it's a necklace! S for 'SpongeBob' or S for 'Sandy'!" He beamed. The sponge tried to lighten the situation; he saw optimism as a form of energy instead of a delusion. "That way, they can identify our bodies."

"No, silly! How about S for 'save our skins'?" Sandy grabbed the string and the paper clip. She sprinted towards a tree, held out the hook of the paper clip, stabbed the hook into the tree, and seized SpongeBob's hand.

SpongeBob and Sandy swung as the string wrapped around the tree. The two then flew in the opposite direction; they were flying towards the worm. The two landed on the worm's back.

"Yee-haw! Now this is what I call a rodeo!" Sandy turned around and sat while facing the direction that the worm was slithering in. "We'll be nice and safe up here." The squirrel did not notice drawing that was sitting behind her. She calmly began to think of ways that she could use to scare away the worm from Bikini Bottom.

SpongeBob turned around and saw DoodleBob. His eyes bugged out and his face became pallid. "H-how-" He was nearly at a loss of words. He did not know how DoodleBob managed to escape from the book.

The drawing was charging towards them. It grabbed SpongeBob and Sandy and twirled them. DoodleBob then threw the two towards the sky. When the two succumbed to gravity, it ran towards them and punched both of them on the head with a **B-BAM**. By that point, it was experienced with emitting sound waves; it could do other tasks while discharging sound waves.

SpongeBob and Sandy tumbled across the worm's back. They then stood up and took a close look at DoodleBob.

"It's that thing again." Sandy spoke while gritting her teeth. She could not believe that DoodleBob was still alive.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "It might be the cause of the worm's rampage." The yellow square said his idea out loud. He then shrugged. "But I dunno how he managed to pull it off."

DoodleBob ran towards SpongeBob and Sandy.

SpongeBob dove to the worm's skin and slid across it. He then hopped to his feet and held out a leg.

DoodleBob tripped on SpongeBob's leg and rolled across the worm's back.

Sandy charged towards the drawing and kicked it with a **KLOK**. She then grabbed it, twirled it while holding it with one hand, and repeatedly punched it in the face with a **BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM. **The squirrel eventually threw DoodleBob across the worm's back.

DoodleBob landed near the worm's head. It stood up and became angrier. _"CURSE YOU!" _It charged towards the two friends and held out its hands.

SpongeBob grabbed one of its hands and karate-chopped the side of DoodleBob's body with a **SHOOP**. He kicked the drawing in the stomach with a **KLOK **and uppercutted the drawing with a** BIFF**.

DoodleBob flipped in the air and landed on the back with a **SLAM**. It then jumped to its feet, leaped, and midair kicked SpongeBob's forehead with a **KLOK**.

"Oof!" SpongeBob fell to the worm's back with a **PLOP**. Another light bulb lit up in his head. He dashed towards Sandy and halted once he reached her. "We should push that guy off the worm." He pointed at DoodleBob. "He's not on the worm, he might not make it upset anymore."

Sandy nodded. "Gotcha." She then ran towards DoodleBob and tried to grab the drawing.

DoodleBob leaped out of Sandy's grasp and landed on the glass helmet. It rapidly punched and kicked the glass helmet with a **CLINK CLANK KLOK CLANK CLINK KLOK CLINK CLANK KLOK CLANK CLINK CLANK KLOK KLOK**. However, its attempt at injuring Sandy was futile.

Sandy grabbed DoodleBob with both arms and lifted it off of her helmet. She leaned back so she could throw it to a long distance.

DoodleBob grabbed the branch of a nearby coral tree. It ripped the branch off the three and swung it at Sandy with a **CLANK.**

Sandy winced and unintentionally released DoodleBob from her grasp.

**CLANK CLANK CLING CLANK CLANK CLANG CLUNG CLINK CLANK CLANK CLANK**

DoodleBob was rapidly swinging the branch on Sandy's astronaut suit. It wanted to break the suit so it could begin to truly injure the squirrel. However, none of its swings left a scratch on the sturdy suit.

Sandy chuckled at DoodleBob's rash behavior. She merely saw the fight as some sort of karate match because she knew that, without Holy Pages, DoodleBob could only be a nuisance. She kicked the branch when it was swung at her again.

**KLOK**

The coral branch soared out of DoodleBob's grasp and flew across a large distance before falling to the ground.

By that point, the worm was still distressed by DoodleBob's sound waves. She was slithering towards a cliff and wanted to fall to a lower level to see if the sounds would leave her alone.

SpongeBob had ran around the drawing and had also stood behind the drawing for a surprise attack. Immediately after Sandy kicked the branch, the sponge seized both of the drawing's ankles. He threw DoodleBob to the air and kicked the drawing in the stomach with a **KLOK**.

DoodleBob tumbled across the worm's back and nearly slipped to the ground. It gripped the worm's skin at the last second and climbed to the back. It stood up and noticed that the worm was slithering directly towards a large rock.

**SLAM**

SHATTER

The worm broke the rock into pieces. She was strong enough to break rocks if they were equal to or below a certain size.

Pieces of the rock flew across the worm.

DoodleBob caught a rock piece and charged towards SpongeBob. It attempted to pummel the sponge with the object.

The yellow square nimbly dodged each swing. He karate-chopped the arm that was holding the rock piece with a **SHOOP**.

DoodleBob winced and took many steps back. It turned around to focus its attention on Sandy. It ran towards Sandy and dove towards her. It rapidly assaulted her with the rock piece with a **CLANK CLANK CLUNG CLUNK CLANK CLANG CLANK CLANK CLANK CLINK CLANK**.

The rock could not leave any sort of rock on the astronaut suit.

The drawing stomped on the worm's back with one foot in frustration.

Sandy grabbed DoodleBob's legs and lifted it from the worm's back. She slowly spun the drawing by dragging its ankles and increased the speed of the turning with each successful orbit. After ten seconds, she was spinning DoodleBob so rapidly that it looked like it was covering her in a white tornado. At the right time, she released DoodleBob's ankles from her grasp.

DoodleBob flew across a very large distance. Its landing spot was so far away that it nearly vanished from the horizon. Its light weight was what allowed it to fly across such a massive distance.

SpongeBob turned to look at the worm's head. He noticed that the worm was slithering across the cliff and half of her body was already across the cliff's edge. His eyes bugged out. "Sandy, we gotta get outta here!" He ran to the edge of the worm's body.

Sandy noticed what was happening. She nodded and leaped off of the worm.

**T-THUD  
**

SpongeBob and Sandy landed at the same time.

The worm completely slithered off of the cliff.

S-S-S-S-S

The worm landed on the ground below the cliff with a **CRRRAAASSH**. A large sand cloud covered the worm for a few minutes. Once the cloud dissipated, she slithered at a normal pace. She was at ease because she was no longer hearing those unbearable sound waves.

S-S-S-S-S

A pause.

SpongeBob and Sandy were looking below the cliff. They watched the worm slither towards the horizon.

"Well, that worm won't be comin' back." Sandy spoke calmly and smiled in relief. She glanced at her tail. "It's too bad that I can't get my fur back." She said one of her thoughts out loud. The squirrel then took several seconds to reflect on what had happened today. Sandy made eye contact with SpongeBob. "Y'know, Sponge, I'm surprised. You were the only one in the Krusty Krab that cared enough to chase me. Not even Pat stepped up to the plate. I've rarely seen you do daring stuff like that. As a matter of fact, one of the only other times you've done stuff like that was when we first met." The pursuit of the worm made her see a new shade of the yellow square.

SpongeBob bit his lip and tried to make a poker face. However, it was quickly becoming obvious that he was becoming nervous. He sweatdropped and did not look at Sandy. He had predicted a long time ago that a tense moment similar to the current one was going to happen.

"Sponge, I appreciate stuff like that. Honestly, you're the only friend who truly cares for me and helps me out a lot." Sandy continued to look at SpongeBob. The squirrel was only trying to properly thank SpongeBob for his assitance. She remembered countless times where SpongeBob helped her out with cleaning the laboratory and the treedome. She also remembered giving karate lessons to the yellow square in return for his chore efforts. She had noticed the sponge's subtly growing 'attachment' to her. She had detected a vague attachment during their earlier moments, especially when SpongeBob tried to impress her at Goo Lagoon and also tried to save her from the giant clam.

A pause.

"Anyways, why did you try to impress me during our earlier times together?" Sandy asked a question that she had waited a long time to ask. She was talking more than her usual amount because she had waited for moments like this one for decent conversations.

'Uh oh...' SpongeBob began to sweat even more. His childish nature made it very difficult for him to properly express his current view of Sandy. He had never felt this way towards a person before; he could not give this feeling a name without looking through a dictionary. He felt like now was not the right time to honestly answer or reply to Sandy's questions and statements. His words would end up sounding too awkward.

Sandy viewed SpongeBob as one of the best friends she ever had. The squirrel detected a lot of potential for their relationship to deepen beyond a friendship but did not have the same feelings for the sponge. She detected the cues from the sponge but thought that they were caused by another factor. However, that did not mean that she never had a crush before; she had quite a few during her younger years. Unfortunately, she got rejected by them due to the bullying she received from peers in the form of rumors. "SpongeBob, why're you nervous?" She raised her brow.

SpongeBob looked at the ground. The sponge decided to lie so he would divert Sandy's attention from himself. "I-I'm worried about another worm c-coming into town.' The yellow square looked at Sandy with a grave facial expression.

Sandy walked up to the yellow square. "Don't worry about that drawing." She assumed that SpongeBob was predicting that DoodleBob was going to bring another worm to Bikini Bottom. The squirrel hugged the yellow square in an attempt to comfort him. The battle against the worm that they had experienced was intense. She felt like she and the sponge deserved a break. The teamwork of her and SpongeBob had made them see each other as partners instead of rivals. After a moment of deep thinking, the duo's teamwork reminded Sandy of the ending of her and SpongeBob's argument over land and sea creatures. The remembrance cooled the squirrel's fire of pride, competitiveness, and revenge. She had not forgotten the value of cooperation.

SpongeBob blushed. His back was facing the squirrel. His face became as red as an apple. He wondered about ways that he could properly convey these strange feelings he had for Sandy. He thought about Squidward's journal for several seconds before a light bulb lit up in his head. 'Why don't I... surprise Sandy... on certain days!' The yellow square grinned and stopped blushing. His aching heart finally found the method of escape that it had longed for. His mind became resltess as he thought of numerous ideas for pleasantly surprising the squirrel.


	80. Sleepy Time

**Chapter 80: Sleepy Time**

* * *

Later on that day...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting on the couch and was skimming through a dictionary that he had brought from the library. He was searching for a certain word that perfectly described the strange feeling he had when having an intimate moment with Sandy. After looking through a plethora of more pages, he stumbled upon a word that had a definition which described his feelings perfectly. The entry in the dictionary was:

'**Infatuation**

_noun_

An intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.'

The yellow square blushed as he read the entry. His childish nature had prevented him from feeling any type of love that was more intimate than platonic love. However, Sandy changed that entirely. When he first encountered Sandy, her exoticness caught his attention. SpongeBob knew what was the informal equivalent for the word in that dictionary.

A pause.

The yellow sponge suddenly remembered his idea about surprising Sandy. He put a hand on his chin as he thought about what he should do or create first.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob decided on what idea that he was going to realize. He was going to create a painting for the squirrel. He closed the dictionary and stood up from the couch. He walked through the open doorway to the kitchen; he was going to return the book to the library.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. The sponge walked towards the nearest arts and crafts store.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the pineapple. He was holding a moderately-sized canvas, several containers of high-quality paint, and a few brushes that were also high-quality. The yellow square did not buy cheaper versions of those items and tools because he wanted the painting to be special and made with care. He walked towards the kitchen's open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

More than five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob put the canvas on a pedestal that was in the center of the library. The brushes and the paint containers were on the floor in neat rows. A portable radio was lying at one corner of the library. The yellow square walked towards the radio and turned it on. He switched the radio to a station that was playing very relaxing piano music. The yellow square walked back to the canvas and thought of what he should paint. He knew immediately that the painting should not completely reveal his concealed feelings. Within a minute, he came to a decision. He opened the purple paint container, took a moderately-sized brush, and dipped it into the container.

S-S-S-S-S

More than thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge was almost a quarter of a way done with his painting. He closed the containers, grabbed the other brushed, and jogged towards the kitchen so he could clean the brushes. He left the canvas in the library so it could dry.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the bedroom with a **CRREEEAAAK** and a **SLAM**. He had cleaned the brushed and had also brushed his teeth. "Ah, time for bed, Gary." He stretched his arms by holding them out to his left and right.

Gary slithered into the bedroom and stopped when he reached the newspaper pile.

The sponge walked to his bed and sat on it. He took off his shoes and socks and flung them in random directions. He thought that picking them up tomorrow morning would pump some blood through his body and truly awaken him as a consequence.

The socks landed near Gary's eyestalks. The snail, out of curiosity, put his eyestalks through them to see what was inside. However, he unintentionally blinded himself. "Can you get this off me?" He did not sound pleased at all. The smell of the socks was not the most pleasant of smells in the world.

"Oh, Gary." SpongeBob giggled and took the socks off of Gary's eyestalks. "You know what they say: curiosity salted the snail." He smiled in a silly manner. "Mind your wandering eye, you little mollusk." He laid down on his bed, adjusted his pillow, and put the blanket over himself. "Sweet dreams, Gary." He closed his eyes.

"G'night." Gary closed his eyes.

A pause.

The two fell asleep.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Gary were sleeping peacefully.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside SpongeBob's mind...

S-S-S-S-S

A rock had eyes with blue pupils. Its mouth had two buck teeth and it was also wearing shoes. The rock laughed just like SpongeBob and walked towards a pair of wiggling yellow arms. It picked up those arms by touching them. It then picked up a wandering pair of squarepants and other walking possessions of the sponge. When it picked up all of the items, it suddenly transformed into SpongeBob. He noticed that he was standing next to a road.

A driver-less boatmobile quickly parked next to SpongeBob with a **SCRREEECH**.

SpongeBob gasped and smiled in delight; he did not want to miss this opportunity. He hopped into the driver's seat of the vehicle. "Wait a minute." He had a suspicion. He dug into his pockets and noticed that he did not have a driver's license. "I don't have a driver's license!" He frowned in disappointment. His nose grew by a few inches. A driver's license abruptly appeared in hands. SpongeBob grinned. "Wow. My driver's license. I can't believe it! I sure took a good picture." His nose shrunk to its normal size. He tucked the license into a pocket. He grabbed the steering wheel and slammed on the pedal.

**VRRRROOOMMM**

The boatmobile sped down the road. A sign at the end of the road had red text saying 'Road Ends'. It eventually broke through that sign with a**CRRAAASSH**.

SpongeBob bumped into the steering wheel but quickly regained his posture. "Darn! I should have grown a mustache." The yellow square believed that having a mustache makes one more balanced when standing or sitting.

The boatmobile drove over an area of the wilderness that was littered with rocks. The vehicle and the sponge were shaking as if an earthquake was occurring. The vehicle eventually drove out of that area and drove at maximum speed towards a rock. SpongeBob did not notice the rock until it was too late.

**CRRRAAAASSSH**

The vehicle crashed into the rock and broke into many pieces.

SpongeBob's seat flew out of the boatmobile while the sponge was still sitting on it. While sitting

on the seat in midair, the sponge looked down at the ground below him and realized something.

"How could I have forgotten the most important rule of driving?" He fastened his seat's seatbelt into the buckle. "Always wear your seatbelt." He said an obvious rule as he flew across Bikini Bottom. He continued to look at the ground and after some time noticed that he was flying past the Krusty Krab. "Hey, I can see the Krusty Krab from here." He grinned.

After a minute, the sponge noticed that Mrs. Puff was holding on to a balloon that was far above Bikini Bottom. He and the pufferfish were at the same altitude. "Mrs. Puff, look! I've finally got my driver's license!" He took out his driver's license and waved it at his 'former' teacher. He was trying to show the fruits of his labor in the boating school.

The balloon flew towards SpongeBob. It stopped when the distance between SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff was less than a foot.

"Not even in your dreams, Mr. SquarePants!" Mrs. Puff scowled and snatched the license out of SpongeBob's hand.

"**NNNOOOOOOOOO!" **SpongeBob screamed in despair. He soared through the sky and entered space within minutes.

S-S-S-S-S

His body flew across space so fast that he reached a place where there was total darkness. The yellow square remembered what that place was. However, his body was still moving. His body reached an invisible wall and broke through it with a **SHATTER**.

S-S-S-S-S

In the real world...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was still sleeping tranquilly. Barely detectable magical energy began to emit from his head. The energy was completely invisible and silent. His mental self breaking through the barrier of his own mind was what caused the emission.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob flew out of his real body and landed in the pineapple's bedroom with a **THUD**. His mental self being in the real world was how his consciousness perceived the emission of magical energy; the mental self represented the magical energy. The sponge looked down at his body and noticed that he was transparent and was emitting a green light.

A pause.

"Where am I?" He raised his brow and stood up. He inspected the bedroom and realized that it exactly was his bedroom in the real world. He glanced at his real body. "Is that me?" He pointed at himself. "Or is this me? Am I still dreaming?" The sponge scratched his head in confusion. He then noticed that there were small clouds floating above his real body and Gary's body. The clouds were how his consciousness perceived the sources of people's magical energies. He gazed at Gary's cloud; the cloud intrigued him. He walked towards that cloud. "This must be Gary's dream." He correctly assumed. "I'm gonna get a closer look." He hopped into the cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob's magical energy was being emitted specifically towards Gary's brain. The brain was the source of magical energy in all living beings with enough intelligence. The sponge's magical energy mingled with Gary's compressed magical energy (Gary's energy was inside the snail's head).

_S-S-S-S-S_

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor of a massive library. "Whoa!" He stood up and marveled at the giant shelves of numerous books. "Wow. Look at all these books. I wonder where Gary is." He walked through several aisles of shelves in a search for the snail. "Gary!" He called for his pet. The sponge then accidentally bumped into a snail who was reading a book. SpongeBob looked down at the snail and made a friendly smile. "Excuse me, sir. Have you seen-" He stopped talking when he noticed who he was talking to.

Gary turned around to look at his owner. "SpongeBob?" He spoke in a weird accent. He was speaking in actual English. Whenever Gary dreamt, his mental self had a different accent because he perceived himself to be more intelligent than other snails. Snails were capable of learning other languages.

"Gary?" SpongeBob widened his eyes. He could not believe that Gary was speaking the language of a civilized creature. There were several spoken languages in Bikini Bottom, most of them were native to sea creatures. The only language in Bikini Bottom that came from the surface world was English.

"How dare you invade the sanctity of my dreams!" Gary became slightly irritated. Brown shoes appeared from nowhere and were below his slimy bottom. Legs grew between the shoes and the bottom. Whenever the snail felt a negative emotion, he grew taller. When he felt a more positive emotion after that, his legs would shrink.

"Gary, why're you tall... and grown-up?" SpongeBob raised his brow and tiled his head to the side in confusion. He could not figure out how Gary grew a pair of adult legs. He then noticed that Gary was just as tall as he was.

Gary sighed. He was not pleased with SpongeBob's naivete. "In dreams, one is not tethered by earthly limitations." He spoke in a reminder-like manner. His knowledge of English was quite large. However, his fear of unintentionally saying something foolish or grammatically incorrect prevented him from speaking English, even with his owner.

SpongeBob scratched his head; Gary's statement puzzled him. "What does that mean?" He did not know what the word "tethered" meant. He also thought that dreams were limited to the experiences that one had. His definition of "earthly limitations" was "experience in the real world".

Gary, using his mouth, closed the book he was reading. "Come." He walked towards another shelf. He climbed a ladder and took out a certain book by biting its spine and pulling the book out. He then climbed down and dropped the book to the floor.

SpongeBob stood before the snail. He made eye contact with Gary so he could pay his full attention.

"For ages, dreams have been thought of as windows to another realm." Gary was trying to fully explain dreams to his owner. He knew that most people in the world did not know much about dreams. He opened the book and flipped to a certain page. "'Let me not mar that perfect dream by an auroral stain, but so adjust my daily night that it may come again.' Emily Dickinson wrote that." He thought that a quote would help SpongeBob with understanding the concept.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He knew who Emily Dickinson was but thought that a "perfect dream" was a term that was too vague for him to understand dreams better.

Gary flipped to another page. "Here's one you might know." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "There once was a man from Peru who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He woke with a fright in the middle of the night to find that his dream had come true." He read a passage out loud.

SpongeBob realized what Gary was trying to say. Both of the quotes were about the connection between real-life experience and the extremified versions of those in the dream world. With a smile, he nodded to express that he understood Gary's words. The thought of Gary writing a novel entered his mind. He then laughed. "Gee, Gary, you sure are smart."

Gary closed the book . "Do you think my shell was full of hot air?" He remembered many times when SpongeBob had underestimated or excessively protected him. However, he was still aware of the improvement in their relationship that happened relatively recently.

"Well, thanks for the info, Gary." SpongeBob turned around and walked towards the center of the library (his origin spot). "I'm going back to my own dream now." The yellow square waved at the snail.

"Beware of your wandering eye, you little poriferan." Gary was aware of the ability to enter other people's dreams. He had watched and read many reports about people abruptly waking up from dreams that were disturbed by other people.

SpongeBob noticed that there was a small cloud on his origin point. He hopped through it and exited Gary's dream.

Gary put the book away and took out another book from a nearby shelf. The book was titled 'The Laws of Magic'. The snail opened the book, sat on a wooden chair, and became absorbed into the textbook. He was aware of the existence of magic.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed on the bedroom's floor with a **THUD**. He stood up and looked through the window at Patrick's rock. He wanted to see the dreams of close friends and associates so he could learn something surprising about them and understand them better. "I wonder what Patrick's dreaming." He said a thought of his. Thoughts about what Patrick was possibly dreaming raced through his head. He could not resist the temptation; Gary's warning did not work. "I can't resist!" He eagerly ran across the room and entered the staircase with a **CRRREEEAAAAK** and a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. The sponge ran towards Patrick's rock and gently opened it with a Crreeaaak. He slipped into the home and the rock closed with a **SLam**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jumped into Patrick's dream cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob was inside a small room. The room had a wooden table and a wooden chair. There was a wooden door in front of him. The wall and the ceiling had a coat of pink while the floor had aquamarine tiles.

The yellow square walked to the door and exited the room with a **CRREEEAAK** and a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at his surroundings. Everything was white except for Patrick, the ride that the starfish was riding, and the wooden door behind him. The starfish was riding a seahorse ride. A slot for '25 CENTS' was on one side of the fake seahorse's body.

The sponge became curious and walked up to his best friend. He waved and opened his mouth to greet him but got interrupted by the sea star.

"Hi, SpongeBob." Patrick looked at SpongeBob and waved at him enthusiastically. He was pleasantly surprised.

"Y'know Patrick, this is a dream. You can do anything you want." SpongeBob said an obvious fact. He said that because he assumed that Patrick was not fully using his imagination. He was looking forward to having a strange adventure with his best friend.

"Yup." Patrick nodded.

"I mean anything!" SpongeBob grinned. He held out both of his hands and then lowered them. "Watch. I can turn into a skyscraper." Within a second, his body transformed into the shape and size of a skyscraper. His squarepants became much larger. His eyes and holes became blocky. "Going up, eh?" He tried to make a funny joke.

An awkward pause.

Patrick looked up at SpongeBob and became dumbfounded. He had forgotten how to transform into other shapes and creatures.

"I can make..." SpongeBob shrunk back to his normal size. Clones came out of his holes at an extremely fast rate until there were a million of them. All of the clothes wore the same attire that SpongeBob was wearing. **"...a million of me!" **All of the SpongeBobs spoke at the same time. **"Eh?! Eh?!"**

Patrick leaned on the seahorse ride. He was frustrated because he could figure out how to transform. However, he was thinking of what he should transform his world into and what he should do next. He sat up and made eye contact with the original SpongeBob.

All of the other SpongeBobs disappeared.

"Y'know SpongeBob, having dreams can be kinda dull to me. It's just having a job with no money, or having a piggy back with no money inside it." Patrick successfully suppressed a smile. He was trying to make what he thought was a funnier joke.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?" He did not understand Patrick's comparisons at all.

Patrick smiled widely. "That's what I would say... if I was crazy." He giggled. He was confusing SpongeBob on purpose.

SpongeBob giggled as well. The sponge had came to the realization that Patrick's dream was going to become boring for him. "Well, I'm going to a different dream." He walked towards the wooden door.

"Okay. Bye, SpongeBob." Patrick waved at his best friend again. He could not decide on what idea he was going to realize.

SpongeBob entered the room with a **CRREEAAK** and a **SLAM**.

The seahorse ride stopped moving; the allotted time for one use had ran out.

Patrick took out a quarter from his pocket and tried to put it into the slot. It slipped out of his hand and rolled across the floor. The sea star stood up from the ride and tried to snatch the quarter. However, the quarter was rolling at a surprisingly fast speed. The quarter eventually fell through a grate on the floor.

A pause.

Patrick sat on his knees and tried to look through the grate. "Shoot, that was my last quarter." The starfish banged the floor with his fist in frustration. He then sat on the floor as he thought of possible options.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dove through the dream cloud on the center of the room's floor.

_S-S-S-S-S_

The yellow square landed on his feet. He climbed the circular wall and opened the rock slightly. He slipped through the narrow opening.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob looked at Squidward's tiki. He decided that he was going to visit Squidward's dream next. He walked towards the home and entered it with a **CREEAAK **and a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered Squidward's bedroom with a **CRREEAAK** and a **SLAM**. He leaped into Squidward's dream cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Squidward was wearing a fancy suit and a powdered keg. He was playing his clarinet before a large audience of wealthy people. So far, the audience was enjoying the music he was playing. The octopus was currently playing his twelfth composition.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob landed on the stage with a **THUD**. He was behind the red curtain. The yellow square peeked through the curtain and saw Squidward playing the clarinet composition. "Psst, Squidward!" He loudly whispered and then waved at the octopus. "Hey, Squidward!" He wanted to know about where they were and what Squidward was exactly doing.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward turned to look at the yellow square. He then glared at the troublesome sponge. "SpongeBob!" He shook his fist.

"Ahem!" The king, who was a light green fish, was sitting on the balcony of the auditorium. His seat was decorated with jewels and was also the largest out of all of the auditorium's seats. "Why do you stop playing Wolfgang Amadeus Tentacles?" He was enraptured by the music coming from Squidward's clarinet.

Squidward turned to look at the audience. "Yes, your Highness." He nodded and then resumed his playing.

SpongeBob walked to one of the stage's exits. He then walked down one of the auditorium's open pathways.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the king. He whispered a joke into the king's ear. The sponge was grinning the entire time. He thought that his joke was quite clever.

The king guffawed. His laughing was so loud that it became louder than Squidward playing.

Squidward stopped playing and grumpily looked up at SpongeBob. "SpongeBob!" He was going to rebuke the yellow square.

The king glared at Squidward. "Hey! I have not instructed you to stop! Now PLAY!" He spoke in an assertive tone. He banged his golden scepter

on the floor a few times. He then looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye and lightly elbowed the sponge. "Oh, do tell me the one about the man from Peru again." He spoke quietly.

Squidward resumed his playing.

SpongeBob whispered into the king's ear again.

The king guffawed again.

Squidward stopped playing and gripped his clarinet as tightly as he could. His head became crimson as he became filled with anger. The sponge was unintentionally and indirectly interrupting his performance too many times. "SPONGE-" His clarinet broke with a **SHATTER**; his grip was too powerful. "...bob." His face became pallid with shock.

The king's face became red. Steam came out of the middle-aged man's ears. "I CAME TO HEAR BEAUTIFUL MUSIC! IF I DON"T GET MY WISH, IT'LL BE YOUR HEAD!" He repeatedly banged his golden scepter on the floor. He could be heard throughout the entire theater. He was not going to tolerate subpar musical performances.

Squidward laughed nervously and sweat ran down his face. He was uncertain about where he could find more clarinets.

SpongeBob looked at Squidward and felt pity for him. A light bulb then lit up in his head. His body transformed into the shape of a clarinet, he teleported to Squidward's hands. "Squidward!" He pointed at himself to catch the octopus' attention.

Squidward noticed that SpongeBob was on his hands as some sort of clarinet. He narrowed his eyes in disapproval. He predicted that the performance was going to end disastrously if he played that 'clarinet'. He tossed SpongeBob, folded his arms, turned to make his back face the audience, and shook his head. "No way."

"Ahem!" The king gave Squidward a soul-piercing glare.

Squidward sighed and picked up SpongeBob. He dreaded being the receiving end of the king's wrath. "Please, SpongeBob. No tricks." He looked at the yellow clarinet and spoke solemnly.

"Trust me, Squidward." SpongeBob beamed.

Squidward put his mouth on the clarinet's 'mouthpiece'. He then blew into the 'clarinet'.

SpongeBob tried to imitate the sounds of a clarinet. "LA LA! LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!" He sounded like a terrible singer instead. He wasted his singing potential. Unknown to him, it was impossible for a normal person to perfectly imitate a clarinet.

The audience gasped and covered their ears.

Squidward pulled the 'clarinet' off of his mouth. "SpongeBob!" He and the audience shared the same opinion; he thought that the yellow square sounded atrocious. He was going to scold the sponge about how he should sound like when being 'played on'.

"W-w-why have you stopped playing such wonderful music?" Tears were running down the king's cheeks. He had a bizarre musical taste. He had closed his eyes so he could fully appreciate SpongeBob's singing.

Some of the audience gave the king funny looks. They were nearly doubting the question that came out of the king's mouth.

Squidward smiled in delight and stopped glaring at SpongeBob.

SpongeBob winked at the octopus. If he was in his normal shape, he would have given Squidward a high-five.

Squidward put his mouth on the 'mouthpiece' again.

"**LA LA LA! LA LA! LA LA LA! LA LA! LA LA LA LA! LA LA! LA LA! LA LA LA! LA LA LA! LA LA!" **SpongeBob resumed his off-key singing. He sung at a higher volume so it would sound worse (for the king, it would be better).

The audience changed their opinions about SpongeBob's singing. They began to love the notes coming out of the yellow 'instrument'.

A young man who was sitting in the front row began to silently cry. "His music touches me ever-so. I fear that my tears might stain my petticoat." He said his thoughts quietly.

When SpongeBob finished singing his awful song, the crowd clapped, screamed, and cheered for the octopus.

Squidward bowed slowly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He could not remove his wide smile. He was grateful for SpongeBob's assistance. He imagined the amazing lifestyle he was going to have once he becomes famous throughout the world.

A chunk of the audience grabbed a nearby fruit wagon and moved it towards the stage. A few of them pushed Squidward into the wagon.

The young man who had cried picked up the yellow 'clarinet'. "What is this instrument that produces such lovely sounds?" He marveled at the 'instrument'. He had never seen an instrument like that one before.

SpongeBob's body transformed back into its normal shape. He leaped to the floor and ran towards the theater's exit. He did not want to draw attention to himself because he wanted to visit other people's dreams.

Nearly the entire audience began to chase him. Their combined running made them sound like a stampede.

Squidward dug himself out of the pile of fruit in the basket. He looked at SpongeBob in a jealous manner because he wanted to be the chased one. He supposed that the sponge stole the limelight from him.

"So long, Squid!" SpongeBob waved at the octopus as he ran. He eventuallly reached the glass double door and exited the theater with a **C-CREAK** and a **S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

The theater was much larger than the average theater. The sky above the theater was dark; the crescent moon and the stars could be seen.

SpongeBob ran away from the theater as fast as he could. The yellow square dashed across a barren wilderness until he began to see a bright light on the horizon that brightened the night sky. Out of curiosity, the yellow square ran towards that bright light until he noticed that it was the sun.

The sun quickly rose from the horizon and night rapidly became morning as a consequence. Numerous skyscrapers and other buildings rose from the ground with a **RRRRUUMMMBBBLLEEE**. As those buildings rose from the ground, they shook the earth. The ground shook in such a way that it seemed like an earthquake was occuring.

SpongeBob fell to his knees and covered his face with his arms to protect himself from any debris from the 'earthquake'. His body became completely still as he waited for the 'earthquake' to cease.

A long pause.

The 'earthquake' stopped with a **RRUU**UUUUuuuuummble. A huge and empty city now surrounded the yellow square.

SpongeBob stood up and looked at his surroundings. He widened his eyes in extreme surprise; he did not expext the environment to change so quickly. The sponge began to explore the seemingly abandoned city; he walked to the left. He glanced at each building as he walked and noticed that they were all in a state of disrepair.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw a building that immediately caught his attention. That building was the Krusty Krab. The sponge walked up to the restaurant and looked through a window. The dining room had suffered from a massive fire; most of the floor was black or gone completely, revealing the foundation of the restaurant; tables were leaning against each other, and the metal walls of the rooms showed signs of melting.

That sight shocked SpongeBob to his core. He thought that the day of the Krusty Krab getting burned down would never happen. SpongeBob's face became pallid and he also became speechless.

A pause.

SpongeBob noticed that there was a sign next to the double door. The sign was the same size as the 'HELP WANTED' sign and its text was in the 'HELP WANTED' sign's font. However, the text on it said 'ABANDON HOPE'.

Another pause.

A large journal and a sandglass appeared out of nowhere with a **POOF**.

SpongeBob looked at those objects and picked them up out of curiosity. The objects began to glow as he touched them.

A dark object appeared in the sky and was falling towards the downtown area of the city. SpongeBob looked up at that object and realized that it was a missile. After several seconds, the sponge noticed that it had a sign and he closely looked at it. He then realized that the object was a nuclear missile because the symbol for nuclear energy was on that missile.

By that point, the journal and the sandglass were glowing as bright as streetlights.

The missile hit a building and an orange flash appeared in the downtown area. A mushroom cloud slowly rose up from the grave of the downtown buildings. The mushroom cloud then covered the sky with dark clouds and ash.

A wave of fire and debris flew towards SpongeBob.

SpongeBob gasped. He then, out of instinct, covered his face with the journal and the sandglass. The journal and the sandglass then became as bright as spotlights and enveloped SpongeBob in a warm yellow light.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob was 'pushed' out of Squidward's cloud and landed on the floor with a **THUD**. He stood up and put a hand on his chin. He was thinking about the sudden turn of events in Squidward's dream. "Well... that was a weird dream." He quietly said a thought of his. The sponge could not figure out the reason for why there was a nuclear explosion in the octopus' dream. He assumed that the octopus watched a lot of action movies. He shrugged and a light bulb lit up in his head. 'I should visit Sandy's next.' He grinned and exited the bedroom with a **Creak** and a **Slam**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the treedome's front door. He grabbed the knob and tried to open it but the front door would not budge at all. He realized that the door was locked. He looked at the ground as he entered a state of deep thought.

A pause

A light bulb lit up in his head. If his real body was the one sleeping in the pineapple, then the 'body' he was currently 'in' would not be a physical one at all. He assumed that he could interact with his environment through touch or move through objects out of will. He slipped his hand through a slit in the front door to test his hypothesis.

His hand slipped through the slit as if it was made out of air; SpongeBob's hypothesis was correct.

SpongeBob, with a smile of victory, slipped through the front door's slit.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked through the glass hallway and flew through the door before him like he was made out of nothing. The sponge felt like he was a ghost.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob flew through the wooden door and saw Sandy sleeping on her bed. He looked at her cloud for a few seconds and tried to guess what the squirrel was dreaming about. After a few seconds, he dove into the cloud to see if his guess was true.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob was sitting on a seat that was in a small airplane. However, he did not know that he was in a plane. The yellow square stood up and thought that a loud air conditioner was on in another room. He glanced at a small door and liked how it looked. He then looked at the other things in the 'hallway' and assumed that the entire 'house' was pleasant to the eye. "Aw, this looks neat! I wonder..." He beamed in delight and opened the small door so he could see the other rooms. However, he saw the magnificent sky instead. A rush of incoming air made him lose his footing and fall from the plane.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was flailing his limbs as he fell towards the earth. He was screaming in terror.

Sandy was on a gliding board. She was wearing a backpack that had a parachute inside it. "Hey, SpongeBob. What brings you here?" She was speaking as if skydiving was a daily activity for her.

Sandy's presence comforted the yellow square. SpongeBob looked at the squirrel. "Hey, Sandy, what's going on?!" Sweat was running down his brow. His panic was inevitable by that point.

Sandy flipped until she was upside down. Her feet were still on the gliding board because she had covered her boots' bottom sides with small amounts of glue. "Well, we're free-falling from a hundred and fourteen thousand feet," She pointed at what looked like an arrow target circle. "and we're gonna land on that itty-bitty target." She was speaking while grinning. Her heartbeat was quickening as the incoming arrow target became larger and larger in her vision. The thrill she was feeling was almost indescribable. She grabbed SpongeBob's arm and the two spun rapidly.

SpongeBob bit his lip. "This seems kinda dangerous!" He said an obvious fact. He could not look away from the ground below him no matter how hard he tried. The ground was the cause of his anxiety because it allowed him to perceive his altitude.

"Not as long as you've gotta big ol' parachute!" Sandy pointed at her backpack. She was not afraid of the earth below her at all.

"Okay!" SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. He considered Sandy to be highly trustworthy, reliable, and honest. He pulled the laces of his shoes and the shoes consequently inflated to the size of large balloons.

"Not a pair of shoes, SpongeBob! _Parachute!_" Sandy flipped her gliding board and was no longer upside-down. The air blowing in their ears made it very difficult for them to hear each other.

"Gotcha!" SpongeBob nodded and held out his index finger. A green parakeet abruptly appeared on the finger with a **POOF**. The yellow square imagined the parakeet into existence.

"Not a parakeet! Para-" Something interrupted Sandy's reiteration of her previous words.

**SPLASH**

Sandy fell into a truck of clam manure; the truck's container had an open top. The container had large text saying 'CLAM MANURE'. The truck currently had nobody inside it except for Sandy.

"...medic." Sandy finished her sentence.

SpongeBob twirled and screamed as he fell to the ground. He landed on the arrow target with a **THUD**. The yellow square then stood up and realized that the pain he was feeling was very mild. "Ouch!" He hopped on one foot until the pain vanished. "Alright, that's it. No more messing with people's dreams." He said a thought of his out loud. He reflected over his previous trips to other dreams and knew that he had ruined most of them in certain ways. The sponge walked in a certain direction as he began his search for an exit.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw a cloud that was hovering a few feet above the ground. He assumed that the cloud was a portal to the real world. He leaped and went through the cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Almost two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked away from the treedome. Out of his consideration for others, he was going to return to his pineapple and resume his own dream.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking past Mr. Krabs' anchor; he was walking directly towards his pineapple. However, he saw a dream cloud out of the corner of his eye. By that point, he had forgotten his reason for returning home because he had been reflecting on the dreams he had visited. The sponge gazed at the cloud and could not resist the temptation. "H-hey, Mr. Krabs!" The sponge smiled slightly. He assumed that the cloud belonged to his boss. He climbed the anchor's exterior wall and hopped into the cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob dug himself out of a mound of pink dirt that had a pink flower on top of it. The flower was now on his head. He looked at his new environment and raised his brow. Numerous hills of strawberry-flavored dirt surrounded him. There were rivers that consisted of liquid chocolate. Clouds were made out of cotton candy and rocks consisted of mint. "Uhh... Mr. Krabs?" He had expected a different world for Mr. Krabs' dream.

"Hello, SpongeBob!" Pearl enthusiastically greeted the yellow sponge. She was sitting at a table with a very large green rabbit plush doll and a just as large brown teddy bear. The two dolls had been placed on two other chairs. Each person in the table had a plate with a teacup on top of it that had been placed before them. The whale picked up the tea pot and poured some tea into the teddy bear's cup.

"On, Pearl." SpongeBob grinned, stood up from the dirt, and tossed the flower to elsewhere. He waved at the whale. "This is your dream." He came to a correct conclusion.

"You're just in time for the tea party!" Pearl continued to speak in a cheerful manner. She picked up a teacup and a plate from below the table. The whale then placed the plate on the table and put the teacup on top of the plate.

"Actually, I was looking for your dad's dream." SpongeBob saw no need to lie. He was much more interested in his boss' dream than his bratty daughter's. However, the sponge did not held a negative view of Pearl unlike other people.

"Oh. He's nearby." Pearl stopped smiling; she became disappointed. The whale shook her head and looked at the rabbit doll. "Boys don't understand the sophistication of tea parties. Right, Mr. Stuffy?" She had been 'conversing' with the dolls for her entire time in the dream state.

"Bye!" SpongeBob waved at Pearl again. He hopped through the hole that he had dug and went through the cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He stood up and wiped some sand from his squarepants. 'I bet Mr. Krabs' dream will be more robust.' He thought as he walked around the anchor. The sponge then looked up at a dream cloud that was on the anchor's back side. He nimbly climbed the wall and leaped into the cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob soared through the ocean and reached its surface. He then floated on his backside. The sea had raging waves that were crashing to the shore and other ships. The sky was heavily cloudy and it was raining moderately. He floated for a few minutes before he bumped into a boat with a **SLAM**.

"I've got you now, you slippery demon!" Mr. Krabs was holding a fishing rod. He was wearing a raincoat and a rain hat. He was trying to pull a large sea creature out of the ocean. "You're putting up a good fight, yes you are." He had been hunting for the beast ever since the beginning of his dream.

SpongeBob hopped into the wooden boat. "Whatcha doin' Mr. Krabs?" He stood up and tried to make out the shape of the beast that Mr. Krabs was pulling at.

"I'm picking Neptune's pocket!" Mr. Krabs spoke with a grin. His grip on the rod did not falter.

"What're you talking about?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. He did not understand all of Mr. Krabs' pirate vocabulary and terminology.

"I'm talking 'bout cold hard flippin' cash." Mr. Krabs took several steps back as he fiercely pulled the underwater creature. He then raised his rod to the sky as he mustered his strength into one mighty pull.

**SSSPLAAAASH**

A giant one-dollar bill leaped from the ocean. Its mouth was connected to the hook of Mr. Krabs' fishing rod. It was desperately trying to escape the mighty pulls of the crustacean. It then succumbed to gravity and fell into the ocean with a **SSSPLLAAAASSSH**.

"It's the mighty MOBY DOLLAR!" Mr. Krabs told the name of the beast to SpongeBob. His grip on the fishing rod became even tighter. The retired captain was perceiving that the Moby Dollar was beginning to give up.

Pennies eventually soared out of the ocean and landed on the boat. They came from the dollar-bill's mouth and had been produced by the beast's mouth.

SpongeBob laughed. "Look, Mr. Krabs. Pennies!" The yellow square pointed at the pennies. He thought that seeing pennies was silly during a desperate struggle such as the current one.

"Never mind the small change, lad. Get the net!" Mr. Krabs spoke in a serious tone. His eyes were narrowed as he gazed at the large shadow below the ocean; he was waiting for the best moment to pull.

The sponge held out a butterfly net towards the crab. "This one?"

Mr. Krabs glanced at the butterfly net and shook his head. "No, no, no, no! The money met! It's in me back pocket." The crab pointed at one of his pockets. He took several more steps away from the boat's front; the Moby Dollar was nearing the surface again.

SpongeBob dug into the pocket Mr. Krabs pointed at and took out a giant wallet that, in real life, would never fit the crab's pocket. He opened the giant wallet and saw Mr. Krabs' citizenship card. "Wow! You look real good with a mustache, Mr. Krabs." The sponge beamed. The citizenship card had an old photo of Mr. Krabs.

"Never mind that, boy. Ready the net!" Mr. Krabs was using all of his built-up might to pull the Moby Dollar out of the ocean. When the dollar bill leaves the ocean's surface, it will be his last chance at capturing the green creature.

SpongeBob unzipped the other portion of the wallet. That portion would fit the Moby Dollar perfectly. He then held that portion open with both hands. "Net ready, sir!" The yellow square nodded.

Mr. Krabs did one final pull. He clenched his teeth as he pulled.

**SSPPLLAAAASSH**

The Moby Dollar soared out of the ocean again. It flailed as it succumbed to gravity. However, the hook's pull was too strong. The fishing line made it land on the boat with a **SLAM**.

Mr. Krabs grabbed the green beast and heaved it into the wallet. "I did it!" The crab jumped up and down in joy. He then stopped jumping and put his claws on his hips as he felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him. "I finally did it."

"Congratulations, Mr. Krabs." SpongeBob put the wallet on the boat's floor and held out his hand so he and his boss could shake hands. He thought that he and Mr. Krabs had worked well as a team.

The wallet bounced towards the boat's back side. The Moby Dollar did not give up yet.

Mr. Krabs noticed that the wallet was moving. "No, SpongeBob! Don't let it go!" The crustacean pointed at the fleeing wallet. He did not want to lose what he had worked so hard to earn.

"Huh?" SpongeBob did not initially perceive the wallet's movement.

Mr. Krabs jumped up and down in anxiety. He continued to point at the wallet. "Get it, SpongeBob! Get it! Get it! Get it! Get it! Get it!" Sweat was running down his brow. The fate of his success in bringing the beast to his home now lied in SpongeBob's hands.

SpongeBob turned around and saw the hopping wallet. "Hey! Hey!" He dashed towards the wallet and held out both hands. "I-" He stopped talking when he realized that he was too late.

The Moby Dollar slipped out of the wallet and dove back into the ocean with a **SSSPLAASH**. It then leaped from the ocean and dove into the ocean repeatedly as it swam away from Mr. Krabs' boat.

"NOOOO!" Mr. Krabs yelled in despair and covered his face with both of his claws. He fell to his knees and became silent for several seconds.

A pause.

SpongeBob smiled nervously. He tried to view the outcome of the situation in a positive way and was also trying to cheer up his boss. "This'll make a great fish story, eh Mr. Krabs?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Oh SpongeBob..." Mr. Krabs stood up and stopped covering his face with his claws. He had a deadpan face.

"Yes, Mr. Krabs?" SpongeBob assumed that Mr. Krabs was not going to harm him at all.

The crab abruptly grabbed the sponge's legs and a rope. He tied the yellow square to a plunger using the rope. The crustacean then put the plunger into a giant gun. Mr. Krabs grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger. "...**YOU'RE FIRED!**" He did a payback for the yellow sponge's foolish mistake.

SpongeBob screamed in fright as he flew across the ocean. The plunger eventually succumbed to gravity and he fell with it; the sponge and the plunger fell into the ocean with a **S-SPLASH**.

The yellow square, while underwater, sank through a cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He sat up and a put a hand on his chin as he thought of what he should do next. After a minute, he concluded that opportunities for visiting people's dreams were very rare and that he will get another opportunity after an extremely long time. He decided that he should fully enjoy the opportunity that had been given to him. He knew another place that he could go to for visiting a dream. The yellow square stood up and walked towards a certain restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood before the Chum Bucket. He saw a dream cloud above the restaurant's ceiling. He had wondered ever since he had left Patrick's dream about what Plankton was dreaming. The sponge swiftly climbed the restaurant's exterior wall and hopped to the ceiling. He then dove into the dream cloud.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed face-first on a ceiling with a **SLAM**. He stood up and looked at his surroundings. He was on the ceiling of a building in downtown Bikini Bottom. The sky was orange as the sun began to set. "Ooh! Hey, Plankton's dreaming about Bikini Bottom." The sponge stated an obvious fact. The yellow square thought that this environment was odd for Plankton to dream about because he had assumed that the plankton would dream about stealing the Secret Formula. After some seconds of thinking, the sponge could not figure out the reason for such a dream.

A pause.

A colossal Plankton randomly looked at a building. He was slightly shorter than a skyscraper. "Zap!" He concentrated his vision on that building and a green laser came out of his pupil with a **ZAAAP**.

**BOOOOMM**

The building exploded into many pieces.

**C-CRRRAAASSH SMASH**

**SCRREEEEECCH CRASH**

**"My leg!"**

**SHATTER SMASH C-CRRRAAASSSH**

**BEEP BEEEEEP**

The pieces of the building fell into the nearby street. The pieces damaged many boatmobiles because those vehicles were stuck in a traffic jam. The heavy traffic was occurring throughout the downtown area. Many drivers were honking their boatmobiles' horns while other drivers exited their damaged boatmobiles.

Citizens looked up at the giant plankton and became gripped with terror. They shrieked and ran away from Plankton as fast as they could.

Plankton walked up to another building. "I see you. Zap!" He shot another eye laser with a **ZAAAP**.

**BOOOM**

The building was halved by the laser. The building's upper part fell into another street.

Plankton looked up at a helicopter and smirked. "I see you. ZAP!" He directly shot an eye laser at that helicopter.

The citizens gasped.

The helicopter exploded with a **BOOM**. The pilot jumped out of the helicopter at the last second and opened up his parachute.

Plankton turned to look at the building that SpongeBob was on. He saw the yellow square, smiled sinisterly, and chuckled. "I see you..." He allowed his eye to gather a large amount of electrical energy.

SpongeBob dove towards a dumpster that was between the building he was on and another building.

"Zap!" Plankton fired a red eye laser with a **ZAAAAAAP**.

The building exploded into numerous pieces with a **BOOM**.

SpongeBob had fallen into the dumpster just before the building exploded. He stepped out of the dumpster and watched what Plankton was going to do next.

Plankton walked towards the Krusty Krab. He rubbed his hands together and giggled evilly. "Oh look, it's the Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty." He raised his foot and stomped on it repeatedly with a **CRASH SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM**. "Crushed!" He laughed evilly. The plankton felt like he was invincible. His hatred of Mr. Krabs and the crab's successful business could obviously be seen in his dreams through power fantasies. He seized the Krusty Krab's sign and the sign's top changed so that it would taste sweet. Plankton liked the sign as if it was a lollipop. "Lick, lick!"

SpongeBob stared at Plankton in utter horror. "This isn't a dream! This is a nightmare!" What Plankton considered to be a sweet dream was what SpongeBob considered to be the complete opposite.

"Meow." Gary was in the middle of Plankton's way. He was trying his hardest to slither away from the path but was not fast enough to get out in time.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. "Gary! Gary! No!" He sprinted towards his snail. Horrible visions of what Plankton could do to his snail filled his mind. The sponge had a powerful will to protect his pet.

"Here snaily, snaily, snaily." Plankton smiled slightly. He wanted to play with Gary by making the snail slither away from his eye lasers.

"GARY!" SpongeBob dove towards Gary and hugged the snail as tightly as he could. "I've got you, Gary." He spoke with a warm smile. He would rather allow himself to get harmed than to let his snail get injured.

"Peek-a-boo," Plankton smiled evilly again. He raised his foot. "here comes my foot!" He lowered his foot so he could stomp the yellow square.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. Using his imagination, he made his body transform into the shape of a tack. The sharp top of SpongeBob's head poked the sole of Plankton's foot.

"YOW!" Plankton dropped the Krusty Krab sign and hopped on one foot. He grabbed his pierced foot with both of his hands. The pain was excruciating because he had not anticipated the poke.

"I think he's got the point." SpongeBob tried to say a clever joke. The sponge then laughed at his own joke. He smiled at his own small victory of outwitting Plankton.

Massive amounts of air came out of the hole on Plankton's foot. The plankton shrank at a moderate rate until he was in his normal size. Plankton then looked at his surroundings. "Whoa!" He sweatdropped. He knew that he was now completely vulnerable to counterattack from angry citizens.

An awkward pause.

Three irate citizens stomped up to Plankton and folded their arms. They cracked their knuckles in preparation for their assault on Plankton.

Plankton began to sweat heavily. He smiled in an anxious manner. "W-well, I guess I've got some explaining to do, huh?" The plankton was thinking about how he could flee the unavoidable fight.

**SLAM**

**KLOK**

**SLAM**

**BAM**

The citizens began to beat up Plankton.

"No! No! No! Not the face!" Plankton was desperately trying to escape. Unfortunately, each of his attempts failed.

**KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK SLAM BAM SLAM**

Plankton screamed in agony as he got mercilessly pummeled and kicked.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Plankton sat up from his bed and screamed out of fright. He then took several deep breaths as he began to calm down. The plankton looked at his surroundings and saw no signs of trespassers. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow in relief.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob landed on the Chum Bucket's ceiling with a **THUD**. Since Plankton was no longer dreaming, SpongeBob and Plankton's magical energies could not mingle; Plankton's magical energy became sealed in Plankton's brain.

A long pause.

The yellow square thought that now was a good time to return to his home. He climbed down the exterior wall and jogged towards his pineapple. He was satisfied with the amount of visitors he had visited today.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob was in his own dream again. He was walking through a lush kelp forest and was heading for a distant light. He was focused completely on the light and was avoiding any incoming obstacles with ease.

A jellyfish flew past SpongeBob. _"SpongeBob!" _It spoke in a weird voice.

"Huh?" SpongeBob glanced at the jellyfish and scratched his head. He was puzzled because he had never heard a jellyfish communicate in such a manner before. After a second, he shrugged and resumed his walk. He eventually climbed a large tree that was blocking his path and leaped from tree to tree towards the light.

He rustled some leaves. The rustling produced comprehensible syllables. _"SpongeBob!"_

SpongeBob quickly looked at his surroundings. He could not find the source of that strange sound. After several seconds, he decided that a search for the sound source was a waste of time. He leaped to the ground and dashed along an open pathway.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square reached a clearing in the forest. In the center of the clearing was a shining golden acorn. SpongeBob walked up to the acorn and stopped to marvel at its magnificence.

A very long pause.

"_SpongeBob!"_

"_SpongeBob!"_

"_SpongeBob!"_

"_SpongeBob!"_

"_SpongeBob!"_

"_SpongeBob!"_

The sponge was hearing more of those strange sounds. He sweatdropped and desperately ran around the clearing in his search for the sounds's source. His environment began to crumble into dust, including the ground below him. After a minute of a futile struggle, he fell into an darkness.

_S-S-S-S-S_


	81. SB-281

**By the way, when you see a chapter's title as: SB-XXX; it will be important to the story's plot. Pay careful attention because it will reveal plot points that will be covered in later chapters and future fanfics. **

* * *

**Chapter 81: SB-281**

* * *

SpongeBob opened his eyes. He sat up and saw Patrick, Squidward, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, Gary; and Plankton standing around his bed. All of the visitors were glaring at SpongeBob. Although most people did not know a plethora of information about dreams, it was a well-known fact that someone can visit someone else's dream. The visitors wanted to give SpongeBob a piece of their minds. He looked at them for several awkward seconds before speaking. "Hey, what're you all doing in your pajamas? Are we having a slumber party?" The sponge was too innocent to immediately figure out the reason for his visitors' anger.

"No." Squidward shook his head. "We are not having a slumber party." He folded his arms. He considered SpongeBob's antics to be intolerable. He knew that today was one of those days where SpongeBob was going to unintentionally annoy him instead of help him.

"Lad, you trespassed our homes... in a way." Mr. Krabs was expressing the least anger when compared to the others. His face was only expressing slight irritation. "I'm highly disappointed in you. The only reason I'd visit other people's dreams is so I can grab extra money." He smiled slightly when he said "money".

"Do us all a favor, SpongeBob, and stay out of our dreams!" Sandy spoke in a stern voice. From her point-of-view, sleep was highly valuable because it gave her the energy needed for tomorrow's work.

All of the visitors nodded in agreement.

"Take a hike!" Plankton shook his fist and continued to glare at the yellow square. The sponge's constant interference in his robbery attempts was enough for him to view SpongeBob as a nuisance.

"Don't we get enough of you during the day?!" Squidward's facial expression did not change. He was especially grumpy because SpongeBob's interference ruined his dream and subsequently disturbed his sleep.

"Meow." Gary's eyes were baggy. Out of everybody in the room, he needed the most sleep.

SpongeBob stopped smiling and looked down at his blanket in shame. He had known better than to enter people's dreams. However, the temptations that had been presented to him were too appealing for his childish mind to resist.

Patrick's facial expression of anger lessened to a deadpan face; he had only expressed his irritation in subtle ways. He saw no point in maintaining his anger against his best friend. An urge to drink soda suddenly appeared in his mind. He knew that his home's refrigerator ran out of soda a week ago. "Does anyone have a quarter?" He smiled calmly and glanced at the others.

An awkward pause.

Everybody else turned to stare at Patrick. The sea star's request was so abrupt that it took some time for them to formulate any responses.

SpongeBob chuckled. He was glad that Patrick unintentionally lightened up the serious situation. The starfish's ignorance and laid-back personality was not an entirely negative trait.

Patrick chuckled as well. He found the reactionary faces of the others to be amusing.

Another pause.

A light bulb lit up in Sandy's head. She stepped back from the bed and smirked. She assumed that SpongeBob's face of shame was merely a facade to hide his mental laughter; she considered SpongeBob's mood swing to be suspicious. "Alright. If you think this is all fun an' games, I'll stop by your dreams if you bother mine again." The squirrel thought that reciprocation was the best way for SpongeBob to learn the consequences of his antics. She spoke in a teasing manner.

SpongeBob looked at Sandy and beamed. "I'll see 'bout that." The sponge could not see the clever trap that Sandy had set below his foot. He began to look forward to playing with Sandy in the dream world. "I'm a karate master in my own dreams!" The sponge spoke enthusiastically.

Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Plankton walked through the open doorway to return to their homes. They felt like they had given the yellow sponge enough warnings.

Sandy giggled. "You ain't seen nothing yet, SquarePants." She tried to intimidate the sponge by saying a clever remark. The squirrel then exited the bedroom.

Patrick held out his hand towards SpongeBob. "I still need a quarter." He tried to be polite.

SpongeBob slid off of his bed and crouched. He took out a spare wallet from the bed's underside. He handed a quarter to Patrick and slid the wallet back into the underside. "You're gonna buy something?" He laid down on his bed again.

"Yep." Patrick nodded. "Thanks, Sponge." With a slight smile, he left the bedroom and yawned. His eyes were becoming heavier with each passing second.

Gary slithered back to his pile of newspapers and closed his eyes. He predicted that he will no longer encounter SpongeBob in his dreams for the rest of the night.

SpongeBob put the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. His smile lessened until his mouth was straight. After a few minutes of stillness, sleep returned to him.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-five minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob was standing on the summit of a giant purple mountain. In front of the mountain was a rugged terrain full of small cottages and farms. The yellow square looked up to the sky and stared at it for a few seconds. As a consequence, his body soared through the heavens and eventually broke through the barrier of his own mind.

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob flew out of his body. He gently landed on the floor and opened the library's door with a gentle Crrreeeaak. The sponge then slid down the slide.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob tip-toed into Sandy's bedroom. The door to the room had been left open. The sponge then hopped into the squirrel's dream cloud. He was eager to see what inside Sandy's head was awaiting him.

_S-S-S-S-S_

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed on the floor of a small room. The walls, the floor, and the ceiling entirely consisted of polished rock. The sponge stood up and took several glances at different parts of the room. He noticed that the room was almost completely silent. Whenever he took a step, its sound resounded throughout the room.

A pause.

The sponge walked up to a wall and felt its surface. He assumed that there was something in the room that was hidden.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, after feeling specific areas of the wall, perceived the outline of a doorway. He pushed the middle of the closed doorway to see if it was going to open.

The huge stone slab did not budge at all.

SpongeBob stepped back and put a hand on his chin as he thought critically. If Sandy was resourceful and clever, the sponge concluded that such skills are needed in order to navigate the squirrel's dreams.

A pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The sponge raised his dominant hand and rapidly karate-chopped the tiny slits that the doorway's outline consisted of.

**SLAM**

The stone slab leaned backward and fell to the floor.

SpongeBob smiled at his small victory. The yellow square then walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out in surprise. Surrounding him and the stone room was a white void. Sandy was nowhere to be seen. He had assumed that the stone room was part of an intricate labyrinth full of traps and puzzles. After three seconds of thinking, the sponge concluded that Sandy had created the stone room to distract him. The sponge then put a hand on his chin as he thought of Sandy's possible locations. He eventually decided that Sandy was hiding somewhere and was waiting for the right time to ambush him. He assumed that Sandy wanted to have a karate match with him.

A long pause.

Another light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. The yellow square could have an advantage in the upcoming fight by making Sandy follow him to his own dream. He could alter the properties of his dream's world with ease and consequently be able to beat the squirrel with ease. The sponge turned around and ran into the stone room.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob jumped into the cloud that was in the center of the room.

_S-S-S-S-S_

The yellow square landed on the bedroom's floor with a **THUD**. Unknown to him, Sandy's magical energy was outside her body and was moving in a certain direction. The sponge then jogged out of the room.

S-S-S-S-S

Six and a half minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed on the summit of the same mountain with a **THUD**. He took several glances at his environment and saw no changes that had happened during his visit to Sandy's dream. He then sat on the summit and waited for Sandy to appear. SpongeBob thought that having an impromptu match was too unfair.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob stood up and thought deeply about the current situation; he was trying to figure out the reason for Sandy's 'absence' in both his dream and Sandy's dream. The yellow square, within a minute, concluded that Sandy had not reached a stage of deep sleep yet because the squirrel's dream was nearly empty. He quickly jumped off the summit and slid down the mountain's surface. SpongeBob saw no point in delaying his dream adventure anymore.

S-S-S-S-S

Eight minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob reached a village that consisted of crop fields and large cottages. The men and women who lived in the village hastily walked past him as they brought crops from the fields to their homes. Some were giving a few anxious glances at him.

The yellow sponge's intuition made intuition made him think that the people were hiding something. He walked towards a cottage and looked through its window. He saw a treasure chest that had a paper taped on it. 'SpongeBob' was what had been written on the paper. Out of curiosity, he opened the home's front door with a **CRREEEAAK** and stepped into the cottage.

Behind the home was the true cause of the people's anxiety and hastiness. The person was waiting for the sponge to open the treasure chest.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the treasure chest and opened it. There was a wall behind the chest and the wall's window was above and near the chest. The window abruptly **SHATTER**ed and a white hand went through the open window. It karate-chopped the chest with a **SHOOP**.

The treasure chest broke into numerous pieces. Wooden fragments scattered all over the living room's floor.

SpongeBob became slightly irritated and folded his arms. "That wasn't nice." He tried to be polite with the malicious person behind the window. The sponge stepped to the window and looked through its opening. The yellow square looked down at the ground and gasped when he saw Sandy. "Sandy?"

Sandy stepped into the building. "Remember what I told you earlier?" She smiled slightly. "I didn't go back on my words." She was relieved that her plan was going as she had expected.

"Oh yeah..." SpongeBob remembered the small conversation with Sandy in his bedroom before she had went to her treedome. The sponge could not reply to Sandy immediately because she had just done what he had done to other people's dreams. Sandy gave him the ability to see his own actions from another perspective.

"It ain't too pleasant, isn't it?" Sandy folded her arms and maintained the slight smile. She did not want to look like she was commanding SpongeBob to act in a certain way.

"Yeah." SpongeBob nodded.

"That's why me and the others came to your house. What I just did is what you did to mine and other people's dreams. All of us became angry because you ruined our fantasies." Sandy said a few statements that she thought would trigger her friend's learning of the lesson she was trying to teach. "You understand?"

SpongeBob nodded again. He already knew that what he had done in other people's dreams was wrong. He could not figure out the reason for Sandy's teaching of such a lesson. However, the sponge saw no point in continuing the search for the reason. He focused on Sandy's intention instead. Sandy's willingness to outsmart him and trick him in order to teach him something valuable showed how much she cared about him. Among his friends, Sandy was a few levels below Patrick in terms of loyalty.

A pause.

"Anyways, why did you visit others' dreams?" Sandy assumed SpongeBob had learned the lesson. She asked that question out of curiosity.

The yellow square determined to be completely honest. "When I left my mind for the first time, I saw Gary's dream cloud. I went to Gary's dream 'cause I was curious. After that, I went to all of the other dreams because I could not control myself. The clouds were too tempting for me to leave them alone." He had a solemn face.

Sandy was able to relate to the situation that was just told to her. She remembered many times in her life where she had to resist temptations in order to achieve her goals. The squirrel smiled warmly as she heard the sponge's words. A light bulb lit up in her head. She had an idea for a trial that would test SpongeBob's determination. The squirrel wanted to have fun and also understand the sponge better. "I know something that'll prevent stuff like that from happening ever again."

SpongeBob's eyes sparkled with hope. "Really?" He put his hands together.

"Mm-hm." Sandy nodded. "In order to start that 'something', we gotta go to my dream first." She was assuring.

The sponge began to jump up and down in excitement; he could not wait to see what Sandy had in store for him.

"Just get there the way you did it before." Sandy turned around and dove through the window opening. She then rolled across the ground, stood up, walked towards the dream cloud; and dove through the cloud. Both the cloud and her body disappeared at the same time.

SpongeBob walked through the open doorway.

S-S-S-S-S

Five and a half minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob landed on his feet. Surrounding him was a vast desert that had massive sand dunes. The yellow square squinted at the horizon and saw the faint image of Sandy's body in the distance. He walked towards that image.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge was becoming fatigued. Rivers of sweat were running down his body and he was taking deep breaths. The sun was making his body lose energy more quickly. SpongeBob closely looked at his surroundings and saw an oasis. He stared at the oasis and swiftly walked towards it. He was allowing his intense thirst to overpower his willpower. However, when he was a few feet away from the body of water, he realized that the oasis was possibly an illusion that would thwart his goal.

A pause.

The yellow sponge ran towards Sandy. He was fighting his thirst, hunger, and exhaustion as much as he could. When he reached a certain distance, a giant basket full of dozens of bread loaves suddenly materialized in front of him. He grabbed the wrist of his right hand as that hand instinctively moved towards the bread. After several seconds of battling his own urges, he managed to stop his hand. He walked away from the bread basket and resumed his walk towards Sandy.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was not too far from Sandy. From the corner of his eye, he saw an elaborately decorated mansion that had a gate and a surrounding wall consisting of pearls and gold. He heard turned on air conditioners that were inside the building. The sun's heat then seemed like it was intensifying. Regardless of what his primal urges were telling him, he continued walking. Within a few minutes, he stopped walking and stood before Sandy.

Sandy was grinning. "I'm impressed. You got just as much 'strength' as me." The squirrel had been pleasantly surprised by what she had been seeing. She had not expected the sponge to be able to control his hunger and thirst.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean by 'strength'?" The sponge had not used much strength at all. He thought that Sandy was using a different definition of strength.

"A more accurate term would be 'resoluteness'." Sandy was trying to describe how SpongeBob resisted the temptations.

"What does 'resoluteness' mean?" SpongeBob scratched his head. He did not know the word's definition because he had not heard or read that word often.

"It means that you're determined or steady." Sandy quickly replied. Her grin lessened to a slightly smaller smile.

"Oh." SpongeBob made a deadpan face.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob began to chuckle. It took him a second for him to realize that he sounded like Patrick. "Oh" was one of Patrick's key lines due to the sea star's ignorance. He suppressed his chuckling when he saw Sandy opening her mouth to speak.

"I'm resolute too. It's what makes both of us work super-hard for our jobs." Sandy revealed how she was able to relate to SpongeBob once again. The squirrel certainly had learned of a hidden similarity between her and SpongeBob.

"Don't forget love." SpongeBob beamed and raised his index finger. "We can't work hard for our jobs unless we love them. It's like making a Krabby Patty." SpongeBob reminded Sandy that the jobs that they had are ones they had longed for. He noticed that Sandy did not mention that fact.

"True." Sandy saw no flaws in SpongeBob's statement. If she worked as hard as she was currently doing but for another job instead, it would be a living hell for her.

_**S-S-S-S-S**_

**About 200 years later...**

**S-S-S-S-S**

April 23, 2208.

Back in Bikini Millennium...

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas was sitting in the desk. He was thinking very deeply as he looked at the city through the front window. He was in the Administration Room (which was on the top floor of the Central Building). His laptop was closed and had shut down; he currently did not have any mandatory tasks to complete.

He was reflecting on what had transpired three days ago. Not long after he had brought Squidward's frozen body from the past, he squeezed the maximum amount of information about Squidward's thawing from the SpongeTrons. He had then painstakingly recorded the incident into his personal database. Squidward's thawing and Prometheus' visit was the biggest security breach that Bikini Millennium had ever received.

Every other case of interdimensional intrusion had been identified quickly, dealt with in a timely manner, and occurred near the city's outer limits. Those intrusions had been occurring for ten months. Thomas was adept at dealing with them; he had completed his Demon Summoning Program just a month after the first invasion.

A pause.

Thomas was going to make an important decision; he was deciding if he should punish Nicholas and dismantle the SpongeTrons (due to their assistance in Squidward's unfreeze and escape) or not punish Nicholas and spare the robots. The orange sponge had not thought about that decision until today's evening; the last few days had been dedicated into research about interdimensional intruders. After several more seconds, he stood up from his desk; he had came to a decision. He turned around and exited the room with a **S-SSHIIIMMM** and a **C-CLANK**.

Moonlight was passing through the front window. The crescent moon and the stars surrounding it could be seen in the dark sky above Bikini Millennium's dome.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

_S-S-S-S-S_

Nicholas walked up to the plate and put his foot on it. He put his bat on his shoulder and became absolutely still as he maintained his batting stance. He was wearing a baseball player uniform and a helmet.

The baseball field was on a dark brown plain. Bikini Millennium's dome could be seen in the distance. Thousands of retired athletes, various types of robots, and even a few humans were sitting in field's bleachers. All of their eyes were on Nicholas.

SpongeTron Senior was wearing a catching/pitching glove and a standard baseball uniform. He stepped back slightly and swiftly pitched the baseball to Nicholas.

**CLANG**

Nicholas swung his bat and directly hit the baseball.

The baseball flew out of the field and was flying so fast that it ignited. Within seconds, it broke into Bikini Millennium's dome with a **SHATTER**.

The orange sponge took a few seconds to admire the hole in the dome; he was savoring the feeling of accomplishment.

A pause.

His shoulders abruptly shook. In less than a second, the world surrounding him faded to black.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Thomas was shaking Nicholas' shoulders. His son had been sleeping in the bedroom designated for him. The bed was completely plain; it looked nearly identical to the ones used in hospitals. There were no decorations in the room; white covered the floor, ceiling, and the walls. A desk with many drawers and a desktop computer on top of it was in the room as well. There were no windows in the room because the bedroom was on one of the deeply underground basement floors.

Nicholas sat up and rubbed his eyes. He always hated getting awoken by his father, especially when he was enjoying a pleasant dream. His eyes were struggling to stay open because the room's lights had been turned on.

A pause.

Nicholas rubbed his eyes for a final time before making full eye contact with his father. "What?" He folded his arms and leaned on the headboard.

Thomas could tell that Nicholas was crossed. "Nicholas, what did I tell you about politeness?" He folded his arms and spoke sternly. He was not going to tolerate any uncooperative behavior from his son.

Nicholas sat in a straight manner and stopped folding his arms. Receiving such a response from his father meant that his father had an important message to tell him.

"You will not be punished for the destructive act you committed three days ago. Punishing you will most likely only heighten the likelihood of such rebellious wrongdoings. I have an alternative course of action instead. The SpongeTrons will be spared as well. Regardless of their sometimes unsuitable behaviors, their roles are too important." Thomas turned around when he finished speaking. The orange sponge then walked through the open doorway and turned off the lights with a **FLICK**. His face was deadpan as the door closed behind him with a **C-CLANK**.

Nicholas laid on his bed and wondered about the reasons for his father's strange behavior. Unlike him, his father spoke so formally that the sponge sounded almost like the SpongeTrons and Patrons. His father acted like happiness and passion had been drained out of his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

April 24, 2208.

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The alarm clock blasted its sounds into Nicholas' ears. It was a mobile set of headphones that had an A. I. built into them. The headphones would always fly to the sponge's ears on a certain time so their sounds could be fully heard.

Nicholas opened his eyes and took off the headphones. He stood up from his bed and turned on his room's lights with a **FLICK**. The sponge sat on a mobile seat and moved it towards the desk. He turned on the desktop computer and typed his username and password into it. He was currently performing his usual morning routine. Once the main menu finished loading, he clicked on a certain icon which was on the bottom list of applications (all of them had been put into that list by his father).

A new window on the computer screen appeared. The application would receive and record daily lists of assignments that had been sent by his father. Thomas clicked on the uppermost (latest) file on the list. However, instead of multiple assignments, there was only one. The file had text saying:

**'April 24, 2208.**

**-You will not have any other assignments today. I have assigned you with a special task that will teach you an important lesson in becoming the Master of Bikini Millennium. After our Hour of Praise ends, I will give you more details about the assignment. Do not ask me about the assignment before the Hour of Praise lest you receive my wrath.'**

When Nicholas read 'lest you receive my wrath', his heartbeat quickened and he sweatdropped. Although he could not control his rebellious nature or completely conform to the society he was raised in, he greatly feared angering his father. Thomas often screamed like a drill sergeant when Nicholas did something "wrong" regardless of the warnings given to him. The orange sponge stood up from his seat, crouched, and took out his signature baseball cap. He put on the cap in a backwards manner.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSHHIMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Nicholas entered the dining room of the central building.

There was a polished wooden table in the center of the room and three gleaming silver chairs surrounding it. A very long table on one side of the room had all sorts of pots, pans, and plates on it. The food on that long table would be used for breakfast, brunch, and minor snacks. The food were the fruits of the chefs' labors; the chefs cooked food that would be given to all citizens in the city.

Thomas and Georgette (his wife and mother of Nicholas) were standing in front of the table; they had been waiting for Nicholas. When they saw their son, Thomas walked to the table's right side and sat in the right seat. Georgette then walked to the left side and sat in the left seat.

When his mother sat down, Nicholas knew that that action was his cue. He walked to the south side of the table and sat in the chair near that side. The family always sat in those seats in that exact order. They did such a seemingly unnecessary ritual because his parents believed that it would bless their morning activities from any misfortune.

A pause.

The family stood up and held their hands together so their arms would form a small circle around the table. They closed their eyes.

Thomas said:

"Father, we give you our gratitude for the peaceful night,

and for the tranquil light of the sunrise.

For the rest that we managed to receive,

and the food that had been set on the table,

and the loving care that our citizens give to make our heavenly city undisturbed,

and every other aspect of the day that is so fair.

Assist us to do the acts that are in support of your will,

to be to others polite and just,

in every effort and move, in every word uttered,

so that we may grow more loving for the chosen now and every subsequent day."

The family stopped holding hands; the prayer ended. They all sat back into their seats.

Nicholas was staring into space. He was wondering about two words in the prayer that, in his opinion, were odd. Those words were "love" and "care". What he saw in his parents' and the citizens' actions was something else. He could not tell if they were truly concerned for him or were simply obeying the laws and what the "Father" commanded them to do. He never fully understood "love" and "care" because he was too confused to know their true definitions. Ever since he was a child, he knew that there was something strange about that breakfast prayer.

Georgette stood up and brought a few pots, a few plates, and one pan one-by-one from the long table to the center table. When she was finished, she sat down and looked at Nicholas.

Nicholas stood up and walked to the long table. He picked up all of the necessary eating utensils and set one of each type in front of his father's, his mother's, and his side. He gave some extra utensils to his father before sitting down in his own seat.

His father stood up and opened the pots. He put the three plates on each occupied side and began to serve the food.

Nicholas was trying to resist the urge to tap his foot. His impatience worsened with each passing minute because he was ravenous; his stomach was contorting with emptiness.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

When all of the food was served to the family's plates, Thomas sat down.

Nicholas grabbed his spoon and ate rapidly. His hunger and impulsiveness made him forget almost all table manners.

"Ahem." Georgette cleared her throat.

Nicholas stopped eating and made a crooked smile. He ate at a more slower pace and used the fork and knives when needed. However, he was still eating faster than his parents.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSHHIIMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas, Georgette, and Nicholas exited the fortress surrounding the Central Building. The guards stepped out of the way as the family walked away from the fortress.

Thomas glanced at the guards. He did not forget the fact that they had been persuaded by SpongeTron Senior to allow Squidward to leave the fortress. He began to consider the option of changing their jobs. However, he saved such thinking for another time; he focused his gaze on the family's destination.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The family was walking towards a church. A large amount of people had congregated near the building. They moved out of the way when they saw the family.

A symbol was above the church's entrance. The symbol was a wooden 't' with a hexagram in the center of the 't'. The words 'Yod Heh Vav Heh' were in engraved in golden letters on the hexagram's center. However, the letters were of a different language. Throughout the world, the church was recognized by that symbol. In Bikini Millennium, every citizen went to or stood near the church at least every morning to hear a sermon.

The family walked up to the church's entrance and entered it with a **C-CRREEAAK** and a **S-SLAM**. The entrance was a wooden double door and had been so ever since the first churches were constructed.

The other citizens entered the church in an organized manner.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and Georgette sat in the front row of seats while Thomas walked to the pulpit.

The pulpit was in the center of the area that was before all the seats in the building. There were seats on both the floor and the balcony above it. The painted windows on all of the church's walls depicted previous messianic figures. One of the painted windows depicted a man with a beard standing on a ship while holding the ship's steering wheel. A green parrot was on the man's shoulder while seagulls were standing on the ship's border fence. Below the painting was a plaque. 'Joshua' was engraved in golden letters on that plaque.

Behind Thomas was a white table with several magical instruments lying on it. A golden cup and a plate made out of pearl material was among them.

Citizens in white robes walked up to Thomas and stood next to him; they were both to the left and to the right of the pulpit. They were the designated servers that helped Thomas with the proceedings of the sermon.

When all of the seats on the floor and on the balcony were filled to the maximum with citizens, one of the servers walked to a piano and sat on a silver chair. He opened the book of compositions and flipped to a certain page. He then elegantly played a composition that was always played in the beginning of a sermon. The piano's notes could be heard throughout the church's vicinity.

Sunlight shined through the windows. It heightened the church's divine atmosphere. The painted windows and metallic objects in the church sparkled as if the people's unitarian god enhanced their glory through his touch.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

In the middle of the server's playing, the other servers began to sing. Their voices were heavenly and combined with the church's vibe to make the place seem otherworldly.

All of the citizens except for Nicholas sang with the servers. Nicholas never sung along during a sermon because he knew without a doubt that he was a terrible singer.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The other servers stopped singing.

The citizens became silent.

The server stopped playing the piano and stood up from his seat. He turned to the crowd before him and bowed. He then walked back to the other servers and stood with them.

_"Greetings, brothers and sisters."_ Thomas began to speak. A metal stick on the pulpit increased its height in order to accurately distribute his voice to the loudspeakers inside and outside the church. _"I welcome all of you to this dazzling morning given by our Lord. Time and time again, our Lord has protected our sacred city from foreign invaders who dwell in dark and sinful dimensions." _He was beginning his opening speech.

Nicholas maintained a poker face. He was the only one among all of the citizens in Bikini Millennium to become bored during a sermon. The youth disliked the monotony and conformity of the city's religious services. He wanted to have a deeper connection with the praised god by praising him in a more interesting way; he viewed the church as an obstacle between him and the "creator".

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas stopped speaking.

One of the servers walked to the white table. She picked up a book that had a white 't' on its front cover and a blue hexagram on its back cover. The front cover had the words 'The Livre' on it in blue letters. She walked to Thomas and gave him the book.

Everybody in front of the pulpit rose from their seats.

_"The Lord's word." _Thomas held out the book before the crowd. He gazed at the book as he held it out to show his respect for "the creator".

"Amen." Everybody else, including Nicholas, spoke in unison. The crowd in front of the pulpit sat down while the servers continued to stand.

Thomas put the book on the pulpit and opened it. He flipped to a certain chapter that he had planned to read for today.

S-S-S-S-S

More than forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and Georgette stood in front of the church; they were waiting for Thomas. The Master always left the church after everybody else leaves the building.

The last citizens exited the church and walked towards their homes or workplaces.

**C-CRREEEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

Thomas exited the church and walked up to his son. "Nicholas, return to your home immediately. The information you will receive will be very important." He spoke like he was saying a command. The orange sponge then walked towards the central building.

Nicholas and Georgette promptly followed the Master.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSHIIIMMMM**

**C-CLANK**

Thomas, Nicholas, and Georgette entered the Administration Room.

The Master turned around to look at Nicholas. "I will now elaborate on your special assignment. You are going to do some tasks throughout Dominion 53. You will also follow a set of instructions during your time at that Dominion. You will be sent to that city within an hour. Your mother is going to Dominion 53 as well because she is going to do some service for that community." He was speaking coldly. The orange sponge took out a small metal disc and gave it to Nicholas. "This contains the tasks you will do and the instructions you must follow."

Nicholas pressed the tiny blue button that was on the disc. A hologram appeared above the discs that had text saying:

'**TASKS:**

**1\. Clean the windows of buildings throughout the city.**

**2\. Pick up litter and put them into properly marked waste disposal bins.**

**3\. Deliver objects to the storage building of that city. You will have special permission to do this.**

**RULES:**

**1\. Do not become slothful while working.**

**2\. Do not wander to or visit other places unless instructed to do so.**

**3\. Do not play any sort of game whatsoever during working hours.**

**4\. Do not come back to Bikini Millennium until the designated time has come.**

**5\. Do not attempt to escape your working obligations. Committing such a sinful act is illegal and, when captured by the police, will make you undergo serious consequences.**

**6\. Do not talk to your mother at all. She will only serve as a distraction to your working obligations.**

**7\. Do not rebel against the authority of the people who hold power over you.**

**8\. Keep working until the designated times for breaks come. Resume your work when the designated time for another shift comes.'**

Nicholas immediately knew that he was not going to like his stay at Dominion 53. He could imagine the grueling hours of boredom that he would be obligated to suffer through. The orange sponge made a poker face to hides his feelings of irritation and disappointment. 'He thinks he can change me? I'll never submit to boring stuff like that. I'd rather do things my own way!' His mental voice was in direct opposition with his father. "Is there any real purpose to this assignment? All of the tasks are ones that even the least talented people in the world can do."

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Nicholas for a second, he noticed that his son used a contraction. "It will teach you about the importance of procedure and will also teach you about the importance of fulfilling responsibilities. Based on the actions you committed a few days ago, you lack both adherence to procedure and a lack of motivation to fulfill responsibilities." His father spoke honestly. He maintained his robotic tone.

'Responsibilities? He's just calling whatever task he approves as a responsibility. I felt like I had a moral responsibility to free that octopus, it's something that dad will never get.' Nicholas continued to argue with his father inwardly. In an attempt to hide his growing discontentment to the circumstances forced on him, he nodded in apparent understanding.

"Very well. Wait at the terminal near the city's border. When you receive my permission, you will step on a machine that will teleport you to Dominion 53." Thomas sat in his desk and opened his laptop. He turned it on and read a list of today's required administrative tasks. "You two are dismissed."

Nicholas and Georgette exited the room with a **S-SSHIMM** and a **C-CLANK**.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and Georgette were standing inside Bikini Millennium's terminal. Many workers were teleporting to and from places scattered throughout the world. Some of them were delivering important items while others were going to places for other reasons. The terminal consisted of one expansive room.

**VRRRRRR**

Georgette's smartphone vibrated. The light orange sponge took out the phone from her purse and turned the screen on. She saw a text message from Thomas saying: 'You now have permission to enter Dominion 53.' She turned to look at her son. "We can go to the other city now." She spoke with slight enthusiasm. The mother was more expressive than Thomas.

The two walked towards a blue circle that was emitting light. The circle was in a glass container that had machine parts on its exterior surface. A large label that had text saying 'DOMINION 53' was on the container. The two stepped into the container.

A pause.

**BAMF**

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and Georgette were teleported to Domimion 53; the duration of their trip between cities was a nanosecond. The two then walked towards the terminal's exit. Dominion 53's terminal was somewhat smaller than Bikini Millenium's.

**S-SSHHIIMM**

**C-CLANK**

The mother and the son exited the terminal.

S-S-S-S-S

The city's appearance was noticeably different when it came to that of Bikini Millennium's. The buildings were made out of brick or other types of normal material and consequently were of different colors. There were also shops and small businesses that were scattered throughout the city. Citizens wore different types of clothing; one class of people all wore the same clothes while another class wore a different set of clothes. Like Bikini Millennium, the city had a transparent dome that completely covered the city.

A man wearing gray clothes walked up to Nicholas. "I have been waiting for you. Your father informed me about the tasks you will do in this Dominion." He was the main manager of Dominion 53's businesses and services. "Follow me." He walked towards elsewhere.

Nicholas glanced at his mother before following the man. He had viewed his mother as a shield that protected him from the challenges that are awaiting for him. Without that 'shield', he was vulnerable to whatever the man was going to him to.

Georgette walked towards a heavily damaged church. She had decided for today that she was going to assist in the rebuilding of some churches.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The man stopped walking and turned to look at Nicholas. "Wait right here." He then walked towards a nearby building and entered it with a **S-SSHIMM** and a **C-CLANK**.

Nicholas noticed that there were Bikini Millennium Citizens that were cleaning the windows of a small building. He recognized them because he, his mother, and them were the only ones in Dominion 53 that were wearing completely white clothing. All other people in the city were wearing clothes of different colors or variations of white. He also recognized a few of their faces because he had seen them in other cities before. Bikini Millennium citizens that did menial tasks in other cities were known as service people. The group cleaning the small building was no exception.

A long pause.

**S-SSHIIMM**

**C-CLANK**

The grey-clothed man exited the building. He was holding a bucket full of water and a large towel. He gave the two objects to Nicholas. "You will start working over there." He pointed at the Bikini Millennium citizens that were cleaning the small building's windows.

Nicholas nodded and walked towards the group. In his opinion, cleaning was the most boring out of his three assigned tasks. His face became deadpan as he dipped the towel into his water bucket. He wondered about how he was going to survive the grueling hours.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and another citizen were standing on a metal platform that was connected to the building's roof by several durable wires. They were cleaning the windows of the building's third floor. Other citizens on metal platforms were cleaning the windows as well.

Nicholas was trying with all of his might to keep his eyes open. The temptation of breaking the rules was intensfying with every passing ten minutes.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The Bikini Millennium citizens were walking towards a large building. They were finished with their cleaning of the small building's interior and exterior windows.

Nicholas had the urge to groan. He had built up a hatred against the dull task that he was forced to do. He predicted that the cleaning of the large building's windows would take four hours. When his eyes became too heavy for his comfort, he dipped his towel into the water bucket. He then squeezed the towel directly above his face. The cold water landed on his eyelids and forced his eyes to open widely as a result.

S-S-S-S-S

Two hours and a half later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and the other citizens walked away from the large building. They had completed their cleaning of that building. The orange sponge was struggling to stay awake; he was walking like a zombie and his eyelids were as heavy as large stones.

The grey-clothed man walked up to Nicholas. "Your father has informed me that you have spent enough time on the first task. You can take a five-minute break and then move on to picking up litter." The man then walked towards a small business; he was going to do an inspection.

Nicholas closed his eyes and held his breath. He dipped his entire head into the bucket in a desperate attempt at preventing himself from napping. His head absorbed the water and enlarged slightly more than two times its normal size. When he tried to pull his head out of the bucket, his head did not move at all. 'Uh oh.' He bit his lip.

The citizens acted like Nicholas did not exist; they were suppressing their urges to laugh.

The orange sponge wandered towards a building wall and bumped into it with a **CLANK**. He stepped away from the wall and bumped into the metal stick of a sign with a **CLANK**. He tumbled and hit a window with a **CLINK**. He fell to the ground with a **THUD **and rolled across the street as he tried to push the bucket off of his head.

The grey-clothed man was aware of what was occuring. He walked up to Nicholas. "Do you need any assistance?" He maintained a neutral facial expression.

Nicholas stood up and nodded.

The man firmly grasped the bucket and pulled it off of the sponge's head with ease. His experience with handling buckets allowed him to pull or push buckets quickly.

Nicholas squeezed the bucket's water out of his head; water squirted out of his holes.

The man took Nicholas' towel. "I will put them away. You should wait in that same spot," He pointed at the sponge's feet. "because I will also bring the tools needed for the next task."

Nicholas did not move. He nodded and then patiently waited for the grey-clothed man. He was trying his hardest to forget that awkward moment with the bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

The man returned with a metal rod that had a sharp tip on one end. He was also holding a large bag that was made out of nearly unbreakable plastic material. He gave these two objects to the orange sponge. "Start with this street and then do twelve more streets. Return to me once you finish cleaning that amount of streets." He walked towards the small business again.

Nicholas smiled with relief and tossed the bag over his shoulder. He thought that picking up litter was much better than cleaning because he could move to different places often. He thoroughly searched the street for leftover trash. When he found a pile of them, he quickly poked it with the rod's tip and put it into his bag.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas was walking down a sidewalk and was picking up any trash that was lying in his path. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large group of policemen enter a building with **RUMBL**ing feet. After another minute of walking, a group of policemen formed a blockade on one path of a four-way intersection. He stopped walking and tilted his head to the side as he pondered about the reasons for the police's presence.

A pause.

Nicholas walked up to the blockade and stood on his tip-toes so he could look through the policemen. He noticed that another blockade had formed at the other end of the street. That blockade piqued his curiosity and he poked a police officer on the shoulder.

The police man was wearing a heavy amount of equipment. He was holding a laser rifle, wore a bulletproof vest that had pockets full of gadgets, a bulletproof metal helmet, a pair of dark glasses that allowed him to focus on targets, pants that had pockets full of other weapons; and metal boots that gave him the ability to run quickly and traverse obstacles. If someone from the past Bikini Bottom saw the police officer, he/she would have mistook him for a soldier. "Yes?"

"Why're you blocking the roads?" Nicholas asked calmly.

"You should resume your work duties. We may have to arrest you if we see you being slothful." The police officer replied quickly with a serious tone. He turned to look at what was ahead of him.

Nicholas sighed. He picked up some cans and put them into his bag. The officer's refusal to reveal information made the sponge sour. Unsatisfied curiosity always nagged at him until it becomes satisfied. He tried to force the curiosity to leave by focusing on the trash ahead of him.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas turned around. His bag contained a large amount of trash. He had mentally counted how many streets he had cleaned and knew that he finished his task. The orange sponge walked towards the small business that the grey-clothed man had entered.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSHIIMMM**

**C-CLANK**

The grey-clothed man exited the small business. He saw Nicholas and walked towards the orange sponge. "Are you finished with the task?" He noticed that the sponge was sitting on a sidewalk.

Nicholas nodded.

The man took the bag off of Nicholas' back and also took the metal rod. "As I said before, be patient. The preparation for the next task will take longer than the previous preparations." He walked towards elsewhere but continued to look at the sponge. "I will return to your location promptly." He looked ahead.

Nicholas remained in his sitting position. He currently saw no reward in taking a risk by wandering around the city.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

A police officer marched past the orange sponge. He saw the sponge from the corner of his eye and turned to look at him. The policeman raised his brow in suspicion. "Why are you idly sitting?"

Nicholas calmly made eye contact with the officer. "I'm waiting for a man in gray clothes to come back to me. He's preparing some equipment that I need for doing the task of delivering objects." The orange sponge laid down on the sidewalk and spoke in a casual manner. In Bikini Millennium, getting questioned by the police had happened so many times that it became a normal incident.

The police officer critically thought about his next course of action. After several seconds, he decided to remain in a stationary position. "I will wait until the manager returns." The main manager was easily recognizable because that man was the only person in the city to wear gray clothes.

S-S-S-S-S

Five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The gray-clothed man jogged up to Nicholas. He was holding a list that was on a long piece of paper. "Take this." He gave the paper to the sponge. "The list has the locations that you will go to and the destinations for the delivered objects. Complete every task on the list. The last item on the list is the address of the city's governmental building. You will find me in that building." The man walked towards the seemingly distant governmental building. He tried his best to make his explanation as precise as possible.

The police officer walked away from Nicholas; he no longer considered the sponge to be suspicious.

Nicholas stood up and glanced at the first item on the list. He then took out a small metal chip that he had taken before he and his mother had went to the terminal. He snapped his fingers and the chip immediately turned on.

A hologram formed above the chip and showed the map of Dominion 53, A flashing red dot was what represented Nicholas' location.

"Show me the location of 293 Stone Street." Nicholas commanded.

A flashing green dot appeared on the hologram. The dot represented the location of his first destination.

Nicholas walked towards that destination while looking at the hologram. He folded the paper and tucked it into a pocket of his.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas stopped walking and perceived that the building in front of him was a skyscraper. In the hologram, the red dot and the green dot were on the same location. The sponge turned off the chip with a snap of his fingers. He put the chip away and stepped up to the front door. He pressed a red button that was near the door. In his society, deliverymen always rang the doorbell before entering a building.

**DING DONG**

The sound of the doorbell could be heard throughout the skyscraper.

A pause.

**S-SSHIMMMM**

An old woman was standing in the open doorway. She was the CEO of a successful business. The woman instantly recognized Nicholas because Thomas had sent a message to her about his son and the tasks that his son was doing. The message also had a photo of Nicholas. "I have been waiting for you." She spoke with a slight smile. "Because you are not holding a pickup rod or towel, I believe that you are here to deliver something. Am I correct?"

Nicholas nodded. "Mm-hm." He said an informal version of "yes". He did not want talk with the lady for too long because he was eager to explore Dominion 53 while doing his task.

The lady raised her brow slightly. She noticed the informality of Nicholas' reply. She was a person who was highly attentive to details. "What your father had written was true. When you return to your home. you should learn how to improve your manners." She spoke with a scolding tone.

Nicholas was not pleased with the lady's words. His smile lessened until he had a deadpan face. Since his father and the grey-clothed man were not nearby, he felt like could get away with actions that were on the verge of breaking the rules. "I don't have perfect manners. There are too many 'manners' in the world for me to choose from." He smiled slyly. He revealed a side of himself that he rarely showed within the public's eye. He looked at his environment and was relieved to perceive that nobody else was outside and nearby.

"Excuse me?!" The lady folded her arms. She was offended by Nicholas' 'insensitive' remark.

Nicholas gave the woman a puzzled look. He intended his remark to be both funny and scornful He had tried to make a joke in an attempt at making the woman forget his 'rude' reply. He had assumed that the lady would focus on the positive interpretation of his words instead of the opposite. He had not put much forethought into his words and had allowed his impulse to seize his mind's reigns. When not around major figures or authority, he was often one to speak what was on his mind.

An awkward pause.

Thomas tried to divert the lady's attention from the failed joke attempt. "What do you want me to deliver?" His instincts served him well.

The old woman saw no point in arguing any further over the sponge's remark and joke attempt. 'I was given a fair warning. I should have expected filthy words to come out of that youth's mouth.' She decided to hide her annoyance. "A box of machine parts." She turned around and walked into the office in search of the object.

A pause.

A sense of achievement washed over the orange sponge. This was the first time he had ever given such a remark in public. All of the other times when he had spoken bluntly were out of the public's view. His fear of receiving punishment prevented him from speaking in such a manner before his father. Regardless, his recent remark was one of the wittiest lines he had ever spoken.

The sponge smiled nonchalantly. The pressure of the rules being forced upon him lessened to the point where Nicholas thought that the rules were nonexistent. His heartbeat quickened as the duration of his wait increased. The risk of getting caught that came with breaking the norms gave him a potent sense of excitement. Exhilaration was a feeling that he rarely felt; his society suppressed such "sinful" emotions as much as possible. The forbiddenness of the feeling made Nicholas greedily savor it whenever it came to his doorstep.

Without thinking critically, Nicholas sat on the sidewalk. He knew that sitting on the sidewalk was against the norms of citizen etiquette. His heartbeat became so fast that he could hear it. He had slightly felt his heartbeat when he had sat while waiting for the gray-clothed man and when he had asked the police officer; both actions were deviations from the norms. However, his exploration into dark areas locked away by strict laws became interrupted by a **S-SHIIIMMM **and a **C-CLANK**.

Nicholas leaped to his feet.

The old lady exited the building. She was holding the box. "Do you have the coordinates for your destination?" She spoke hastily. She had matters in her office that required her attention.

"Yeah." Nicholas pointed at his tucked paper.

The woman dropped the box to the sidewalk and walked towards her office. "Please deliver the box as soon as possible." She spoke right before the door closed with a **S-SSHIIMM **and a **C-CLANK**.

The orange sponge took out the chip and turned it on. He deleted the coordinates in the hologram for the skyscraper and replaced it by inputting coordinates for the next destination. He then gazed at the box. He guessed by its size that it was quite heavy and smiled. The other tasks, in his opinion, were dull due to their easiness. He considered his current task to be ideal because it had an emphasis on exploration and was also, by his standards, to be challenging. He swiftly put the chip on top of the box and then picked up the box. He briskly walked towards the next location.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven and a half minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas was glancing at a vacant street that he was walking towards. He did not hear any voices or footsteps other than his own. It was so quiet that he could hear the giant air conditioners that provided the city with clean air. The silence did not discourage him; his walking did not slow down. He liked the change in atmosphere; he was too familiar with the repetitive sounds of chattering citizens and noisy machinery.

The sponge reached an intersection. As he walked across the street to the other sidewalk corner...

**RRRRRRRUUUUUUMMMMMMMBLE**

...he heard a sudden rush of booming footsteps. He cautiously glanced at his right and saw an incoming stampede of police officers. Out of fright, he scurried to the sidewalk corner and crouched in a corridor between two buildings. It was the weapons that triggered his anxiety instead of the badges on their vests (like in the past, all police officers wore badges). The trigger of his fear was very different from how other citizens feared the police.

The police officers ran down the street and aimed their laser rifles at a certain target. They then pulled the triggers.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW **

Numerous lasers were fired from their rifles.

Nicholas' eyes bugged out. He had heard the sounds of gunfire only two other times in his life. Those two other times had happened during his childhood. The sponge tip-toed from the corridor and peeked from a building to see what the policemen were firing at.

Two fleeing male citizens got hit many times by the lasers; they were the police officers' targets. They fell to the street with a **T-THUD** and became permanently still; the lasers killed them. Blood oozed out of the many wounds on their backs.

Nicholas jaw dropped and his face became pallid. He was so shocked by the horrifying sight that time seemed to have slowed down. He put his hands over his mouth and his body violently shook in anxiety.

A long pause.

A few police officers picked up the bodies while the other officers turned around in search of their other targets.

Nicholas quickly returned to his normal senses. He ran towards elsewhere and paid attention to the hologram in front of him. However, the image of those two dead people did not leave his mind; the violent scene had mentally scarred him.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Many mental questions were filling Nicholas' head. However, he could not come to a satisfying conclusion; he had too little information. It took him thirty seconds for him to notice that he was standing before his destination. He dropped the box to the sidewalk and walked up to the entrance. The building in front of him was a warehouse. He pressed a blue button that was next to the door.

**DING DONG**

A pause.

**S-SSHIIIMMM**

The door opened to reveal a man wearing a blue business suit. He walked to the box, took off the chip from the box, seized the box, and walked back to the warehouse. "Thank you for your cooperation." He spoke before the door closed with a **C-CLANK**.

The orange sponge took out the paper and inputted new coordinates into the chip. He then walked towards elsewhere. The horrifying images of the citizens' deaths immediately returned.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas reached a small building. The building was the business and service headquarters of Dominion 53. He rung the doorbell with a **DING DONG**. He was finished with the delivery task.

**S-SSHIIIMMM**

The door opened and the grey-clothed man stepped out of the building. "Are you finished with the task?" He folded his arms.

Nicholas nodded.

"You will have a five-minute break." He took out his smartphone, turned it on, and tapped on a timer app. "You will be doing the same tasks in the same order for two more cycles. Once you complete those cycles, you will be allowed to return to your home." He was paraphrasing Thomas' instructions. He then walked back into the building and the door closed with a **C-CLANK**.

Nicholas looked around and spotted the same Bikini Millennium citizens cleaning another building. He then sighed and looked down at the sidewalk. He felt like a robot; he was dissatisfied with the tiny amount of freedom that he received. The sponge thought that a longer break was necessary. Since the Bikini Millennium citizens were all wearing white, he predicted that the police would not notice his absence. He took off his baseball cap, turned off the chip and put it away, and took out another gadget. It was a metal container with a keypad on top of it. He turned the gadget on and aimed it at the cap he was holding. He pressed 'SHRINK'.

A ray of light came out of the container and touched the cap. The cap shrink to the size of a small apple.

Nicholas put the cap into the container, turned off the container, and put the gadget away. By not wearing his cap, he was no longer distinguishable among Bikini Millennium citizens. He wandered to a nearby building and noticed that it had a steel fire escape. He climbed the ladder and walked up the stairs until he reached a window. He then leaped to the roof.

The orange sponge laid on the roof. He took a deep inhale and exhale.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Several police officers had been inspecting the Bikini Millennium citizens at regular intervals. They noticed that Nicholas was not among the citizens as expected. The gray-clothed man had informed them that Nicholas was taking a five-minute break and will resume his cleaning duties. However, the officers now knew that the gray-clothed man's words were untrue.

The leader of the police group took out his smartphone. He sent a voice message to the contacts of other police leaders. "Attention, policemen. A Bikini Millennium citizen has not resumed his duty on time. Find the citizen and arrest him immediately. He is an orange sponge who wears a baseball cap." He had seen the sponge enough times to memorize the sponge's appearance.

The police officers separated towards different directions. They carefully inspected their surroundings for any signs of Nicholas.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas overheard the police leader's words. He jumped to his feet and desperately dug through his pockets for a possible solution. His heartbeat quickened and his excitement was nearly uncontrollable. For the first time in his life, he broke a heavily enforced law. His current emotions clouded his judgement within a second. He took out the metal box, aimed it at himself, and pressed the 'SHRINK' button.

A ray of light from the box touched Nicholas.

The sponge shrank until he was the size of an orange. He took out a laser pointer, ran to an edge of the roof, and aimed it at a nearby policeman. 'Time to have some fun.' The sponge smirked. His instinctual desire for self-defense consumed his rationality.

**ZAAAP**

The pointer fired a red laser.

S-S-S-S-S

The laser came in contact with the policeman's laser rifle. The weapon exploded with a **SHATTER**.

The policeman widened his eyes in bewilderment. He looked at the laser's source but did not see anybody on that rooftop.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas ran to another side of the roof. He saw five policemen running towards the **SHATTER** sound's source. He aimed the laser pointer at them.

**ZAAAP ZAAAP ZAAAP Z-ZAAAP**

S-S-S-S-S

**SHATTER SHATTER SHATTER S-SHATTER**

Rifle pieces fell to the street's smooth surface.

One police officer took out her smartphone. "We need reinforcements as soon as possible! We are being attacked by an unknown pursue-" She got interrupted by several lasers fired from the roof.

**ZAAP Z-ZAAAAP ZAAAAP**

S-S-S-S-S

Several police groups marched to the fallen rifle pieces' location. They had seen the lasers coming from the rooftop. They aimed their rifles at that roof.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

A volley of lasers darted towards the orange sponge.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas ducked and fired at some of the lasers.

**BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM**

The pointer's lasers and the rifles' lasers collided and exploded. The explosions deflected some of the lasers to the officers.

S-S-S-S-S

The police officers dodged the lasers and charged in a phalanx towards the building.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas looked down at the policemen and a light bulb lit up in his head. He ran towards the metal box, lifted it open, and dove into it.

S-S-S-S-S

The lid closed and darkness enveloped the sponge's vision.

Nicholas pushed a 'wall' of the box's interior towards one of the roof's edges. He kept pushing until the box came in contact with a hard surface. Assuming that he reached an edge of the roof, Nicholas calmly sat down as he waited for the police to leave the building.

A pause.

_Rrrruummmble_

Thundering footsteps.

_"Have you checked the interior rooms?" _Voices could be heard.

_"No. I will inspect those rooms immediately." _More footsteps. _"The criminal is most likely hiding in a place that we will not expect. I appreciate your input, officer #631." _

Nicholas' eyes bugged out slightly. He had never heard a police officer call another officer by some sort of name. When he had heard police conversations in the past, the policemen had always referred to each other as "allies" or "partners". His mind then wandered to other places; he wondered why the officers called each other by such impersonal names. If he had never seen those officers beforehand, he would have mistook them for androids.

_"Officer #375, search through the first floor. Officer #631, search through the second floor. Officer #463, search through the third floor. Officer #928, search through the fourth floor. Officer #559, search through the fifth floor. I will inspect the sixth floor. The other officers will search through the roof."_

More thundering footsteps.

A long pause.

Nicholas looked at his laser pointer and smiled. 'Smart move.' The sponge was glad to had brought the weapon with him. Before he had left the Central Building with Georgette, he had taken the weapon in case if he had to defend himself. He had taken the box and other gadgets as well because he had thought of other worst-case scenarios.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The roof was abnormally quiet.

_"Officers, have you found anything suspicious?"_

_"Negative. Not a single sign of a crime or person could be found in the floor I searched through."_

_"No."_

_"I have not found anything of note."_

_"The floor that I looked through was abandoned."_

_"I have not found anything important."_

_"The sixth floor has no signs of a suspect, either. However, can any of you provide any possible locations for the criminal?"_

A pause (the officers were shaking their heads).

_"I see. It seems like our search for the criminal has come to a halt. We will have to resume our normal duties until we find any signs of the criminal. Everybody, please return to your former posts. Notify any incoming groups that there are no signs of the criminal."_

_"How should we handle the search for the rebellious citizens?"_

_"I beg your pardon. Please explain these 'rebellious' citizens to me."_

_"A group of lower-class citizens have received taxes that are larger when compared to those of other citizens. They have violated several minor laws and do not conform to our norms of proper behavior. Under the Master's permission, they justly received those taxes. When a report of their actions was sent to the Master, the Lord spoke to the Master. Following the Lord's advice, the Master said that the rebellious citizens deserve the death penalty."_

_"I understand."_

Booming footsteps. They slowly became more and more quiet until they could no longer be heard.

Nicholas was wide-eyed. He was utterly shocked by what he had heard. The sponge had thought that his all-loving god would never command someone to commit such a horrible deed. He also had thought that his father would never decide to give a citizen the death penalty. In Bikini Millennium, no one had broken the law ever since ten years ago. The last caught criminal received the punishment of being sent to another city.

A long pause.

Nicholas climbed a 'wall' and opened the lid. He peeked through the slight opening and saw nobody else on the rooftop. He then slipped out of the box.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge put his hand on a glass part of the box (where the ray comes from) and tapped the 'ENLARGE' button with his foot.

A ray of light touched his hand and his body grew back to its normal size.

The sponge sat on the roof and reflected on what had just happened. His surroundings were quiet enough to possibly fool him into thinking that the police fight did not happen at all. The sequence of events had passed by quickly and he had underestimated the power of his impulsiveness.

However, his mind was still focused on the information he overheard from the police. 'Why would they kill someone just because he broke a few silly rules?' He had never heard or read about such outrageous punishments in Bikini Millennium. The mental question unintentionally gave him a sense of pride. He realized that he broke a major law and successfully avoided the authorities, he considered that criminal act to be an achievement. The thrill he felt when he broke the law was similar to the one he felt when he had discovered sports and had watched a game of it.

Nicholas stood up and walked to the roof's edge. He was aware that the police were not too far from his location. He looked down at the Bikini Millennium citizens and noticed that the police were not watching them. A light bulb lit up in his head. He then put away his metal box and laser pointer. He then jogged down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**S-SSHIMM**

**C-CLANK**

Nicholas tip-toed out of the building, glanced around, and still saw no policemen. "Phew." He wiped his brow in relief. He knew the riskiness of leaving the building the normal way. He then scurried to the group of Bikini Millennium citizens. He snatched an untouched bucket full of water and a towel. He squeezed himself into the group's middle so he would not get noticed by the police.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The gray-clothed man walked to the group to see if Nicholas was in that group. He had not been informed by the police about Nicholas' criminal act. He eventually spotted the sponge and poked the sponge's shoulder.

Nicholas looked at the gray-clothed man from the corner of his eye. He was not drowsy at all because he was trying to focus on his task. His fear of getting arrested had maintained his state of high awareness.

"Your father sent me a message; your leave has come. You must go to the terminal and return to Bikini Millennium. Your mother is waiting for you." The grey-clothed man handed a small piece of paper to Nicholas. "This paper contains the coordinates for Dominion 53's terminal." He then turned around and hastily walked towards some other place.

Nicholas took out the metal chip, turned it on, inputted the new coordinates, and walked towards the terminal.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas walked up to Georgette. He had carefully avoided police officers and consequently took longer than usual to move through the city.

"What has taken such an excessive amount of time for you to get here?" His mother raised her brow. She had expected her son to arrive here promptly.

"There was alotta traffic. That's all." Nicholas spoke in a casual manner; he wore a convincing mask of innocence.

Georgette believed Nicholas' words.

The two entered the terminal with a **S-SSHIIMMM** and a **C-CLANK**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas and Georgette exited the terminal. They were now standing in Bikini Millennium once again. As the two walked towards the Central Building, the teenage sponge realized that he had forgotten about his father's rules.

Nicholas took out the metal disc and turned it on. He skimmed through the rules and noticed that he had broken most of them. He looked at his mother from the corner of his eye and mentally smiled. 'They'll never find out. I think I've covered my tracks pretty well.' He put the metal disc away and walked at a more casual pace.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked across the laboratory. He entered the 'FOREIGN OBJECTS' room with a **S-SSHIIMMM** and a **C-CLANK**.

S-S-S-S-S

Thomas walked up to sixteen glass cylindrical containers.

The containers had name tags on them. The name tags had these names: '**DUBHE, MERAK, PHECDA, MEGREZ, ALIOTH, MIZAR, BENETNASCH, MEPHILES, IBLIS, SOLARIS, POLARIS, DENEBOLA, SPICA, ARCTURUS, COR CAROLI, CANOPUS**'. Each container contained a small floating orb of light.

The orange sponge carefully inspected each container. He perceived that each orb in the container had grown in size. 'Excellent. The servants of the Lord are regrowing at the expected pace. It is truly distressing that they had failed to purify the universe that they had been recently sent to.' The sponge then turned around and walked towards another part of the storage room. 'I should not be too concerned about those allies. A crucial part in my duty to fulfill the Lord's will still awaits me.' He stood before a very large metal container. He inputted a certain password into a keypad.

**SHHIIIMMM**

The container's door opened and a moderate amount of fog escaped from the container. Inside the container was Squidward's frozen body.

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_End of Arc Two_


	82. Arc 3: SpongeGuard on Duty

**Arc Three**

**Chapter 82: SpongeGuard on Duty**

* * *

**S-S-S-S-S**

**Back in the past...**

**S-S-S-S-S**

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

June 7, 2008

Late morning.

SpongeBob was painting on the canvas. The canvas was on a stand that was in the bedroom. Some strokes were broad while others were precise. He constantly switched between the thick and thin brushes. The yellow square was trying to make the most perfect painting possible. Less than two days had passed and nearly half of the canvas had been painted on.

The yellow square looked at his watch and then looked at the sunlight coming out of the bedroom's window. A light bulb lit up in his head. He carefully grasped the brushes and the palette. The sponge jogged through the open doorway and ran downstairs so he could put the tools away.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob entered the bedroom. The sponge opened the door to the library with a **CREEAAK**. He gently took hold of the canvas and walked towards the left doorway. He slowly slid down the slide while holding the canvas.

S-S-S-S-S

The sponge set the stand in the middle of the library. He adjusted the canvas so it would not fall off of the stand.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was walking towards Goo Lagoon. He was wearing his blue shorts and a pair of sunglasses (today was particularly hot). He had phone-called Patrick and the starfish agreed to accompany him during his visit to the beach. The sponge, after a few minutes, walked past the 'Welcome to Goo Lagoon' sign and searched through the beach's crowd for any signs of Patrick.

Patrick poked SpongeBob's shoulder. He had been searching for his best friend for a long time. He was wearing a green shirt with black text on it saying: '**I'M STUPID AND I'M PROUD**'. He was holding a cup of soda that he bought from a vendor.

SpongeBob beamed and faced Patrick. "There you are." He was delighted to find his friend. He had begun to assume that Patrick had immediately forgotten about the trip to Goo Lagoon.

"Sponge, I thought you were a goner." Patrick smiled slightly in relief. "You wouldn't know how many yellow people I poked." The starfish had mistook many people for his best friend.

The yellow square looked around and saw some people lying on their carpets. Those people were so tanned that their skins were in a dark yellow. "I see your point." The sponge smiled nervously. He assumed that the people in the beach were not fondly thinking of Patrick because of the starfish's behavior.

A pause.

A wave crashed into the shore.

The sponge looked at the wave and remembered something. 'Right. We gotta have fun. That painting got into my mind too much.' He tried to not think about the painting for Sandy. He walked towards the shoreline, stopped, turned around, and admired the pleasant scenery of Goo Lagoon. "What a beautiful day."

Patrick gazed at the ocean's waves and the clouds floating in the sky. "You said it, pal." His mind focused entirely on those two aspects of the beach. The sounds of the ocean induced him into some sort of meditative stare.

"Can you believe that the sun's making everybody yellow?" SpongeBob was saying whatever came into his mind. He always wondered about how the sun tanned people's skins into a yellow color.

Patrick looked up at the sun. "I could look at it all day." The sun transformed his vision into an all-consuming white. He was trying to see if there was something in the sun that nobody had noticed before.

"Uhh, Patrick?" SpongeBob walked up to the starfish and shook the sea star's shoulders. He knew that the sun was ruining Patrick's eyesight.

Patrick made eye contact with SpongeBob. He drank some of his soda and his eyesight became normal within twenty seconds. "What?"

SpongeBob stepped away from Patrick. "Nothing." He looked at the starfish's shirt, smiled widely, and put his hand on his chin. "Why're you wearing that shirt?" The shirt intrigued him. 'People might take that shirt literally.' He was concerned for the starfish's well-being. He did not want their visit to get ruined by bullies.

"It's just a way of being true to myself." Patrick spoke calmly. "Alotta people already know that I'm dumb sometimes. Wearing this shirt shows them that I'm not afraid to admit who I am. It also shows that I'm no crowd-follower or people-pleaser." The starfish passionately defended his reason for wearing the shirt.

SpongeBob realized that Patrick was following his advice about being true to oneself. The sponge patted the starfish on the shoulder and made a thumbs-up. "Way to go, Pat. You're in the right direction." He encouraged his friend to continue following his individualist path.

A pause.

"So, how's that tan coming?" Patrick could not figure out how tan SpongeBob was. The sponge's skin could be easily mistaken for highly tanned skin. The starfish was aiming to tan until he gets caramel skin.

"I dunno. Lemme check." SpongeBob held out his shorts to reveal his underwear. His skin color had not changed at all. However, the pants' shadow made his skin look like it was darker than before. "Looking good. How's yours?" The sponge was pleased with his skin's 'progress'.

"Just a minute." Patrick held out his pants from behind. The color of his butt's skin had not changed at all. He noticed that his back was darker than the rest of his body. He mistook his own shadow for a tan. "I could have sworn that I was laying on my back." He scratched his head in confusion. He laid the ground stomach-first so he could have a better view of his back.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick laughed. Patrick's latest line unintentionally became a joke when the starfish laid on his stomach.

Several groups of people ran past the two best friends. Those groups stopped in front of the shoreline and looked up at a certain surfer.

Larry was surfing a massive wave while carrying six people with both of his claws. The wave lessened over time until it reached the shore with a **SSpppllaaassh**. The lobster then kicked the surfboard to the air, threw the six people into the air, caught the surfboard and held it up; and caught the six people with the surfboard. The six people then stood up on the surfboard without teetering or falling.

A crowd was surrounding Larry. They clapped, yelled, and whistled as their form of cheering for the lobster.

SpongeBob glanced in Larry's direction. "Hey, it's Larry!" The yellow square pointed at the lobster. He was immediately impressed by Larry's feat of balancing six people on a surfboard.

Patrick gazed at Larry. "Wow." He never thought that lifeguards were capable of doing impressive acts. Before now, he had thought that lifeguards sat in their posts for most of their shifts.

Three enthusiastic fangirls ran up to Larry.

"Mr. Lifeguard, can I feel your muscle?" One of them was brave enough to speak first.

"Sure. Don't scratch the paint." Larry winked as he enthralled them with his charm. He gently set the surfboard on the ground and allowed the six people to step off of the board. He was doing whatever was necessary to gain the attention of all of the beachgoers. He absolutely loved being the "coolest" man in Goo Lagoon, his cockiness reached a new high.

The three fangirls touched Larry's muscles for several seconds and then ran towards elsewhere so they could tell their friends about those muscles. They were skipping and giggling in an ecstatic manner.

Scooter strolled towards his friends. He looked at Larry as he walked. "Lifeguard, how's the tubage?" He was thinking about surfing many waves.

"Gnarly, dudes!" Larry was aware of the friends that Scooter had. He pointed at the abnormally large waves that were crashing to the shore. "Better go now when there's still some left."

"Alright, yeah!" Scooter grabbed a surfboard from a surfboard pile near a lifeguard tower. His friends grabbed the remaining surfboards. "Woohoo!" The teenager dashed towards the ocean, dove into it, put his stomach on the board, and swam towards the nearest wave. His friends were swiftly following him.

An elderly couple slowly walked up to Larry. They were visiting Goo Lagoon for the first time in their lives.

"Lifeguard, can you point out the snack bar?" The old man asked politely. He was intimidated by the noises of the waves and the exuberant youth. He was more comfortable in an environment similar to a retirement home.

"Right over there." Larry pointed at the nearest snack bar. However, his increasing popularity had heightened his conceit and consequently clouded his enforcement. "But you guys are way too old and unsightly for my beach. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave" He folded his arms and lessened his smile.

The elderly couple walked away from the beach.

The old woman was impressed with Larry's assertiveness and decent manners. "So polite." She whispered to her husband.

Patrick narrowed his eyes at the lobster. He felt like Larry's polite order was too extreme for his liking. He elbowed the yellow square. "SpongeBob, SpongeBob..." He loudly whispered to his friend's ear.

SpongeBob looked at Patrick. "Mm-hm." His best friend's loud whisper diverted his attention from the prideful lobster.

"Don''t you think that Larry's being a jerk and a poser? He told those old people to leave just 'cause they were old. And he's also doing all of that cool stuff just to be the 'cool' guy." Patrick whispered his thoughts to the sponge. He did not mince his words at all.

SpongeBob, after a few seconds of reflection, agreed with Patrick's viewpoint. "You're right. It's never right to make fun of someone just because they're different. But Larry isn't like that all the time. Although his looks don't make it easy to spot," He spoke normally but then leaned towards Patrick's ear. "he can get kinda scared sometimes." The yellow square loudly whispered and then smiled in a silly manner. He could tell that Patrick was showing signs of aggression towards Larry.

"I bet he's a wimp when he's at his home; he's hiding his true self from everybody." Patrick continued to express contempt against Larry. "Being lifeguard is super-boring too. He probably doesn't even like being a lifeguard." He was saying his thoughts out loud without any hesitation.

"I think being a lifeguard is pretty neat. You get to save lives and make people follow rules." SpongeBob said his opinion, he was being honest. "Just imagine if I were a lifeguard." He said his thoughts out loud and let his imagination wander to distant places. "That would be so cool." He grinned as he daydreamed.

"Oh, what do you want to be a lifeguard for? Nobody really likes those guys. Being a lifeguard is so dumb. All they do is _blow, blow, blow _on their stupid whistles; _rub, rub, rub _that white stuff on their noses and show their gross misshapen bodies!"

A young man walked past Patrick and raised his brow when he glanced at the starfish's belly. "Dude, put that thing away. There are, like, children here." He was not too fond of fat people. The man then walked towards elsewhere.

Patrick shook his head in disapproval. "Almost everybody here is a meanie. They're like my parents when they make fun of my dumbness." He looked down at the shirt he was wearing. "At least I got the guts to wear this. Anyways, I'm going to the snack bar." He could no longer ignore his hunger and thirst. He strolled to the snack bar.

SpongeBob agreed with Patrick's opinion about lifeguards. He considered himself to be more "cool" than most of the beachgoers because he was one of the few that wore sunglasses and shorts. "Who needs to be a lifeguard? I'm cool." The yellow square continued to allow his thoughts to flow into words. He pulled his pants up so it would not reveal his underwear. "I'm every bit as cool as Larry. And if I'm not, let me be struck by a flying ice creak truck..." SpongeBob's eyes bugged out when he saw an incoming volleyball; he was standing near a volleyball game. He ducked and his nose touched a fallen coned serving of vanilla ice cream. "...AND LIVE!" He took a deep breath in relief.

Larry noticed the volleyball and the people who were moving out of its way. He took out his megaphone and held it out. _"Please do not carelessly throw volleyballs. You might injure the bathers." _He then put the megaphone away. He walked up to the yellow square. "SpongeBob, you okay?" He saw the vanilla on the sponge's nose. He mistaked the ice cream for sunscreen. "Hey! I didn't know you were a lifeguard." He knew that nearly all lifeguards wore sunscreen on their noses.

SpongeBob stood up and scratched his head. "Lifeguard?" He did not understand why Larry called him a lifeguard.

Larry pointed at the sponge's nose. "The nose."

The yellow square poked his nose and saw vanilla ice cream on his index finger. "White stuff?" He then glanced at the fallen cone of ice cream. "You think I'm a lifeguard?" He made eye contact with Larry. He was not sure if he should seize this opportunity of becoming a lifeguard.

"Sure, there's no hiding the lifeguard look, SpongeBob, and you've got it." Larry smiled assuringly. He had wanted a new member of the lifeguard crew for a long time. Goo Lagoon was too large for two lifeguards; there were several empty lifeguard towers in the beach. He desired for someone else to do the dirty work while he intensifies his popularity. There were several empty lifeguard towers in the beach.

"You really think so?" A smile slowly formed on the sponge's face. He had decided that he was going to take the opportunity. He was almost always eager to try something new, being a lifeguard was also a few steps outside his comfort zone.

"You bet I do. Say, we're a little shorthanded around here. How would you like to work the beach?" Larry pointed at an empty lifeguard tower. He could tell that SpongeBob was enthusiastic to obtain the position.

"I'd love it!" SpongeBob grinned in delight. He overreacted by hugging the lobster. His happiness increased too rapidly for the sponge to control himself.

"Alright." Larry picked up SpongeBob and set SpongeBob on the ground. He stepped away from the sponge. The lobster glanced at a group of friends who were nearby. "Leave that on the bench, Kahuna. Hey, Annette, come here." He signaled with his claw. Once the female teenager walked up to Larry, the lobster looked at SpongeBob again. "I want you to meet my buddy, SpongeBob."

"Hi." SpongeBob tried to be courteous.

'What a dork.' Annette kicked a pile of sand towards SpongeBob's face. She clearly had no interest in spending time with the yellow sponge.

Larry was not pleased with what Annette did. "Hey, guy's a lifeguard." He thought that SpongeBob deserved special treatment because of the sponge's "lifeguard" status.

Annette whistled in her friends' direction and signaled with her hand.

Several male and female teenagers ran up to Annette.

"There's a new lifeguard." Annette smiled and pointed at SpongeBob. She felt like what she had heard from Larry was important news.

Annette's friends whistled and clapped as they congratulated SpongeBob. They then lifted the sponge and carried him so they could tell everybody about him and create a bigger celebration.

SpongeBob realized that the only thing he needed in order to be popular among beachgoers was a lifeguard status. "It works." He quietly said a thought of his. He beamed as people clapped and cheered for him.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was drinking a cup of iced sweet tea as he watched SpongeBob's parade. He was concerned for his best friend and controlled the slight jealousy that he had. 'I hope Sponge doesn't become like Larry. He's gotta practice what he preaches.' He hoped that the sponge would not fall into a trap known as hypocrisy. Ever since his parents' visit, he was much more willing to let people know who he truly was. He now viewed popularity as a poisonous illusion of success.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Larry was putting some lotion on the back of a young lady. He then looked at SpongeBob and made a thumbs-up as a sign indicating that he was giving permission.

SpongeBob nodded, opened a lotion container, squeezed some lotion into his hand, and rubbed that lotion on the back of an old man.

S-S-S-S-S

Eighteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Larry were building a giant sand castle. Many beachgoers stopped by to marvel at the castle's magnificence.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Larry was repeatedly lifting a significantly heavy barbell at a fast pace.

SpongeBob was lifting a barbell with a cup on each end. The cups were filled with soda. He was repeatedly lifting it at a moderate pace.

A thirsty bodybuilder snatched a soda cup from SpongeBob's barbell.

SpongeBob leaned towards his left and eventually fell to the ground.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-one minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Larry were wearing green wrapped skirts and flower necklaces. They were holding ukuleles and were playing a certain composition with them. They were dancing as they played those instruments.

An audience surrounded them. They were clapping and yelling as their form of cheering.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Larry stopped playing the ukuleles; they were finished with the composition. The sponge bowed while Larry saluted.

The people cheered so loudly that their voices could be heard beyond Goo Lagoon. Once their last hurrah faded, they walked away and resumed their activities.

"That was the greatest, Larry." SpongeBob faced Larry and smiled widely. He considered his and Larry's performance to be his best moment so far as a lifeguard. He handed his wrapped skirt and ukulele to Larry.

"Yeah." Larry nodded, he agreed with SpongeBob wholeheartedly. He glanced at a massive crowd dancing to some pop music and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Say, how'd you like to take the second shift?" He could not abandon that opportunity for increased fame. For lifeguards, one shift was one hour.

"By myself?" SpongeBob looked to his left and right. He suddenly felt a sense of uncertainty. He realized that Larry's company had given him a sense of safety and security as a lifeguard. He knew that as long as the lobster was with him, the lobster would always save lives and do other duties in his stead. The sponge did not know all of the duties of a lifeguard.

However, he realized that there was a certain hidden feeling that had driven him to become a lifeguard. That feeling was the fear of Bikini Bottom becoming destroyed and citizens getting harmed by a force of nature (animal or weather; mind-controlled or not). When he and Sandy had saved Bikini Bottom by assaulting DoodleBob, he felt like he had a duty to protect the Bikini Bottomites. That battle was the first time he had saved Bikini Bottom in a major way; if he and Sandy did not volunteer, the town would have faced certain doom. That sense of duty lingered in his mind and was also what urged him to become a lifeguard.

"Only if you think you're ready." Larry was walking towards the large crowd. He bopping his head to the beat of the current song.

SpongeBob smiled with enthusiasm and optimism. "I'm not just ready." He picked up a nearby container of sunscreen, opened it, squeezed some to his hand, closed the container with one hand, and rubbed the sunscreen on his nose. "I'm ready-eddie." He put the container to its former location.

Larry continued to walk towards the crowd. "Well, I guess I'll just-"

**"HELP, HELP, HELP!" **A young man desperately called for assistance. He did not know how to swim; he was too far away from the shore to walk through the water and return to the coast. **"HELP, HELP!"** His limbs were flailing as he tried to stay above sea level.

"We've got a sinker!" Larry widened his eyes when he saw the young man. "SpongeBob, lemme take this. I haven't seem any action all day." The lobster ran across the beach and dove into the ocean with a **SPLASH**.

SpongeBob silently watched Larry's heroic rescue. He knew that he would have to do such feats eventually.

Larry rapidly swam across the seawater as the young man began to drown. The lobster then dove into the ocean, surfaced with the young man being held in one arm, and swam back to the shore. Once he reached the beach, he dropped the young man to the sand. He noticed that the young man was choking and that the youth's face was becoming blue. "Breathe, darn you!" Larry punched the youth's stomach in desperation.

The young man spat out a magazine and some seawater. He shakily stood up. "That's the last time I read and swim. You saved my life." He smiled to express his gratitude.

"Don't mention it. It's all part of the job." Larry nodded. He then walked up to the yellow square. "Y'know, SpongeBob, the babes and the big chair are great, but the best part is knowing you're the only thing that stands between these good people..." He glanced at a sign that had the text '_**Annual Hot Dog Chug**_' on it. Near the sign, people were cheering for several contestants. Scooter stood out among the contestants because he was eating the fastest. Larry then focused on the sponge again. "...and a watery grave. And that's what it's all about." He revealed his true and non-egotistical reason for becoming a lifeguard. He walked towards the large partying crowd again. "Their lives are in your hands now, 'cause I got a date with music. See ya." He jogged towards the crowd and moved through them until he reached the center. The lobster began to dance and quickly caught the crowd's attention.

SpongeBob looked at the ground. His sense of uncertainty worsened.

_SpongeBob leaned on the pole and his face lost all signs of expression as he contemplated about the several ways he could accidentally reveal the secret of the anchor arms during the competition for what seemed to him like an eternity. One thought eventually stood out in his mind, trying to avoid Sandy's exercise regime by wearing fake muscles wasn't going to last for very long once someone puts them to the test and he should've tried to do Sandy's exercises again and not give up. Trying to hide the embarrassing truth from everybody wasn't going to make his actual muscles any stronger._

He remembered the time when he had worn those fake muscles to avoid embarrassment and to impress Sandy. The sponge realized his ultimate fate and quickly accepted it. That fate would not stop SpongeBob from trying to save people's lives. If he could beat up DoodleBob and stop a worm's rampage, he could surely save someone from drowning.

A pause.

SpongeBob looked at the beachgoers playing in the seawater. His sense of uncertainty and fear of citizens getting harmed warped his vision; the people he was seeing in the seawater transformed into tombstones. He became alarmed and dashed towards the nearest tower. He climbed the tower and snatched a megaphone. _"Emergency! Everybody outta the water! Hurry! Emergency!" _

The people playing in the ocean gasped. They swam and ran back to the shore. Some of them screamed in panic.

SpongeBob climbed down the tower and stood before the gathered group of beachgoers. "Uhh... there are killer sharks in there!" He tried to say a convincing excuse. Killer sharks were a type of shark that ate many species of fish, regardless if those species were intelligent or not. Killer sharks were dumber than the average pet so they were considered to be wild animals.

A family of sharks were in that beachgoer group. They did not know what killer sharks were.

"Hey, that's my family you're talking about!" The father of the family became irritated and pointed at SpongeBob.

"A sea monster!" The yellow sponge yelled another excuse. He thought that all sea monsters were unintelligent and bloodthirsty creatures. He did not know that there were numerous species of sea monsters.

A sea monster that looked like a Chinese dragon walked up to the sponge. He was wearing glasses and a few pairs of brown pants. "You know, we sea monsters have made great strides in the fields of science and literature." He narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob in disapproval and slapped the sponge's face with his tail.

**SMACK**

The slap made SpongeBob fall to the ground.

The sea monster stomped towards elsewhere.

SpongeBob stood up and sweatdropped. He anxiously dug through his mind for more ideas. "Uhh, somebody went?" He had used up all of his decent ideas.

The gathered beachgoers glared at SpongeBob and walked back to the ocean. They resumed their playful activities.

"No, don't go!" SpongeBob held out both of his hands towards the beachgoers. His fear, uncertainty, and doubts changed reality again. He viewed the fun activities being done in the water as perilous stunts that could easily kill the participants.

An awkward pause.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. From the corner of his eye, he saw an abandoned ice cream cart that still contained ice cream. He ran to the cart and held out the megaphone. _"Free ice cream!" _He sung..

Everybody, including the beachgoers who were dancing, walked up to SpongeBob and formed several single-file lines. They were eager to receive the sweet treat.

SpongeBob opened the cart, took out a scooper, took out several bags of ice cream cones, and began to serve coned ice cream to the beachgoers. "Plenty for everybody. One for you, one for you..."

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Everybody except for SpongeBob was eating their ice cream.

"Okay, everybody got one?" SpongeBob looked at the people surrounding him. He noticed that they were all consuming the coned ice cream. The sponge then stepped away from the cart and walked towards another tower. He took a large roll of warning tape that had text saying '**DO NOT PASS**', several wooden poles, a hammer, and a box of nails. He silently went to work as the others continued to eat their ice cream. He constantly ran back and forth to get more wooden poles.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob wiped some sweat from his brow. He was finished with the task of building the fence. Warning tape had been put on each pair of wooden poles. He took a deep breath and held out his megaphone. _"Aha, now I got ya! Now you all have to wait one hour before you go swimming."_ He pointed at his watch. _"But just so you're not tempted..."_ He took out the tape roll. He rapidly stuck tape to people's bodies until people were trapped in bunches by the tape._ "...ladies and gentlemen, the lagoon is closed."_

Scooter did not like his current area's new lifeguard. Other beachgoers shared the same opinion. "We like Larry better."

The sponge smiled, he was not phased by Scooter's words at all. His fears had vanished once he had finished taping nearly everybody. His inconfidence became almost nonexistent. _"Does Larry ever give you free ice cream?" _He strolled towards an empty lifeguard tower.

**SLAM**

Patrick burst out of an outhouse. "Ice cream?" He ran around the beach in a frantic search for the free ice cream. "Did somebody say ice cream?" He was extremely hungry because he had forgotten to eat something during his stay at Goo Lagoon. His hunger began to distort his perception of reality. "Where is it? Is it here?" He ran up to the warning tape. From his viewpoint, the black words on the tape changed to '**ICE CREAM**'. "Huh? Ice cream, yay!" He became delighted and skipped through the tape. He ran as fast as he could through the seawater; he believed that the ice cream was somewhere above the sea. He ran so fast through the water that he received a butt cramp. He winced and grabbed his butt-cheeks. "Cramp!" His limbs began to flail when he realized that the water was too deep for him to stand.

"Holy cow, somebody's drowning!" A middle-aged man pointed at the drowning sea star.

SpongeBob was sitting on a seat that was on the tower's top. His feet were on an edge of the too. "Oh no, that's not possible." He shook his head. "The lagoon is closed." He did not hear Patrick's splashing.

A group of tied beachgoers scrambled to the tower. They were irate at SpongeBob's seemingly willful ignorance.

"Dude, get your butt in the water." Scooter pointed at Patrick. He was glaring at the sponge.

"If there was anyone in there, we'd hear them." SpongeBob still could not hear Patrick's cries for help. He was assuming that the citizens were trying to fool him so that they could free themselves from the tape. The sponge wanted to preserve his feelings of calmness and tranquility.

**"HELP, HELP! I CAN'T SWIM!" **Patrick's scream was heard throughout Goo Lagoon.

SpongeBob jumped out of his seat and put his sunglasses away. He did not immediately find Patrick's location. He was not sure if his best friend was in a situation entirely different then what was indicated by the sea star's words. "They would have to have crossed the line." His sense of uncertainty returned with full force; he was worried if he could save Patrick.

Patrick overheard SpongeBob's words. "I'm drowning 'cause I cross the line!" He yelled in SpongeBob's direction.

The yellow square spotted Patrick and his eyes bugged out. "Hold on, Patrick!" The sight of his struggling friend lessened the power of his fears. He leaped out of the lifeguard tower and landed on the ground with a **THUD**. "I'm coming!" He ran towards the ocean-water. His actions were similar to the brave acts he had done in the past. He snatched a life preserver

"Help, help! Can't swm! Butt hurts! Ice cream!" Patrick was yelling nearly random words. The sea star was becoming more and more tired as he continued to flail his limbs.

"Don't move!" SpongeBob aimed the life preserver at the drowning sea star. "Catch this!" He threw the object as far as possible,

**SPLASH**

The life preserver landed ten feet away from Patrick. It was impossible for the starfish to reach the object.

"Help, help!" Patrick did not cease his cries.

An early teenager poked SpongeBob on the shoulder. He was taped with a small group of people. "Quit fooling around, man. Get in the water." He thought that SpongeBob was the worst lifeguard he had ever seen.

'Oh, what am I gonna do?' SpongeBob bit his lip and sweatdropped. He only had very few options. The decisions he was about to make were crucial to Patrick's survival. He then put a hand on his chin. 'Got to think.' He began to run in circles so his mind could stay focused on the dilemma. 'Gotta think. Gotta run around and think. Gotta run around and think at the same time. Gotta think, gotta have a plan. Gotta think, think, think.' A light bulb lit up im his head. "I've got it!" He smiled and held out his index finger towards rhe sky. He seized a nearby straw and put it on the seawater. He drank the water so fast that his body absorbed it instead of digested it.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob drank all of the seawater that was in the vicinity of the beach. There were some waves of water that were coming from other parts of the ocean. The sponge was absolutely colossal; his shadow nearly covered the entire beach. "Well, you're safe now, Patrick." His voice was altered by the water in him.

Patrick was nowhere to be seen in the uncovered seafloor.

_"Help, I'm drowning! I've got butt cramps! I want ice cream, and now it's dark!" _Patrick was screaming within the sponge's body. He was banging the wall of the sponge's stomach.

SpongeBob immediately spat all of the seawater.

**SSSSPPPLLAAAAAASSSH**

The seawater near the shore regained its previous height.

Patrick was flailing his limbs again; he was still drowning. "Help, help! Help me, I'm drowning! **Help!**"

SpongeBob saw a boat near the shoreline.

A couple was sitting in the boat. The husband was holding a fork with a hot dog pierced to it. "To us." He spoke warmly.

The yellow square dashed to the shoreline and leaped to the boat. He landed near the boat with a **SPLASH**. While underwater, he grabbed the boat's bottom and shook the couple out of the boat.

**S-SPLASH**

The couple landed in the seawater and swam in place; they both knew how to swim.

"Sorry, here's your hot dog." SpongeBob gave the forked hot dog to the husband and anxiously smiled. The sponge then grabbed a paddle and rapidly paddled the boat towards Patrick. "Okay, Pat, here I come." He was near Patrick's location. "Come round, Pat. Here I am." He was a few inches away from his drowning friend.

Patrick tried to grabbed the boat's edge but his hands repeatedly slipped off it. In a desperate struggle to enter the boat, the starfish quickly moved his arms...

**SMASH BAM SLAM SHATTER SMASH BASH SMASH**

...and unintentionally broke the boat into pieces.

SpongeBob fell into the seawater again with a **SPLASH**.

"On, sorry." Patrick frowned. His apology was sincere.

The two best friends flailed their limbs as they struggled to stay afloat. The waves hitting them were becoming bigger and bigger. As the waves increased in size, their desperation worsened. The starfish tried to push and punch the sponge so he could keep breathing. As a response, SpongeBob tried to move away from Patrick.

SpongeBob and Patrick were both hit by a large wave that submerged them for several seconds. When they were no longer submerged, they coughed the seawater out of their bodies. **"Help! Help us! **We're drowning!" They yelled at the same time.

A pause.

The beachgoers could not help the two drowning friends because of the tape binding them. SpongeBob's fear of harm being done to citizens was ultimately the cause of the sponge's demise.

A tear ran down SpongeBob's cheek. "Goodbye, Pat." He had a heavy throat. The stiffness of his limbs was a sign that his death was near. From the corner of his eye, he saw several incoming waves.

"Goodbye, ice cream." Patrick began to say goodbye to the people and things he cherished.

Larry managed to rip the tape in half with his claws. He jumped to the ocean with a **SPLASH **and swiftly swam to the two best friends. He grabbed them with both arms and swam back to the shore. The lobster then released them from his grasp.

SpongeBob and Patrick landed on the ground with a **T-THUD.**

"SpongeBob?" Larry had a deadpan face. He was slightly annoyed.

"Yes, Larry?" SpongeBob stood up and looked up at Larry. He was not smiling either. The sponge predicted that the embarrassing truth was going to be revealed.

"You're not a lifeguard, are you?" Larry folded his arms. He asked the question in a solemn manner. He did not intend to show anger or other negative emotions.

"No, Larry." SpongeBob looked at the ground in shame and shook his head. The sponge, after his subpar performance as a 'lifeguard' and his experience of nearly drowning, felt like he did not deserve to make eye contact with the lobster.

An awkward pause.

The yellow square slowly walked to the warning tape. He thought that the task of removing the tape was only his responsibility. The sponge swiftly ripped the tape pieces from the objects they were stuck to.

"Need any help with that?" Larry was looking at the amount of tape that was not removed. He estimated that it would take a long time for the sponge to rip all of the tape. He had not finished his amount of lifeguard shifts for today.

SpongeBob shook his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-three minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

By that time, all of the tape and wooden poles had been removed from Goo Lagoon. Almost everybody was enjoying the nice weather in their own ways; some were swimming while others danced to some music being blasted from radios.

SpongeBob and Patrick were performing swimming exercises in a inflatable pool. Larry was teaching them how to swim. The two best friends found swimming to be easier than what they initially expected.

"Very good." Larry nodded. "You fellas are learning fast." He was impressed with the best friend duo's progress. He had offered the opportunity to the two friends and they had quickly accepted it.

Both the sponge and the starfish suddenly had aches in their rears. The two had been swimming too fast. "Ow, butt cramps!" They yelled at the same time. They stopped swimming and held on to their butts until the cramps dissipated.

S-S-S-S-S

Forty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The two best friends walked away from the inflatable pool. They had completely learned the basics of swimming.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Patrick did not have any ideas for future activities. He looked at the people doing various activities and could not find an activity that he really liked.

SpongeBob saw a mound of sand and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Let's build a sand castle!" He was eager to form his own unique structure. He grabbed several nearby buckets and ran to the mound.

Patrick followed the sponge.

"Go get some water." SpongeBob pointed at the ocean. He then karate-chopped the mound into a level of sand.

"Gotcha." Patrick nodded and snatched a bucket. He ran to some incoming seawater and scooped some seawater with the bucket. The starfish ran back with the water-filled bucket. "Where do I put it?"

"Pour it on the sand." The sponge beamed and pointed at the sand level.

Patrick swiftly poured the water to the former sand mound. He then sat on his knees and began to form the level into a certain shape.

The yellow square grabbed a chunk of the soaked sand and formed a cube. He put the cube to the right of the sand level.

A pause.

"Sponge, why did you become a 'lifeguard'?" Patrick considered now to be a decent time to ask his friend some important questions.

SpongeBob looked up at Patrick in surprise. He expected his friend to focus on the sand castle forming. "It was something I hadn't done before. I also had this urge to protect people from danger. After battling that bullworm, I thought that I had the potential to save people." The sponge used Patrick's question as an opportunity to release some hidden thoughts.

"Makes sense. I bet that's why you covered everybody with tape." Patrick, while in the outhouse, had overheard SpongeBob's protective actions and megaphone announcements. His intelligence increased by a level.

"I was trying to do my best, y'know. I tried to avoid swimming by making everybody safe." The yellow square made several sand cubes and set them near the sand level's perimeter.

"I gotta admit, Sponge. You being a lifeguard, trying to save me even though you couldn't swim, and all that, is really manly." Patrick had realized that the sponge's actions perfectly fit his ideals of manliness. He then put his hand on his chin. "If you keep doing stuff like that, you'll have a moustache in no time."

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob laughed.

Unknown to the two best friends, Sandy was strolling into Goo Lagoon.


	83. No Weenies Allowed

**Chapter 83: No Weenies Allowed**

* * *

SpongeBob remembered about the upcoming Surprise Sandy Day. The memory triggered the lighting of a light bulb. He stood up, grinned, and dashed towards his home.

"Huh?" Patrick looked at his best friend with a raised brow. "Where you going? Wait for me!" He raised his hand and chased the yellow square. He assumed that his friend was going to an entertaining place. His anticipation of the 'eventual fun' changed his concern into cheerfulness.

S-S-S-S-S

More than ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was standing outside the pineapple's front door. He was waiting for his best friend; he had seen SpongeBob swiftly enter the pineapple. However, his intelligence increase diminished his attention span. After several seconds that seemed like several minutes, he began to daydream.

**SLAM**

The front door abruptly opened. SpongeBob was holding a brown bag and was wearing his normal attire. He smiled slightly and shushed. "Don't tell Sandy about this bag. I've got a surprise for her." He whispered loudly.

Patrick made a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, buddy."

The two best friends walked back to Goo Lagoon.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick spotted Sandy. The yellow square dug through a sand mound, put the bag in the hole, and filled up the hole. "Watch this spot, Pat." The sponge glanced at Patrick before walking towards the squirrel.

Patrick nodded and stood on top of the bag's location.

Sandy was standing near a particularly tall tent. She saw SpongeBob from the corner of her eye as she gazed at the ocean. A light bulb lit up in her head. "Hey, SpongeBob, wanna go swimmin'?" She grinned and faced her best friend.

SpongeBob did not expect such a reaction from Sandy. However, he quickly adapted. "I think this gear is all I'll need." He simpered and pointed at his normal clothes. He was looking for an opportunity to get his bag and enter the tall tent.

"Shee-oot. How're we gonna go swimmin' when you're in a shirt and tie? You can't float easily with that stuff on ya, y'know." Sandy inspected the sponge's clothes and shook her head. 'I can't allow SpongeBob to nearly drown again.' Her smile lessened.

"Ah, yes. How foolish of me." SpongeBob insincerely cackled. He tried to act like he was being serious. "Allow me to remedy said situation right now. I will just use this changing tent here to change into my bathing suit." He walked towards his bag's spot.

SpongeBob's acting did not convince Sandy. The squirrel continued to look at the sea. "SpongeBob's actin jumpier than a rattlesnake in a pickle barrel." She could tell when the sponge was using a different persona.

The yellow square stopped walking. "Pat, you can step out now." He politely signaled with his hand for Patrick to move out of his way.

Patrick stepped away from the sand mound.

SpongeBob dug through the mound and retrieved the bag. He jogged towards the long tent and slipped through the tent's opening.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the bag and playfully smiled. 'Oh, I'll be changing alright, but not into a bathing suit. Wait until Sandy sees that I brought my karate gear!' He mentally spoke as he slowly lifted his red karate helmet from the bag. He wanted to have a spontaneous karate match with Sandy because the two had done the same activities every time they had visited Goo Lagoon. "Hi-yah!" He loudly whispered to himself as he flipped the helmet in the air. The helmet landed on his head. "Hi-yah!" He whispered again as he slipped the gloves into his hands.

S-S-S-S-S

Sandy was hearing SpongeBob's loud whispers. She predicted what her friend was going to do. With a smirk, she opened a compartment of her suit and took out her karate gloves. She closed that compartment and put on the gloves.

S-S-S-S-S

'Sandy won't beat me this time, 'cause I've got the elements on my side.' SpongeBob turned around and slowly walked towards the tent's exit. "The element of surprise." He spoke quietly and stuck out his tongue sportively.

"SpongeBob, are you ready?" Sandy's voice was heard.

"Yes, Sandy. I most certainly am ready!" SpongeBob tried to sound innocent. "Ready to get it on." He expressed quietly. He then leaped through the tent's opening. "Hi-"

S-S-S-S-S

"Hi-yah!" Sandy grabbed SpongeBob's ankle; she interrupted the sponge's kick. The squirrel kicked the sponge in the chin with a **KLOK**.

SpongeBob landed on the ground with a **THUD**.

"Look, SpongeBob, we both brought our karate gear." Sandy furrowed her brow in an attempt to intimidate the sponge. She positioned her body into a karate pose.

SpongeBob laughed and stood up. He brushed some sand from his pants and made a karate pose. He looked for a weak spot on Sandy's body so he could karate-chop her with ease. "Great minds think alike, I suppose."

"Hi-yah!" Sandy darted towards the sponge and karate-chopped SpongeBob to the air with a **SHOOP**.

SpongeBob's squarepants and shoes slipped out of his body and landed on his head. The sponge landed feet-first on something mushy. "I may be down, but I'm not out!" The yellow square glanced down at his own feet and noticed that they were in a bowl of high-quality potato salad.

"Way to go, buddy." The thirty-year old man who partially made the salad glared at SpongeBob. He was sitting on a picnic blanket with his wife and child. The family had been planning to eat the salad. "It took us three days to make that potato salad."

SpongeBob sweatdropped and made a crooked smile. He stepped away from the potato salad bowl and wiped potato remnants to the ground.

"THREE DAYS!" The man became irate and shook his fist.

The sponge grabbed his shoes from his head and hopped away from the vicinity of the picnic blanket. He wiped any remaining potato remnants on his feet to a rock. He then put on his squarepants and shoes. He walked towards a more empty area of the beach. He saw a sand sculpture which had a form that particularly looked like Sandy's astronaut suit. "Sandy?" He scratched his head.

"On, I'm Sandy alright." Sandy's arms suddenly came from the ground and seized SpongeBob's legs. The squirrel moved out of the ground and twirled the sponge's body. Her suit was covered with some sand particles. "I'm very Sandy." She tried to make a joke through wordplay. She tossed the sponge and kicked SpongeBob's back with a **KLOK**.

The yellow square rolled to the ground and stood up. "Oh, I get it." He smiled delightfully. "She's 'Sandy'. She's also covered in sand." The sponge was not prepared for Sandy's next move. As he spoke, Sandy was rushing towards him.

**KLOK**

Sandy kicked SpongeBob again.

The sponge soared until he had a decent glimpse of Goo Lagoon from above. He eventually became controlled by the forces of gravity and returned to the ground with a **THUD**.

Sandy walked towards a vendor who standing near an ice cream cart. "One coned rocky road, please." The squirrel held out her index finger. She was highly alert to any signs of her yellow friend.

The vendor opened the cart, took a cone, scooped some rocky road ice cream, and put the ice cream on the cone. "That'll be two dollars." She held out her hand.

Sandy took out $2 from a compartment in her suit. She felt confident enough in her karate skills to tell the vendor about something off-topic. She thought that she could counter any of the sponge's attacks with ease. "Back in Texas, we call ice cream 'frozen cow juice'." From the corner of her eye, she saw an incoming sponge. "Excuse me for a sec." She turned around and slapped SpongeBob with a **SMACK**. Her karate glove added extra force to her slap.

**THUD**

SpongeBob landed in the distance.

"Thank you." Sandy gave the money to the vendor.

The vendor put the money into the cart's cash register. "No, no, thank you." She smiled. The lady was trying to be polite.

"Hi-yah!" Sandy slapped SpongeBob again with a **SMACK**.

The yellow square twirled through the air and landed on the ground with a **THUD**.

Patrick was roaming around the beach; he had not the slightest clue about what he should do. He glanced at a wooden pole and noticed that it had a poster on it.

The poster was an advertisement for an exclusive club known as 'The Salty Spitoon'. It had a photo and black text near the bottom saying 'Only for the manliest of men!'.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. 'I bet SpongeBob's manly enough. If he was brave enough to save me at the risk of him getting drowned, then he would be good enough to enter a bar full of 'tough' people.' The pink star thought of many manly qualities that SpongeBob had. He looked around the beach for his best friend and eventually spotted him. The starfish walked up to SpongeBob. "Hey, Sponge-"

"Not now, Pat!" SpongeBob smiled and shook his head. "I'm in the middle of a match." He was inspecting Sandy from a distance. He was predicting the squirrel's next move.

"I wanna take you to this super-manly place that I think you can handle." Patrick did not mince his words. He was trying to catch SpongeBob's interest.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick. How Patrick described The Salty Spitoon aroused his curiosity. "Tell me more." He held out his hand towards Sandy to signal that he did not desire to fight her anymore.

"It's called The Salty Spitoon. It's for the manliest of men and..." Patrick put a hand on his chin. "...it's probably like a bar." He shrugged. "You wanna go now?" He was eager to visit the place with his best friend. Like SpongeBob, he yearned to do something new.

Sandy walked up to SpongeBob and Patrick. "What're you two talkin' 'bout?" She did not know why the sponge wanted to stop the match.

"Me and Pat are gonna go to The Salty Spitoon. You wanna join us?" SpongeBob looked at Sandy and smiled enthusiastically. His fantasies of what they could do at the club intensified his eagerness to visit the club.

Sandy had heard a bodybuilder refer to The Salty Spitoon one time. She decided to seize the opportunity because she still had a desire to have fun with her best friend. She also knew that some of the manliest and strongest Bikini Bottomites go there. "Alright, I'll go. Do y'know what we'll be doin' there?"

"We're probably going to do some manly stuff like karate." Patrick shrugged again. From his perspective, The Salty Spitoon was shrouded in mystery and required a visit in order to fully know it.

The three conversed as they walked towards the club. Patrick was the leading the other two because he remembered the address on the advertisement.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost thirteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy stopped walking when they saw a long line of people. The waiting line was leading to a dilapidated green building. A broken sign above the building had neon light letters that said 'THE SALTY SPITOON'. Rock music could be heard from the building.

**SLAM**

A young man flew through the wooden double door entrance. He landed on the ground with a **THUD**. He had been brutally assaulted in a fight with a drunk person. He shakily stood up and slowly walked away from the club.

The sight of the young man indicated the strength that the people in the club had. Sandy looked forward to entering the club and proving to the club members that she was one of the strongest Bikini Bottomites. "Looks like a rip-snortin' good time, SpongeBob." She smiled widely.

SpongeBob did not perceive the serious injuries that the young man sustained. "Yeah, let's go in." His optimistic nature made him view The Salty Spitoon through rose-colored glasses.

Patrick was quite thirsty. He had seen Sandy eat her ice cream and that was what triggered his thirst. He wondered about the different types of drinks that they serve in the club.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Only a few people stood before SpongeBob, Sandy, and Patrick.

A brawny dark-skinned man who was wearing a sailor hat and a blue speedo was the front-most person in the line. He walked up to a brown-skinned man who was wearing a black speedo, a green headband, and had a red heart tattoo with the word 'MOM' in the center of it.

"Welcome to The Salty Spitoon. How tough are ya?" The brown-skinned man folded his arms.

"How tough am I? How tough am I?!" The dark-skinned man became offended by the other man's question. "I had a bowl of nails for breakfast this morning." He pointed at himself with his thumb. His words were honest.

The brown-skinned man shrugged. "Yeah, so?" He had heard of tougher acts from other visitors.

"Without any milk." The dark-skinned man glared at the brown-skinned man. He thought that the brown-skinned man was a fool.

The brown-skinned man's eyes bugged out. He had never heard of such a brutal act before. "Uhh, right this way, sorry to keep you waiting." He stepped away from the entrance.

The dark-skinned man entered The Salty Spitoon with a **C-CRREEAAK S-SLAM**.

Sandy stepped to the brown-skinned man. She exuded a healthy amount of confidence.

"Welcome to the Salty Spittoon. How tough are ya?" The brown-skinned skin leaned against the exterior wall. He severely underestimated the squirrel because women were rarely 'tough' enough to enter the club.

Sandy smirked and raised her brow. "How tough am I?" She grabbed a piece of the exterior wall and ripped it off with ease. The squirrel crushed the metal piece into a smooth ball and threw it as hard as she could towards a rock.

**THUNK**

The metal ball went through the rock and stopped in the rock's center.

SpongeBob was gawking. "Wow." He could only dream of achieving a feat similar to Sandy's.

The brown-skinned man's jaw dropped. Sandy had done one of the 'toughest' acts of manliness he had ever seen. "Go ahead." He swiftly stepped out of the way.

Sandy lessened her smirk to a smile. "Thanks." She walked through the wooden double door with a **C-CREEAAK. **"See ya inside, SpongeBob." She warmly farewelled; she anticipated SpongeBob's arrival at the club. She said those words before the door closed with a **S-SLAM**.

SpongeBob skipped to the front of the line. He had been hopping in place ever since he and his friends were more than halfway through the line. His excitement for the 'foreign land' known as The Salty Spitoon prevented him from expressing calmness.

"How tough are ya?" The brown-skinned man stepped away from the wall and snickered. 'This dude looks like a kid. Ain't no way he's gonna get in here.' He looked at his watch before looking at the yellow square.

"How tough am I?" SpongeBob tried to make a smirk akin to those of Sandy and the bodybuilders. From the eyes of the brown-skinned man, the sponge looked more childish. "You got a new bottle of ketchup?" He put his hands on hips.

The brown-skinned man wanted SpongeBob to leave the club's vicinity as soon as possible. "Wait here." He smirked. He entered the club with a **C-CREEAAK S-SLAM**.

A pause.

_Bam Slam Bam _

_CRASH_

"_Go Johnny!"_

"_Kick his but, Johnny! You got this!"_

_SHATTER  
_

_SLAM BAM CRASH SHATTER_

"Ooooooooohh…"

The yellow square was hearing the sounds of the brawls occurring inside the building. The Salty Spitoon did not conform to his innocent visions; a pit of hell was the best descriptor for the place. The sponge could feel the vibrations coming from the stereos that were playing rock music. He was unable to hear other background noises. 'It's too loud.' The sponge blocked his ears from the uncomfortably loud music.

Another pause.

The brown-skinned man exited the building with a **C-CREEAAK S-SLAM**. He tossed the ketchup bottle to the sponge and leaned against the wall again. He folded his arms and waited for the inevitable.

"It's on!" SpongeBob roared and menacingly glared at the bottle; he was trying to speak and look manly. He grabbed the bottle cap and squeezed it as tightly as he could. He then, with all of his mustered arm strength, tried to twist the cap off. His face became red as he strained his muscles to their upper limits. When he could no longer endure the strain, he took a few deep breaths. His frustration manifested through the clenching of his fists. "If I could just run this under some hot water-"

"Get outta here." The brown-skinned man shook his head. "This place is too tough for you, little man. You can't even handle the volume." He glanced at his watch again and tapped his foot.

'Sandy's waiting for me...' SpongeBob was too determined to let words discourage him. "Too tough for me? That's downright ridiculous." He did not smile at all and folded his arms. "I'll have you know I stubbed my toe last week while watering my garden, and I only cried for twenty minutes." He recounted an unpleasant incident that had occurred a year ago.

The brown-skinned man chuckled. "Listen, kid. I think you'd be more comfortable over at that place." He pointed at a nearby restaurant. A nearby restaurant's exterior design looked similar to a cupcake. Red letters on the 'cupcake's icing' said: 'WEENIE HUT JR'S'.

"Weenie Hut Jr's?" SpongeBob looked at a restaurant and raised his brow in offense. "Are you saying I belong at Weenie Hut Jr's?" He subtly narrowed his eyes at the brown-skinned man.

The brown-skinned man laughed for a few seconds. "Oh, no, sorry, I was actually pointing at the place next to it." He pointed in a more specific direction. The restaurant he was actually pointing at had a red heart sign with pink neon letters saying: 'Super Weenie Hut JR's'. The restaurant's exterior design was akin to that of a cake.

"Super Weenie Hut Jr's?!" SpongeBob looked at the restaurant and became even more offended. He made his fists vibrate so he could look more intimidating. The sponge openly glared at the brown-skinned man.

"Yeah. Unless you think you're tough enough to fight me." The brown-skinned man's smirk became wider. 'This kid won't last for a second. I could beat this guy into swiss cheese if I really try.' He had an air of tranquility.

SpongeBob felt the inhales and exhales of someone behind him.

The sponge turned around to see a very fierce sea star. Patrick was intensely glaring at the brown-skinned man and the starfish's fists were shaking rapidly; the starfish was like a bomb primed to explode with vehemence.

The yellow square opened his mouth. Patrick pushed him out of the way before he could utter a syllable.

The starfish stomped to the brown-skinned man and grabbed the man by the skin of the man's neck. Patrick lifted the man with ease and made direct eye contact. "Listen up, meanie. If you make fun of my friend like that ever again, I'll make sure I'll beat you down to a pulp. OKAY?!" Rationality had left Patrick's mind when he realized that the man had been intimidating SpongeBob.

'How strong is this guy?!' The brown-skinned man's face whitened and he sweatdropped. He knew immediately that fighting Patrick was not a wise decision. He shakily nodded to Patrick's threat.

Patrick let go of the brown-skinned man. He walked up to SpongeBob, seized the sponge's forearm, and dragged his friend from The Salty Spitoon's vicinity. "Let's get outta here. A place full of jerks is no place for us.' The starfish's grumpiness did not lessen at all.

SpongeBob looked at The Salty Spitoon longingly. He wondered about the 'fun' that Sandy was having inside the building. 'I still have a chance; I just gotta impress him the right way.' The sponge smiled slightly. He allowed Patrick to drag him towards elsewhere; he needed some time in order to form a plan.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered Weenie Hut JR's.

S-S-S-S-S

Beyond the glass double door, there was a spacious dining room. The walls were painted pink and the dining room's layout was similar to a bar's layout. A wiener-shaped robot was standing behind a main desk. There were several tall seats in front of the desk, two geeks were sitting on two of those seats. Several refridgerated shelves full of drinks that were blocked by a movable glass panel were behind the robot.

SpongeBob and Patrick sat on two seats.

'Can't think on an empty stomach.' The sponge looked up at the menu and tried to consider which item was the most nutritious.

Patrick concentrated on looking at the desk. He took very deep breaths so his anger would slowly diminish into calmness. He had came to Weenie Hut JR's so the image of the brown-skinned man could vanish from his mind.

"How's your collection coming along?" The red-skinned geek glanced at his companion. He adjusted his glasses and tried to finish his cappuccino in a few gulps.

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but it's pretty sweet. I'm in the process of acquiring issue #347 which will give me my fourth complete set." The caramel-skinned geek drummed on the desk. He was a collector of obscure comic books.

"No..." The red-skinned geek's eyes enlarged. They were referring to a comic book series that was not related to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The second series of comic books (a reboot) was the current Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy comics being produced; the comic series' issues did not surpass #203 so far.

SpongeBob detected an odor coming from the two geeks. The sponge glanced at their clothes and noticed the clothes' dirtiness. He could tell that the two friends rarely contacted the outside world. 'Even Brian knows when to take care of himself.' The sponge did not dare to make eye contact with the geeks. He was dwelling on his disappointment over not being able to meet Sandy immediately. "What weenies. Oh brother." He muttered.

_"Would you care for some ice cream or a drink?" _The wiener robot faced SpongeBob.

"A drink, please." SpongeBob said as he looked at his reflection on the glass panel. He began to doubt his positive view of The Salty Spitoon. 'If they don't want a real man like me, then what do they want?' The sponge's definition of manliness was the source of his view of the the club.

_"And you?" _The wiener robot faced Patrick.

The robot caught the starfish off-guard. "Uhh... umm..." Patrick tapped his chin a few times. "Sundae?" He shrugged.

The wiener robot faced SpongeBob again. _"Which drink do you desire?"_

"A kelp mint chocolate milkshake." SpongeBob did not look at the robot. He struggled to return to his former state of optimism; the silence of the restaurant had darkened his mood.

Patrick's face became deadpan. "A banana split sundae." He spoke without a hint of anger. He turned around and leaned back on the large desk.

_"You shall be given these items promptly. I will tell you the combined price of the items when you receive those items." _The robot entered the kitchen with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The wiener robot exited the kitchen while holding a plate that had a sundae and a drink. It set the plate before SpongeBob and Patrick. _"The total price is $5.45."_

SpongeBob took out his wallet and handed the appropriate amount of money to the robot. He was sitting more straight than before. He glanced at the menu again and discovered another appealing item. "I also want a diet cola with a lemon twist. The extra money will be on me." His mood had improved slightly.

The robot returned to the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

The wiener robot exited the kitchen with a cup of diet soda in its hand. It set the cup on the plate. _"The item costs $1.30."_

SpongeBob handed a dollar, a quarter, and a dime respectively. His smile was barely noticeable.

The robot took the money. It opened a compartment of itself and put the money into that compartment.

SpongeBob slowly drank the soda; he savored each sip so he could think more clearly. When he finished the soda cup, he moved on to the milkshake.

Patrick closely looked at his best friend. 'I can't leave Sponge like this; he's gotta be his normal self.' His face expressed solemnity. He poked SpongeBob's shoulder.

"Mm-hm?" SpongeBob was in the middle of drinking the milkshake.

"Cheer up, buddy. You didn't get beat up by those meanies over there. Sandy won't have to worry about you either." Patrick, with increased intelligence, carefully picked his words. A warm smile slowly formed.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Patrick, his slight smile became a beam. Patrick's words reminded him of the loud sounds he had heard coming from The Salty Spitoon. He began to view The Salty Spitoon as a forbidden zone full of peril. 'Maybe I'm better off not going to that place anyway.' However, when he heard "Sandy", his desire to visit the club reappeared. Nonetheless, his doubts and bitterness were erased. He finished drinking the milkshake and put the cup on the plate.

Patrick looked at the empty milkshake cup and then glanced at his sundae. The two foods reminded him of a restaurant that he and SpongeBob had cherished as children. 'Goofy Goobers...' The starfish stared at his sundae. Memories poured into his mental vision.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob raised his brow. Patrick was drooling while staring into space. The sponge put his hand within the starfish's vision and snapped his fingers,

Patrick shook back to his senses and looked at his sundae again. "Oh... right." He looked up at the robot. "Can I get a spoon?" His smile returned.

The robot opened a drawer and seized a spoon. It set the spoon on the plate.

Patrick took the spoon, scooped some ice cream with the spoon, and took a bite. The sundae's taste immediately enthralled him. He gobbled down the rest of the sundae within seconds. When he finished, he turned around and leaned back again, and **BURP**ed.

_"Would you care for another diet cola with a lemon twist, weenie?" _The robot faced the yellow square. It called all customers 'weenies'.

"What?" SpongeBob interpreted the robot's usage of 'weenie' as an insult. "But I'm not a weenie!" He pouted.

The robot inspected the yellow sponge by scanning the sponge with a green laser. _"I am sorry, sir, but my sensors indicate that you are indeed a weenie."_

'It must be glitching out.' SpongeBob laughed for a second. "That's impossible." He weighed the robot's words with some skepticism because he believed that actual living things were more trustworthy than robots.

_"You cannot hide what is inside." _The robot droned, seized a wet towel from one of its compartments, and cleaned the glass panel.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He finally had a plan for entering The Salty Spitoon. He jumped out of his seat and skipped down the room. He barged through the glass double door with a **S-SLAM**.

"Wait!" Patrick leaped out of his seat and exited the building before the double door closed. 'I can't let him go in there. They'll beat him to bits!' The situation's urgency accelerated his running speed.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs strolled to the long line that was in front of The Salty Spitoon. He was grinning and carrying a large brown sack over his shoulder. The sack was full of colognes that he would have used during his prime years. He had a stratagem in mind. 'If I get enough money, it should cover me electric bill. Those bills are too damn expensive and I gotta feed Pearly.' The crab mentally laughed like a pirate. He assumed that the people in the line were stupid enough to fall for his well-crafted lies.

A pause.

Mr. Krabs looked at The Salty Spitoon and felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. He and his crew had socialized in that club numerous times between trips and conquests. "Attention, young lads! If you wanna smell extra manly and get some extra confidence and strength, then buy this cologne!" He took out a container of cologne and held it out. "Only for $5!"

Nobody walked towards Mr. Krabs; the nasty rumors about the crab's greediness had a significant effect on the public's perception of the crab.

SpongeBob jogged up to the brown-skinned man once the latest front-most person entered The Salty Spitoon. "I demand entrance into your club on the grounds that I am not a weenie!" He spoke in a deeper voice to prove that he was not a 'child'.

The brown-skinned man smirked at SpongeBob for a few seconds and then looked at the front-most person in the line. He saw no need to pay anymore attention to the foolish sponge. 'Sure, he got an adult body, but his brain's still that of a kid.'

A heavily muscular orange man walked up to the brown-skinned man. He was wearing brown pants and a white t-shirt. "Hey, Reg, how's it going?" He smiled in a friendly manner. He and the brown-skinned man had been friends for a long time.

SpongeBob stood in front of Reg and jumped between Reg and the orange man; he was trying his best to catch Reg's attention.

Reg shoved SpongeBob out of the way. "You were sayin'?" He made eye contact with the orange man.

The orange man pointed at the building's entrance.

"Go ahead, buddy." Reg smiled slightly.

"Thanks, Reg." The orange man entered the Salty Spitoon with a **C-CREEAAK S-SLAM**.

SpongeBob was pleasantly surprised by the orange man's words. "So, your name's Reg?" He futilely tried to impress the guard.

"Would you get outta here?" Reg pushed SpongeBob towards the border of The Salty Spitoon's vicinity. The more the yellow square annoyed him, the more irritated he became.

SpongeBob furrowed his brow and shook his fist towards Reg. "Mark my words, Reg. I will get into the Salty Spitoon! I will!" After his battle cry, he walked towards Weenie Hut JR's to formulate another plan.

Patrick silently followed him. 'At least SpongeBob's safe.' The starfish beamed in relief.

Mr. Krabs saw SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. A light bulb lit up in his head. With a smirk, he jogged to the yellow square. "Spongeboy, me Bob!" He stood before the sponge.

"Hey, Mr. K." SpongeBob grinned. "What's with that sack?" He pointed the brown sack. From his viewpoint, his boss looked suspicious.

"It's full of old cologne that pirates of my generation used. Anyways, I want you to do a little favor for me. All you gotta do is tell the people in The Salty Spitoon about the cologne I'm selling." Mr. Krabs pointed at his sack. "I'm selling this stuff so I can get money to pay me electric bills. You understand?" The crustacean revealed a host of information. He was abiding to the fairness contract that he had signed.

SpongeBob made a thumbs-up. "Loud and clear." He resumed his walk to the restaurant.

"And tell me when you're done. I'll be waiting near this line." Mr. Krabs continued to look at SpongeBob as he stepped to the line of waiting people. He stopped when he was several steps away from the people.

SpongeBob nodded.

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

SpongeBob and Patrick entered Weenie Hut JR's.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick sat in the same seats.

"Two chocolate strawberry sundaes, please." Patrick eagerly spoke to the robot. He had looked forward to this moment.

The wiener robot entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**.

SpongeBob put his hand on his chin as he critically thought about the situation. After what seemed to be ten minutes, he concluded that Reg had a bias against him because of his childish appearance and strength. 'But how can I fix that?' The sponge narrowed his eyes towards the desk. Each conclusion had a problem that followed it.

The wiener robot exited the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**. Approximately a minute had passed. It took out a fresh plate from a drawer, put the plate on the desk, and put the two sundaes on the plate. _"That will be $4.50." _

Patrick took out a few spare dollars from a pocket of his and passed it to the robot.

The robot put the money into its compartment and gave back a few coins as change.

SpongeBob looked to his left and noticed that the two geeks were still chatting inside the restaurant. 'Maybe they know a way in.' Twinkling with hope, he turned to face them. "'xcuse me, guys. I can't get into The Salty Spitoon; this guy called Reg won't let me in. Do you know a special way or trick I can use?" The sponge asked politely.

The red-skinned geek looked at the yellow square and smiled widely. "What you need is a tough hairdo. No one gets into the Double S without a tough hairdo." He based his advice on detective films that he had seen.

The caramel-skinned geek shook his head and resisted the urge to snicker. "I disagree, I saw a guy going in there and he was bald." He was a person who strives to think rationally.

"I saw that guy. He wasn't bald. He had a shaved head. Shaved - that's a hairdo. Case closed." The red-skinned geek prevented an unnecessarily massive debate with his friend.

SpongeBob gasped as a new idea illuminated in his mind. "To the wig store!" He said a thought of his out loud and held out his index finger towards the ceiling. He leaped from his seat and dashed out of the restaurant with a **C-CRREEAK S-SLAM**.

Patrick stood up and looked through the glass double door. He watched his best friend run to the nearest wig store. SpongeBob's safety shrank to a minor worry; he had no doubts about SpongeBob's destination. He strolled back to his seat. The sea star sat while face-down on the desk. Within minutes, he began to nap.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_"Don't worry, Sponge. I'll be alright." Patrick was not aware of the dangers of what he was doing._

_**GRROOOAAANNN**_

_Patrick walked up a set of unfinished stairs. "Cool." He smiled as he heard the shaking of the wood. He found the sound to be interesting._

_The sea star's weight put immense pressure on the wooden set of stairs. Some of the pieces of wood that the stairs consisted of began to break._

_Patrick reached the top of the stairs. Below him was a machine that had a saw and was being controlled by a construction worker, the saw of the machine was slicing large and thick pieces of wood into planks. The saw made deafening sounds as it cut the pieces of wood._

_"PATRICK, COME BACK!" SpongeBob ran towards Patrick and screamed at what he saw. _

A memory related to the current situation filled Patrick's mental vision.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Fourteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was looking through the glass double door. He saw SpongeBob walked towards Weenie Hut JR's while carrying two wigs. He smiled delightfully and stepped away from the entrance.

SpongeBob entered with a **C-CRREEAAK SLAM**. "These were a few of the best ones they had." He held out the two wigs towards Patrick. One was a slick head of black hair while another was an afro of clownish rainbow-colored hair. "I didn't pay for more 'cause I don't wanna waste my hard cash." He explained what had happened so Patrick would not become too concerned for and overly protective of him.

Patrick nodded. "Good luck." He patted SpongeBob's shoulder. "You need it." He smiled in a friendly manner and then sat on his seat.

SpongeBob grinned and, with an extra boost of confidence, put on the black wig. He smirked and gave the other wig to Patrick. "Hold on to this. If I mess up, I'll come back to get it." He walked in a confident and nonchalant manner towards the exit. The wig seemed to have transformed his personality into a different one entirely.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the back of the line.

S-S-S-S-S

Eleven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob reached the line's front. "What's shakin', my man?" He put his thumbs into his pockets and glanced at the wooden double door. His heartbeat quickened more and more as he had gotten closer and closer to the entrance.

"Not much." Reg shrugged. He then narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the 'stranger' was wearing the same squarepants that the annoying sponge wore. "Say, haven't I seen you before?" He folded his arms.

"Doubt it - I'm a drifter - just blew into town. Heard your club was pretty tough, thought I'd check it out." SpongeBob continued to speak in a 'cool' manner. He acted like Reg's last line was not true.

Reg chuckled. "Nice try, kid. I know it's you." He then pointed towards Weenie Hut JR's; he desired for SpongeBob to leave the club's vicinity immediately.

"What're you talking about?" SpongeBob raised his brow. He was determined to keep wearing his 'cool mask' until he was proved to be a fraudulent person.

Reg pulled the hairdo off and tossed it to the side. He lifted the sponge from the ground, twirled him, and pitched a 'spongeball' towards Weenie Hut JR's.

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was wearing his clown wig. He had a goofy smile on his face. "I'd like to gain entrance to your social club, please. I believe my hairdo is in order." The sponge pointed at his 'hair'. Instead of being 'cool', he tried to be uber-polite.

Reg snatched the wig from SpongeBob's head. 'This guy's an idiot if he thinks that he could fool me. Wusses like him probably can't even handle being in a pirate crew.'

"So, uhh, where do you stand on the whole 'bald versus shaved' debate?" SpongeBob smiled nervously and suppressed his laughter. He continued to act like a polite person due to his desperation.

Reg squeezed SpongeBob into the shape of a bowling ball. He then bowled the sponge towards Weenie Hut JR's.

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was on the arm of a muscular green man. The muscular man had tattoos on his chest and towered over the other people in The Salty Spitoon's vicinity. The sponge had flattened himself as much as possible so he could look like a tattoo. "Hey-ya, Reg." The green man greeted Reg.

"Alright, now it's a party!" Reg handshook the green man. The muscular man was an old friend of his. "Oh, yeah, check out the new ink." He pointed at the green man's newest tattoo. He was impressed by the pleasantness of the tattoo.

"Thanks. Look what I can make it do." The green man fully showed the new tattoo. It was on his left arm and was a seahorse. He moved his arm in a certain way and the 'seahorse' 'wiggled' as a result.

Reg chuckled. The wiggling tattoo, in his opinion, was slightly silly. "Yeah." He noticed that a tattoo that looked like a certain sponge was on the green man's right arm. "Hey, what about that one?" He pointed at the yellow tattoo.

The green man looked at the yellow 'tattoo' and tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Huh, y'know, I don't remember getting this one." His memory was not the best when compared to those of other Bikini Bottomites.

"Can you make it dance?" Reg's curiosity piqued when he noticed that the yellow 'tattoo' was not completely flat.

"Well, here, let me try." The green man moved his right arm in the same way that he had done with his left arm. SpongeBob futilely tried to imitate the 'wiggling seahorse' by dancing.

Reg smirked. "Hold on a sec." The brown-skinned man pulled SpongeBob off of the green man's right arm. "Go ahead." He made a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, sure, Reg. Thanks." The green man rubbed his right arm and entered the building with a **C-CRREEEAAK S-SLAM**.

"Nice try, little man." Reg grabbed the two wigs. He threw the wigs and the sponge towards Weenie Hut JR's. 'Good riddance.'

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

A man wearing a white t-shirt accidentally cut the line by stepping to the spot of a man wearing a black tank-top.

"Hey, I was in front of you!" The black tank-top man pointed at the t-shirt man. He was losing his temper very quickly.

"No, you weren't!" The t-shirt man glared at the tank-top man.

"You callin' me a liar?" The tank-top man palmed his fist. He was willing to fight the person who cut the line.

"I ain't callin' you for dinner!" The t-shirt man raised his fists.

**BAM BAM KLOK SLAM BAM BOP BOP BOP SLAM SMACK**

The two men viciously fought each other. SpongeBob had been behind the two men and got pushed around a few times by their fighting.

"Hold it, you two." Reg jogged to the fight and separated the two irate men. "That's enough, you're both plenty tough, go ahead in." He pointed at the club's entrance. He decided to let the men enter before the others in the line so the two men would no longer fight each other.

"Alright!" The tank-top man made a thumbs-up and entered The Salty Spitoon with a **C-CRREAK S-SLAM**.

"Thanks, Reg." The t-shirt man smiled widely and entered the building with a **C-CRREEAAK S-SLAM**.

SpongeBob was willing to seize any opportunity to enter the club. His determination made him think that failure was not an option. "Hey, what about me? I was in that scrap." The sponge looked up at Reg. 'He's being unfair to me.'

"I saw you steppin' away. When you get in a real fight, then we'll talk." Reg walked back to his position that was near the entrance. 'That kid doesn't understand anything about manliness.' He glanced at SpongeBob and shook his head.

SpongeBob slowly returned to Weenie Hut JR's. He entered the restaurant with a **C-CRREAAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob sat on his seat. His face was solemn as he tried to think up a new idea. After a minute of frustration, he made a Thinker pose. Reg's constant prevention of his entry began to disillusion him of the idea that he could join the club by being mostly himself.

_"Care for a sundae, weenie?" _The robot faced the sponge.

"I am not a weenie..." SpongeBob spoke quietly and looked at the desk. He disliked being labeled instead of being called a person. He felt like labels carried stereotypes and that stereotypes restricted the public's perception of labeled people.

The red-skinned geek consoled the sponge. "Relax, you're among friends." He sipped on his cup of chocolate milkshake.

"My friends don't hang out at Weenie Hut Junior's." SpongeBob spoke so quietly that he and Patrick were the only people who heard his words. The yellow square continued to stare at the desk as he mentally searched through numerous ideas.

"You tell 'em, SpongeBob." Patrick chugged on his strawberry vanilla milkshake. He was trying to cheer up his friend again.

A pause.

"What sale do they have today?" The caramel-skinned geek glanced at the people in the room. Like SpongeBob when he had asked him and his friend, he tried to be polite.

"Well, I come here often when it's Double Weenie Wednesday." Patrick made eye contact with the caramel-skinned geek. The pink star's hunger was quite useful at times because it allowed him to remember many things through taste or smell.

"Actually, they moved Double Weenie Wednesday to Friday." The red-skinned geek tried to eliminate any confusion or misconceptions.

"And besides, today's Sunday." The caramel-skinned geek ate the last of his ice cream.

Patrick suddenly remembered a certain fact. "Oh, so today's Mega Weenie Sunday." He smiled at his own small victory.

"Bingo!" The red-skinned geek smiled slightly and pointed at Patrick. He had underestimated Patrick's intelligence.

"Super Weenie Hut Junior's has a Mega Weenie Monday." The caramel-skinned geek was thinking about which restaurant that he should take his friends to during the weekend.

The red-skinned geek shook his head. "Uhh, no, you're thinking of Monster Weenie Monday." He had memorized the schedules and sale days of many Bikini Bottom restaurants.

SpongeBob hopped off of his seat and stared through the double door at the waiting line. He saw Mr. Krabs and another idea formed in his mind. 'Mr. Krabs could teach me about manliness. I bet all of his pirate experiences made him learn alotta stuff.' The sponge grinned and exited the restaurant with a **C-CRRREEEAAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to his boss. "Mr. Krabs, I can't get into The Salty Spitoon. The guard won't let me." The yellow square, most of the time, trusted Mr. Krabs' counsel. He had a serious need for advice.

Mr. Krabs turned to face his yellow fry cook. "Then what do you need help with?" The crustacean pointed at Reg. "There's always a way to impress rough men like that guard." He had encountered such men during his pirate conquests.

The sponge could tell that the people in the line could hear them. He went back by many steps and signaled with his hand for Mr. Krabs to follow him.

Mr. Krabs walked up to him.

"What do you think is manly?" SpongeBob whispered into the crustacean's ear. He glanced at his surroundings cautiously as he said those words. If he had not whispered them, he would have been a possible target for insults.

"Ah, so that's what was troublin' ya." Mr. Krabs was pleased to advise his own employee. Ever since SpongeBob's first day of work, he was aware that the sponge was a manchild. 'It's finally happenin', SpongeBob's turnin' a new leaf. If he keeps this up, he might become more famous than before. And that means extra profits!' "To me, a man is: brave, fights for his beliefs, super-strong, courageous, does not back down from a challenge, does not cry around his crewmates, and also thinks rationally." The crab pointed at his head. "You can't run a business or a crew without think clearly, y'know."

SpongeBob created a clever plan as he heard Mr. Krabs' advice. He beamed. "Thanks, Mr. K. I think I know what to do." The sponge skipped towards Weenie Hut JR's. He was eager to execute his plan.

"Good luck, me boy." Mr. Krabs saluted the yellow square before returning to his former position. He resumed his long wait for SpongeBob's confirmation.

The yellow square entered the restaurant with a **C-CRREEAAAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to Patrick and quickly whispered his plan into the starfish's ear. He was hopping up and down in excitement.

The starfish looked at SpongeBob and grinned. "Hey, that's not a bad idea. You can call me a couple of bad names, we rumble, next thing you know, you're in the Salty Spittoon." Patrick had been anticipating his entrance into the club. The club's activities were mysteries that were waiting to be solved.

"Well, I guess I've got nothing to lose. Let's do it." The yellow square jogged across the room. His excitement was so strong that he imagined the 'spacious' dining room of The Salty Spitoon.

"Yeah!" Patrick swiftly followed him. The fake fight would not threaten SpongeBob's safety because his involvement in the fight would give him the right to enter the club. He looked forward to the fun activities he was going to do with his friends.

**C-CRRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob directly strolled to the building's entrance. "Afternoon, Reg." He nonchalantly pressed his hand against the wooden double door.

Reg pushed SpongeBob away from the door. "Whoa, whoa, little man. You still can't go in." The brown-skinned man folded his arms and glared the sponge. He could not tolerate the yellow square's presence for much longer.

"Well, that makes me pretty mad." SpongeBob returned Reg's stare. His fists clenched.

"Oh yeah?" Reg scoffed.

"Yeah. I might have to beat someone up just to get rid of all this blind fury." SpongeBob looked at the waiting line with the same glare. He shook his fist at them.

Reg chuckled. "Wow." He was subtly insulting the yellow sponge.

"Yeah, I feel pretty sorry for the next guy who looks at me funny." SpongeBob folded his arms, smirked, and leaned against the wall. He tried to sound as sincere as possible so Reg could not realize that he was lying.

"Hmm..." Reg smirked as well. He was going to test SpongeBob's courage. He pointed at one of the most muscular men in the waiting line. "...what about that guy?"

SpongeBob glanced at the muscular man. He sweatdropped, his eyes bugged out, and he stammered for several seconds. Once his panic attack faded, he regained his ability to speak. "I, uhh..." He laughed anxiously. He tried to adapt to the unexpected turn of events. "...don't be silly. He's not botherin' anybody. I mean, not like...'

Patrick was standing near the waiting line. He saw SpongeBob doing a certain hand signal. That signal was his cue. "Shut up barnacle head!" He rapidly stomped up to SpongeBob and shoved the sponge with massive force. "You don't know what you're taking about! How 'bout you get a taste of your medicine, weenie. I could beat you up to a pulp and you won't even know what hit you! HUH?! HUH?! What're you gonna do about? HUH?!" He yelled rapidly while being very close to SpongeBob's face.

SpongeBob pushed Patrick in retaliation. "Why were you standing there all smiling and whatnot when you can fight me now! Somebody ought teach you some manners!" The sponge raised his fists.

The people in the line backed away so they could watch the fight from a safe distance.

"Okay, but I must warn you. I happen to be a world championship... uhh..." Patrick was forgetting his lines. After a few seconds of awkwardness, he found the missing words. "...kick boxer." He glared at SpongeBob, took a step towards the sponge, and the raised his fists.

"I don't care if you're the demon seed of Davy Jones! You're goin' down, Tubby!" SpongeBob stomped towards Patrick. He was about to swing a punch at the starfish.

"Tubby?!" Patrick widened his eyes. His face became crimson and he gritted his teeth. His acting was nearly perfect. "Nobody calls me Tubby!" He punched the sponge with a **BAM**.

The yellow square fell to the ground with a **THUD**. With a look of determination, he jumped back to his feet and 'punched' Patrick in the stomach.

Patrick 'lurched'.

SpongeBob did a swift series of 'punches' on the sea star's chest and face.

Patrick's face moved in different directions and he repeatedly winced.

SpongeBob 'kicked' Patrick's forehead.

Patrick fell to the ground with a **THUD**. He shakily sat up and held out his hand towards SpongeBob. "No, please have mercy!" The starfish attempted to sound like he was desperate.

SpongeBob 'lifted' Patrick from the ground. The starfish held out his limbs and pushed his chest upward so lifting and carrying him would be much easier. The sponge then twirled his best friend and threw him towards elsewhere.

Patrick propelled himself towards a far location and landed on that spot. A sand cloud formed.

Reg's eyes widened. "Wow... you destroyed that guy by barely touchin' him." He almost doubted what he had just witnessed. 'This dude is way, WAY stronger than I thought.'

SpongeBob put his hands on his hips and vainly smiled at 'his achievement'.

Reg made eye contact with SpongeBob. "I never thought I'd really say this, but go ahead in." With politeness, he closed his eyes, made a deadpan face, and stepped out of the sponge's way.

SpongeBob stared at the double door and his eyes sparkled. "Really? I can go in?" He was just as amazed as Reg when the man had watched him 'assault' Patrick.

Reg slowly nodded.

"Oh my gosh, I never thought this moment would come." SpongeBob's grin was massive. A shower of euphoria washed over him. His arduous trial gave him a fair reward: a pleasant time with Sandy and Patrick. "I, SpongeBob SquarePants, am tough enough to get into the Salty Spittoon!" The yellow square held his index finger towards the sky. His intense happiness seized his mind's reigns. He barged through the door with a **S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob ran towards Sandy. Without having a decent glimpse of his new environment, he slipped on a stray ice cube. He fell to the floor.

**SLAM**

His head hit the hard surface of a metal cooler full of drinks.

**CLANK**

His forehead hit the leg of a wooden seat.

**BONK**

His vision was flicked off as if it had a switch. Darkness consumed him and stole all of his senses.


	84. The Bully

**Chapter 84: The Bully**

* * *

The dining room of The Salty Spitoon was quite messy. Broken bottles were littered on the floor and wooden tables were in a state of disrepair. The wall's paint was peeling in a few areas. Broken wooden chairs were the remnants of previous fights. A bartender was standing behind a large desk and was cleaning a dirty glass cup.

Sandy was sitting on a chair with a very muscular young man. Their elbows were on the table's top and their hands were gripping each other in an arm wrestle match. The squirrel had challenged everybody in the club to an arm wresting match and had beaten each of her opponents so far.

Shawn was sitting in a table that nobody else sat at. He had been riding on his motorcycle to another town and had to go through Bikini Bottom in order to get there. During that trip, he had seen The Salty Spitoon and entered it for a quick break.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at the fallen yellow square.

Shawn immediately stood up. He had a powerful grudge against SpongeBob and had yearned for an opportunity like this one to come to him. Before he could even touch the sponge, Sandy ran to the sponge.

Sandy shook SpongeBob numerous times in a desperate attempt to make him move. "He's knocked out..." She became solemn and jogged to the nearest shell-phone. She dialed '911' and waited for the person on the other end. Once she heard an electronic voice from the phone, she interrupted him. "Come over here ASAP! I'm in The Salty Spitoon and my friend fell and became unconscious!" She said hastily. Once she heard the other person's response, she put down the shell-phone. The squirrel picked up SpongeBob's body and exited the club with a **C-CREAK S-SLAM**.

Shawn looked down at the floor. His chance for revenge had been stolen from him. He dug into his pocket and took out his cell phone. If he could not enact his revenge, the next best course of action was to plan one with his associates. He exited the building with a **C-CRREEEAAK S-SLAM.**

S-S-S-S-S

The thug walked until he was far away from The Salty Spitoon. He was making sure that no one else could hear his phone conversation. He looked through his contacts and pressed Jack's number. He leaned the phone towards his ear.

_"Yello?" _Jack's electronic voice was heard.

"This is Shawn. I was just chillin' in The Salty Spitoon until I saw that sponge dude. He slipped on somethin' an' got knocked out. I couldn't do nothin' to him 'cause a friend of his took him before I had a chance." Shawn carefully chose his words so his description of the scene could be accurate.

_"You serious? Where's he goin'? Why can't you just beat up his friend?" _Jack considered Shawn's report to be very serious news. He was excited to hear about the sponge's vulnerability.

"His friend's called Sandy. She's one of the strongest people in this town. I swear to Neptune, she beat almost everybody in arm wrestling. She also stopped a fight between two drunk bodybuilders." Shawn informed Jack about Sandy's formidability.

_"Then why you tellin' me all this crap if you ain't going to do anything?" _Jack became irritated. He was suffering through a rough period in his life. His current unpleasant situation gave him a short-temper and a sour mood.

"I want you to gather your buddies so we can form a plan. We'll meet up at that same place down the alley. We gotta get rid of that yellow bastard." Shawn was watching SpongeBob and Sandy as he loudly whispered. He had to lower his voice because nearby people were walking by.

_"Aight. What time though?" _Jack was still struggling with his attempts to escape the police's watchful eye.

"It can start from noon up to four. Just make sure all of your friends know about this." Shawn walked towards his bike. He had other tasks that he had to complete.

_"Well, see you later." _Jack put down the phone on his end.

Shawn turned off his phone and tucked it into his pocket. He sat on the motorcycle, put on his black helmet, and turned on the engine by twisting the keyhole. The motorcycle rode down the street with a **VRRROOOOOMMMMM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Seventeen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Shawn was leaning against the exterior wall of a building. He was standing in a dark alley and tapped his foot as he waited for his friends to arrive. His gaze was constantly switching between his cell phone's clock and his surroundings.

Jack, Ricky, Marcus, and Mike strolled down the alley. The four had endured their periods of probation and imprisonment. They had also been expelled from their high school because of their crimes and do not plan on going to another school. Jack had informed the other three about SpongeBob's whereabouts and the four were eager to execute a plan of revenge.

"Aight, boys. I think we should start out by gettin' the Strangler back in action. That dude's been in jail for a few months and we gotta do somethin' about it." Shawn suggested his own ideal first part of the plan.

Jack raised his brow and blew out a puff of cigarette smoke. "How're we gonna do that? The cops are gonna bust our butts before we even get a chance at stepping into the slammer." He wanted Shawn to think realistically.

"Then we're just gonna have to wait for some disaster to happen. Remember that crazy clam and the bullworm? Something like that." Shawn altered his ideal plan part accordingly. "Since the police will be dealin' with a new crazy animal, we can just walk into the slammer and free anybody we want."

Jack, Ricky, and Marcus nodded in agreement.

Mike did not; he had something else in mind for the first part of the plan. "We should stalk the sponge so we can know where he hangs out the most. We can then hire a hitman and tell him 'bout those places." He had put a lot of thought in his own revenge plan against SpongeBob.

"Those hitmen ain't loyal. If they get caught by the police, they'll keep the money and won't kill the guy. I've heard crap like that happenin' to other buddies of mine." Marcus disapproved of Mike's suggestion.

"Plus, those hitmen are too expensive. If they super-busy, they'll raise the prices to stupid levels. I remember one time when I asked a hitman to kill this snitch and he told me that it cost $10K." Ricky provided a counterargument that added to Marcus' words.

"Never mind." Mike shook his head. His eagerness to see the Strangler again overpowered his desire to see the sponge's corpse. He also did not want to cause a fight in the group because they all shared a crucial goal (killing SpongeBob).

"The Strangler will then hide his appearance and pretend to be all buddy-buddy with the sponge. I think the sponge will be dumb enough to fall for it. Then, when the sponge least expects it, the Strangler will choke his eyes out." Shawn stated the rest of his plan.

"I think that'll work. The Strangler's knows a lot 'bout that costume stuff 'cause he fooled his victims with it." Jack fully supported Shawn's suggestion. He liked the idea because he would not have to take the risk of arrest again.

Marcus, Mike, and Ricky nodded in agreement.

"Well, then it's settled." Shawn sat on his motorcycle and twisted the keyhole's key. He put on his helmet and took a final look at the other thugs. "I'll see ya guys at prison when the time's right. I gotta go now." He then drove down the street so he could deal with his unfinished business.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes earlier...

S-S-S-S-S

Light slowly returned to SpongeBob's vision. He looked around and noticed that he was in a sterilized room. He felt the slight rumble of moving tires. After ten seconds of glancing, he eventually spotted Sandy. "W-what happened?" He shakily sat up.

"You ran inside and slipped on an ice cube." Sandy looked at SpongeBob. She was glad that SpongeBob regained consciousness but did not smile because she did not want to be perceived as insensitive.

The ambulance stopped.

A pause.

A doctor opened the vehicle's backdoor and stepped into the vehicle. He walked up to SpongeBob. "So, what happened here?" He set his kit on the floor.

"I slipped on an ice cube and got knocked out." SpongeBob recounted and eyed the kit. He wondered about the kit's mysterious contents.

S-S-S-S-S

A week later...

S-S-S-S-S

September 14, 2008

Sunday morning.

SpongeBob was sitting on the couch and was reflecting on last week's events. From his perspective, time had passed quickly.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_September 7, 2008_

_SpongeBob and Patrick were laying on the ground. The sponge had returned from the hospital and all of his injuries had been treated. The sponge no longer cared about visiting The Salty Spitoon because he was grateful to be with his best friend._

_"Pat, you wanna know something?" SpongeBob looked at his best friend from the corner of his eye. He had waited for a time like this to say meaningful statements. _

_"Yeah?" Patrick was gazing at the pleasant clouds. He was searching for clouds that were in certain shapes. He was not thinking about today's events in the slightest._

_"I think manliness means nothing." SpongeBob stated with a smile. After thinking about The Salty Spitoon, he had came to a conclusion. He remembered Patrick saying that the club was for "the manliest of men". He correctly assumed that his friend thought that he was manly enough to be a member._

_Patrick sat up and scratched his head in confusion. "If manliness doesn't exist... then what's 'womanliness?'" The starfish did not comprehend SpongeBob's statement. _

_"I'm saying that what's manly and what's feminine is totally relative. Didn't you want me to go the Salty Spitoon in the first place 'cause I was manly?" SpongeBob sat on a nearby rock and put his hands on his lap. Regardless of his failure to have fun with Sandy at The Salty Spitoon, he had squeezed something positive out of the experience._

_"Yeah." Patrick nodded._

_"Why did you think I was manly?" The yellow square was stimulating Patrick's ability to think critically. _

_"'Cause you tried to save me from drowning even though you didn't know how to swim. You're also... gentlemanly and... kind and... you also do what's right." Patrick was completely honest. He smiled slightly to prove his sincerity._

_"The funny thing's that Reg, the guard of The Salty Spitoon, thought that I wasn't manly enough to be part of the club. When I asked Mr. Krabs about manliness, he had his own version of it. You see where I'm going?" SpongeBob was gazing at Patrick's shirt as he spoke. He wanted to teach his friend an important lesson so similar situations could be prevented._

_Patrick put a fist on his chin. "It's about how each person thinks of manliness, right?" The sea star's intelligence had lowered recently._

_"Bingo!" The yellow square made a thumbs-up. "Remember what I told you about being yourself? Manliness is related to that. Instead of conforming to other people's standards of manliness, we should all be ourselves. Nothing's more brave than being true to ourselves, y'know?" The sponge was saying words of wisdom. _

_Patrick looked down at his shirt. "Sponge, you're totally right. Who needs jerks like those guys in The Salty Spitoon?" He grinned and stood up. He walked up to SpongeBob and patted the sponge on the shoulder. "Thanks, Sponge. It's always you who's really good at thinking 'bout things." _

_SpongeBob stood up as well. "From this day onward, I'll no longer pose as somebody else so I could look more 'manly'. Instead, I'll just do what makes me happy." The sponge allowed his thoughts to be expressed through spoken words. He held his index finger towards the sky like he was swearing an oath to the gods._

_Patrick's memory suddenly improved. "You always do what makes you happy." The sea star was snickering._

_The two best friends laughed._

_"Anyways, today's a reminder that we should continue being ourselves. We already learned our lesson; me being my energetic self," SpongeBob pointed at himself. "and you being self-expressive." He pointed at Patrick. The sponge could tell that he and Patrick shared a bond of understanding. Although he had been injured, he was more concerned for his friends than himself. His lesson was reminiscent of the lesson Patrick gave to him when he had forgotten how to make a Krabby Patty._

_A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "You should be a teacher! If you could say super-deep stuff like that, I would pay attention for the whole period." The starfish tried to compliment SpongeBob._

_The yellow square giggled. "I'd probably fool around too much. I would spend time talking 'bout jellyfish and Krabby Patties instead of actual subjects." The sponge did not mind laughing at himself. "Some classes might get too boring anyways." He assumed that he would have to start out as an elementary teacher. _

_"That's true. I remember when I used to sleep during those... alg-al... umm..." Patrick forgot the name of the class he had taken during his freshman year of high school. "What do you call those classes that high school newbies take?" He scratched his head._

_"Algebra." The sponge politely corrected Patrick._

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob beamed as the sweet memory filled his mind. That memory reminded him of another recent event.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_September 12, 2008_

_Today was the first Surprise Sandy Day. _

_SpongeBob walked up to the treedome's front door while carrying the painting. _

_**KNOCK KNOCK**_

_He knocked on the door, gently put the painting before the door, and then hid behind a large coral piece._

_A pause._

_**CRREEEAAAK**_

_Sandy opened the front door and immediately saw the painting. "What's this?" She crouched and inspected the work of art. She took off the piece of paper that was taped to the painting and read it. _

_The paper had handwritten words saying 'To you, from an admirer'. _

_Sandy's eyes bugged out in shock and she then became overjoyed. The knowledge that her scientific accomplishments, research, and athletic abilities were appreciated by local fans gave her a significant boost in pride. Her recent findings in her research of Bikini Bottom's plant life had caught the attention of the town's scientific community. Due to that, she knew that it was a matter of time before something like the painting would show up at her doorstep. _

_The squirrel picked up the painting and a light bulb lit up in her head. "This could look really nice in my living room." She said a thought of hers and turned around. However, she could not fully appreciate the painting's beauty; art was not one of her interests. Before she closed the door, she looked up to the sky. "Whoever made and sent this... thank you." She whispered._

_**SLAM**_

_The front door closed._

_Sandy's smile and whispered words were all that SpongeBob needed for him to think that the Surprise Sandy Day was a success. A chunk of his repressed emotions were eliminated by a wave of catharsis. The yellow square grinned, leaped to his feet, and energetically skipped to his pineapple._

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob looked up at the clock on the wall and realized that it was fifteen minutes before Boating School begins. He stood up from the couch and exited the pineapple with a **CRREEEAAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was sitting in his desk. He was constantly rearranging the three pencils on his desk with a **TAP TAPTAPTAP TAP T-TAP TAP**. His notebook and loose piece of paper were untouched. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for class; Mrs. Puff had not entered the room yet. After struggling at finding a preferred arrangement of pencils, he tapped the shoulder of a dark-skinned female sitting to the left of him. "Excuse me, miss?"

'Not him again...' The dark-skinned female took a deep breath and glared at SpongeBob. She thought that the yellow square was the most annoying person in the class. "I don't want to have to report you again." She threatened pettily.

SpongeBob laughed; he was wise enough to not treat the female's threats seriously. "I was just wondering," He pointed at the pencil labeled as 'Homework'. "is it the homework on the left side of the paper next to the quiz pencil, or over on the right side all by itself? Or-" The female interrupted him.

The dark-skinned female was looking at SpongeBob's squarepants, she had an idea for a nasty joke. "I think it goes stuck inside your-" The female glanced at the sponge's rear. The yellow sponge interrupted her.

A light bulb had lit up in his head. "Wait, I got it!" SpongeBob snapped his fingers. "The quiz pencil goes right over here next to the essay pencil," He moved the 'Quiz' pencil until it was near the 'Essay' pencil. "and the essay pencil gets turned sideways toward the notebook," He precisely moved the 'Essay' pencil towards the notebook. "just in case I have to write an essay." He laid back on his seat; his mind was finally at peace.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Mrs. Puff entered the classroom. "Good morning, class. Sorry I'm late. I got caught in traffic on the way in here when that whole 'I'm-going-to-be-doing-this-for-the-rest-of-my-life' thing reared its ugly head and I..." She forgot the rest of what she had planned to say. The pufferfish was in the mood to ran about her morning troubles.

An awkward pause.

"Anyway, we have a new student starting today, so let's all put a happy face for Flatts." Mrs. Puff wore a smile, opened the door, and stepped out of the way. She did not like introducing new students because it wasted class time.

A green flounder strolled into the room. He was wearing an orange shirt and a pair of brown pants. He turned to face the class and unintentionally revealed the flatness of his body. Flatts was not enthusiastic about sittings in dull classes because it wasted hours of his life; his deadpan face said all of the needed words. His father had forced him to sign up for the boating school because the man was fed up with his son's laziness and ridiculous behavior.

Nearly the entire class had the same deadpan faces; SpongeBob was the only person in the room who was beaming. The sponge emitted an aura of friendliness.

Mrs. Puff sat in her desk. "Tell the class something about yourself, Flatts." She opened her gradebook and filled out the attendance list.

Flatts smirked. He searched through the classroom for any 'weaklings'. "Well, I like to kick people's butts." He folded his arms so he could see who would express cowardice.

Mrs. Puff interpreted Flatts' words as a sarcastic joke. She laughed for several seconds. "What a card!" She regained her composure. "Now Flatts, it's time to pick your seat. Just go ahead and sit anywhere you'd like." She glanced at the clock.

An empty seat was to the right of SpongeBob's desk.

Flatts walked up to the empty seat and sat in it. He drummed on the desk with his knuckles so he would not fall asleep easily.

"Okay class," Mrs. Puff stood up and grabbed a piece of chalk. "as you remember last week..." She began a lecture about weather conditions that could be problematic to boatmobile drivers. Since weather conditions and other driving obstacles were one of her favorite parts of the curriculum, she became more lively.

SpongeBob made eye contact with Flatts. He felt sorry for the flounder because he thought that his classmates were too apathetic towards him. "Hi, I'm SpongeBob!" He raised his hand as he warmly greeted the newcomer.

Flatts' smirk became wider. SpongeBob was the perfect target due to his height, childish demeanor, face, and silly attire. "Hi, SpongeBob. I'm going to kick your butt." He informed the yellow square of the sponge's new position in the class' hierarchy.

SpongeBob, like Mrs. Puff, assumed that Flatts was joking; he looked at the flounder through innocent lenses. He laughed for a few seconds. "That joke was almost funnier the second time."

Flatts stopped smirking, narrowed his eyes, and leaned towards SpongeBob. "No. I mean it." His voice was as cold and stern as arctic winds. He palmed his fist and cracked his knuckles.

SpongeBob still thought that Flatts was still joking. The sponge covered his smile as he giggled. "That time it almost seemed like-" He stopped talking when he saw Flatts steal one of his pencils.

The flounder tightly gripped the pencil and held it a centimeter away from SpongeBob's throat.

The sponge stared at the pencil and his realization of Flatts' true intention was like a slap to the face. "Y-you did mean it..." He bit his lip and sweatdropped. He glanced at his surroundings in a desperate search for a solution to his problematic situation.

A pause.

SpongeBob looked at Mrs. Puff and a light bulb lit up in his head. He darted his hand towards the ceiling. "Mrs. Puff?" He smiled innocently to conceal his anxiety.

Mrs. Puff looked at SpongeBob from the corner of her eye. "Yes, SpongeBob?" She expected that the sponge was going to contribute to her lesson through discussion.

"Can I be excused to the bathroom?" The sponge was tapping his feet rapidly; he was releasing his fear through other means.

Mrs. Puff shook her head. "Why, no, SpongeBob. I'm in the middle of a coffee-fueled sermon right now. You can't afford to miss this information." The pufferfish could no longer tolerate a massive amount of failing scores on the written driving tests. She had been enforcing this policy since last month.

"Yes, Mrs. Puff." With proper respect, the sponge lowered his hand and his face became solemn. "Sorry, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob looked at the desk and tried to not think about what Flatts could possibly do to him.

Another pause.

Mrs. Puff faced the class. "Now, can I please have a volunteer to come up to the board?" She carefully glanced at the students for any raised hands. The room was completely silent as she waited for a raised hand. 'Flatts should go up. Drawing on the board will assist him in his adjustment to his environment.' After ten seconds, she gave up and pointed at Flatts. "How about you, Flatts?"

Flatts stood up and stretched his limbs for a second. He loved taking breaks from sitting because it prevented drowsiness. He walked to the board and grabbed a piece of chalk. His face became deadpan again.

"Please draw for us a diagram of a basic four-way intersection." Mrs. Puff stepped away from the board. She had been talking about how rain affects drivers' abilities to steer their vehicles.

Flatts quickly drew doodles of SpongeBob getting brutally assaulted by him. He silently snickered as his drew. Once he was finished, he proudly stepped away from his doodles so his class could marvel at them.

The drawings' lines came together in a way that was similar to a four-way intersection.

Mrs. Puff smiled sincerely. She had rarely seen a student defy the traditions of her classroom. "My, how very creative! We have an artist in the class." In her opinion, Flatts' interpretation of a four-way intersection was pleasant to the eye.

SpongeBob yelped when he saw the drawings. He viewed Flatts' creation of those drawings as an omen to his grim fate.

The other classmates clapped at the sight of the drawings. Like Mrs. Puff, they were impressed by the drawings because they were rarely done before.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-five minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was hiding in the bathroom. The sponge had received permission from Mrs. Puff to leave the class because one of the lecture's most important parts was over. He was sitting criss-crossed on the lid of a closed toilet and his presence was concealed by the walls of the stall. "I just don't understand. Why would Flatts want to kick my butt? I haven't said two words to the guy!" He was loudly whispering his own thoughts. "Oh no... that's three!" He remembered the first words he had said to Flatts. "What am I going to do?" He had two conflicting desires; he wanted to fully absorb the information contained the information and also wanted to escape Flatts' grasp.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Someone else entered the bathroom.

'What was that?' The sponge's eyes widened. He heard footsteps. 'Someone's coming.' The footsteps were gradually becoming louder and louder. 'They're getting closer. I've just got to act natural.' The sponge, out of his fear of getting assaulted, opened the lid and sat in the toilet's water. He closed the lid until his head had enough space between lid and water to breathe.

**CRREEAAK**

A young man who was from another class opened the door to SpongeBob's stall. He saw SpongeBob's head below the toilet's lid. "Oh, that's real nice." He was sarcastic as a way of hiding his cringe. He walked away.

**SLAM**

The young man closed the door.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Another person entered the bathroom. The sponge assumed that the young man exited the room.

SpongeBob stepped out of the toilet and wiped some sweat from his brow. He smiled slightly. "Phew, I thought for sure that was gonna be-"

Flatts opened the door to SpongeBob's stall with a **CREAK**. He chuckled and did his signature smirk.

"FLATTS!" SpongeBob's face whitened and his eyes bugged out. "U-uh, hello, sir. Kick any good butts lately. Yeah, I remember last week, I was kicking this guy's butt real good. And he leans over and says 'Hey, you know, life's like a bucket of wood shavings.'" He tried to confuse and distract Flatts by saying impromptu lies. His legs and arms were fidgeting. He could visualize the horrible methods that Flatts could assault him by.

Flatts raised his brow. He believed the story but could tell that SpongeBob was trying to divert his attention to something else.

"Except for when the shavings are in a pail, then it's like a pail of wood shavings!" SpongeBob finished his tale in a falsely enthusiastic manner. He giggled to hide his obvious nervousness.

"Hey, that story really speaks to me." Flatts folded his arms, did a faux beam, and leaned against one of the stall's walls. He was trying to fool SpongeBob into lowering his guard.

"Really?" SpongeBob was delighted to hear words that confirmed the success of his trick. "What's it say?" He took a few steps towards the door. He wanted to leave the bathroom as soon as possible so he could not get assaulted easily.

"It says, I'm gonna kick your butt twice as hard." Flatts pushed the yellow square out of the way and exited the stall with a **CRREAK SLAM**. He walked to another stall and entered it with a **CREAK SLAM**.

SpongeBob looked at the floor as he slowly exited his stall. Despair filled his heart and, as a result, he thought that Flatts' assault was inevitable. He thought about how he was going to recover from his eventual injuries and resume his normal life.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was taking another bathroom break. He was jotting down a property allocation plan that will take effect during his inevitable stay at the hospital. The break gave him enough time to finish the plan.

His gaze was focused on the notepad as he swiftly wrote item names with his pencil. He was pacing back and forth through the school's hallways. "...and I leave Gary's bowl to Gary, and my curtains to..." SpongeBob sighed and looked at the floor. He felt like he was writing a will. "...oh, Neptune, I just can't do this." He wanted to resume his writing when he becomes more emotionally stable.

**RING RING RING RING RING**

A shell-phone that was on a small wooden stool rang. Only a few of the school's hallways had shell-phones.

SpongeBob picked up the shell-phone so he could focus on other things. He thought that dwelling upon his assault and property allocation would only worsen his mood. He moved the phone towards his ear. "Death row, next in line speaking." His mood was very stubborn.

_"Hi, I'd like to place an order for delivery." _Patrick's electronic voice was heard. He had called the Boating School by accident.

"Patrick, is that you?" SpongeBob's eyes widened slightly. Hearing Patrick's voice was a pleasant surprise. He smiled slightly and put his notepad away.

_"Yeah. Hey, Mario, lemme get a large double olive, double-" _Patrick assumed that the person on the other end was an employee of the restaurant. He was watching TV as he conversed on the phone, the TV's volume made it difficult for him to hear the other person. The starfish was interrupted by SpongeBob.

"Patrick, listen. It's me, SpongeBob! I need your help!" SpongeBob raised his voice. He looked around and saw nobody. For him, the worst-case scenario was receiving a surprise assault from Flatts.

_"You're working at Pizza Castle now?" _Patrick tilted his head to the side. He thought that he had dialed the correct number.

"What? No, listen! I'm in big trouble. There's a new guy at school here and he wants to kick my butt! Listen, you're big and strong, do you think you could come down here and maybe rough him a bit? Just to get him off my back?" SpongeBob made a desperate plea. If he said that while seeing Patrick in person, he would have fallen to his knees and put his hands together. As a matter of fact, he fell to his knees as he spoke into the phone. "Please, Patrick, I'm so scared, it feels like I'm gonna throw up."

Patrick had a few phones at his home. He was holding two shell-phones. The left phone was connected to SpongeBob's end. The right phone was connected to another person's end. _"No, they're not closed. I know, you want olives." _His words to the right phone were overheard by the left shell-phone.

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "Patrick, you there?" The sponge began to think that Patrick completely ignored some of his words.

Patrick spoke to the left phone. _"Oh, I'm sorry, SpongeBob. I was just talking to my old community college buddy, Flatts. I bumped into him at the soda store, isn't that funny? You probably didn't met him 'cause he didn't share any classes with you during community college. Anyways, it must have been years since we've seen each other. Well, see ya later, Sponge. Just so you know, he's in boating school now and he told me that he's gonna kick somebody's butt." _The starfish sat in the couch nonchalantly.

S-S-S-S-S

In another hallway, Flatts was holding another shell-phone that was connected to Patrick's end.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dropped the shell-phone. He ran down the hallway and screamed as horrifying thoughts raced through his mind. 'What am I gonna do?! Nobody's gonna help me!' He was beginning to panic.

The shell-phone was still connected to Patrick's end. _"Hello? Is this Pizza Castle?" _The starfish scratched his head. He knew that Pizza Castle employees never leave phone calls abruptly.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

The school day had ended ten minutes ago. The school day had been longer than usual because Mrs. Puff had to do an important and extra-long lecture. SpongeBob had waited until every student left the building because he was trying his best to avoid Flatts' attention.

**SLAM**

SpongeBob barged into the classroom. "Mrs. Puff, can I be in a different class?" His hopelessness urged him to make drastic decisions. The yellow square wiped sweat of anxiety from his brow.

Mrs. Puff was nearly frightened by SpongeBob's sudden entrance. "But why?" She had not detected SpongeBob's negative body language during the duration of SpongeBob's stay in the classroom.

"I can't tell you." SpongeBob irrationally assumed that Flatts was stalking him. His fear was diminishing his rationality to the point where he nearly acted on emotions and instincts.

"Why ever not?" Mrs. Puff raised her brow. She could not understand why SpongeBob looked and sounded so paranoid.

"I just can't, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob took a deep breath and rubbed his arms. He was imagining the pain he would receive from Flatts' punches. He cautiously eyed the window of the classroom's exit. "My physical being is at stake, let's just leave it at that." The sponge took a few glances at the desks.

Mrs. Puff sat up. "SpongeBob, you can tell me anything. You've got to believe that." The pufferfish perceived that someone or something was disturbing SpongeBob and consequently worsening his learning experience.

SpongeBob's limbs stopped fidgeting. The yellow square sat on top of a desk and became more calm. "Well, okay. But only if you promise to keep it between us." He was using everything in his power to delay the assault.

"Of course." Mrs. Puff nodded. She had to abide to the policies set by her organization.

"Flatts says he's gonna kick my butt." SpongeBob spoke forthright. He put his hands together and repeatedly moved his legs. He kept looking at the door window to see if Flatts was watching him.

Mrs. Puff made a serious facial expression. "What?" She stood up from her seat. "There shall be no butt-kicking in any class of mine!" She put her hands on her hips. "This is an adult program. SpongeBob, just leave it to me." The pufferfish assured.

SpongeBob slowly formed a beam. He felt a very deep sense of relief. He stood up from the desk and felt less light-headed. "Aw, thanks, Mrs. Puff. I knew I could count on you." The yellow square energetically skipped across the room and exited it with a **CREEAK SLAM**. His heartbeat was at a normal pace.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

6:30 PM.

SpongeBob was walking along the boardwalk towards the boating school. The sponge had an evening class today. He was holding a bag that contained a light snack. When he was a few steps away from the entrance, he sat on the boardwalk's edge and quickly ate the apple that was in the bag.

Mrs. Puff was standing next to the entrance as she waited for her students. She looked at the yellow square. "Having a nice late snack, SpongeBob?" She assumed that SpongeBob was still in an anxious state.

"Yes, Mrs. Puff." SpongeBob swallowed and spoke politely. He wanted Mrs. Puff to be on his side as much as possible.

The pufferfish crouched towards the sponge. "SpongeBob, I talked to Flatts for you. It was all a big misunderstanding." She whispered into his ear. She hoped that her words eased all of SpongeBob s fears.

"What?!" SpongeBob looked at his teacher with bugged-out eyes. He remembered Flatts' body language clearly. 'That can't be true! Flatts meant it! He must've lied to her.' His thoughts brimmed with negativity once again.

"He was never going to kick your butt at all!" Mrs. Puff became enthusiastic. Flatts' words had relieved her of her concern for SpongeBob. "You see SpongeBob, Flatts is from a town where kicking someone's butt meant that he wants to be your friend." She repeated the lie that the flounder had told him.

SpongeBob looked at the campus' exit and saw Flatts standing outside the gate. When he and the flounder made eye contact, the flounder quickly made a crude sculpture of SpongeBob and then kicked it to the ground. Flatts' action made SpongeBob realize that Flatts had lied to Mrs. Puff. This all happened as Mrs. Puff spoke.

"And maybe you could play some sports with you on weekends." Mrs. Puff finished her sentence. When she saw the rest of her class walk along the boardwalk, she entered the building with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM. **The pufferfish did not like doing evening lessons due to waiting times and her anticipation for her return to her home.

"I-I've got diarrhea..." SpongeBob quietly said a thought of his. He noticed that Flatts was walking away from a boatmobile that had another flounder sitting in the driver's seat. A light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. He calmly walked to the boatmobile. "Are you Flatts' dad?" He made eye contact with the driver.

"Why, yes I am." The flounder was more green than his son and had a mustache. He was about to return to his home.

"Your son is going to beat me up and I don't know where else to turn! Patrick couldn't help me and Mrs. Puff wasn't much help either. I sit next to Flatts in school, and he is a fine boy in all, but he won't stop threatening me." SpongeBob blurted what was on his mind. He wanted to fix his urgent situation as soon as possible.

Flatts overheard SpongeBob's words. He turned around and saw his father and SpongeBob. "Dad, what're you doing?" He folded his arms and stomped towards his father. He was eliminating any obstacles to his goal of injuring SpongeBob.

His father bit his lip and sweatdropped. "Uhh, nothing, son." He was physically weaker than his son. If his son was angry enough, he could get injured by his son easily.

Flatts put his hand on the edge of one of the vehicle's doors. "What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" He knew that the victims of his bullying often asked his father for assistance. The flounder, at home, often acted like he was the father instead of the son.

The father's face whitened slightly. He became uneasy and glanced at SpongeBob. "Now he's gonna kick my butt!" He sat straight as he waited for the inevitable event that will occur at his family's home.

SpongeBob ran away from the campus and dashed towards the downtown area.

Flatts followed SpongeBob by jogging towards him. He was not going to release the sponge from his predatory watch anytime soon.

S-S-S-S-S

Mrs. Puff was watching the two students through the front door's windows. She assumed that the two were fooling around. She shook her head and walked towards her classroom.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was running through a thick crowd of pedestrians. "Out of my way! Out of my way!" He began to panic because the people were slowing his pace. He tried to point at Flatts. "Can't you see he's gonna kick my butt?!" The yellow square began to sprint when he noticed that Flatts was only a few feet away from him.

The crowd looked at an elderly man standing near a bus stop sign; SpongeBob was running so fast that he looked like he was pointing at that person.

The old man glanced at the citizens surrounding him and he smiled. "Hi there young people, nice evening today." He could not detect the citizens' true intentions.

A blue young man shook his fist. "So, you like kicking butts, do ya? Well, we'll show you, old man!" He had a general disdain for cranky elders. His disdain was what caused the fight between him and Mr. Krabs during the time where Squidward had a band.

The crowd ran towards the old man and began to assault him.

**BAM SLAM BOP BOP KLOK BOP BAM SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dove to a garbage can when he realized that he lost Flatts. He grabbed the can's lid and put it over the can's opening. "Okay, okay, I got to skip town, start a new life, and live under an assumed name! 'BobPants SpongeSquare'. Yeah, that's good. I'll grow a beard, and then shave it off, and live happily ever after." The sponge loudly whispered his own thoughts. His irrational ideas provided a glimmer of hope and lessened his anxiety somewhat. However, those thoughts were not part of his actual solution to his situation. The yellow square was trying to remain calm so he could think about what he should do next.

Flatts heard SpongeBob's loud whispering and opened the garbage can. He snickered and smirked. "Yeah, except you forgot the part where I kick your butt!"

SpongeBob jumped to his feet and gasped three times out of pure fright. He sprinted down the sidewalk and was sweating profusely. "He's still gonna kick my butt!" He futilely tried to point at Flatts again.

Nearby pedestrians glared at the old man again.

The old man was shakily walking past the citizens. He had received moderate injuries but thought that the people had been brawling against each other. When he saw a group of people surrounding him, he waved at them. "I love the young people." Like SpongeBob, he had an innocent worldview.

The blue young man stomped towards the old man. "How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?!" He raised his fist. His grumpiness worsened by a significant degree.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob swiftly entered the pineapple and then leaned against the door. "Oh Gary, I'm too young to have my butt kicked." His eyes were moist as he looked at his precious pet who was watching TV. "There're so many things in life I haven't gotten to do..." He glanced at his living room, he wanted to fully appreciate his last view of the pineapple. He predicated that he would receive a coma from Flatts' assault.

Gary looked at his owner from the corner of his eye. Out of sympathy for his owner, he slithered from the couch and eyed the front door. He was going to pounce SpongeBob's assailant.

Flatts barged the front door open with a **SLAM**. He had successfully followed his target from a distance.

"FLATTS!" SpongeBob nearly fell to the floor. He was so scared that he felt like he nearly had a heart attack.

"It's butt-kicking time!" Flatts smiled smugly and cracked his knuckles. He slowly walked towards SpongeBob. He had looked forward to this moment.

Gary hissed and leaped towards the flounder.

Flatts slapped Gary to the side with a **SMACK**. He leered at the 'helpless' yellow square.

'Well, this is it. I might as well say my last words.' SpongeBob shakily stood up. "Gary, there's something I want you to know, but I'm too scared to remember what it is." He was solemn as he attempted to hold back the tears. The yellow square was staring at Flatts' fists.

"Let's do it!" Flatts took a few more steps and stood just an inch away from SpongeBob. He raised his fists and thought about how he should start the fight.

SpongeBob looked at Gary and decided to be considerate for his snail. "Go away, Gary. I don't want you to see this. It'll be ugly." His selflessness affected his actions and words, regardless of the current life-threatening situation.

Gary took a deep breath and looked at the floor with moistened eyes. He felt ashamed of himself for not being able to defend his owner. He slithered through the open doorway that led to the kitchen.

Flatts took a swing at SpongeBob.

**FASH**

SpongeBob instinctively blocked the punch with his palm. He then came to a major realization. 'Silly me. Why haven't I thought of it before?' He grinned and pushed away Flatts' fist. 'I still know karate.' He had allowed his anxiety to alter his memory.

Flatts raised his brow. He then did a combo of punches.

**FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH**

SpongeBob fended all of the punches with his hands.

"How can you do that?!" Flatts became heavily confused. He had underestimated SpongeBob's fighting skills. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he lost his temper and tightened his fists. "You can't stop me!" He stubbornly did a numerous amount of punches. 'I can't let this guy beat me at my own game.' He was trying to protect his pride as a bully.

**FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH FASH**

SpongeBob was blocking the punches effortlessly. The months he spent on karate practice did not go to waste.

Flatts tried to kick SpongeBob's shins.

SpongeBob avoided the kicks by leaping over Flatts.

Flatts refused to give up. He continued to punch and kick SpongeBob. He had a massive amount of stamina.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Flatts slumped to the couch and panted. He had not injured SpongeBob at all. He was so tired that he was almost unable to speak.

An awkward pause.

SpongeBob smiled at his massive victory. He had prevented his 'inevitable fate'. However, he had a question that had been in his mind ever since Flatts had first threatened him. "Flatts, why did you want to kick my butt?" He nonchalantly sat in the red chair. 'Maybe I should give Flatts a drink.' He noticed the massive amount of sweat that the flounder was producing.

Flatts sat up. "Because you looked like a kid. Since you were smiling and wore those silly clothes," the flounder pointed at SpongeBob's attire, "I thought that you were the weakest person in the class." He had sunken into the abyss of despair. He said the truth because doing that made it easier for him to forget SpongeBob's existence. The flounder wanted to forget the yellow square because he now associated the sponge with embarrassment. He had lost the self-given title of 'Strongest Fighter' to SpongeBob.

"If you weren't smiling and wore normal clothes, I would've thought that you were tougher. Listen, with the strength that you got, you should be more 'manly' instead of 'childish, if y'know what I mean." Flatts decided to counsel SpongeBob so the sponge would leave him alone for the rest of his time in Boating School.

"But wearing these squarepants makes me happy." SpongeBob pointed at his clothes. "There's nothing wrong with doing what makes you happy... if you don't hurt others, that is." The yellow square made a crooked smile. He tried to change Flatts' viewpoint.

A pause.

"I don't got time for this chit-chat." Flatts stood up and slowly walked towards the front door. "I gotta class to take." He opened the door with a **CRREEAAK**. 'Ma's gonna nag the crap outta me if I start ditchin' again.' He stepped out and closed the door with a **SLAM**. He was too close-minded to have his opinion changed by SpongeBob's persuasive words.

The yellow square stood up as well. He was about to leave for boating school when, after quickly reflecting his moments with Flatts, a certain memory came to the surface.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob was thrown into a locker by a very tall and muscular male adolescent. That adolescent had insulted him earlier but he did not take the insults seriously because he knew that the adolescent's statements were lies. This was nothing new to the sponge, he had been a victim of bullying since his first month of 9th grade. The yellow square was currently still a freshman. _

_The adolescent closed the locker with a __**SLAM**__. He snickered for a few seconds before running back to the cafeteria._

_SpongeBob looked through the locker's slits to see if there were any staff members nearby. When he saw a walking security guard, he repeatedly banged the locker._

_The guard turned to look at the moving locker. He walked towards it, took out the master key, inserted it into the locker's keyhole, and unlocked the locker._

_SpongeBob stepped to the floor. "Thanks." He made a military salute to express his gratitude._

_"Who locked you in?" The guard looked to his left and right to see if there were any fleeing students._

_"I don't know the guy's name. He was wearing a green jacket and had big muscles." SpongeBob tried to describe the bully. He was beaming as if the bullying incidents had not happened at all._

_The guard nodded. "Those chumps can't hide forever." He patted SpongeBob on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find him." He assured the yellow student before walking towards elsewhere._

_A peer who was wearing a large pair of glasses walked past SpongeBob. His shirt was wet from all of the water balloons that had been thrown at him. He recognized the yellow square immediately because the two shared many classes. He turned to face the yellow sponge. "How could you survive all the stuff they did to you?"_

_SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?" _

_"The bullies. Y'know, stealing your lunch money, locking you in lockers, flushing your heads in toilets, stuff like that." The peer specified the meaning of his question. "Why can't you just fit in at least a little? Good people like you don't deserve such disrespect." His words revealed his thoughtfulness._

_SpongeBob shrugged. "Just do what makes you happy. I'm not a follower 'cause the stuff that alota people do doesn't make me happy." The sponge stated without any minced words. He smiled warmly. "We only get one time to experience high school so we should make the best of it." The sponge's positive outlook mixed with his statements._

_The peer looked at SpongeBob with widened eyes; he was awestruck. He had never heard any of his peers say such statements before. While he had been struggling to conform with the majority and also had a bias against nonconformists; SpongeBob did almost the opposite. He never expected to hear meaningful advice from silly people like SpongeBob._

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob exited the pineapple with a **CRRREEAAAK SLAM**. Like his high school days, he was the person who stood out among a crowd. Like the times during his younger years where he faced the temptations of peer pressure, he refused to satisfy Flatts' demands for change.


	85. Missing Identity

**Chapter 85: Missing Identity**

* * *

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

**HOOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm announced the beginning of SpongeBob's day.

**CLICK**

SpongeBob turned off the foghorn and sat up. He was only wearing his underwear. "Good morning, world, and all who inhabit it!" The yellow square was extra-enthusiastic because today was a Monday. He had shifted his position so quickly that the blanket soared and then landed on his face. He did not notice what covered his vision. "Awk! Gary, help! I can't see. Gary!" The yellow square slowly put his feet on the floor. He then felt the bedroom's objects with his feet and hands. "Gary, are you there?" When he stepped on the newspaper pile, he slipped and fell to the floor with a

**THUD.**

His body hit the barrel that the foghorn was on and consequently made the foghorn land on his head. The sponge's head went through the foghorn's hole. "Ow!" He shakily stood up and tried to walk. The foghorn's weight made each of his steps feel awkward. "Gary? Gary, buddy? I need you to be my eyes, okay?" His morning had already took a turn for the bizarre. He eventually found the door to the staircase by feeling it. He then exited the bedroom with a **CRREEEAAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

"Am I near the bathroom?" SpongeBob's question was intended to be answered by his snail. He tried to walk downstairs but ended up tripping on a step.

**BAM SLAM CLANK BAM SLAM CLANK CLANK BAM SLAM BAM SLAM CLANK BAM **

The sponge shrieked as he tumbled down the stairs. When his body reached the floor, it rolled and pushed the kitchen door open. When the door was open enough, his body slowly rolled into the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slowly stood up, put both of his hands on the foghorn, and yanked it off of his head. He tossed the foghorn to the side and spotted Gary. He beamed in relief.

"Hey." Gary greeted. He was near the cabinets. He had waited a long time for his owner's arrival.

"Gary, now that my horrific incident of terror is over, how about some breakfast?" The yellow square's enthusiasm was not going to disappear quickly. He opened the cabinet and took out a can of snail nip and Gary's bowl. He put the bowl on the floor, took out a can opener from a drawer, and opened the snail nip can. The yellow square then performed a short dance. "The most important meal of the day, serving it up Gary's way - pop!" He sang and poured the food into bowl after saying "pop". "Enjoy, buddy." He made a thumbs-up and then walked to the fridge.

SpongeBob opened the fridge to see if there was anything particularly appetizing. When he saw a can of canned soup, a light bulb lit up in his head. 'Hmm, y'know, I've been feeding snail nip to Gary for years, and I don't even know what it tastes like.' The yellow square looked at Gary from the corner of his eye. 'One try wouldn't hurt.' He gave in to his impulses. He walked up to Gary's bowl, dipped his index finger into an uneaten portion of the snail nip, and then licked his index finger.

**"BLEAH!" **

The yellow square spat the snail nip to the ground. The food tasted abysmal. "That was the worst thing I've ever tasted." He walked towards the door to the staircase. He was going to the bedroom to retrieve his squarepants. "Oh well, at least I'll never have to do it again." He was acting like nothing of note had happened at all. He closed the door with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob was in the bathroom and was brushing his teeth. As he looked at his reflection on the cabinet's mirror, he was reflecting on what happened yesterday.

He was specifically focused on the advice that Flatts had given him. In his opinion, changing one's clothing style and normal facial expressions was a way of changing one's identity. When he thought about his own opinion, he realized that being a lifeguard and becoming manly enough to be in the Salty Spitoon were situations where he had to change his identity. He began to wonder about the frailty of identity and what was one's true self versus a 'mask' that was shown to the public.

When SpongeBob glanced at his watch, he realized that he was wandering too deeply into his thoughts. He had a day of work that was waiting for him. He finished brushing his teeth and rinsed his mouth with mouthwash. The yellow square opened the cabinet, put away the mouthwash and the toothbrush, and closed the pair of doors that the mirror consisted of.

S-S-S-S-S

Three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. The yellow square skipped towards the Krusty Krab and put on his employee hat. He was eager to start another day of work.

Patrick was standing outside of his home and had been like that for a whole hour. "Hi, SpongeBob." He waved at his best friend. He could tell when today was a Sunday by seeing if SpongeBob was not wearing an employee hat during the morning.

"Hi, Patrick!" SpongeBob joyfully waved back and then focused his gaze on the road ahead of him. He had the sudden desire to sing on his way to work. "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la! La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!" He created his own tune within seconds.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob saw Mr. Krabs unlocking the entrance to the Krusty Krab. "Good morning, Mr. Krabs." He enthusiastically greeted his boss. He jumped up and down as he anticipated his first tasks for today.

"Mornin', me lad." Mr. Krabs glanced at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "You seem pretty happy today." When he opened the double door, a light bulb lit up in his head. "Y'know what? Keep it up. I bet your enthusiasm will bring in more customers." The crab faced SpongeBob and smiled warmly. "And that means more money for me - I mean for us." He scratched the back of his head. He altered his words because he saw Squidward walking towards the Krusty Krab. The crustacean fully obeyed the rules in the contract when Squidward was near due to his fear of another strike.

"Aye, aye, sir." SpongeBob made a military salute and jogged into the restaurant with a **C-CRREEAAK S-SLAM**. He could not lower his grin at all.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**SLAM**

"Order up!" SpongeBob kicked the kitchen door open. He was holding a plate that had a Krabby Patty on it. "One Krabby Patty grilled with the fiery warmth of my beating heart." He was trying to implement his passion for his job into all of the tasks he did. He quickly walked to a man who was sitting at a nearby table. "Enjoy." He set the plate on the table.

The man was in his twenties. He was visiting the Krusty Krab for the first time. "Thanks, uh..." The man looked at SpongeBob's shirt, he expected a nametag to be on there. He did not see any nametag. "...oh."

"Is there a problem?" SpongeBob put his hands together. He tried to be polite and considerate for the customer.

"Well, you really should be wearing a name tag so I can thank you properly." The young man knew that wearing name tags was a standard that was observed by a large majority of restaurant employees.

SpongeBob laughed. He thought that his nametag was obvious to the naked eye. When he enters the bathroom on the morning of a workday, he instinctively puts the nametag on his shirt. "While it is against my philosophy to disagree with the customer, I must point out that I am in fact wearing a name tag," he pointed at a certain area of his shirt, "right here." He looked at that area and perceived that his nametag was missing. "Huh?" He looked at the other areas of his clothing and could not find his nametag in any of those spots. However, he did not give up; he dug through his pockets and even took off his shoes.

Squidward saw an group of customers that was walking towards the Krusty Krab. 'I don't have time to deal with SpongeBob's foolery. If I don't stop him, he'll stall the pace of everything.' The octopus did not want to deal with an endless line of impatient customers. He stepped out of the boat and walked up to SpongeBob. "SpongeBob-" He got interrupted by the yellow sponge.

SpongeBob looked at Squidward with moistened eyes. "Oh, Squidward, it's terrible! It's the most terrible thing that's ever happened to me. I lost my name tag. POURQUOI!" He exaggerated his situation because he had never lost his nametag before. He predicted that customers would struggle to remember his name and will consequently slow down the business to a subpar level.

"SpongeBob, take it easy!" Squidward grabbed both of SpongeBob's shoulders. Right now was not the time for him to deal with SpongeBob's shenanigans. "I'm sure you can get a new one." He could not understand why SpongeBob could not implement a simple solution.

"But I don't want a new one, Squidward. My name tag is out there somewhere." SpongeBob was too sentimental to let go of his nametag easily. He considered the nametag to be a companion, like his spatula. "Lost... hungry... who will help it?" His mind wandered to more darker subjects. "What if someone's using it?" He blurted a thought of his.

S-S-S-S-S

Inside SpongeBob's mind...

_S-S-S-S-S_

_A bank was peacefully providing its services to Bikini Bottomites. All of the employees were successfully fulfilling their daily duties._

_**S-SLAM**_

_A man, who wore a __ski mask and a nametag that had the words: 'SpongeBob SquarePants', barged the glass double door open. He held out a pistol towards the citizens in the waiting line. "Alright! Nobody move! This is a bank robbery!" He stomped towards the accountants._

_Citizens__ ran and screamed in hysteria. Chaos erupted within the bank's walls._

_S-S-S-S-S_

"I'm innocent, I tell ya!" SpongeBob felt a crushing amount of guilt. His rising panic was so strong that he was on the verge of collapsing. After the ordeals of Squidward's move to Squidville, the bullworm's assault of Bikini Bottom, and Flatts' threats; he no longer wanted to deal with another burden. His anxiety made him think that more painful trials were awaiting him.

Squidward shook SpongeBob's shoulders rapidly. "SpongeBob, will you get a hold of yourself? Since when is losing your name tag the end of the world?" He viewed SpongeBob's opinion of the nametag loss through the lenses of rationality.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs exited his office. "Attention, all employees!" He called for his two employees and his intern.

Nicholas entered the Krusty Krab with a **C-CRREEAAK S-SLAM**. The intern came to the restaurant at the right moment. He adjusted his glasses and faced Mr. Krabs.

"Just a quick heads-up, boys. There's going to be a surprise employee inspection in one hour. Your surroundings and uniforms will also be inspected. Anyone who doesn't pass will get the boot!" Mr. Krabs firmly stated his future action. He folded his arms and looked at each Krusty Krew member. If he was forced to comply to a contract that prevented corruption, he felt like he should eliminate any "corruption" as well. His inspection was merely one way of "cleansing" the Krusty Krew from any bad habits. He opened his office's door with a **CRREEAAK **and took out an old boot he had brought from his home yesterday. "This boot, to be exact. It's very stinky, and you'll have to wear it all day. See you in an hour." He held out the boot, stepped into his office, and closed the door with a **SLAM**.

Mr. Krabs' warning worsened SpongeBob's negative feelings. The yellow square thought that the stinky boot would almost certainly lower profits since customers would become repulsed by the boot's smell. He began to gasp repeatedly in an attempt to control his nervousness.

Nicholas ran to the kitchen door and entered the kitchen with a **CREAK SLAM**. 'Gotta make this place look as nice as possible!' His perfectionist instincts kicked in. Such instincts were also reflected in his cooking; presentation was far more noticeable than taste in his cooked food.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "SpongeBob, if you really want to find your name tag, just retrace your steps." The octopus tried to simplify SpongeBob's situation by making it seem like it was a case of a mere misplacement.

Nicholas stood on his tip-toes and looked at the yellow square through the ordering window. "You shouldn't worry about it too much. It's like finding the keys for your boatmobile." He tried to ease SpongeBob's fears by saying wise words.

Squidward nodded in response to Nicholas' words. "Exactly."

"Retrace my steps..." SpongeBob put a hand on his chin. Whenever he had lost something, he would usually search through all known locations and spots until he found that missing item. However, he now considered Squidward and Nicholas' suggestions to be superior to his own. "Squidward, you're a genius." He twinkled.

Squidward was flattered by SpongeBob's comment. Ever since the morning, he had not been irritated by the sponge's behavior; Squidville, the 'bomb' pie, and Bikini Millennium served as reminders of what it was like without SpongeBob's spontaneity. The sponge's stroke to his ego only improved his view of the yellow square. "A genius? Well, I don't know about that, but-" He could not form a proper reaction. The sponge interrupted him.

SpongeBob walked towards the double door. "Cover me 'til I get back, 'kay?" He took a final glance at Squidward and grinned before leaving with a **C-CRREEAAK S-SLAM**. He was eager to restore his work life to normalcy.

Squidward sat in the boat and looked through the ordering window. "Nick, can you cook for SpongeBob again?" He constantly looked back and forth between Nicholas and the incoming customers.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas frowned in a troubled manner. "I'm kinda busy now..." He was trying to organize the dishes as quickly as he could. Sweat was running down his face as he stretched the limits of his muscle speeds. "How many customers are there?" He stepped to the cabinet and swiftly opened it. He organized the bags inside it based on their contents.

S-S-S-S-S

**C-CRREEAAAK**

**S-SLAM**

The customers poured into the dining room. They formed a single-file line and waited for their orders to be heard.

Squidward took a quick look at the customers before resuming eye contact with Nicholas. "About thirteen." He moved and spoke in a hasty manner. Due to the Krusty Krab's massive success, customers had become increasingly impatient over the last few months. He remembered a few recent moments when customers angrily complained over increased waiting periods.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas jumped to the grill and turned it on. He did not have much time to waste. He grabbed the spare spatula from a nearby table. "I'm ready to go." He droned. He eyed the opened cabinet; his more important task did not leave his mind.

S-S-S-S-S

Nicholas' monotone triggered a realization. Squidward, after thinking over Nicholas' previous actions, perceived that the green fish had concentrated as much as possible into his tasks. He also became aware that Nicholas was very quiet and unemotional while working, often working in the background; unlike SpongeBob who put emotion and passion into his work and had a chance of getting distracted.

Regardless of their working styles, they were both quite successful while the octopus was stuck in mediocrity. However, his realization raised a question. How could Nicholas thrive in a monotonous internship without finding relief through enthusiasm or laziness?

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked down the street of his neighborhood. "Let's see, if I'm gonna retrace my steps, I gotta remember everything I did a while ago." The sponge quietly said his own thoughts as he looked at the street's asphalt.

Patrick acted instinctively. "Hi, SpongeBob."

"Oh, hi Patrick." SpongeBob waved at the sea star and smiled. When he reached the rocky path that led to his pineapple, he suddenly got hit by a sense of deja-vu. He walked back to the starfish. "You said 'hi' to me this morning, right?" He desired a perfect replication of the event sequence that happened before his entry into the Krusty Krab.

"As I do every morning." Patrick smiled slightly. He thought that SpongeBob's question was silly.

"Well, I need you to do it again." SpongeBob simpered and requested as politely as he could. He expected his friend to cooperate with him.

"That wasn't part of the deal, SquarePants." Patrick folded his arms and shook his head. He was aware of something that SpongeBob did not notice yet. He had assumed that SpongeBob was aware of that 'fact'.

"Patrick, what're you talking about?" SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly and tilted his head to the side. Patrick's response bewildered him.

"My hellos aren't just some tape recording that you can rewind and play over and over. They're special!" Patrick was blunt with his words. Ever since his second year of high school, he had followed a self-imposed rule of only greeting SpongeBob when necessary and appropriate.

"Patrick, this is an emergency!" SpongeBob, under his unfortunate circumstances, could not respect his best friend's decision. "I lost my name tag this morning, and I need to retrace my steps." He hoped that a simple explanation would change Patrick's mind.

"You lost your name tag?" A concerned look washed over Patrick's face. He knew that the Krusty Krab was one of the pillars of SpongeBob's life. Any negative effects to that pillar could spread damage to his friendship with SpongeBob and other parts of SpongeBob's life

S-S-S-S-S

Twelve minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob opened the bedroom's window. He looked through it and cupped his hands together near his mouth. "Okay, Patrick, you know the plan, right?!" He shouted towards his best friend. He had created a plan and had done all of the necessary preparations.

S-S-S-S-S

"I got it, I got it." Patrick nodded calmly. "You're gonna retrace your steps and when you walk by me I say 'hi', just like this morning." He regurgitated the information that had been drilled into his head. His forgetfulness was at an all-time high today.

S-S-S-S-S

"Perfect." SpongeBob smiled widely and pumped his fist. He flipped around and looked at his bed. "I guess I should start with when I woke up." He leaped to his bed and put the blanket over himself. "I sure hope this works." He pressed a certain button on the foghorn, closed his eyes, and crossed his fingers.

A long pause.

**HOOONNNNNNK**

The foghorn's alarm went off.

SpongeBob turned off the foghorn with a **CLICK**. He sat up and did a faux grin. "Good morning, world, and all who inhabit it!" He tossed the blanket to the ceiling and allowed the blanket to land on his head. He leaned towards the foghorn, fell to the floor, and remained still until the foghorn got on his head again. He then stood up and walked towards the staircase door.

He exited the bedroom with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

"So far, so good." SpongeBob smiled at his own current success. He intentionally tripped on a step of the stairs.

**CLANK SLAM CLANK BAM CLANK BAM SLAM CLANK BAM SLAM CLANK BAM SLAM **

He rapidly tumbled down the stairs and landed on the floor with a **THUD**. He then lied on his back. He instantly inspected the surface of the megahorn's insides but could not find his nametag. "I don't see my name tag up here." He stood up and entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob slowly removed the megahorn from his head and tossed it to the floor.

**HOOONNNNK**

The megahorn's alarm abruptly resounded again. As it blew, it created a small gust.

The sponge was pushed by the gust and landed in the sink with a **CLANK**. He suffered from dizziness for a few seconds before he jumped out of the sink. He wiped his clothes and then walked to the table. He turned off the megahorn and grabbed a snail nip can that was on the table.

Gary was already in the kitchen along with the food bowl.

"Now that my horrific moment of terror is over, how about some breakfast?" SpongeBob made a crooked smile and looked down at his snail. He took out his can opener and opened the can. "The most important meal of the day, serving it up Gary's way." He sang the tune hastily. He poured the snail nip to the bowl, dipped his finger into the nip, and then put the food into his mouth. "Bleah!" He spat the food out and walked to the living room door.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

"Okay, next I just have to walk outside and say hi to Patrick!" SpongeBob allowed his thoughts to flow into spoken words. He skipped across the living room energetically and exited the pineapple with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob swiftly walked along his neighborhood's road and eventually walked past Patrick. He looked at the starfish from the corner of his eye but did not hear anything from him. He faced Patrick and tapped his foot.

An awkward pause.

"Patrick!" SpongeBob snapped his fingers; he was trying to jog Patrick's memory.

"What?" Patrick scratched his head in confusion. He did not understand why the sponge looked disappointed.

"You were supposed to say 'hi' to me." SpongeBob was not pleased with Patrick's forgetfulness. He frowned and folded his arms. However, he optimistically thought that this failure would shame Patrick into remembering his line.

"Hi." Patrick smiled and waved. He tried to memorize his line.

SpongeBob smiled slightly. "Alright, let's take it from the top." The yellow square jogged back to his pineapple. As he jogged, he glanced at his pink best friend. "Don't forget your line this time!" He attempt to establish the line into Patrick's forgetful mind.

"Hi, SpongeBo- I mean..." Patrick made a crooked smile. He knew that his self-interruption was awkward. "I won't." Unfortunately, his forgetfulness was allowing his instincts to control his actions and words.

SpongeBob entered his pineapple with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

The foghorn's alarm **HOOONNNK**ed.

SpongeBob sat up. "Good morning, world, and alll who inhabit it." He tossed the blanket to the ceiling and waited until it landed on his head.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**BAM SLAM CLANK BAM SLAM CLANK BAM SLAM BAM CLANK SLAM BAM CLANK **

SpongeBob, while having the foghorn on his head, quickly tumbled down the stairs.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

"The most important meal of the day. La-la-la... Gary's way." SpongeBob sang the tune as quickly as he could. He was holding another opened can of snail nip. He poured the nip to Gary's bowl and licked the nip. "Bleah." He spat out the nip quickly.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked past Patrick. Like the previous attempt, Patrick did not say "hi". The yellow square looked at the sea star and put his hands on his hips. "Patrick, why didn't you say 'hi' to me?" He then scratched the back of his head in frustration.

"What's my motivation?" Patrick shrugged. He had forgotten the reason why SpongeBob was reenacting the events that had happened before the sponge had entered the Krusty Krab. He wanted to stand outside and do nothing instead of doing something that he thought was unnecessary.

"Forget the motivation. Just say 'hi'." SpongeBob tried to make Patrick's role as simple as possible. He smiled slightly so he would not look like he was mean. He then ran back to the pineapple so he could repeat the event sequence.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob briskly walked past the pink star. He made eye contact with his best friend.

"Hi, Patrick." Patrick greeted SpongeBob incorrectly because the sponge had oversimplified Patrick's role. His greeting was also partially caused by his forgetfulness. "Oh wait, I'm Patrick!" He smiled and sweatdropped. "I'm sorry." He chuckled for a second. "I'm sorry. Let's try it again." He pointed at the pineapple.

SpongeBob smiled moderately. He was glad that Patrick recognized the mistake. He then jogged back to his home.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick waved at SpongeBob as the sponge walked past him. "Hi, SpongeBoob." He widened his eyes slightly when he realized that he made another mistake. "Ha! SpongeBoob! I sai... I sai..." The starfish laughed at himself. He had made that mistake out of a mere mispronunciation instead of instincts or poor memory. "Who's SpongeBoob? I said SpongeBoob!" He laughed again. "Again, again. Sorry, Sponge." He calmed down.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick covered his mouth as he suppressed his laughter. He eventually released a few giggles. "I-I've got the giggles." He said an excuse for his silly response to SpongeBob's walking. He had been thinking about funny incidents that occurred in the past.

"Oh, what's the use?" SpongeBob kicked a few pebbles. His frustration reached a critical level. "I'll never find my name tag in time for inspection." His determination could only endure a certain amount of attempts and trials. He looked at the ground as he thought about what he should do next.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Well, what did you do before you woke up this morning?" The starfish did not want his best friend to deal with the problem by himself. He felt like he now had a duty to assist SpongeBob in the search for the nametag.

"We went jellyfishing. I caught a big jellyfish by jumping from a hill while you were catching dozens of small jellyfish. After that, I slept." SpongeBob recounted the last events that had occurred yesterday. The yellow square hopefully thought that a reenactment of such events may lead to the discovery of his nametag.

"Then let's retrace our steps to there." Patrick patted SpongeBob on the shoulder as a silent way of assurance. 'Jellyfishing's way easier than saying hi; I wouldn't have to say anything.' The starfish confidently beamed.

SpongeBob grinned. "Let's go get our nets!" He merrily ran back to his pineapple and entered it with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**. He wanted his nametag so badly that he was willing to give almost any plan a chance.

S-S-S-S-S

Seven minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were jogging across Jellyfish Fields, they were returning to the spot that they used yesterday. They eventually reached tha area.

Patrick ran around the hills in search of a moderately-sized jellyfish group. SpongeBob walked to the top of the largest hill and waited for a jellyfish to pass by.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting on a rock. Half of a group of jellyfish were in his net. He was perfectly reenacting what he had done yesterday.

SpongeBob walked to the starfish. A jellyfish that was smaller than the jellyfish he caught yesterday was in his net. However, that jellyfish was big enough to be a decent substitute for the yesterday's jellyfish. "Hey, Pat, wanna go home?" He said the same words that he said yesterday.

Patrick nodded. He stood up and allowed the jellyfish to leave his net.

"Bye, little fella." SpongeBob smiled warmly and released the big jellyfish.

The two best friends walked towards their neighborhood. Their entire reenactment was perfect.

S-S-S-S-S

Four minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped walking when they reach the lawn of Patrick's rock.

"Well, did you find your nametag?" Patrick looked at the yellow square and smiled widely. He expected a positive response from his best friend.

"Nope." SpongeBob bit his lip and shook his head. The jellyfishing reenactment worsened his frustration because it was just as ineffective as the morning reenactment.

"Then what did you do after I said 'hi' to you this morning?" The pink star tilted his head to the side. He thought that the nametag search was all about trial and error. He was using a lax approach towards SpongeBob's situation.

"I skipped merrily to the Krusty Krab, said hello to Old Man Jenkins, entered the Krusty Krab, swiped my card on the attendance machine, placed an apple on Mr. Krabs' desk, went to the kitchen... and that's about it." SpongeBob said his thoughts out loud. He snapped his fingers when he remembered a certain fact. "Oh, and I also tossed a few trash bags to the dumpster." 'Are we going to reenact that? How're we gonna get Mr. Krabs' permission?' The sponge kept his questions to himself as he watched Patrick critically think about the situation.

A pause.

Patrick's hand was on his chin as the starfish tried to create a solution. A light bulb eventually lit up in his head. "That's it! Your name tag is in the apple on Mr. Krabs' desk!" The starfish was quite confident in the effectiveness of his solution.

SpongeBob twinkled. "Pat, you're a genius." He saw no other way to express his happiness. Within seconds, he found a flaw in Patrick's conclusion. "Oh wait, he's probably thrown it away by now." He stopped smiling.

Another light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "Well, then we'll look in the dumpster!" The starfish, who was usually lazy and unmotivated, was now more determined than SpongeBob to solve the sponge's situation. He refused to allow a crucial part of his friend's life to crumble into oblivion.

S-S-S-S-S

Six minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stopped walking once they were in front of the Krusty Krab's dumpster.

SpongeBob detected an odor from the dumpster that he had not noticed before. He blocked his nose. "Ugh, what is that stench?" The yellow square was not fond of trash odors.

Patrick did not allow a minor obstacle to deter him from helping his friend. "That is the stench of discovery." He tried to view the odor through positive lenses. He grabbed the edge of the dumpster's interior and looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "C'mon, buddy. I'll give you a boost." He decided to lower himself to the ground. He stood on all four limbs. "Hop on, pal."

SpongeBob let go of his nose and took a deep breath. 'I gotta do this for my job.' The sponge reminded himself of the long journey he had undergone in order to obtain his job as a Krusty Krab fry cook. He stood on Patrick's back and then leaped into the dumpster. His body sank into the dark depths of the trash bags.

A pause.

SpongeBob dug his way to the surface. He quickly accustomed his nose to the odor. "Hey, it's not so bad once you get used to it." The yellow square smiled in relief. His breath slowed and steadied.

It was moments like the current one that made Patrick think about how it would be like if he had a bigger nose. He heard rumors that people with bigger noses were able to pick up a bigger variety of smells. Unknown to him, those rumors were completely false. "I wish I had a nose like yours." Patrick gazed at SpongeBob's nose.

SpongeBob dug his way through the bags as if he was swimming. "Come on in, buddy. The garbage is fine." The yellow square's anxiety over the situation had lessened. Patrick's positive willpower was influencing his thoughts.

Patrick grinned. "Cannonball!" His mind stopped dwelling on the what-ifs. He leaped and fell through the sea of trash bags. At that moment, his mind became immersed in his present situation.

"You look over there," SpongeBob pointed to his left, "and I'll look over here." He pointed at his right. The sponge swiftly dug towards his right after he uttered his last word.

"Okay." Patrick nodded and trot his way through the huge bags. When he reached a spot that had smaller bags, he dug his way by tossing those smaller bags in random directions. He was focused on his current objective and ultimate goal while disregarding his surroundings.

Some of the trash bags landed on SpongeBob's back. The yellow square pushed them away before getting hit by another volley of bags. 'It's gotta be Pat. These things can't come from the sky.' He endured the pressure of their combined weight and managed to dig his way out of them. "Patrick?" He turned to look at his best friend.

"I'm looking. I'm looking." Patrick tried to assure SpongeBob and then dug faster. He wanted to work as efficently as possible so they could find the nametag before the inspection time comes.

"Patrick?" SpongeBob swam away from an incoming rain of bags. "Patrick?!" A bag landed on his head and partially erupted. Parts of Krabby Patty buns landed on his face. The constant barrage of bags was testing his patience.

"I'm looking as fast as I can!" Patrick bit his lip and rapidly flung trash bags left and right. He assumed that SpongeBob's increasingly louder calls meant that the deadline was drawing near.

"**Patrick!"** SpongeBob raised his volume significantly. He could no longer tolerate Patrick's desperate behavior. He thought that wearing filthy clothes would reflect poorly on him as an employee.

Patrick flipped and faced SpongeBob. He stopped digging through the bags. He noticed the stains and crumbs on SpongeBob's face and the massive pile of bags on the sponge's side. "Oh." The starfish made a poker face; he noticed his own foolishness.

"Thank you." The sponge breathed deeply and wiped the crumbs and stains from his face. He tossed the broken bag to the side. "Don't toss the bags so much." He minimized his words and then resumed his digging.

Patrick took wide steps towards the erupted bag out of curiosity. He inspected it and noticed that a square-shaped object was inside it. He took out the object and realized that it was an album for a famous singer known as Stingray 5000. "Hey, look! A Stingray 5000 single." He held out the album towards SpongeBob. He had a liking for the singer's pop music, regardless of his free-form jazz preference. "This dude rocks." He gazed at the album cover and tilted his head to the side. "Why would anybody throw this away?" He said a thought of his out loud.

SpongeBob glanced at his watch and nearly gasped when he saw the positions of the hands. He only had eleven minutes left to find the nametag. He looked at the album Patrick was holding and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Have you forgotten what we're looking for knee-deep in yesterday's Top Forty songs?" He smirked.

"Yes." Patrick made eye contact with his best friend. He could not remember any song in the Top Forties. He did not know the sponge's reason for asking that question.

"I'll give you a hint. Two words. First word: my. Second word: nametag." The yellow square cleverly reminded Patrick of their objective. He thought that Patrick forgot the objective because the starfish was staring at the album.

Patrick could not answer SpongeBob's question because he was interpreting his friend's words literally. "Could I have another hint?" He simpered. Ironically, instead of the album, it was the sponge's question that distracted him from his objective.

SpongeBob forwent all attempts at clever reminders. "Patrick, I-I would love to sit here and play Twenty Questions with you, but I've only got a couple of minutes 'til inspection." He was visibly sweating; his anxiety over the deadline returned. His words were hastily put together. He then dug by flinging the bags in random directions, his fears lowered him to Patrick's level. "Just hurry! We don't have much time.

Patrick perceived a small blue rectangle on the back of his friend's shirt. "Hey, SpongeBob-" He grinned when he recognized the object. That rectangle was SpongeBob's nametag. However, he got interrupted.

"Not now, Pat." SpongeBob shook his head. His nervousness urged him to focus on his task. The sponge anxiously thought that the inspection determined the fate of his career at the Krusty Krab.

"I know where your nametag is." Patrick pointed at the sponge's nametag. He began to jump up and down in excitement.

SpongeBob gasped and turned around. "Where?! Where?!" He grinned and glanced at the bags for any signs of his nametag.

Patrick's forgetfulness kicked in at the most inappropriate time. "Uh... I can't remember." The starfish scratched his head and sweatdropped. His sudden happiness was ruined by a quick rise in frustration.

"Pat, I don't have time for this!" SpongeBob frowned and resumed his digging. He was not going to allow Patrick's 'illusions' to stop him from finding his nametag. He turned around again.

"There it is!" Patrick pointed at the nametag again. His forgetfulness forced him to only remember the nametag's location when he actually sees it.

"Where?!" The sponge looked at his friend from the corner of his eye. When he saw the direction of Patrick's pointing hand, he turned to see what Patrick was pointing at. He did not immediately believe Patrick's claim.

Patrick forgot the nametag's location again. "Uh... I forgot again."

SpongeBob folded his arms. He could not tell if Patrick was serious or was fooling around. "Pat, are you with me or against me?" His anxiety was so severe that he began to view Patrick as a pest.

His nametag dropped to the surface of the trash bag sea.

"It's right there!" Patrick continued to point at the blue object. "It's under you!" He was jumping up and down very quickly. He had looked at his friend's watch and knew that SpongeBob only had three minutes left.

SpongeBob looked down and saw the nametag. He beamed in delight, snatched the nametag, and put it on the front of his shirt. He opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by Patrick.

"It was on the back of your shirt." Patrick was able to remember the nametag's location because his excitement died down. The pink star jumped to the ground and landed on his feet with a **THUD**.

"I had my identity all along." SpongeBob giggled in immense relief. He hopped to the ground. His grin could not become bigger as he looked at his best friend. "Thanks, Pat." He pat his starfish on the shoulder. "I'm not sure how to pay you back." He took a quick look at his watch and realized that he had a minute left. He hastily dashed to the Krusty Krab's back entrance.

Patrick's intelligence abruptly increased. After some seconds of deep thinking, he realized that SpongeBob had not given him a reason for why he wanted the nametag. "Hold on a sec." He grabbed the sponge's shoulder. "Why do you need that nametag? Doesn't everybody already know you?" He feared that his friend was suffering from panic episodes.


	86. Club SpongeBob

**Chapter 86: Club SpongeBob**

* * *

SpongeBob looked at the starfish. "I need it for an inspection. Mr. Krabs is gonna check our nametags along with our other stuff." He explained in an assuring manner. He preserved his smile as he grabbed the handle of the back door.

Patrick suddenly noticed that an odor was coming from his friend's clothes. He predicted that the sponge will perform poorly in the inspection because of that stench. "Wait!" He took out a wrapped piece of untouched gum and gave it to SpongeBob. "Eat this. It will hide your bad smell." He pointed at the sponge's clothes.

SpongeBob smiled appreciatively at the wrapped gun and then unwrapped the piece. He chewed on the mint gum. Its smell came out of his mouth and blocked his odor in several seconds. "Thanks again, Pat." He knew that Patrick still had a high amount of intelligence. He felt indebted to his best friend because of the assistance he had received. He entered the Krusty Krab with a **CREAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Mr. Krabs stepped out of his office. "Fall in for inspection!" He announced the beginning of the inspection. The crab stood before the office's door as he waited for his employees.

SpongeBob, Squidward, and Nicholas gathered before the boss.

Mr. Krabs looked at the three members' nametags and employee hats. "Hat and uniform seem to ge in order." He nodded and began to examine the cleanliness of the members' faces. He noticed a few tiny hair strands sticking out of Squidward's nose. "Hmm," he put a hand on his chin and then came up with a solution to the octopus' tiny ' problem'. "Promise me you'll shave tonight and you pass." He considered cleanliness to be an important factor in the inspection because he wanted his employees to be appealing to customers.

"Hoorah." Squidward's reply contained an ounce of sarcasm. However, his tone also indicated that he was complying to the crab's request. The octopus saw no drawback from doing a simple task in order to maintain his job.

"Okay, boy, your turn." The crab faced SpongeBob. He looked at the sponge's squarepants for any stains or other suspicious markings.

SpongeBob did a military salute. "I think you'll find everything shipshape." The yellow square was very confident in his appearance and other aspects as an employee.

Mr. Krabs slowly nodded; he saw nothing wrong with the sponge's appearance. 'The lad certainly prepared for this.' He was impressed by the pleasant mint smell that SpongeBob was emitting. He moved his gaze towards Nicholas. It only took him a few seconds to know that the intern was properly clean. "Stay here." He said a command to the three members before walking to the boat. He started the next phase of the inspection.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs exited the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**. "It's fine and dandy." The crab had inspected the kitchen and concluded that it was spotless. Before he returned to the office, he glared at Squidward from the corner of his eye. "Remember what I told ya." He had criticized the mediocre condition of Squidward's workspace. However, he knew in the back of his mind that Squidward will ultimately not follow his advice.

**CRRREEEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The crustacean entered his office.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting on the couch as they watched a special episode of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. The relatively new Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy TV show sometimes aired special episodes on days other than Saturday. As the two watched the show, they reached a certain moment in the episode that reminded SpongeBob of recent events.

_S-S-S-S-S_

This was the scene that was on the TV screen:

_Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy walked into a convenience store that had been ransacked by an infamous group of robbers. They glanced at the ruins of the store before they walked up to a cowering cashier._

"_What happened here?" Mermaid Man sincerely expressed concern for the cashier. "It's a miracle that a whippersnapper like you survived something like this." _

_The cashier shakily stood up. "A b-bunch of guys with masks came in here. They had guns and bats and told me that they were gonna kill me unless I gave them all the money here." He nervously glanced at his surroundings as if the robbers were still around._

_A detective and a police sketch artist who were already at the crime scene walked to the cashier. The detective had already taken notes based on the cashier's testimony. _

"_Can you describe the physical appearances of the robbers?" The sketch artist took out his sketchpad and drawing pencil._

_The cashier loosened up as he became comfortable under the trustworthy hands of the authorities. "They all wore these black masks where you could only see their eyes and mouths. They also wore green shirts and purple pants. I honestly can't tell who was who since they all looked the same."_

_The sketch artist quickly drew what he had been told. He held out his sketch towards the cashier. "Is this it?" He adjusted his sunglasses._

_The cashier nodded. _

_Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy took a long look at the sketch. _

"_Don't worry, lad. We'll find 'em and take 'em down before you know it." Mermaid Man assured the cashier and moderately smiled. He and Barnacle Boy walked through the grocery store's exit and entered the Invisible Boatmobile._

_S-S-S-S-S_

SpongeBob reflected on what had happened over the past few months.

_Patrick cleared his throat. "Greetings, Mr. SquarePants. I have not found any clues leading to the culprit or the culprit himself. However, in the hopes of getting some information that will help me in my investigation, I am going to ask you a question." He folded his arms and waited for answer from his best friend. He was unintentionally intimidating the yellow square. _

_SpongeBob sweatdropped and tried his best to not allow his arms to shake. "N-n-nope." He bit his lip and shook his head. "I-I told you before. The only others I saw in the stadium were those employees. Other than that, I don't know how Clamu became upset. She just woke up and started to freak out." The sponge said a truth and a lie. He was becoming even more nervous since he was afraid that Patrick was going to figure out the lie._

"_Why are you so nervous, SpongeBob? Is something the matter?" Patrick became a bit concerned for his best friend. The sea star could not figure out why SpongeBob was sweating profusely and shaking._

_SpongeBob entered the library through the hallway. He slowly walked to the brown chair and sat in it. He could not comprehend how he was not the criminal being searched for even though it was blatantly 'obvious' that he stirred Clamu from her slumber and 'made' her upset. He thought that it was no use to confess to the police about it since they will probably not believe him anyway, they had already figured out the 'full' story based on the evidence they had gathered. _

_SpongeBob picked up the pencil and inserted it into the hole of the handgun. Chills ran down his spine since this was the first time he held a gun and he was aware of the fact that he could kill someone by accident if he was not careful. The sponge then aimed the handgun towards the large trash shield._

_SpongeBob pulled the trigger._

_Time slowed._

_**P-TAAAAAFFFFFF**_

_The pencil was fired from the gun. The eraser was on fire and the pencil looked like a rocket as it flew to the shield. _

_By the time SpongeBob returned to his dream and 'woke up', he noticed that two police officers and Plankton were inside his bedroom._

_The female police officer walked up to the yellow sponge and pulled him out of his bed. "You are under arrest. You have a right to remain silent." She then put the pair of handcuffs around SpongeBob's wrists and locked them._

_SpongeBob was heavily shocked and his facial expression made his current emotion very obvious. From the sponge's perspective, he was being arrested for no reason at all because he did not even know what crime he was being accused of committing. The sponge looked at Plankton from the corner of his eye and saw the plankton's smirk. He then correctly assumed that Plankton was responsible for fooling the police into making them come to his home to arrest him. _

_The female police officer dragged SpongeBob towards the open doorway to the right. _

All of those memories were related to his identity or the 'masks' that people use to hide themselves. He remembered that his true identity could easily become revealed to the public by the police. The memories served as reminders that the privacy of Bikini Bottomites was only an illusion.

A pause.

The sponge could not completely dwell on negative thoughts. He began to wonder if there was a fun way to hide from the police.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Once the episode ended, SpongeBob began to talk to Patrick. "Hey, Pat, remember when you got arrested while Clamu was destroying the town?" The yellow square made eye contact with his best friend and beamed. He tried to not sound like the detective that was on the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy TV show.

"Yeah." Patrick slightly nodded.

"What if there's a way to hide from the police and not get your stuff searched through by them?" The yellow sponge grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the local news news channel. His beam changed to a grin. He was trying to sound like his question was an invitation for the provision of fun ideas.

Johnny Erain was on the TV screen. _"This just in. A new form of weed is invading the lawns, yards, and gardens of Bikini Bottom. It grows overnight to a great height and can easily kill off nearby plants if not handled with care and haste. The health and safety committee have stated that the weeds do not have any negative effects on citizens. However, authorities recommend that you should cut down the weeds if there are any near your home." _The TV screen changed to display a picture of the giant werd. The weed in the picture was slightly taller than a kelp tree.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. "We can build a treehouse." The news report had given him the foundation for the idea. However, he was not too excited yet. He knew that they would need some wood planks and would also have to wait until a weed grows near their homes. He laid against the couch.

SpongeBob gasped in delight. "Pat, how come you're such a genius?" The sponge tried his best to complement his best friend. He began to imagine all of the activities that the two could do inside a treehouse.

"I dunno." Patrick calmly shrugged. "My smarts just come randomly."

The yellow square could already see a flaw in Patrick's idea. "How're we gonna find a tree?" He stopped smiling. "I don't there're any trees in our area." His tone became solemn.

"We wait until a weed comes to our place." Patrick stated. He smiled slightly and then yawned. His urge to sleep often kicked in around this time period; he did not always sleep at 9:00 PM. He stood up from the couch and walked towards the front door. "See ya tomorrow, Sponge."

"You too, Pat." The yellow square beamed again and waved at the starfish. His friend's idea and assistance during his nametag search had made his awkward day much more bearable. He felt an even greater sense of gratitude towards Patrick.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly a week later...

S-S-S-S-S

September 21, 2008.

Sunday morning.

7:42 AM.

SpongeBob looked through his bedroom window and gasped. He saw a large weed on Patrick's lawn. His wait for a weed had almost lasted for a whole seven days. He smiled widely, ran through the open right doorway, and ran down the staircase.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob grabbed the shell-phone, dialed Patrick's number, and moved towards his ear. He was jumping up and down in excitement.

_"Hello?" _Patrick's electronic voice was heard.

"Pat, there's a weed outside your house! We should buy the stuff we need and start building the treehouse right away!" SpongeBob babbled. He was trying to control himself from running towards the nearest construction materials store.

_"Oh boy! I will be with you in a sec." _Patrick became excited as well. He put down the shell-phone on his end. The calm and drowsy demeanor that he usually had in the morning completely vanished.

S-S-S-S-S

Almost twenty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick ran towards the weed while holding a moderate amount of wooden planks. The sponge was also holding a hammer and had several packs of nails in his pockets. When they were near the tree-like weed, they released the planks to the ground.

"I'll go first." The sponge volunteered to begin the treehouse's construction. He took out the nail packs and put them on the ground. He snatched a pack, opened it, took a few planks, and put his hammer into one of his rear pockets. He then slowly climbed the weed so he could pick a decent spot for the treehouse. He smiled and thought about positive things like Krabby Patties or karate matches with Sandy so he would not look down and become severely scared.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob noticed that there were three branches that were connected to one part of the weed. He decided to put the planks on the branches and the connected part.

**WHACK WHACK WHACK**

He began to nail the planks.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the tiki. "There's my hat..." He put on his bike helmet. "...and there's that," he sat on the bike seat. "And here we go." He sincerely smiled and pedaled his bike down the street. He felt like he needed some fresh air because he was tired of inhaling the stagnant air of the music room.

SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting in the treehouse. Their wooden hideout had a opening in the middle of a wall that was a substitute for a window. The wooden room's entrance was a moderately-sized opening. The two friends giggled as they watched Squidward through the 'window'.

"Wey, wook. It's Widward!" SpongeBob decided to speak in a silly manner. He imitated how a child pronounced his/her R's. The sponge spoke like that because he wanted to confuse Squidward. He and Patrick felt quite accomplished for finishing the treehouse; they wanted to do silly activities as a form of celebration.

Patrick laughed.

Squidward overheard SpongeBob's words. He stopped pedaling, put a foot of his on the ground, looked up at the treehouse, and raised his brow. "What?"

SpongeBob and Patrick guffawed.

"W-Widward's woing to work." SpongeBob cupped his hands together near his mouth. He suppressed his giggling after he finished his sentence.

The two friends laughed again.

Squidward shook his fist to express his intolerance towards the 'insults' he was receiving.

The starfish wanted to join the fun. "Where does he work? Wat the Wusty Wab?" Patrick unsuccessfully emulated his friend's accent. According to his and SpongeBob's opinions, he ended up being funny regardless of his mistakes.

"What's that supposed to be? Some kind of stupid secret code?" Squidward folded his arms. He was trying to see if the neighbors were trying to hide something that was in 'plain sight'. The octopus did not want his Sunday morning to become ruined by surreptitious actions.

"We can't tell you 'cause you're not a member of the club." The yellow sponge smirked. He had expanded Patrick's idea of a treehouse and the starfish had agreed to implement the idea. He thought that a club of two members was dull so he tried to attract Squidward's attention.

"Oh yeah? What does it take to be a member, besides being a moron?" Squidward leaned against his bike. His question was a preparation for a bitter insult. He considered the idea of a treehouse club to be ridiculous. He laughed at his own 'funny' question. "Moron..." He laughed by honking his nose. "...as a requirement."

"Sorry, Squid, but you couldn't even get in even if you tried." SpongeBob hid the grin on his face by putting his hand over his mouth. He had no doubts about the strategy he was using.

"Huh? Well, I'll have you know that I am still working at the Recreation Center as an Art Teacher. Most people who apply to become the Center's students get rejected." Squidward smiled confidently. He was not going to allow his neighbors' petty club to make him feel like he was missing out. He thought that the Recreation Center was a superior 'club'.

Patrick acted like he did not hear Squidward's words. "What did he say?" He looked at his best friend from the corner of his eye.

SpongeBob played along with Patrick's act. "I dunno. Something about his nose?" He tilted his head to the side.

A light bulb lit up in Patrick's head. He smirked as a way of suppressing his laugh. "Squid, you and your nose will definitely not fit in!" His words sounded like they were both a joke and a serious statement.

"What do you two zeros know about fitting in?" Squidward put his hat on the bike seat and walked towards the weed. He was going to forcefully enter the treehouse to prove how his neighbors' club was inferior when compared to other clubs like the Recreation Center. His ego was too bruised for comfort by their snide remarks. "Why, you should be begging me to join!" His view of himself was too stubborn to allow other viewpoints to change it.

"Squidward! Squidward, no, no, no! Stop! No, no, no, stop, please, please! Stop, Squidward! You can't join! You can't join! Can't join! You can't get in!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled at the same time. They sometimes uttered the same words and at other times uttered different words. The two friends were trying to motivate the octopus to enter the treehouse by discouraging him.

The octopus eventually reached the treehouse and squeezed through the 'window'. With a smirk, he stood up and folded his arms. His ego improved because he proved his neighbors wrong.

A pause.

SpongeBob grinned delightfully. "Well, since you're here, Squid, we'll give you the new member initiation." His tone oozed his enthusiasm. "Are you ready, Patrick?" He stood up.

"Ready!" Patrick stood up and did a military salute. He was beaming.

"Welcome to our club!

Welcome to our club!

Welcome Squidward!

Welcome Squidward!

Welcome Squidward!

Welcome Squidward!

Welcome Squidward-"

The two best friends were singing.

Squidward interrupted their song by covering their mouths with his hands. "Shut your half-wit pieholes!" In his opinion, their song was very displeasing. "I don't have time to be in your silly club." He had a strong desire to resume his biking trip. The octopus tried to squeeze through the 'window' but could not completely exit the treehouse. He grabbed the branches of the weed as he tried to pull the rest of his body through the 'window'. He pulled with so much force and grabbed so many branches that he reached the ground and was holding the lowermost branch.

**SNAP**

The lowermost branch broke in half. Squidward did not hold any other branch.

The weed flung the treehouse with a massive amount of force.

**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" **Squidward screamed in fright as he saw his neighborhood shrink into oblivion before his eyes. He saw many buildings rapidly pass by below him. After a minute, the ground below him became completely covered by a coarse green. He could not figure out what the green consisted of.

S-S-S-S-S

A man and a woman were walking through a massive forest of towering kelp trees. They saw the treehouse fly past them in a manner akin to a shooting star.

"Whoa!" The woman widened her eyes.

"Make a wish, honey." The man thought that the treehouse was an omen.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was still screaming as the treehouse began to succumb to gravity. The wooden room eventually came in contact with the green surface.

**CRASH**

**SMASH**

**T-T-THUD**

The treehouse fell through the canopy of the kelp forest.

S-S-S-S-S

The floor was the only part of the treehouse that remained intact. The walls and the ceiling had been broken into many pieces.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward had fallen to the ground.

The yellow square and the pink star stood up. The two jumped up and down in joy. "Whoo-hoo! Whoo-hoo-hoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Again! Oh, yeah! Again!" The two were yelling simultaneously. They then did a battle cry at the same time by sticking out their tounges. "Oolooloolooloolooloolooloo!" They had heavily enjoyed the unexpected ride to the forest. Such crazy events were the fun activities that they had been striving for when they were in the treehouse. However, the two were nearly oblivious to the direness of their situation.

Squidward sat up. His face whitened in horror as he looked at the trees surrounding him and his friends. He did not recognize his new environment because only a minority of Bikini Bottomites knew anything about the town's local kelp forest. The forest was not well-known because it was several miles away from the town. "Oh, no. This didn't just happen. Please tell me that didn't happen!' He pinched himself with the hope that he was merely dreaming.

Patrick looked at the octopus and tilted his head to the side. "What happened?" He asked since he could not guess about what had filled Squidward with despair. He did not see anything wrong with being stranded in a kelp forest. He predicted that they would escape the forest eventually.

SpongeBob shrugged. He and his best friend shared the same view about their situation.

"Where are we? We're lost! There's no way out!" Squidward was allowing his thoughts to flow into spoken words. He rapidly ran around as he searched for a pathway that led to an open plain. What horrified him was the idea of being stranded, far from civilization, in an unknown environment. However, the idea of being trapped with his neighbors did not scare him in the slightest. When he realized that he and his neighbors were near the heart of the forest, he fell to his knees and despair kicked in. "Stuck... in the middle of nowhere..." He eventually fell to the ground back-first. He gazed at the sky that was piercing through the forest's canopy. "Why must my life continue to be filled with misery?" His mind became filled with the darkness of negative thoughts.

"Cheer up, Squid. It could be worse." SpongeBob smiled warmly. His positive words began to pierce into the darkness of Squidward's mind. He was grateful that he and his friends were still alive.

Patrick smiled widely. The sponge's attitude was contagious. "Yeah. If we weren't lucky, we would've got broken bones and stuff like that." His intelligence had increased by several levels.

Squidward's mind was too stubborn to change its way of thinking so easily. "This is the end..." The octopus quietly said his own thought. He thought that he and his neighbors had a very low chance of escaping the forest.

"No, it's not, Squidward." SpongeBob tried to assure the octopus. He walked up to Squidward and pat the octopus' head. "We're gonna be fine as long as we stick together. Remember, we're a club."

Squidward stood up. The sponge's words had eliminated most of the scenarios being constantly replayed in his mind. The sponge's optimism and assistance in times of need was what improved the relations between him and the sponge. He remembered that, without SpongeBob's help, his dream of leading a successful band would have never become true.

SpongeBob and Patrick did the same battle cry in an attempt to improve their moods and gain energy. "Oolooloolooloolooloo!"

"And besides, we have this." SpongeBob took out a certain object from Patrick's pocket. It was something that they had intended to use when the club had more than four members. The object was a conch shell that had a string attached to it. Due to the situation that the club was in, SpongeBob felt like now was an appropriate time to use it.

"What's that?" Squidward raised his brow. He could not figure out how a nearly useless shell was going to assist him in his escape from the forest.

Patrick had nearly forgotten about the toy in SpongeBob's hands. "Oh! The Magic Conch Shell! Ask it something! Ask it something!" In excitement, he clapped once. He had many questions that he wanted the shell to answer.

SpongeBob gently took hold of the shell's string and pulled it. "Magic Conch Shell, will I ever get married?" He had decided on his first question a few minutes ago. He grinned in eagerness and released the string.

_"Maybe someday." _The conch shell answered.

SpongeBob and Patrick widened their eyes slightly. "Oooohhh!" The two friends did not expect such a response from the conch shell. They then giggled when they thought about who could be SpongeBob's potential spouse.

"You've got to be kidding." Squidward folded his arms. He was thinking much more rationally than his two neighbors. "That's just a stupid toy! How can that possibly help us?" Although he appreciated SpongeBob's willingness to comfort him, he was not fond of superstitious escape methods.

SpongeBob gasped and looked at Squidward. "Squid, we must never question the wisdom of the Magic Conch." He calmed down and raised his index finger towards the heavens. "The club always takes its advice before we do anything." The yellow square had always trusted the Magic Conch. Patrick had that toy ever since the sponge and the starfish were children. From the sponge's viewpoint, the Magic Conch never failed him. The two friends rarely used the conch because they saved its use for dire situations.

His neighbors' faith in the conch reminded Squidward of the Messian religion. He immediately noticed a similarity between the claims about the magic conch and the the Messian church. The similarity was that they had doctrines that were not based on actual evidence. Squidward opened his mouth to say a counter-argument.

The starfish interrupted Squidward. "The shell knows all!" He gazed at the shell with sparkly eyes. He believed that the conch shell was blessed by the gods.

The yellow square gently grabbed the shell's string again. He wanted to do other activities at his neighborhood. "Oh, Magic Conch Shell, what do we need to do to get out of this forest?" The sponge's facial expression was solemn, it was a way of showing respect to the toy. He focused his thoughts on possible solutions for his perilous situation. He believed that focusing one's thoughts on the desired question would allow the conch shell to give an accurate answer.

_"Nothing." _The conch shell was not the almighty seer that its followers claimed it to be.

"The shell has spoken!" Patrick fell to his knees as a way of showing respect to the Magic Conch. His and SpongeBob's faith in the conch was so strong that it was nearly religious.

Squidward knew better than to believe in the toy's obviously random statements. He paid attention to the cold reality surrounding him instead of to a small source of wishful thinking. "Nothing?! We can't just sit here and do nothing! What happens if an animal attacks us?" The octopus tried to make his neighbors think rationally.

Unknown to Squidward, obedience to the conch's orders was simply a custom that the club followed. In past situations, SpongeBob and Patrick interpreted the conch's statements as advice or predictions instead of commands. His two neighbors had forgotten to tell Squidward about the custom.

SpongeBob and Patrick sat down and their faces became deadpan. Underneath the faces, they were enjoying what they were doing because adherence to the custom was what kept the club together. They knew that obeying the conch was more risky than heeding it. They were not very concerned over their current situation.

Squidward shook his head in disapproval. "I can't believe that you two are gonna take advice from a toy!" He did another attempt at making his neighbors question the conch's 'holiness'. He then glanced at his environment to see if there was anything edible.

An awkward pause.

"Alright, alright, alright!" Squidward became grumpy. He turned around and stomped through the layers of thick trunks. "I don't need your help. I'm gonna find my way back to sanity! He stepped over a large rock and stomped faster. He imagined horrible creatures lurking behind the shrouds of darkness that are between the kelp trees. "But don't you two sad clowns come crying to me when your circus tent comes crashing down!" He insulted his neighbors so he could boost his ego and lessen his fear. "Sad clowns..." He laughed by honking his nose. "Sad..." He laughed again. "Clowns." He laughed for a third time.

By that point, he was squeezing through thin openings. He could no longer know how far he was from the site of the treehouse's crash.

Something far away rustled several times.

Shivers ran down the octopus' spine. His fear of the environment returned and it was worse than before. He fearfully assumed that a predator was following him. "What was that?!" He sprinted through the narrow openings in an attempt to 'lose the animal'. After a few seconds of panic-driven sprinting, he bumped into a familiar kelp tree. He noticed that he had ran in a circle. "I was already here! Which way do I go? Oh, I'm lost!" His anxiety made him unintentionally say his thoughts out loud.

**THUD**

The octopus tripped on a fallen branch and fell to the ground. "Ohh… I'm hopelessly lost! I'll never get outta here!" His current mood was the complete opposite of the one he had earlier. He was filled with fear, pessimism, and despair. The octopus would never had expected his Sunday to take such a severe turn.

A long pause.

Squidward perceived that the area he was in was more darker than the crash site. He also noticed a bright light that was piercing the darkness of trees. "Huh?" He jumped to his feet and walked towards the light. His fear of the environment was so strong that he jumped to a wild conclusion. He laughed ecstatically and ran towards the light. "I'm free! Take that, SpongeBob and Patrick!" He leaped through the hole that the light was coming from.

**THUD**

The octopus landed in a clearing. He pumped both of his fists as if he had won a special award.

An awkward pause.

Squidward saw SpongeBob and Patrick sitting near the conch; he realized that he had ran in a complete circle. His ecstasy died as fast as it had been created. "Ohh…" He frowned and fell to his knees. "...there's no way outta here." He continued to divulge his thoughts through speech. The rapid change from the comforts of his tiki to the foreign dangers of the forest had exposed a weakness in his personality.

The yellow square looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye. 'Don't worry, Squid. We'll get outta this forest eventually.' The sponge underestimated the size of the forest. He wanted to continue his adherence because he was waiting for a significant event to occur. He enjoyed the dull activity because of the anticipation for such an event.

Patrick had forgotten why he was sitting and doing nothing. He continued to do be still because his best friend was doing the same activity.

S-S-S-S-S

More than an hour later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were still tranquility sitting.

The octopus had started a campfire, had created a hat out of dry kelp and was wearing it, and had found a forsaken pan. He was quite proud of his achievement of self-reliance. His irrational fear of the kelp forest had cracked the shell of Squidward's personality to its core. The octopus thought that he was superior to his neighbors because he provided for himself (his narcissism was off the charts).

The octopus threw some kelp pieces into the campfire. Kelp pieces was the fuel for the fire. Squidward then looked at his two neighbors and smirked. His fearful desires for self-preservation had undermined his humaneness. He grabbed a nearby kelp stick and threw at Patrick's head. "How's it going over there at Club-Shell-for-Brains?" He tried to intimidate his neighbors because he wanted to boost his ego.

The two best friends did not react at all.

"Mm-mmm-mmm. I am hungry." Squidward tested his neighbors' hunger urges. He had been 'torturing' them for the last thirty minutes. "I wonder what's on the menu for Club Squidward today." The octopus looked at the ground and recognized an edible species of bug. "Ah." He stepped on the bug and put it on the pan.

Squidward held the pan above the fire and waited until the bug was cooked to a decent level. Once the bug had been cooked, he held out the pan towards the yellow square. "Doesn't that smell good, SpongeBob? You haven't eaten in hours." He smiled devilishly. The octopus walked to the starfish and his smile widened. 'Pat can't resist this.' He assumed that SpongeBob had more self-control than Patrick. He held out the pan towards the starfish. "How 'bout you, Patrick? A big boy's gotta eat." He waited for a response from Patrick.

Patrick merely blinked. His facial expression did not change at all. He was staring into space and was focused on other thoughts.

Squidward turned and walked away from his neighbors. "Well. you can't have any. And do you know why, SpongeBob?" He looked at the sponge from the corner of his eye. "Because your club president is a shell!" He laughed by honking his nose. With each arrogant statement he uttered, his view of himself magnified. His delusion was becoming as grandiose as SpongeBob and Patrick's faith in the shell. He stepped to the sponge and shook his butt before the sponge's face. "If you had listened to me, you'd have food, shelter, and a roaring fire. But instead you listened to a talking clam…" He reminded his two neighbors of the bitter truth. However, he viewed the facts as evidence for his superiority. He walked to the campfire and sat near it. "...that tells you 'nothing'! As if the answers to solve all your problems will fall right out of the sky!" He revealed the absurdities of his neighbors' beliefs without any hesitance.

S-S-S-S-S

A cargo airplane was very low on fuel. A major oversight that occurred before it soared had caused that. Its fuel was so low that it struggled to fly while carrying its contents; it was rapidly falling towards the kelp forest.

S-S-S-S-S

"Dude, we're falling right out the sky! We gotta drop the load!" A panicking male pilot assistant yelled to the pilot. His limbs were shaking as he spoke.

The pilot nodded to express his consent.

The pilot assistant pressed a certain button of the cockpit. The button had bright text on it saying 'DROP'.

S-S-S-S-S

A massive bottom double door opened. Numerous picnic supplies from the airplane fell to the kelp forest. Once all of the supplies had been dropped, the airplane soared and eventually regained its normal altitude.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRASH**

The picnic supplies landed on the site of the fallen treehouse.

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped; they had not expected a miracle to occur at all. The two friends were overjoyed to know that their adherence to the club rule had bore some fruit. They had both initially planned to wait until the afternoon before breaking their period of stillness. The two stood up and grinned. "Praise the Magic Conch! Oolooloolooloolooloolooloolooloolooloo!" They held out their hands before the conch as if it was a form of idol.

Squidward's jaw dropped. He just witnessed one of the biggest coincidences in his life so far.

SpongeBob and Patrick ran towards the supplies so they could devour the food. Their appetites had been repressed for too long for them to control their urges. They opened the baskets.

SpongeBob grabbed two hamburgers and quickly ate them.

Patrick chugged on a large bottle of soda. When he finished drinking the soda, he proceeded to eat a satisfactorily cooked turkey.

The octopus began to feel remorse for insulting his neighbors earlier. He assumed that his neighbors now had a negative opinion of him and would consequently prevent him consuming any of their 'conch-given' food. His appetite and fear of the environment spurred him on, however . Squidward walked up to the best friend duo. "Uh, hey, uh, SpongeBob… that sure is a lot of food you got there." He was somewhat timid and bit his lip. 'Oh boy, Squiddy, here it comes…' He thought of a negative outcome.

"It's a gift from the Magic Conch." The yellow square looked at the octopus and smiled warmly. He was glad that Squidward had a sudden change of heart. He instantly forgave the octopus because he could tell that Squidward's fear of the forest had influenced the octopus' behavior. 'He probably doesn't like exploring the wild.' He assumed.

"Everything sure looks delicious." Squidward looked through the food in the baskets. He gasped when he saw a pack of a certain type of sausage. "Oh! Smoked sausages! My favorite!" His words were completely honest; smoked sausage was his favorite type of sausage. He deeply smelled the sausages so he could fully enjoy their flavor. However, Patrick grabbed the pack and gulped it before Squidward could react.

Squidward stepped away from the picnic baskets. 'They'll never let me eat their food. I bet they're secretly upset over what I did to them.' His thoughts became drowned in pessimism. However, his mental voice could not control the potency of his carnal urges. He looked at SpongeBob again. "Uh, hey, uh…" He laughed nervously and glanced at his surroundings. "SpongeBob, I… y'know I was just kidding around earlier and-and-and I-I-I mean I'm… I'm still part of the club, right? And… and-and-and-and after all, the-the club's gotta stick together, and I-I mean… you know, I-I, um…" His anxiety worsened tremendously. He still doubted that his neighbors would forgive him after bombarding them with a barrage of insults.

The yellow square understood the basic message of Squidward's words. "Squidward?" He tried to calm down his fellow club member.

"Yeah?" Squidward took a deep breath. His limbs began to shake as he anxiously waited for SpongeBob's verdict.

"Once a member, always a member." SpongeBob beamed as he assured the octopus. He stepped out of the way so Squidward could eat the food in the picnic supplies. He believed that the gifts of the Magic Conch should be shared to all club members.

Squidward wiped some sweat from his brow in relief.

Both SpongeBob and Patrick grabbed a soda can. They noticed that they were both holding soda cans and the same light bulb lit up in their heads. They opened their cans and **CLINK**ed them. "To the club!" They yelled in unison and then did their battle cry. "Oolooloolooloolooloo!"

"Yeah." Squidward was not being sincere. "Oolooloo." His battle cry was half-hearted. He wanted to consume the club's goods as soon as possible; he could not control his hunger any longer. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He dashed to the picnic baskets. "Alright, what shall I eat first? The spaghetti, the turkey, the soup, the canned meat?" His thoughts were in spoken words again. From his viewpoint, all of the food looked delicious.

"Why don't you ask..." SpongeBob gently took hold of the shell and held it out towards Squidward. "...the Magic Conch, Squid?" He felt like Squidward's situation was another appropriate time to follow the club's norm.

"Oh, yeah, like that'll happen. Right after I consult the Magic Toenail." Squidward refused to conform to the club's norm. His snide remark revealed the ridiculousness of the club's faith in the shell.

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped. They believed that the Magic Conch had brought the food to them and had to be respected more. They also believed that if it was disrespected, an unfortunate event would happen. They obeyed the conch's statements out of a faith instead of out of a norm. The two best friends grabbed all of the picnic baskets and put them on another side of the site.

SpongeBob's eyes were wide. "Squid, are you questioning the authority of the Magic Conch? The conch is the one who gave us this banquet. The copyrighted conch is the cornerstone of our organization." The yellow square did not want the octopus to be a heretic. He believed that Squidward having a different belief about the conch would bring doom to the whole club.

Patrick whispered into the sponge's ear. "Maybe he's not a brother." He had his doubts about Squidward's sincerity ever since the octopus began to insult him.

A pause.

Squidward realized that his neighbors were not thinking critically. He knew that the picnic supplies fell to the site out of pure coincidence. He also realized that SpongeBob was being a complete hypocrite. He refused to conform to the unreasonable rule because he feared that the conch would give a command that will lead to the club's destruction.

The octopus stopped smiling and folded his arms. His rationality regained control over his mind. "Y'know what? Yes. I am questioning the conch's authority. You two are not critically thinking about the situation. First of all, the conch did not give you the food; the food fell from the sky out of sheer coincidence. Second, Sponge, you're being a hypocrite. How come we've rebelled against Mr. Krabs' authority and succeeded yet you obey the randomized statements of a toy? Third, we need to focus on survival and reality. You two had been dawdling over the conch while I was making progress for our survival." Squidward deconstructed the club's norm. His tone was serious and his face was solemn.

SpongeBob slowly moved his gaze towards the ground. 'Squid's right...' He began to feel remorse for suggesting the group norm during the construction of the treehouse. The second argument was the most convincing out of the octopus' three arguments. After several seconds of thought, he concluded that all of Squidward's arguments made sense.

The yellow square made eye contact with Patrick. "Squidward's completely right. The food would have came here no matter what we did. We could've helped Squid out with getting resources but we followed a silly rule instead." The sponge's words and frown were sincere and genuine. "I'm sorry, Squid." He apologized in a quiet tone.

Patrick's face began to express slight remorse. He took the conch from SpongeBob's hands and gazed at it. "I guess the Magic Conch can only predict things." He came to a conclusion. However, he had doubts about Squidward's arguments. "Squid, how did you figure all that out?"

"Critical thinking." Squidward answered. He grabbed a few cold hot dogs and put them on the pan. He held the pan over the campfire. "This whole conch shenanigan wouldn't happen if you guys thought more rationally." His tone remained serious. He doubted that Patrick would rise above his stupid nature.

"Can you teach me how to do it?" Patrick was capable of thinking deeply. However, his thinking was almost never organized in some way. The starfish allowed his curiosity to get the better of himself.

Squidward appreciated Patrick's willingness to learn. He felt like he and his neighbors reached some new common ground because his neighbors were now aware of his viewpoint's validity. He opened his mouth to say something. A creature interrupted him.

**GRRROOWWWL**

The growl of a creature was heard. It sounded like the creature was only a few feet away from the clearing.

The three neighbors became terribly frightened. They screamed and dashed to the edge of the clearing. When they reached the edge, they turned around to see if the creature was going to enter the site.

Squidward was the most afraid person in the group. He was hiding behind SpongeBob and Patrick. He was sweating heavily and his limbs were shaking quickly.

The creature, within a few minutes, inched his way into the site. He was a giant clam that was larger-than-average. He faced the three fearful neighbors and growled again. The clam wanted to eliminate any competition for 'his' food sources. He rapidly moved towards the neighbors and opened his mouth.

**"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" **The three ran away from the clearing and scrambled through the kelp trees. They leaped across fallen branches, large stones, small creatures, bushes, coral pieces, and other types of wildlife.

The clam bit any kelp trees that were in his way. He was catching up to the neighbors very quickly.

The three neighbors ran up a large hill and jumped to the hill's other side.

**S-S-SPLASH**

They landed in a moderately-sized river. They had not noticed the river before they had jumped.

Their landing roused the scallops that had been sleeping near the river. The scallops near the river were a species that were hostile to creatures that were not native to the kelp forest. The scallops screeched as they flew towards the neighbors.

One scallop bit Patrick in the rear.

"OW!" Patrick lurched in pain. He waddled as fast as he could to the nearest edge of the river. He tried to pull the scallop off as he waddled but was unsuccessful. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" The starfish cried as loud as he could.

Squidward grabbed the scallop and tried to pull it. "It's... not... budging!" The scallop's grip on Patrick's buttocks was too strong for him to handle. He let go of the scallop and swiftly swam to the shore. He still had urges for self-preservation,

The yellow square swam in place and karate-chopped, punched, and kicked the scallops in defense for his best friend. He added enough force into each attack so that the scallops would get pushed away without getting severely injured.

**BAM SHOOP KLOK SHOOP BAM BAM BAM SHOOPSHOOPSHOOP SHOOP BAMSHOOP**

The scallops, including the one on Patrick's rear, flew towards elsewhere out of fear.

"Are you okay?" SpongeBob looked at his best friend. His slightly moist eyes expressed concern for the starfish.

"I-I don't know." Patrick felt a weird sensation on his rear. The starfish sweatdropped and did not smile. His mind was filled to the brim with uncertainty. He felt like something was missing.

"Don't worry, Pat." The sponge put his hand on Patrick's shoulder and made his friend waddle faster by gently pushing him towards the shore. "We'll get you to the hospital ASAp." He smiled slightly. He wanted to improve Patrick's mood at least slightly.

When the two friends reached the shore, Patrick sat on the ground and tried to figure out what was bothering him.

A pause.

Patrick's eyes bugged out at a major realization. "Where's the Magic Conch?" He stood up and frantically looked around for any signs of the shell. He had lost the Magic Conch when he had been running away from the clam. The Magic Conch was a precious object that the starfish had cherished ever since his younger years.

The yellow square sweatdropped and looked through the nearby kelp trees for the Magic Conch. The sponge could not imagine undergoing a tough situation without consulting the Magic Conch for accurate predictions. "It's not here!" The sponge bit his lip and walked back to Patrick. On the shoreline, the conch was nowhere to be found.

Patrick flipped rocks upside-down as he desperately searched for his precious shell.

Squidward eyed the darkness that hid behind the numerous kelp trees. "We can't worry about that toy." He grabbed SpongeBob's arm and Patrick's arm. His fear of the forest made him think that the clam was still chasing him. "We gotta focus on our survival." He spoke solemnly and briskly walked towards the thicker area of the

forest. The clam chase had lessened his view of himself to a more rational level.

"But Squid, the Magic Conch could tell us a way to get outta here." Patrick pleaded as he looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye. His faith in the conch was as durable as steel.

S-S-S-S-S

A male dolphin who was holding a long spear was silently swimming through the kelp forest. He was hunting for his family. He belonged to the same tribe that Bubbles belonged to. The dolphin swam past a few large kelp trees and saw the three neighbors from the corner of his eye. He immediately perceived that the neighbors were not tribe members. After a minute of watching, he interpreted their faces as expressions of distress. He then swiftly swam towards the three strangers.

S-S-S-S-S

The dolphin stopped swimming and stood before the three neighbors.

Squidward nearly had a heart attack. He tripped on a pebble but broke his fall. He looked up and perceived that the dolphin was non-hostile. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow and stood up. He grinned and viewed the native as a savior; he assumed that the dolphin knew the forest's routes. "Thank Neptune you're here. I thought we were the only guys in this dungeon of insanity." He unintentionally revealed his thoughts. His gaze constantly switched between the dolphin and the shadows lurking in the distance.

'He looks familiar.' SpongeBob spontaneously smiled. He initially thought that the dolphin was Bubbles. Nevertheless, he put a hand on his chin when he took a closer look. 'Maybe he and Bubbles are related.' The yellow square supposed.

Patrick stared at the dolphin's long spear. His intelligence dropped by two levels. He thought that the spear was a giant toy. It reminded him of the Magic Conch and thus rekindled his urge to find the toy shell. He sought for the shell by deeply looking at his surrounding environment.

"Are you trying to leave the forest?" The dolphin asked calmly. He lowered his weapon to indicate his peaceful intentions.

"Yeah!" Squidward nodded speedily. The dolphin's question thrilled him. His heartbeat slowed as his fear slowly decreased.

Patrick looked at the hill and spotted the fallen conch. He looked at the dolphin and shook his head. "We can't leave! My conch's over there." He pointed at the hill. His ignorance concerning forest dangers thus made him think that staying in the forest with the conch was better than leaving without it.

SpongeBob gazed at the hill and tried to find the spot Patrick was pointing at. He abruptly saw the giant clam moving down the hill. "It's gaining on us!" The sponge sweatdropped and let go of Squidward's hand. Thanks to Squidward's words, he thought that the club's safety was more important than the conch.

**SHATTER**

The giant clam moved over the 'Magic' Conch. Many purple shell pieces, a few metal parts, and a computer chip was what remained of the toy.

"NOOO!" Patrick bawled in sudden grief. A tear formed and ran across his cheek. Although his home was a pigsty, he took much care in preserving the remnants of his past. This was one of the few times in his life where a precious object became damaged.

"Get on my back." The dolphin turned around and swam in place. "I will get you strangers out of here in no time."

Squidward straddled on the dolphin's back. SpongeBob promptly did the same.

Patrick hesitantly and shakily held on to SpongeBob's shoulders.

The dolphin soared over the smaller trees and dashed to the nearest exit.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

The dolphin lowered himself to the ground.

Squidward, SpongeBob, and Patrick jumped to the ground. The octopus wiped some dirt from his shirt.

"Are you three returning to the forest or heading home?" The dolphin walked towards the kelp forest and looked at the three from the corner of his eye. He and his tribe members were usually concerned for the safety of outsiders. They did not want to gain a reputation that was worse than the one they already had.

"We're going home." Squidward was still smiling. "Thank you so much." His cold and grumpy barrier had eroded to reveal a more expressive shade of himself. He could care less about Patrick's broken toy; he focused on the freedom he felt from not being in the forest

"No problem." The dolphin smiled slightly and swam back into the kelp forest.

SpongeBob looked at Squidward and noticed the significant difference between the present Squidward and the Squidward that had left the tiki with the bike. He assumed that the octopus' grumpiness was merely a mask that Squidward wore to hide his wrathful self. He also noticed how the kelp forest altered Squidward's behavior, akin to how the sponge tried to 'be a man' when he tried to enter the Salty Spitoon.

Squidward's arguments against his faith in the 'Magic' Conch had subtly altered his view of things. He now closely observed his situations and environments and tried to figure out their 'interiors' instead of assuming what their 'interiors' were. Extreme situations such as the kelp forest incident left his mind open for large influences. The octopus' words had also altered his views on fate. He began to think that people can choose their own destinies instead of having to rely on a 'magical' source.

_"This isn't the SpongeBob I know! He would've tried and at least see some sunshine in the end." It was a miracle, Patrick had a surge of inner wisdom. "Ever since high school you said you wanted to work at the Krusty Krab. You got excited every time you saw it, thinking of what you could do if you worked there. You worked hard through school so as to have that special hat on your head."_

_A pause._

_"Buddy, this is your chance. Take it."_

_SpongeBob felt pressure the magnitude of that of the bottom of the ocean if he was a land dweller. His limbs shook violent like they were experiencing mini-earthquakes. Sweat ran down his face. His mind shut down and it was now only fight or flight. SpongeBob was about to take the 'flight' decision until he realized Patrick was stil standing there._

_"Then I have to get it out of you." Patrick smiled. "Whose first words were 'May I take your order'?"_

The yellow square remembered his first day of work. Instead of relying on the conch, the words of Patrick had spurred him on. Once the memory passed through his mental vision, he no longer felt any sadness over the loss of the 'Magic' Conch.


	87. The Camping Episode

**Chapter 87: The Camping Episode**

* * *

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were watching TV in Patrick's living room. The yellow square had been comforting the starfish ever since the starfish left the hospital. By that point, the starfish had stopped crying and had accepted what had happened to the Magic Conch. The starfish also had stopped believing in the conch's magical powers since its damaged state was proof of its powerlessness.

The starfish had gauze over his rear, the doctor had told him that the bite was not severe. He was sitting in a weird position so that he would not feel pain while sitting. He looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "So, what're we gonna do now?" He had wanted to do the club activity all day.

SpongeBob tapped his chin. "Well... we could go on a jellyfishing trip through the whole Fields." The yellow square had a few ideas in his head. The sponge smiled since the last few hours of waiting and comforting were not pleasant.

"BORING." Patrick did a faux yawn and leaned against the couch. He desired to do an activity similar to the one they had done before. "I wanna do something like what happened in the forest." He offered his suggestion.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Why don't we bring the forest fun to here? We could camp near the street. It could also serve as a small memorial for the Magic Conch." The sponge immediately revealed his idea. His grin expressed his enthusiasm.

Patrick smiled warmly. "Yeah!" He stood up from the couch. "We could sleep in a tent too!" His state of sorrow slowly eroded to reveal his normal self. He once again exuded an air of calmness.

SpongeBob stood up from the couch and grinned. "Wanna get supplies?" He began to climb the wall. He was going to visit several stores so he could buy the necessary supplies. He was eager to begin the preparation for the camping 'trip'.

Patrick nodded and followed SpongeBob.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick was sitting in a large tent. The tent was lit by a fire that was on the center of the covered ground. He was patiently waiting for his best friend's return.

SpongeBob stepped into the tent. He was holding his photo book. The sponge sat near the campfire and opened the book. He pointed to his right. "Pat, over here." He was beaming.

Patrick walked over and sat on SpongeBob's right side. The starfish smiled when he saw the photo album in his friend's hands. He almost always enjoyed looking reminiscing pleasant events with the sponge.

The yellow square flipped through the pages in search of photos that showed the Magic Conch. His beam lessened to a slight smile. The camping 'trip' could not be complete without a memorial for the lost toy. The memorial served as a way for the friend duo to release the remaining grief in their hearts.

Patrick, for a split-second, caught a glimpse of a photo of the Magic Conch. The sea star looked at the ground and his sorrow returned. The starfish had waited for a moment like this so he could properly reveal his inner thoughts. "Y'know, Sponge, I still miss the Conch. Thinking that the Conch is still with us and can predict things and all that hocus-pocus is... chilling. Accepting the facts is more hard 'cause it's full of lemons. It took me a long time to be true to my self 'cause I had to force myself to drink lemons 'bout conforming and all that jazz, y'know? What's the point of accepting real stuff if it's all lemons?" His mind's workings began to turn and caused him to say meaningful statements.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Then make lemonade." His smile intensified. "The facts aren't always so bad, Pat. They could be relieving too. Remember when I was afraid of entering the Krusty Krab 'cause I thought I wasn't good enough? You made me accept the truth. I wouldn't have gotten the job without your help." The yellow square gave a positive answer to Patrick's question. The sponge could see the light that was lurking in the dark realities of their lives.

The starfish could certainly relate to SpongeBob's statements. However, some opposing thoughts were lingering in his mind. "Wouldn't it be more comforting if you believed in something that could save you from any bad thing?" The starfish, due to his bouts of ignorance, was more susceptible to having irrational beliefs.

SpongeBob nodded. "Yeah. But accepting reality could actually make you stop any bad things from happening. When the Conch told us something, we would spend alota time trying to see if the prediction came true or not. It sometimes took a week for us to notice that the prediction came true. That didn't stop us from getting bad luck though. One time, when Gary wanted to stay with you instead of me, I had to change my ways so he could stay with me again. Ever since, me and Gary rarely had any conflicts. You see where I'm going?" The sponge was smiling warmly. His counseling to Patrick was one of the many actions that proved his loyalty towards his friends.

Patrick understood SpongeBob's carefully picked words. Although his intelligence was lacking, his memory had gradually improved during the day's duration. "I get it." The starfish grinned. With those words spoken, his grief for the Conch shrunk to a tiny and manageable level.

A pause.

SpongeBob looked at a certain photo in the album. Another light bulb lit up in his head. That certain photo was humorous because it showed an embarassing event. "Pat, look at this pic." He pointed at the photo as he resisted the urge to giggle.

Patrick looked at the photo and began to chuckle.

The two friends' search and enjoyment of embarrassing photos began.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the bedroom. He was wearing his nightgown and sleeping hat. He sat on the bed, gently took hold of a cup of tea that was on a drawer, grabbed a book that was on the bed, opened the book, and read the book as he drank the tea. He was in a good mood because the neighborhood had been peaceful ever since he and his neighbors had returned from the kelp forest,

A pause.

Squidward heard SpongeBob and Patrick's laughter and giggling. He ignored it because he had repeatedly heard those sounds today.

Another pause.

SpongeBob and Patrick's giggling and laughter was heard again. It was much more louder than before. Squidward became crossed because he felt like the neighborhood's peace had been disturbed. He stood up from the bed and exited the bedroom with a **CRREEAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward exited the tiki with a **CRREEAAK SLAM. **He saw two shadows inside a lit tent. He knew immediately that those two shadows belong to his neighbors. He marched to the tent and opened its flaps.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus leaned into the tent. He wanted to resume his reading as soon as possible. "Can you two boobs keep it down? I'm try'na read and get some sleep." He was quite grumpy and would not tolerate anymore sounds of foolery. However, he wondered about what his neighbors were doing. He feared that the two friends would do more shenanigans during his sleep. "What're you two doing?" He glanced at the photo book.

SpongeBob looked up at Squidward and beamed. "We're camping." The yellow square felt like he only needed to say a few words. 'I shouldn't pressure Squid to join. He looks a little mad.' The sponge was being considerate for the octopus.

"SpongeBob, it's not camping if you're ten feet from your house." Squidward wanted his neighbors to do their foolish acts at a place far away from the neighborhood. The octopus desired a completely quiet and peaceful night.

"Aw, it doesn't matter where you are as long as you're outdoors. While all those soft city folk are safe in their beds reading books, we're out here, pitting ourselves against the formidable forces of nature." The yellow square interpreted Squidward's words in a different way. Instead of moving the campsite to somewhere else, he explained his own definition of 'camping'.

'I don't have time for arguing.' Squidward turned towards his tiki. He would rather allow his neighbors to laugh and giggle quietly than to pointlessly argue with them all night. He stepped out of the tiki.

"Okay. Have fun inside." SpongeBob waved towards the octopus. He did not have any negative feelings towards his ill-tempered neighbor. He grabbed a flashlight, turned it on, and aimed it at a hidden photo.

The two friends laughed again.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stopped walking. He thought about SpongeBob's last spoken words and concluded that it was an insult. His ego had intensified to a troublesome level because, during the kelp forest misadventure, he had successfully indoctrinated his two neighbors to his rational worldview. SpongeBob and Patrick's former faith had caused him to lower his trust towards the two neighbors. Squidward turned around and stomped into the tent.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward narrowed his eyes at SpongeBob. "What do you mean, 'have fun inside'?" He folded his arms. His ego refused to allow any opposition.

SpongeBob looked at Squidward and shrugged. "Just... have fun inside." The sponge's intention of his words was innocent. "See you tomorrow." He waved again.

"Oh. Bye." Squidward droned and exited the tent. He was keeping the wasted time to a minimum.

SpongeBob and Patrick turned their gazes back to the photo book.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward still viewed the world through lens filled to the brim with egotism. He interpreted SpongeBob's words as a taunt akin to the insults that had been said to him when the treehouse was on the weed. He poked his head through the tent's flaps.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus glared at the sponge. "You little sneak! I know what you're doing." He unintentionally revealed the dwindling trust he had for his two neighbors. His grumpiness worsened the situation.

"What?" SpongeBob tilted his head to the side.

"Don't think I can't see what you're doing!" Squidward pointed at the yellow square. The tone of his voice loudened to a threatening tone. The octopus thought that he exactly knew his neighbor's intentions.

"What?" The yellow square was not aware of the 'crime' he had committed.

"You're saying I can't take it." Squidward bluntly revealed SpongeBob's 'crime'. He wanted to demonstrate his 'superiority' so the 'insult' could stop reappearing in his thoughts.

"But all I-" SpongeBob raised his index finger. He got interrupted by Squidward.

Squidward put his hand over SpongeBob's mouth. "Ah. You're saying I'm _soft_. You think your little 'have fun inside' challenge is gonna make me come camping with you, but that is never gonna happen. There's no way I'm gonna sit out here all night with you two fools. So get used to it!" The octopus was jumping to wild conclusions. His narcissism had created a fog between him and the truth. He turned towards his home.

SpongeBob did not understand the "little 'have fun inside' challenge" that he was accused of. "Okay. Have fun inside!" He enthusiastically said a farewell. He hoped that Squidward's mood would improve in the morning.

Squidward stomped into the tent. "That's it! I'm in! I'll show you camping!" The octopus, like the time where he entered the treehouse, was going to prove SpongeBob wrong. Although he disliked camping, his ego spurred him on. He ran towards a certain store so he could get the necessary supplies.

SpongeBob loudly whispered to Patrick's ear. "Squid's gonna come camping with us!" He could not hide the smile of delight on his face.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick stepped out of the tent and giggled as they eagerly waited for Squidward's return. The sponge thought of the fun activities that he could do with three people. Patrick thought that Squidward, like SpongeBob, was going to bring a photo book and show embarrassing photos.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked towards the tent while carrying a large backpack that he had strapped on. "Now you'll se how a real-" He fell to the ground face-first with a **THUD**. The backpack was ridiculously heavy and he had struggled to carry it ever since he left the store. He shakily stood up and wiped sand from his face. "...outdoorsman does it!" He slipped his shoulders from the straps. The backpack fell to the ground. He pulled out -from the backpack- a tent sheet that was wrapped around a few metal sticks. He also took out a small remote. "Here we are, my remote-controlled self-assembling tent. Watch and learn." He smirked and grabbed the tent sheet.

Patrick took Squidward's words literally. He took out a pencil and a notepad from his pocket. He stepped into the tent, took out a pair of binoculars, and stepped out of the tent. He put the pencil on the notepad and looked through the binoculars at Squidward. He thought that Squidward was an expert camper because of the technology that the octopus was using.

Squidward threw the tent sheet towards the sky, aimed the remote at it, and pressed the 'EXPAND' button.

The remote did not send any electric signal. The tent fell to the ground and separated into several pieces.

Squidward flipped the remote and noticed that it did not have any batteries. He threw the remote to the ground in frustration. Instead of proving his superiority, he was demonstrating his inferiority.

"How do you get inside?" Patrick scratched his head. He did not restrict the flow of his thoughts into spoken words. "It's all crushy-looking." He put the binoculars between his right side and arm. He jotted down what he was seeing.

"It isn't put up yet, idiot!" Squidward was close to losing his temper. He grumbled as he futilely tried to put the tent parts together. The octopus, after a few failures, gritted. After another attempt, he accidentally ripped the tent sheet.

"Genius!" Patrick grinned. He thought that Squidward was customizing the tent. He jotted on the notepad the 'technique' Squidward was using.

Squidward could no longer control his anger. He grabbed a metal stick and furiously stroke the other tent parts with the stick. Setting up a tent was one of the aspects of camping that he hated. When his family had went on camping trips in the past, he had always avoided setting up tents.

**CLANK CLING** Clung **CLANG CLUNK CLINK**

'He's softening the ground!' Patrick widened his eyes and wrote notes as fast as he could. He considered Squidward's 'strategy' to be very important. In an attempt at illustrating a visual example of the 'strategy', he did a game of tic-tac-toe.

SpongeBob looked at the remote and noticed that it had empty battery slots. Another light bulb lit up in his head. He picked up the remote and ran to his pineapple. He entered his home with a **CREAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CREAK **

**SLAM**

SpongeBob exited the pineapple. He ran back to the campsite and looked at the buttons on the remote. There were two buttons on the remote -'EXPAND' and 'SHRINK'-. He assumed that the 'EXPAND' button was what activates the tent's self-assembly. He pressed the 'EXPAND' button.

All of the tent parts came together and formed into a normal tent.

SpongeBob smiled in satisfaction. He succeeded at helping Squidward.

Squidward felt a sense of accomplishment that he had not felt before when doing such an undesirable task. In the past, whenever he had tried to set up a tent, he had always allowed someone else to finish the job. The gratification he was currently feeling almost made him think that the toil he had underwent was worth it. "Voila!" He sincerely smiled. Squidward pointed at the tent with both hands as if he had just created a piece of art.

An awkward pause.

The tent collapsed into separate parts. The pieces had been rearranged too much for the tent to maintain its proper form.

Squidward whistled nonchalantly and rolled the tent pieces towards elsewhere. He was hiding the frustration he was feeling. He knew that there were other ways for demonstrating his ''superior' camping skills, intellect, and wisdom. Once he put the tent pieces in his backyard, he ran back to the backpack and took out a blanket. "But what could compare to just lying out under the stars?" He slowly lowered the blanket to the ground. He wore a calm smile.

Patrick clapped rapidly and jumped up and down. He thought that the octopus was a wise master of camping; Squidward was successfully influencing Patrick's view of the octopus.

Squidward felt the emptiness of his stomach. "Well', I've worked up an appetite as big as all outdoors. Time for a little grub." He strolled towards his tiki. "I suppose you two are gonna stew up some twigs and rocks, right?" The octopus smirked again and looked at his neighbors from the corner of his eye. He subtly reinforced the idea that he was the neighborhood's best camper.

SpongeBob laughed for a few seconds. "Nope, we've got something even better." He grinned, stepped into the tent, and took out a plastic bag full of a certain type of sweet. "Marshmallows." He stepped out of the tent and held out the bag towards Squidward. 'If he joins us, I bet it'll be really fun!' He thought optimistically. The sponge opened the bag and tossed a marshmallow into his mouth. He allowed the marshmallow to melt its sweet flavor to his taste buds. "Mmm… just like the astronauts' eat."

Patrick suddenly remembered one of the activities that he and SpongeBob had planned to do. He dove into the tent. He dug through the piles of objects until he found two empty fish bowls. He tossed a fish bowl to SpongeBob and poked his head into the fish bowl. "Patrick to SpongeBob. Patrick to SpongeBob. Do you read me? Over." The starfish imitated an electronic voice as he spoke. His hand was over his mouth as if he was speaking to a device. He was pretending to be an astronaut.

SpongeBob giggled and put on his fish bowl. He put his hand over his mouth as if he was holding a walkie-talkie. "SpongeBob to Patrick. I read you. Over." Like Patrick, he tried to sound like he had an electronic voice. He could not suppress a few chuckles.

"Patrick to SpongeBob… kersshh…" Patrick tried to imitate a static noise as if he was also using a walkie-talkie. "I like going... kersshh… over." His usage of the imitated noise indicated that his 'walkie-talkie' was broken.

SpongeBob noticed how Patrick's noises made it seem like his friend was using a walkie-talkie. He could not resist the opportunity being offered to him. "SpongeBob to Officer Patrick... kersshh… me too." He and the starfish were now 'police officers'. He smiled in anticipation for Patrick's realization.

Patrick tilted his head to the side. "Why did you call me 'Officer'?" He could not immediately perceive the subtle joke SpongeBob was making.

Squidward watched his neighbors do their typical foolery. However, he only felt a slight increase of annoyance. He glanced at the tent and began to think that the forest incident would have been more bearable if his neighbors both joked around and contributed towards their mutual survival. He knew that his two neighbors were doing what he thought were ideal actions. He perceived SpongeBob's subtle joke and wished that the sponge had said such clever jokes during the forest misadventure instead of formerly believing in the Conch.

Patrick slightly gasped when he figured out SpongeBob's joke. He chuckled for several seconds. "Patrick to Officer SpongeBob. You got any donuts… kersshh… anywhere? I'm kinda… kersshh… hungry… kersshh…" The starfish rubbed his belly. His second spoken sentence was not a lie.

"SpongeBob to Officer Patrick. I don't got any donuts… kersshhh… but I got marshmallows." SpongeBob quickly held out the marshmallow bag towards Patrick. He was eager to share the sweets among his neighbors. "Help yourself. Over." He put his other hand into his pocket to signify that he put his 'walkie-talkie' away.

"Yummy!" Patrick took off his fish bowl and tossed it to his side. He grabbed several marshmallows from the bag and stuffed them into his mouth. "Patrick to SpongeBob. The deliciousness has landed!" He enthusiastically expressed. His mouth was filled with marshmallows.

Squidward gazed at the marshmallow bag and became mildly interested in trying the marshmallows. The last time he had eaten marshmallows was several years ago. His mouth began to water when he heard Patrick's comment about the marshmallows' deliciousness. However, his ego constrained him to continue his demonstration. "Well, you two astronauts can eat marshmallows, but I'm gonna have a can of Swedish Barnacle Balls," he took out a can of Swedish Barnacle Balls from his backpack and held the can towards his neighbors. "Just as soon as I can get my can opener." He resumed his walk towards his home. His narcissism blinded him from his true desires.

"But Squidward, didn't you take a can opener when you hiked out here?" SpongeBob looked at Squidward with concern. He wanted the camping 'trip' to be as bonafide as possible. He thought that Squidward's visits to his tiki could ruin his immersion into the 'trip'.

Squidward turned to face SpongeBob. He raised his brow. "Why would I bother? We're ten feet from your house." He saw no wrong in what he was doing.

"But this is the wilderness. It just doesn't seem to fit the camping spirit." SpongeBob frowned somewhat. He indirectly expressed his desire to stay in the necessary 'imagination bubble' for his 'trip'. He and Patrick liked the camping activity because it allowed them to directly experience nature.

Patrick thought that Squidward's reliance on the tiki was pathetic. "Pretty weenie." He shook his head and grabbed more marshmallows.

After hearing Patrick's words, Squidward turned around and walked towards the tent. He was trying his best to prove his 'superior' camping skills. "Alright, alright, gimme a marshmallow." He secretly still desired to try the marshmallows. He completely suppressed any body language sign that indicated happiness. He snatched a marshmallow from the plastic bag and a light bulb lit up in his head. "Do you have any sticks with you?" He looked at the sponge.

SpongeBob abruptly remembered how he and Patrick had planned to eat the marshmallows. "Oh yeah!" He snapped his fingers. "I'll get 'em for you." He went into the tent and eventually came back out with two sticks in his other hand. He gave one to Squidward and gave the other one to Patrick.

Squidward poked the stick into the marshmallow's bottom. He entered the tent.

"What're we supposed to do with this?" Patrick looked at the stick and raised his brow as he chewed on the marshmallows. He had forgotten some of the planned ideas and activities for the camping 'trip'.

"You stick it into the marshmallows and then cook 'em near the fire." SpongeBob pointed at the campfire inside the tent. The yellow square's smile did not lessen. The sponge was nearly always patient whenever Patrick was forgetful.

"Oh." Patrick's face became deadpan. He walked towards the tent and stepped into it.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was holding the poked marshmallow near the campfire. The marshmallow was being toasted correctly since it was far away enough from the fire. The octopus was patient because he wanted to properly enjoy the sweets.

Patrick wanted to eat the marshmallows immediately. He stuck his hand through the tent's flaps and grabbed some marshmallows from the plastic bag. He poked his stick through all the marshmallows until his stick looked like a kebab. The starfish quickly sat down and, with a grin, held his stick too close to the campfire. When Patrick felt the stick's increasing heat, he rapidly blew on the stick to cool it down.

A pause.

Patrick's stick ignited. The starfish panicked and blew as hard as he could. The marshmallows, because of their softness caused by the fire, flew out of the stick and landed on Squidward's forehead.

Squidward glared at Patrick and wiped the marshmallows from his face. Although he completely hid it, he was still eager to try the toasted marshmallows. When he noticed that his marshmalllow was toasted enough, he leaned the stick away from the fire so the marshmallow could cool.

Patrick exited the tent and came back with more marshmallows on his stick. He leaned the stick too close to the fire and it ignited again. He yelled for a second and blew at the stick too hard. He was not aware of what he was doing wrong. The overcooked marshmallows landed on Squidward's arm.

Squidward swiftly wiped the melted marshmallows from his arm. The second volley of overcooked marshmallows dispirited him from eating marshmalllows for a while.

Patrick exited the tent and came back with a third batch of marshmallows.

A pause.

"AH!" Patrick screamed for the second time.

Squidward ducked to avoid any incoming marshmallows. However, the incoming overcooked marshmallows were harder than the previous ones. The marshmallows bounced off the tent's wall and landed on the top of Squidward's head. The octopus groaned and quickly wiped the marshmallows from his head.

SpongeBob entered the tent while holding the marshmallow bag. He wanted to eat the marshmallows with his neighbors. When he saw Squidward's frown, he smiled more to lighten the situation.

"Okay. Besides spitting molten food stuffs at me, what else do you do for fun?" The octopus rested his head on his hand. He was enduring the camping 'trip' because he was waiting for opportunities that could prove his 'camping might'.

"Well, after a long day of camping, it's nice to unwind with a nice, relaxing campfire song." SpongeBob beamed and grabbed a fake guitar. "I call this one 'The Campfire Song Song'." He moved his other hand near the 'strings' as if he was playing an actual guitar. He began to sing.

"Let's gather 'round the campfire and sing our campfire song. Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-S-O-N-G song. And if you don't think that we can sing it faster, then you're wrong. But it'll help if you just sing along..."

The sponge and the starfish had practiced a lot in order to properly perform the song.

The yellow square pointed at the sea star to indicate that it was now Patrick's solo.

"Bum! Bum! Bum!" Patrick did his solo near Squidward's ear. He wanted Squidward to participate in the song because he wanted all of his neighbors to enjoy the 'trip'.

SpongeBob sang again.

"And if you don't think that we can sing it faster, then you're wrong. But it'll help if you just sing along..."

Patrick repeatedly sang "C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song!" until SpongeBob finished the second verse. The starfish then sang.

"Sing another song..."

SpongeBob sang for the third time. "C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song! Patrick!" The sponge pointed at his pink friend.

Patrick sang as fast as he could. "SONG! C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E-" The sponge did not allow him to finish his line.

"Squidward!" SpongeBob stepped towards Squidward and grinned. He expected the octopus to sing a line from the song. He thought that Squidward was had been singing in the background with Patrick.

An awkward pause. Squidward folded his arms and remained silent. Although he liked the idea of performing songs and compositions in a camping 'trip, he was not fond of 'The Campfire Song Song'.

"Good!" SpongeBob acted like Squidward sang so he could avoid an awkward situation. The sponge sang loudly and for the fourth time.

"It'll help... it'll help... if you just sing along!"

The yellow square threw the guitar to the ground as if he was the leader of a band performing in a concert. "OH YEAH!" The sponge screamed and then sat down. The song ended. "Ah, now, wasn't that relaxing?" Singing the song gave SpongeBob and Patrick a sense of catharsis.

"No!" Squidward shook his head. From his viewpoint, the song was very irritating. He stood up and exited the tent.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus walked to the backpack, took out his clarinet, walked towards the tent, and stood in front of the tent. "This is relaxing." He put his mouth on the clarine's mouthpiece and began to play a composition. He enjoyed the camping 'trip' even more because he was doing an activity he liked much.

SpongeBob and Patrick heard the incorrect notes that Squidward was playing. The sponge crawled out of the tent. "I'll save you, Squid!" He whispered loudly. The sponge wanted to save his friend from a certain deadly creature. He snatched a marshmallow from the bag and grabbed a nearby rubber band. He put the marshmallow on the rubber band, aimed it at Squidward's clarinet, pulled back, and released the rubber band.

The marshmallow flew into the clarinet's opening and eventually entered Squidward's throat. The octopus choked, drop the clarinet, and collapsed to the ground with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob gasped and ran to Squidward's fallen body. "Squid, are you alright?" He bit his lip. The sponge put pressure on Squidward's throat. The marshmallow rose to the octopus' mouth as a consequence.

After a few seconds, Squidward took a few deep breaths. The marshmallow had stopped obstructing his throat. He began to eat the marshmallow.

"That's it, chew, chew, and swallow." SpongeBob gave Squidward a few helpful commands. He stopped saying commands when he saw Squidward swallowing the sweet. "There, better?" He smiled warmly.

"BETTER?!" Squidward sat up and glared at SpongeBob. He shook his fist in grumpiness. "I was just fine until you lodged that ballistic junk food into my windpipe!" The marshmallow had ruined his moment of happiness. He stood up and noticed that SpongeBob was holding on to his clarinet.

SpongeBob stood up as well. "But I had to. It's too dangerous to play the clarinet badly out here in the wilderness. It might attract..." The sponge's face became solemn. "...a sea bear." He loudly whispered. He cautiously glanced at his surroundings.

Squidward did not believe that sea bears existed. Ever since he was a high school student, he thought that the sea bear was a myth. He decided to use his 'talent' for sarcasm to express his viewpoint. "A sea bear?" His eyed widened and he wore a mask of anxiety. "You mean like the ones that..." He 'removed the mask' and expressed his annoyance. "...DON'T EXIST?!"

SpongeBob tilted his head to the side. "What're you saying?" He could not tell if Squidward was being sarcastic or serious.

"There's no such thing. They're just a myth." Squidward bluntly stated. He folded his arms and maintained a serious facial expression. He considered the 'myth' of the sea bear to be just as harmful as the faith in the 'Magic' Conch.

"Oh no, Squid, sea bears are all too real." SpongeBob widened his eyes slightly. He leaned into the tent and snatched a tabloid. He stepped out of the tent and held out the tabloid towards Squidward. "It says so in the Bikini Bottom Inquirer." The sponge unintentionally revealed his gullibility.

Squidward walked towards the tabloid and read the cover story's title out loud. "I married a sea bear?" The octopus raised his brow. He was highly skeptical of the cover story's validity. He immediately realized that the magazine was a tabloid.

S-S-S-S-S

Patrick overheard his neighbors' conversation. He grabbed a magazine and exited the tent. He became somewhat concerned for the octopus' safety.

S-S-S-S-S

"Yeah! And Paranormal Science Monthly!" Patrick held out the magazine towards Squidward. His critical thinking skills had not been significantly honed either.

"Evidence for Sea Bears and Fairy Tales?" Squidward's brow was still raised. He suppressed a chuckle. He considered the authors of the articles to be just as 'crazy' as rabid conspiracy theorists. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." The octopus smiled slightly and shook his head. He quickly dismissed all of his neighbors' claims.

Patrick opened his mouth but suddenly had a brain fart. "Well… maybe it is stupid… but it's also dumb." He was trying to say a convincing statement but ended up blurting nonsense instead. He poked his head in an attempt to form the correct words.

SpongeBob quickly stepped into Patrick's role as persuader. Unbeknownst to Squidward, he was holding the octopus' clarinet. The yellow square was troubled over his friend's skepticism. "Sea bears are no laughing matter. Why, once I met this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy who knew this guy's cousin-" The sponge's increased anxiety caused him to stutter. By the time he had gathered his words again, Squidward interrupted him.

Squidward had an ingenious idea. He thought that the idea's implementation would ultimately prove his superiority and improve his ego. He wore a mask of fear. "You're right! I should be more careful. In fact, why don't you tell me all of the things I shouldn't do if I want to keep the sea bears away?" The octopus sounded like he was interested in SpongeBob's claims.

"Okay, that's easy." SpongeBob smiled in relief. He loosened his grip on the clarinet. "First off, don't play the clarinet." He spoke calmly.

"Okay." Squidward nodded. "Then what?" His mask did not change.

"Never wave your flashlight back and forth really fast." The yellow square stopped smiling and shook his index finger back and forth. He raised his voice to make sure that Squidward was heeding to his advice.

"They hate strong light sources." Patrick added to SpongeBob's piece of advice. His eyes were slightly wide. He was worried for Squidward because he sometimes relied Squidward's advice, Squidward's debunkment of his Conch faith strengthened that reliance.

Squidward could not help himself. He smirked slightly. "You're kidding." He whispered to himself. 'This thing's a total myth. There're only a few nocturnal species that dislikes light sources.' The octopus resisted the urge to shake his head.

"Don't stomp around. They take that as a challenge." SpongeBob looked around and sweatdropped. He irrationally feared that a sea bear might have mistook his waving index finger for a flashlight. His neighbors' safety was on a high priority. He was also very confident in the sea bear's existence. One of today's news reports was still fresh in his mind.

_S-S-S-S-S_

More than an hour ago…

_S-S-S-S-S_

_SpongeBob and Patrick were sitting on the couch of the pineapple's living room. The sponge was drinking a cup of water while the starfish was eating a bag of chips. They were taking a break from their search for camping supplies. With Gary, the two friends were watching the Bikini Bottom News Channel. _

_On the TV screen, Johhny Erain finished reading out loud the news report he was holding. The movement of paper was heard and the reporter grabbed the document that had been abruptly passed to him. He held it before his eyes and controlled his urge to gasp. "Breaking News! The western and northern areas of Bikini Bottom are currently suffering from an outbreak of sea bears. Animal Control has stated that the sea bears are currently sleeping in the sparsely inhabited neighborhoods of the area. Their sleeping locations are difficult to discover due to their ability to dig tunnels. The department also stated that citizens should not worry about the animals until nightfall; it is known that the species is nocturnal. The authorities have stated that if anybody has found a sleeping sea bear, they can call: 875-257-9721." _

_SpongeBob and Patrick dropped their jaws and stared at the TV. They had heard many rumors about the sea bear and had not been sure about what were facts and what were falsehoods. The news report was the first official reference to the sea bear that they had heard. Squidward's debunkment had made them more skeptical of their beliefs, but they now knew a valid reason for the sea bear's existence._

_S-S-S-S-S_

"Yeah." Patrick nodded. He remembered a rumor about sea-bears attacking campers who were dancing in the forest.

Squidward looked at the ground and saw Patrick's notepad and pencil. He quickly picked up both objects and jotted down SpongeBob's pieces of advice. He was trying to look more sincere. "Go on." He looked at SpongeBob.

"Don't ever eat cheese outside." SpongeBob spoke in a lower tone. He dug into his earlier memories. Most of the rumors about sea bears that he had heard were from his elementary school days.

Squidward did not immediately jot down the spoken sentence. "Sliced or cubed?" He knew many ways to make his overall mask look more convicing.

SpongeBob and Patrick quickly conversed through whispering. After several seconds of light arguing, they came to an agreement.

The yellow square turned towards Squidward. "Cubed. Slice is fine." He faintly smiled. He stared at a suspicious-looking shadow in the distance and assumed that it belonged to a sea bear.

Squidward jotted the information within two seconds. "And?" He waved at the yellow square to catch the sponge's attention.

"Never wear a sombrero..." SpongeBob made eye contact with Squidward and resumed his advice-giving. He was quite agitated. His nervousness caused him difficulty in fully remembering a certain rumor.

Patrick finished SpongeBob's sentence. "In a goofy fashion!" The starfish eyes were noticeably wide by that point. However, he maintained his air of calmness and viewed his environment more rationally than SpongeBob.

"Or clown shoes. They hate limping more than running." SpongeBob blurted an accurate rumor about the sea bear's behavior. The sponge's fear made it more and more difficult for him to think clearly.

"Or a hoop skirt." Patrick took hold of the marshmallow bag and ate the remaining marshmallows.

"And never…" SpongeBob held up his index finger again. He stood still to prevent himself from moving his index finger by accident. His eyes widened more. He was about to say a rumor about the behavior that sea bears hated the most.

Patrick looked at SpongeBob and figured out what his friend was going to say. He knew that SpongeBob was speaking in the manner of the person who told him and SpongeBob that important rumor. "Ever…" He joined his friend's act.

"...ever…" SpongeBob held his index finger higher. He raised his voice again.

The starfish did not fully understand SpongeBob's act. He scratched his head in confusion. "Uhh…"

"...screech like a chimpanzee!" SpongeBob finished his own sentence. He made sure that his scream was not too loud. The yellow sponge then glanced at his environment but could no longer spot the 'sea bear'.

Squidward wore a grin. "_Wow_. That's amazing how many things can set a sea bear off." The octopus sounded as if he was amazed at the advice he had heard. However, he thought that his tone would reveal his sarcasm.

SpongeBob and Patrick did not detect Squidward's true intentions at all. The starfish was paranoid enough to show signs of anxiety. The two hugged each other and began to shake in nervousness. "They're horrible." The two said at the same time.

Squidward stopped smiling but did not express his true emotions. "And… and suddenly I have the sense we're all in danger." He talked 'cautiously'. He dramatically looked at his dark neighborhood as if he was looking for any signs of the sea bear.

"Why?" SpongeBob and Patrick asked instinctively.

"I don't know…" The octopus shrugged and wore a slight smile. "But I'll promise you this." He looked at his neighbors from the corner of his eye as he walked towards elsewhere. "I'll protect you guys from the sea bear by getting some handy stuff." He became 'poised' and marched instead of strolled.

"Hold on…" SpongeBob jogged towards the octopus. He was alarmed by his neighbor's assuring words. "There's a better way to protect-" He got interrupted by Squidward.

"Don't worry, Sponge. I'll be back before you know it." Squidward ignored what SpongeBob had tried to say. He focused his gaze on what was ahead of him. If one looked closely, the person could tell that Squidward was not taking his neighbors seriously ever since they began to talk about sea bears.

S-S-S-S-S

Ten minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob and Patrick were huddling in the tent. Ever since their neighbor had left the neighborhood, they jumped whenever they saw a shadow. The two had became excessively paranoid over the sea bear's whereabouts.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward exited his tiki with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**. He had went to a few stores and had bought several products. He was holding a flashlight from the tiki's closet and a tray of several types of cubed cheese. He wore a pair of clown shoes, a sombrero in an inverted manner, and a hoop skirt. He walked towards the tent and smiled devilishly. "Guys, I'm back!" He spoke as if he was enthusiastic.

SpongeBob and Patrick crawled out of the tent. Their faces whitened in horror and they stopped delightfully smiling.

"N-no…" SpongeBob was nearly at a loss of words. His heartbeat quickened.

"Yes." Squidward's grin intensified. He adjusted his sombrero.

"No…" SpongeBob struggled to say a sentence. He was denying what was in front of him as a way of coping with his dire situation. He knew that a sea bear would certainly attack Squidward by that point.

Squidward imitated chimp sounds to the best of his ability. He moved his flashlight in random directions and stomped in a dance-like manner.

"Squid, please don't!" SpongeBob and Patrick plead simultaneously. Horrific visions of sea bear attacks were filling their minds and served as fuel for their paranoia.

Squidward stomped more harder, moved his flashlight even faster, and uttered louder chimp noises. He thought that he was proving that sea bears did not exist. He considered the lack of any incoming sea bear to be valid evidence against the species' existence.

The starfish looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. He was more concerned for his best friend than Squidward since the octopus was obviously attracting the threat. "Sponge, what're we gonna do? A sea bear's sure to come and eat us!" He loudly whispered. He was sweating moderately.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He remembered a classic method that prevented sea bear attacks. "Don't worry, Pat. I'll draw us an anti-sea bear circle in the dirt." The yellow square walked towards the rolled-up broken tent and took a metal stick. He stood next to Patrick and, with the stick, drew a circle that surrounded the ground the friends were standing on. The sponge wiped some sweat from his brow and smiled in relief.

Patrick admired SpongeBob's resourcefulness. "Good thinking. All the experts say it's the only defense against a sea bear attack." The starfish had been unable to remember that trick until now. He was suffering from a bout of forgetfulness.

Squidward ended his foolery. He laughed by honking his nose. "You guys are so gullible. See? I did everything that attracts a sea bear, and nothing happened. If sea bears really exist, why didn't one show up?" He assumed that his logic was indisputable. He had sincerely enjoyed doing his way of disproving SpongeBob and Patrick's claims. His opinion on camping began to change.

SpongeBob put a hand on his chin as he contemplated Squidward's appearance. "Maybe it's because you're not wearing your sombrero in a goofy-enough fashion." He stated quietly. The yellow square's belief in Squidward's doom would not fade.

Squidward decided to continue his sarcasm. "Oh, pfft. Sorry, how silly of me. You mean like this?" He picked up the hat, turned it to a sideways position, and put it back on his head. He smirked and folded his arms. 'It doesn't matter what they say. Sea bears don't exist.'

Unbeknownst to the neighbors, a sea bear was silently swimming towards Squidward. The fearsome beast was at least five times larger than the octopus. His skin had a dark brown color and consisted of numerous sharp scales that made it look like the fur of land animals (hence the name 'sea bear'). His eyes were glowing yellow and had slit pupils. His teeth were large and nearly as sharp as those of sharks. Unlike his prey (Squidward), he was not capable of advance intelligence.

The sea bear, once it reached a certain distance, dashed towards Squidward and bit the sombrero. He tossed the sombrero to the side. **"GRRRRRRRRRR!"**

Squidward dropped his jaw and his eyes bugged out. He sweated profusely and his limbs trembled in terror. "I-I… u-uhh… u-u-u-umm… D-Dear Neptune…" The octopus struggled to say a full sentence. He knew without a doubt that the sea bear was not going to detect any attempts at friendliness.

SpongeBob and Patrick remained in the circle. They were so frightened by the beast that they could not immediately respond.

The sea bear raised his fins. The claws on his fins came out.


	88. Just One Bite

**Chapter 88: Just One Bite**

* * *

Squidward instinctively ran towards his tiki. He could care less about the shortcomings of his actions. Remaining near the sea bear would mean certain death.

The sea bear roared and pursued Squidward. He rapidly made attempts at scratching the octopus.

Squidward managed to dodge most of the scratches. His shirt and hoop skirt only had a few scratch marks. He was about to touch the front door when he…

**THUD**

...tripped on a rock. He fell to the ground so hard that he felt very sharp pain in his limbs. He shakily stood up and desperately limped towards his next destination of hope, the pineapple. His primal urge to survive had the reigns of his mind.

SpongeBob shook back to his senses. "Quick! Jump inside our anti-sea bear circle!" The sponge jumped up and down and pointed at the area surrounded by the circle. Like Squidward, he was acting out of instinct. He was currently deciding if he should attack the sea bear and immediately save Squidward or remain safe by staying in the circle.

Squidward limped faster. "Are you crazy? A dirt circle won't stop that monster." He shook his head. His skepticism made him assume that his neighbors were so nervous that they relied on irrational methods. "I'm running for my life!" He managed to jog.

"NO!" SpongeBob and Patrick yelled at the same time. They knew that Squidward was unintentionally angering the sea bear.

The sea bear roared again. He pounced Squidward and scratched the octopus furiously.

Squidward's shirt was tearing into pieces.

The sponge could no longer watch the brutal fight. He thought that Squidward's life was in danger. He came to a decision and hurriedly ran towards the sea bear. Once he reached the sea bear, he punched the beast's side with a **BAM**, kicked the sea bear's belly with a **KLOK**, and karate-chopped the beast's head with a **SHOOP**.

The sea bear did not expect SpongeBob's attacks. He lost balance and fell to the ground with a **THUD**.

SpongeBob grabbed Squidward and rapidly carried the octopus back to the circle. He stood in the circle and placed Squidward next to him. "Phew." He wiped some sweat from his brow and smiled in relief. "Don't worry, Squid. We're all safe now." He looked at the octopus and patted Squidward's shoulder.

Squidward once again felt grateful for SpongeBob's assistance. The octopus began to reflect on the several moments after SpongeBob's employment where the sponge had significantly helped him. He began to feel a sense of camaraderie between him and the sponge.

The sea bear swam towards the anti-sea bear circle. When he was an inch away from the circle, he growled. **"Grrrrrrrrr!" **Sea bears did not attack anybody in drawn circles because they always mistook drawn circles for a deadly species of man ray. He decided to wait until the neighbors leave the circle.

A long pause.

'I guess I'll have to make it leave by force.' SpongeBob bit his lip and focused on the sea bear. He carefully looked for any slight movements from the sea bear. He showed no signs of fear.

The sea bear stared at the sponge. He was ready to pounce SpongeBob.

The yellow square moved his body into a karate pose. He thought of the many outcomes of his karate moves. He decided to time his attack. 'Five... four... three... two... one...'

**POW BAM SHOOP KLOK**

The sea bear received multiple blows from SpongeBob. He lurched and unintentionally moved back by a few feet.

**BAM KLOK BAM SHOOP BAM BAM POW BAM BAM KLOK KLOK KLOK SHOOP**

The yellow square did another series of punches, kicks, and karate chops. He did not allow the sea bear to have any time to counter his hits.

**BONK**

The sea bear fell to a rock. He quickly rose and then swam towards SpongeBob. The beast opened his mouth in an attempt to quickly kill the sponge.

SpongeBob ran towards the sea bear and then leaped him. He landed behind the sea bear and kicked the sea bear's rear with a **KLOK.**

**THUD  
**

The sea bear fell to the ground. He jumped towards the yellow square and did rapid scratch attempts. His anger was reaching its maximum level. He was gritting and his pupils were dilated.

**SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP SHOOP**

SpongeBob blocked the sea bear's scratches by karate-chopping the beast's incoming fins. He rolled on the ground, jumped to his feet, and…

**KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK KLOK**

...rapidly kicked the side of the sea bear's body.

The sea bear tumbled across the ground and struggled to stay afloat. He could not endure SpongeBob's attacks for much longer.

The yellow square, with a confident smile, ran towards the fish and did a uppercut on the beast's stomach.

**BIFF**

SpongeBob had enough momentum and concentrated strength to make the beast soar. The beast quickly succumbed to gravity.

**THUD**

The sea bear fell to the ground near Patrick's rock and a sand cloud formed over the sea bear's body.

A pause.

The sand cloud dissipated to reveal a fleeing sea bear. The beast no longer considered Squidward to be prey that was worth the necessary effort. Within minutes, he disappeared from the horizon.

The yellow square took a deep breath and grinned. He turned to look at his neighbors. "It's alright, guys." He did a thumbs-up. "We're safe now." He walked towards the tent and entered it so he could relax near the campfire's warmth.

Squidward stepped out of the drawn circle and thought about his camping experience. For some reason, he had came to a strange conclusion. 'It wasn't that bad.' The thought worried him because he feared that he was becoming too comfortable with his neighbors' antics. He sat on the ground as he examined his recent memories.

A pause.

The octopus immediately remembered the satisfaction he felt when the tent self-assembled. He also remembered the enjoyment he felt when he attempted to disprove the sea bear's existence. After recognizing his previous emotions, only lingering thoughts remained. He glanced at the tent. 'A song at a camp would've been decent if people had more refined tastes. I can't believe that even primitive species like sea bears can't recognize the majesty of the clarinet.' He then turned to look at the empty marshmallow bag. The flavor of marshmallows was mentally accessible (a remnant of his childhood memories) but he did not recognize the marshmallow bag's brand. He began to wonder if the marshmallows his neighbors ate were different from the ones he ate in the past. 'No point in thinking 'bout that now.

Another pause.

Squidward stood up and looked to his right. He saw his clarinet and joyfully smiled. He ran towards the instrument and seized it. However, he knew that he should not play outside it lest he attract another sea bear. The octopus glanced at the tent one last time as he walked towards his tiki. He fully accepted his new opinion on camping. Today, both his and his neighbors' viewpoints had been altered.

**CRREEEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the tiki. He was going to play compositions more quietly for the sake of his neighbors.

S-S-S-S-S

A few days later…

S-S-S-S-S

September 25, 2008.

Squidward carried a tray that had an extra-large Krabby Patty and a large packet of french fries. He gave the tray to a young male sitting on a table by himself. "Here you go, sir. A King-Size Ultra Krabby Supreme with the works, double batter fried," he droned. He took out a popsicle stick and poked it into the Krabby Patty. "on a stick."

"Thanks." The young man smiled and began to eat the french fries.

Squidward walked away from the table. "Barnacle head." He muttered. According to his opinion, the young man's order was ridiculous. He disliked such orders because it created hassles.

The young man noticed that there was something missing in his food. "Excuse me?" He tried to be polite.

Squidward grabbed a mayonnaise bottle from the condiment stand. He knew what the customer had forgotten to do. "You forgot your mayonnaise." He walked back to the young man's table and squeezed the mayonnaise to the Krabby Patty.

"Thanks." The young man held the stick and began to eat his Krabby Patty.

Squidward walked back to the boat and sat in it. He looked at the customers eating their meals and slightly cringed. "Look at them eating that garbage." The octopus, over the last few days, had not acted on his desire to eat marshmallows. He was very aware that those sweets were unhealthy. However, he also knew that Krabby Patties were much more healthy since all of its ingredients were not factory-made. Nonetheless, the method for cooking Krabby Patties and the burger's overall presentation did not suit his tastes. "It's disgusting. They're sickening. I hate Krabby Patties." He revealed his opinion without an ounce of hesitation. He was not in the mood to be excessively polite.

SpongeBob overheard Squidward's comment and then giggled He looked at the octopus through the ordering window. "Good one, Squid." His innocent worldview made him think that Squidward was joking.

Squidward looked at the sponge. His facial expression did not worsen since he had shared much more positive work experiences with SpongeBob recently. Ever since Monday, SpongeBob had been talking to him about how he was questioning things more and was trying to find "truths". The octopus liked conversing with the sponge about such topics since it was solid evidence for his influence on SpongeBob. Rationality was a bridge that connected the two polar minds. "Good what?" The octopus knew better than to idealize the sponge as a logical and rational person like he was.

"Like you don't know." SpongeBob chuckled. 'Squid's playing dumb.' He assumed the octopus' intention. "Saying," He squeezed his nose as a way of imitating Squidward's voice. "'I hate Krabby Patties.'" He spoke in a normal voice. "That hilarious!" He giggled. "Everyone loves Krabby Patties." He asserted what he believed to be a fact.

"Yeah, well, not me." Squidward turned his vision towards elsewhere. He knew an obvious flaw to SpongeBob's belief. From his perspective, SpongeBob's assertion was a sign that the sponge was still an amateur critical thinker.

SpongeBob still thought that Squidward was joking. He laughed for a second. "You're good at that." He climbed over the oven and sat on the ordering window's sill. He thought that the jokes was clever enough for a large audience. He cupped his hands near his mouth. "Hey, everyone! Squid says he doesn't like Krabby Patties." He grinned. "Ha!"

Squidward took a deep breath. He thought that losing his temper on SpongeBob's foolishness would worsen his relationship with him. "Don't encourage them!" He commanded. "They'll think of me in a certain way." He felt like saying a reason for his order would be appropriate.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob realized that Squidward was speaking sincerely. He jumped to the kitchen floor and stopped smiling. He felt slight remorse for being faintly insensitive towards the octopus. He glanced at the wheel of orders, grabbed a few raw patties, and tossed those patties to the grill. "Sorry, Squid, it's just so funny. You know what they say. 'The only people who don't like a Krabby Patty, have never tasted one.'" The yellow square thought that Squidward's opinion was unreasonable. The sponge grabbed his spatula and flipped a Krabby Patty.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was not going to allow all of his opinions and views become altered by SpongeBob and similar people. His ego and narcissism created a stubbornness that was as strong as steel. "That's me. Never had one. Never will." He folded his arms and droned again. 'I got better things to do than chat over such minute details.'

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob abruptly flipped a patty to the ceiling. His eyes bugged out. "What?" For once, he doubted what he heard. This was the first time that he had ever heard someone openly admit a dislike towards Krabby Patties.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward made eye contact with SpongeBob and shrugged. "What?" He saw nothing wrong with stating his opinion. He believed that his opinion was superior to all others anyway.

S-S-S-S-S

"What? What did you say?" SpongeBob cleaned his ears with his fingers. He still doubted the words coming out of his co-worker's mouth.

Nicholas walked up to SpongeBob. He had been glancing at the patty stuck on the ceiling. "What happened?" He assumed that something or someone was causing disorder in the dining room.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward thought that SpongeBob could not hear him. He stood up and leaned against the ordering window. "I've never had a Krabby Patty and never will." He spoke loudly and quickly. He saw the sponge's facial expression and realized that the sponge was merely coping with his surprising words. 'Why's he freaking out over my opinion?'

"How could you dislike the pinnacle of fastfoodmanship?" Nicholas looked at the octopus. Squidward's opinion immediately intrigued him. For a second, he thought that Squidward was acting insane.

"I'm sorry... I don't..." The yellow square struggled to say a sentence. He could not understand why someone would have such an opinion. He looked at the floor as he tried to figure out the possible motives for why Squidward was saying those ghastly sentences.

Squidward looked at Nicholas. "Nick, Krabby Patties are far from an artistic masterpiece. Unless someone's changes the cooking method for the better, I will continue to think of them as garbage." He looked at SpongeBob again. "I've never had a Krabby Patty." He stated in a more stern manner.

SpongeBob put a hand on his chin. He was trying to wrap his mind around the idea that people had different opinions about Krabby Patties. Such an idea was very troubling for him because he felt like people who held such opinions were not recognizing the love he put into the burgers.

Squidward tried to tighten SpongeBob's grip of reality. He leaned through the ordering window. "I've never had a Krabby Patty! I've never had a Krabby Patty! I've never had a Krabby Patty!" He repeatedly and quickly said his opinion. He was indirectly forcing his coworker to accept the truth.

A pause.

SpongeBob let go of his chin and made eye contact with Squidward. 'That doesn't mean he can't change his mind.' In his mind, his positivity became radiant in the darkness of disbelief. A light bulb lit up in his head. "Never had a Krabby Patty?! Well, you've got to have one right now!" The sponge preserved his solemn face. He ran to the table and snatched a spare Krabby Patty. He swiftly exited the kitchen with a **CREAK SLAM**.

Nicholas did not bother to stop SpongeBob from doing his antics. It had taken a long time for him to tolerate SpongeBob's naivete.

S-S-S-S-S

"No wonder you're always so miserable!" SpongeBob said an assumption of his out loud. "Here, try this." He smiled slightly and held out the Krabby Patty towards the octopus. He strongly believed that Squidward's opinion would change if the octopus takes one bite.

"Get that garbage outta my face!" Squidward narrowed his eyes. He slapped the Krabby Patty towards the floor. He indistinctly grimaced at the thought of eating Krabby Patties and similar fast food. His specific tastes for food had been unchallenged for many years.

SpongeBob ran to the fallen burger and picked it up. The Krabby Patty only suffered from minor bruises. He calmly walked to Squidward. "If you try it, you'll love it." He twinkled and held out the Krabby Patty with both hands. His was determined to change Squidward's opinion, unintentionally disregarding the increasing line of waiting customers.

Squidward folded his arms. "Hmph! Try one of those radioactive sludge-balls you call food? Next, I suppose you'll want me to go square-dancing with Patrick." The octopus could not be more blunt. He tried to cleverly express the unlikelihood of what SpongeBob wanted him to do.

SpongeBob stood on tiptoe and resumed his walk. Once he reached the boat, he inched the burger towards Squidward's mouth. The closer the burger was to the mouth, the bigger his grin became. "C'mon, you're gonna-" He got interrupted by Squidward.

"No." The octopus slapped the Krabby Patty again. He glanced at the line of increasingly impatient customers. 'I got no time for this. If I don't write their orders, those hungry animals will probably pulverize me again.' A sense of urgency kicked in.

SpongeBob caught the burger like an American football player before it reached the floor. He stood on tiptoe again and walked as if he was a moving train. He grinned. "Open up the tunnel, here comes the train. Choo-choo..." He held out the Krabby Patty with both hands again.

"No!" Squidward slapped the Krabby Patty again. In an attempt to prevent SpongeBob from doing further attempts, he turned his attention to the customers in front of the boat. "May I take your order?" He droned. 'This'll keep him away.'

SpongeBob grabbed the Krabby Patty as it flew to the floor. 'I guess I need to be more clever.' He swiftly tip toed towards Squidward and held the burger behind the octopus' head. "Whoop! What's that in your ear?" He 'pulled out' the burger and held it before Squidward's face.

"Quit it." Squidward spoke as he jotted down an order on a stick note. He stuck the sticky note to the window's wheel. He shoved the Krabby Patty from his face. His ego built a stronger mental wall whenever SpongeBob did an attempt.

"C'mon, open wide." SpongeBob stood on one foot and nearly shoved the Krabby Patty towards Squidward's mouth. He was anticipating Squidward's reaction to the burger's taste. He could not hide his wide smile.

Squidward grabbed SpongeBob's forearm. "SpongeBob, if I were trapped at the bottom of a well, for three years, with nothing to eat but that Krabby Patty, I'd eat my own legs first..." The octopus blatantly lied. He wanted his coworker to leave him alone. He stepped away from the boat. "..and not just the extra ones." He entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**. To his dismay, he overestimated SpongeBob's reduced gullibility.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the Krusty Krab through the back door. He wanted to have some fresh air so the stress of daily work could not worsen his temper.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward walked away from the restaurant. He took several deep breaths. He closed his eyes so his mind could return to the stillness that it had in the morning. However, he was hearing SpongeBob's footsteps

"But it's good for you!" SpongeBob was walking towards Squidward. His persistence, from Squidward's perspective, was nearly overwhelming. The yellow square fell to his knees and held out the Krabby Patty as if it was an offering to the gods.

Squidward turned around and raised his brow. "G-good for you? That thing is a heart attack on a bun." The octopus thought that the burger would taste nasty and he would have a reaction similar to a heart attack as a result. He tightened his fists as he tried to control his annoyance.

"No, Squid, I meant..." SpongeBob's eyes sparkled. His grin reached his mouth's limit. He was acting as if he was gazing at a divine being. "...it's good for your soul." His tone shifted to a much more gentle level. He was trying to convince Squidward to the best of his ability.

"Oh, puh-lease." Squidward folded his arms and shook his head. "I have no soul." Although he knew that souls exist, he said those words as a way of resisting SpongeBob's influence. His grumpiness had worsened to the point where he was tapping his foot.

SpongeBob thought that bargaining had a higher chance of succeeding. "Okay, just a half." He stood up and stopped shaking in excitement. He tried to exude an air of calmness.

"No." Squidward took a deep breath and walked towards the Krusty Krab. 'Forget it, Squiddy. There's no way I'm gonna get peace anytime soon.' He gave up on his relaxing break.

"A quarter?" The sponge followed the octopus. He wanted to use all of his ideas before giving up and resuming his normal duties.

"No."

"One bite?"

"No."

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was putting money into the cash register when he felt a sudden urge to pee. He left the money on the register and adjusted the register so it could not fall. He smiled since he now had an excuse for a nap. He walked towards the bathroom and entered it with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob perceived Squidward's absence from the boat. A light bulb lit up in his head. He jogged to the table, grabbed a Krabby Patty, and walked towards the dining room door. He had a sudden urge to talk with Nicholas. "Nick, why does Squid not like Krabby Patties?"

"I'm not sure. I can't see how a perfect burger like a Krabby Patty be undesirable. It's buns have near perfect circumferences. It's tomatoes and lettuce are some of the finest in the sea. The patty itself has mystical ingredients. I've never seen any other cuisine like it." Nicholas rambled about the Krabby Patty's qualities. He often talked about his favorite foods in such a manner. Whenever he cooked in the kitchen, perfection was his only goal.

"I know right? Krabby Patties always have some sorta magical touch to it, y'know." The yellow square pushed the dining room door open. Nicholas' words reminded him of the Magic Conch. He thought that, like Squidward's arguments against his former belief, he would successfully change Squidward's opinion. He entered the dining room and closed the door with a **SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked around the dining room in search of Squidward. After a few minutes of searching, he came to the conclusion that his coworker was having his usual bathroom break. The yellow square beamed and entered the bathroom.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward heard the opening and closing of the dining room door. Out of a suspicion that the person who did that was Mr. Krabs, he stood up, opened the toilet lid, and flushed the toilet. He whistled nonchalantly and opened the stall door.

SpongeBob was standing before him. He suddenly held out the Krabby Patty an inch away from Squidward's face. "Just smell it." The yellow square was trying to be reasonable.

"If I didn't want it out there, what makes you think I'd find it more appealing in here?!" Squidwardwas on the brink of losing his temper. He **SLAM**med the door, closed the lid, and sat on the toilet with folded arms. He stared at the stall door in discontentment.

S-S-S-S-S

Nine minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in his office desk. He was doing the weekly ritual of counting last week's profits. The crab was noticed that last week's profits were much higher than the profits of the week before that. "The money's goin' through the roof. Nick's been working so hard." He said his own thoughts with a grin.

A pause.

His own words reminded him that he should do a check-up on Squidward. The crab stood up and exited his office with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs noticed that Squidward was napping. He stomped to the octopus and tried to wake him by snapping his claw. When Squidward opened his eyes, he folded his arms to express his displeasement.

The octopus sat up and made eye contact with Mr. Krabs. 'Oh boy. I wonder what's in it for me this time.' He knew that the crab was going to punish him in some way. Due to the semi-regularity of Mr. Krabs' inspections, he only napped at certain times of the workday.

Mr. Krabs looked through the ordering window. "Go to the kitchen and wash the dishes." The crab saw several dirty dish stacks near the sink. He did not order his other employees to clean the stacks because they were making Krabby Patties. He walked towards the office. "I better hear some scrubbin'. I'll be watching from me office." He gave Squidward a warning glare before returning to the office with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**.

Squidward sighed and entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**. 'Of course I'm gonna get a menial task. What other things can I do here?' He controlled any false hopes or overly positive expectations that he had.

S-S-S-S-S

A minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was sloppily cleaning the dishes with a towel soaked in soap. He wanted to finish the task as quickly as possible and could care less about the quality of his efforts.

SpongeBob entered the kitchen with a **CRREAK SLAM**. He saw the octopus and smiled in joy. The sponge received another opportunity. He picked up from the table the same spare Krabby Patty and then strolled towards Squidward. "C'mon, Squid." He held the burger near the side of his coworker's head.

"No." Squidward shook his head. He maintained his deadpan face and did not slow his pace.

S-S-S-S-S

Twenty-five minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was putting coins into the register's drawer. When he was finished with the task, he closed the drawer. A yellow hand that was holding a Krabby Patty abruptly appeared above the cash register.

"One bite." SpongeBob nearly begged. His willpower was nearly limitless.

"No.." Squidward laid down on the boat and opened his novel. He ignored his yellow coworker by reading his book. He concentrated hard enough that his eyes did not avert from the novel's pages. He wanted to make his time at the Krusty Krab feel more like a pastime instead of non-stop torture.

S-S-S-S-S

An hour later...

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the restaurant while holding two trash bags. Mr. Krabs had caught him reading and had then ordered him to take out the trash. With an unenthusiastic face, he tossed the two bags into the dumpster.

SpongeBob had seen where Squidward had been going to. He jumped from behind the dumpster and held out the Krabby Patty. "You won't be sorry." The yellow square smiled playfully. He thought that being more lively would make his attempts more effective.

"No!" Squidward yelled. He could no longer tolerate SpongeBob's irritating behavior. He stomped towards the back door.

The yellow square ran towards Squidward and blocked the way to the back door. "It's delicious..." He held the Krabby Patty with both hands. He was trying to tease the cephalopod._h_

"Listen, SpongeBob, how long are you prepared to keep this up?" Squidward glared at SpongeBob and folded his arms. He knew better than to recklessly release his anger since it could disrupt the work environment and consequently provoke Mr. Krabs' into punishing him. He understood SpongeBob's positive intentions but dislike the sponge's methods.

SpongeBob decided that an action could 'speak more' than a sentence. He stood completely next to Squidward as if he was handcuffed to him. The sponge held the Krabby Patty less than an inch before Squidward's mouth. 'C'mon, Squid. It's not so hard. Just one bite, and that'll be it.' He began to jump up and down in anticipation.

Squidward recognized the sponge's unstoppable determination. 'Let's get this over with.' He sighed. His ego made him harbor a heavy dislike towards 'surrendering'. "Give me that!" He snatched the Krabby Patty. He examined the burger and cringed again. He looked at the sponge from the corner of his eye. 'If I don't give in, he'll keep doing this 'til who knows when.' He stared at the burger. "When I die... you stay away from my funeral." He declared. He stepped away from the sponge and gulped nervously. "Ohh... do I really..." He sweatdropped.

SpongeBob could not control his excitement. "A_h_h_h_h_h_h_h_..." He jumped up and down at a faster pace.

Squidward slowly opened his mouth.

"Ee_ee_ee_ee_... oooh-oooh-oooh..." The sponge could not control his strange vocalizations. For once, he was influencing Squidward instead of vice-versa.

Squidward took a very small bite from the Krabby Patty. The burger's taste was powerful. He could not deny the Krabby Patty's deliciousness. He unconsciously smiled but SpongeBob's face triggered him to notice his smile. He quickly wore a mask of anger to hide the vulnerability of his opinions. "Why... this Krabby Patty may be the most... HORRIBLE, PUTRID, POORLY PREPARED, VILE,"

SpongeBob's pupils shrunk and his jaw dropped. 'Am I dreaming?' He was so shocked by what he was hearing that the line between dream and reality blurred.

"UNAPPETIZING, **disgusting** excuse for a sandwich, that has ever been my displeasure to have slither down my throat!" Squidward's face was crimson and smoke was being released from his ears. His ego gave him the ability to wear the mask as if it was his own face.

SpongeBob struggled to gather his words. "But-" He stopped talking when he saw Squidward committing a heinous act.

Squidward threw the Krabby Patty to the ground and furiously stomped on it. "And I curse this Krabby Patty, and all who enjoy them, to an early and well-deserved grave!" The octopus' mask was making him say ridiculous statements that, later on, he would not be proud of. He grabbed a small rock and put it over the crushed burger as if the rock was a tombstone. He turned to look at SpongeBob and wore a deadpan face. "Get it?" He implemented a 'clever' sense of humor. In the depths of his mind, he regretted what he committed.

SpongeBob shook back to his senses. "But, it doesn't make any sense. The Krabby Patty is an absolute good. Nobody is immune to its tasty charm." The yellow square expressed his dumbfoundedness over Squidward's 'crime'. His statements were also attempts at discrediting Squidward's 'passionate' announcements.

"Nobody but me." The octopus slowly walked towards the back door and folded his arms again. His legs began to tremble. His thoughts were not focused on his narcissism.

"Are you sure?" SpongeBob perceived Squidward's conflicting body language. The yellow square could shift his gaze from the 'buried' Krabby Patty. He felt concerned for Squidward's well-being because he thought that a person who disliked Krabby Patties had 'some sort of problem'.

Squidward glared at the yellow square. His legs were expressing an opposite message, nevertheless. "Does this look unsure to you?" He pointed at his fierce facial expression.

SpongeBob bit his lip. "No." From his viewpoint, Squidward's face was somewhat frightening.

Squidward took a deep breath and exuded an air of calmness. "Good! Now spread the word." The octopus leaned against the restaurant's back wall. He was trying to hide his true emotions. He was trying to distract SpongeBob from what he was going to do.

SpongeBob tried to hold his tears. Seeing Squidward ruin a good Krabby Patty was absolutely heartbreaking. The yellow square, fueled by his emotions, entered the Krusty Krab with a **CREAK SLAM** so he could fulfill Squidward's wish.

A pause.

Squidward ran towards the Krabby Patty's 'grave'. "C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" He had a potent hunger for the burger. In reality, the Krabby Patty was one of the most delicious foods that he had ever tasted. The octopus' guilt had steadily increased ever since the 'murder'. He tossed the rock to the side and picked up the soiled Krabby Patty.

"Ah... still alive!" He rapidly consumed the burger's remains. "Oh, soooo delicious. All the wasted years...!" His first consumption of the Krabby Patty had defined his day because of the burger's taste. He wished that he had eaten Krabby Patties far more often. His desire for Krabby Patties suddenly became stronger. "I gotta have more. I gotta have more!" He ran to the back door and opened it slightly. The octopus watched SpongeBob and Nicholas making Krabby Patties. 'But wait! After that performance, he'd never let me live it down. I gotta sneak one. Just one, then... I'm off the stuff for good!' He tried to rationalize his 'need' for Krabby Patties. He slipped through the small opening and closed the door with a **Slam**.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward entered the dining room with a **CRREEAK SLAM**.

SpongeBob was flipping several patties as he looked at Nicholas. "I didn't think it was possible, but, I guess some people just don't like Krabby Patties." The yellow square was not smiling. Squidward's negative reaction had caused him to enter a dark sea of confusion and mystery.

Nicholas shrugged. "Oh well. We could still strive for perfection, ignoring the detractors, that is." The intern did not allow potential distractions to slow down his working speed. He was much more focused in his tasks than SpongeBob.

"You're right. People should have their opinions." The yellow square flipped the patties at a more stable pace. Nicholas' reply brought some peace into his mind. The sponge smiled slightly.

Squidward hesitantly looked through the ordering window. "Uhh, SpongeBob?" He tried to hide his desire for Krabby Patties. However, his attempt made him look desperate instead. He sweatdropped.

"Yes, Squidward?" SpongeBob looked up. His smile became bigger.

"I need a Triple Krabby Supreme on a kelp bun," Squidward's limbs shook in excitement. He could not control his anticipation for the delicious Krabby Patty. A small smile formed on his face. "w-with extra sea pickles a-and burn it to a crisp, okay?" The octopus tried to control his movements. He began to daydream about Krabby Patties.

"Coming right up!" SpongeBob flipped a few patties. He stopped smiling and made direct eye contact. "Listen, Squid. I want to apologize for before. I was only trying to make you happy." The sponge flipped the patties again. His words were sincere.

Squidward closely watched the patties. He was becoming hungrier with every passing second.

"But I guess feel down inside, I was trying to make myself happy, but now I've learned there's room for all kinds of people in this crazy old world and they don't have to like the same things. It's what makes life not boring. People don't have to like the same things." The yellow sponge finished his confession. His statements had directly came from his heart. Ever since Squidward's rejection of the Krabby Patty, he became more open-minded of people's opinions about food. "While I strongly disagree with your decision, I accept it." He picked up three patties with his spatula and brought them to the table. He quickly made a Triple Krabby Supreme and put that burger on a plate. He then exited the kitchen with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward stared at the burger. His mouth watered as he tried to imagine the Krabby Supreme's possible taste. He leaned towards the burger to take a quick bite but SpongeBob walked away before he had a chance.

"Y'know, it's not often I get to make one like this." SpongeBob beamed and looked at the customers sitting in the tables. "I wanna see the look on their face when they take that first bite." The sponge had decided to say his own thoughts. Like before, he wanted to converse with Squidward about topics related to rationality and critical thinking. He briskly walked to the middle of the dining room. "Triple Krabby Supreme! Triple Krabby Supreme! Did someone order a Triple Krabby Supreme?" The sponge glanced at the customers. No one stood up to get the burger. "Huh, they must've left." The sponge bit his lip.

A light bulb lit up in Squidward's head. "Well, why don't you just, uh, leave it out here, in case they come back." The octopus was focusing his gaze on the burger. He was desperate to have at least another taste of a Krabby Patty. He wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Nooope," SpongeBob shook his head. "A patty this special should be eaten fresh, and... well... I haven't had one of these babies in over twenty minutes, so..." The sponge came to a decision as he spoke. He still believed that Squidward's act of anger was sincere. He gulped the Triple Krabby Supreme. "Well, whoever they were, the had great taste." The sponge grinned and licked his lips. He thought that the burger's deliciousness was worth the effort spent on flipping the patties. "They don't know what they're missing. Well, back to work." He entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM**.

"What do I have to do? Eat one outta the garbage?" Squidward loudly whispered to himself. His desperation had been increasing with each passing minute. By that point, Krabby Patties were all that he could think about. His legs trembled as he waited for another opportunity.

A young man who had an excessively filled stomach walked up to a trash can while holding an uneaten fresh Krabby Patty. "I wish I could eat this, but I'm so darn full. Oh well. " He dropped the burger to the trash can. The Krabby Patty landed on the top of the can's trash. The man then walked towards the double door.

'I had to say garbage...' Squidward almost doubted that what he just said was a mere coincidence. "...but, okay!" He finished his sentence by whispering to himself again. With a smile of hope, he jogged to the trash can and grabbed the Krabby Patty. He deeply inhaled the burger's pleasant smell and then opened his mouth.

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window and saw what Squidward was holding. He gasped and...

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

...rapidly exited the kitchen. The sponge snatched the Krabby Patty from Squidward's hands. "Oh no, what's this doing here?!" He suddenly realized that the burger had been thrown to the trash. He did not want another burger to be abandoned. "This patty should be cremated!" He allowed his emotions to guide his actions. He ran to the kitchen and entered with a **CREAK SLAM**.

"Wait!" Squidward held out his hand and quickly followed his coworker. 'I can't miss this chance!' He was determined to have his way with the Krabby Patty. His hunger spurred him on.

**CREAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the kitchen.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the deep fryer and removed the nets. He dropped the wasted Krabby Patty into the fryer. He always cremated the Galley Grub food in that manner. The sponge then took off his hat, held it near his heart, and looked at the floor as tears formed in his eyes. He saw Squidward from the corner of his eye. He then could no longer control himself. A tear ran down his cheek. "I-it means so much that you came." He wiped his moistened eyes with his hat and put it back on. He appreciated Squidward's 'willingness' to 'respect' the Krabby Patty's 'funeral'.

Squidward could not hide his disappointment. He slightly frowned and slowly returned to the boat with a **CRREEAAAAK SLAM**. 'Dammit. Why did SpongeBob have to do something so stupid?' His desperation transformed into frustration.

S-S-S-S-S

Several hours later…

S-S-S-S-S

10:15 PM.

Squidward was sleeping in his bedroom. He had been still ever since he had laid down on the bed. The octopus' lust for the Krabby Patty was affecting his dreams in not-so-subtle ways.

S-S-S-S-S

In Squidward's mind…

_S-S-S-S-S_

Squidward was in the living room. He was sitting on a chair and was sobbing while his hands concealed his face. His unsatisfied hunger had kicked him into an expanding abyss of depression and despair.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Knocks were coming from the tiki's front door.

Squidward stood up and unhurriedly walked towards the door. He highly doubted that a stranger was visiting him. His depression had gradually created a powerful cynicism. The octopus opened the door with a **CRREEAAK**.

A giant Krabby Patty that had two legs and two arms was standing before the doorway. It had knocked on the front door.

Squidward gasped in delight. The joy he felt was overwhelming and quickly took control of his actions. He bear-hugged the burger, kissed it repeatedly, and then sighed. His mind became filled with the infinite possibilities that he could share with his 'partner'.

S-S-S-S-S

Years passed in what seemed like a second…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was standing in the middle of a garden. The garden was in front of city hall. He was wearing a tuxedo and was anticipating his wife's arrival. His smile was as radiant as the sun shining on him.

A long pause.

The Krabby Patty slowly walked up to Squidward. It was wearing a luxurious black dress, a piece of clothing that perfectly fit the octopus' tastes. The burger eventually stopped walking and faced its bridegroom.

The mayor was standing behind the couple. He looked at the Krabby Patty. "Will you take him as your lawfully wedded husband?" He asked solemnly.

The Krabby Patty nodded.

The mayor looked at Squidward. "Will you take her as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Yes!" Squidward grinned and nodded eagerly. The octopus held out both of his hands towards the burger.

The Krabby Patty put her hands on Squidward's hands. The couple's hands then pressed together.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The mayor held out both of his hands towards the couple.

Squidward and the Krabby Patty leaned towards each other and kissed. The octopus' lips and the burger's 'lips' were glued together in a long and passionate exchange.

S-S-S-S-S

Several years passed by within a few seconds…

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus and the Krabby Patty were sitting in a couch.

They were watching a small Krabby Patty that had tentacles as limbs. That Krabby Patty was their first child. The small burger was playing with a ball by bouncing it against the wall.

S-S-S-S-S

Decades passed within a minute…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward and the Krabby Patty were sitting on rocking chairs. They were rocking at a slow pace as they looked at each other. The octopus had aged significantly and was wearing glasses. The burger was also wearing glasses and had ages as well. It was 'holding' a cane and had her white hair in a bun.

_S-S-S-S-S_

"Hmm, honey…" Squidward had been uttering bizarre vocalizations as he dreamt. He slowly returned to consciousness and eventually opened his eyes. He suddenly realized what his dreams 'were trying to tell him'. "What? Oh… I have got to get my hands on a Krabby Patty! And no one's gonna stop me!" He said his thoughts out loud. The octopus stood up from his bed, exited the room with a **CREAK SLAM**, and ran downstairs. He was going to seize the current opportunities without any forethought.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes earlier…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob heard the **Ring**ing of the shell-phone. He slowly sat up and wiped his eyes. As he regained his vision, he slipped to the floor, and walked to the staircase door. 'Just gotta get some shuteye.' He did not want any unwanted interruptions to his sleep.

**CRREEAAK**

SLAM

The sponge exited the bedroom.

S-S-S-S-S

About a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked up to the **RING**ing shell-phone and picked it up. The yellow square inched the phone towards his ear. "Hello?" He smiled and tried to be polite.

"_Me lad, I gotta a little favor for you. I wantcha to go to the Krusty Krab and get bring all of the spare Krabby Patties to your place. You forgot to pick 'em up today. I couldn't tell ya earlier 'cause I forgot that fact 'til now." _Mr. Krabs was on the other end of the line. The sponge recognized the sound of the crab's electronic voice.

"Aye, aye, sir!" The yellow square did a military salute. He did not put the shell-phone down because he wanted to pay his full attention to his boss' words.

"_Come to me place to get the keys. When you're done with bringin' all dem patties to your place, come back to gimme back the keys. Kapeesh?" _The crab spoke more slowly. He knew that his commands determined the success or failure of his business.

The sponge made a thumbs-up. "Got it!" He confidently grinned.

"_I'll be seein' ya." _Mr. Krabs put down the shell-phone on his end.

SpongeBob put the shell-phone down on his own end. The sponge ran towards the front door because he was already wearing his squarepants. He quickly exited the pineapple with a **CREAK SLAM **and jogged towards Mr. Krabs' anchor.

S-S-S-S-S

Several minutes after SpongeBob and Squidward had left their homes…

S-S-S-S-S

The two, unaware of each other, were walking towards the Krusty Krab. Although the two had different motivations for reaching their destination, they both had the same goal, the Krabby Patty.

Squidward's mouth watered as he fantasized about the possible abundance of Krabby Patties in the restaurant.

SpongeBob's mind was full of positive thoughts. He had assumed that the restaurant's Krabby Patties were unharmed.


	89. The Algae's Always Greener

**Chapter 89: The Algae's Always Greener**

* * *

Squidward reached the Krusty Krab. He grabbed the double door but could not open it. 'It's locked.' He sighed and then put a hand on his chin as he thought deeply. He wished that he had the key but knew that Mr. Krabs would never condone his unreasonable nocturnal entry to the restaurant.

A pause.

Squidward looked at a reflection on one of the large windows. He saw a distant yet incoming SpongeBob. "Crap!" He whispered loudly and ran to the nearest large rock. He hid behind that rock as he waited for SpongeBob to leave the Krusty Krab's vicinity. After a few minutes, he noticed that the sponge was holding Mr. Krabs' key. 'Yes!' Squidward smiled in relief. However, that smile faded when he realized that SpongeBob might catch him during his gluttonous act. 'I might as well take the risk. This is probably my last chance to get those Krabby Patties.' He took a deep breath.

SpongeBob used Mr. Krabs' key to unlock the double door. He entered the Krusty Krab with a **C-CRREEAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

The yellow square walked towards the kitchen door. He abruptly felt nature's call. "A quick trip to the bathroom wouldn't hurt." His smile lessened and he jogged towards the bathroom. He entered it with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was looking through the Krusty Krab's large windows from a distance. 'Now's my chance!' The octopus became joyful. With a wide smile, he jogged towards the Krusty Krab. When he was a few inches away from the restaurant, he tip-toed towards the entrance. 'I can't let him know I'm here.'

crrreeak

slam

Squidward gently moved the double door as he entered the restaurant at a snail's pace.

S-S-S-S-S

The octopus rapidly tip-toed towards the kitchen door. 'Oh boy!' He looked forward to gorging the spare Krabby Patties. He then entered the kitchen.

crrreeeaak

slam

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward saw an array of spare Krabby Patties on the table. "Holy shrimp! I don't know where to start." He whispered loudly again. He walked to the table and picked up a Krabby Patty. "All that matters is that it's just you... and me... and nobody..." The octopus gazed at the burger and licked his lips.

The flush of a toilet was heard.

Crrreeaak

Slam

Someone exited the bathroom. The octopus did not have enough time to react.

**CRREEEAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the kitchen. He immediately noticed Squidward. "Squid? Is that you?" He walked up to the octopus. The sponge had not expected Squidward's arrival at all.

Squidward turned around and hid the Krabby Patty behind his back. "SpongeBob? Uh, uh, uh... what're you doing here?" He pointed at SpongeBob. The octopus futilely tried to distract the yellow square from what he was doing. He did not want SpongeBob to report to Mr. Krabs about his suspicious activities.

"I came here to bring all those Krabby Patties to my home." SpongeBob pointed at the array of spare burgers. He smiled in a friendly manner. "What're you doing here?" He wanted another casual conversation with Squidward.

Squidward sweatdropped and bit his lip. "Uhh, I forgot my..." He struggled to create a reasonable excuse. His anxiousness caused his mind to refuse to cooperate with him.

SpongeBob noticed several details. "And why is there a Patty missing from the table?" The sponge pointed at a spot on the table that was the former location of a Krabby Patty. From his viewpoint, Squidward looked very suspicious.

"Oh, I thought that-" Squidward had managed to think up of a decent excuse. Nonetheless, SpongeBob interrupted him.

"And why are you holding a Patty behind your back?" The yellow square leaned towards his left and caught a tiny glimpse of a Krabby Patty being held near the octopus' back. He could not immediately figure out Squidward's motivations and intentions.

"I-I-I... no, I didn't do-" Squidward became even more nervous. Several sweatdrops ran down his brow. However, the embarrassing revelation became completely unavoidable. SpongeBob interrupted him again.

SpongeBob noticed a few more peculiar details. "And why are you acting so nervous? And why are you sweating so much? And why do you look so hungry? And..." The sponge experienced a major realization. He did one of the biggest grins in his life. He then put his hands on his hips and leaned towards Squidward.

An incredibly awkward pause.

Squidward anxiously shook his head. "No, no, wait... it's not what you think. Th-this is a big misunderstanding. You've got to believe me, I..." The octopus controlled his fidgeting and consequently was able to speak more clearly. 'Dammit, Squiddy. There goes my worthiness.'

SpongeBob remained still. He knew that Squidward was lying.

Squidward lost his temper. Due to his anxiety and diminished pride, the sponge looked too silly for his liking. "Listen, I am telling you..." He raised his volume and jumped up and down to add more emphasis. "You better listen to me, SpongeBob!"

From SpongeBob's perspective, the truth was as bright as day. "You like Krabby Patties, don't you, Squidward?" The yellow square said the truth in question form to see how Squidward was going to respond. He wanted to see how far Squidward was going to deceive him.

Another awkward pause.

'Oh, what's the point?' Squidward gave up. He could not resist the Krabby Patty's deliciousness. He stopped hiding the Krabby Patty he was holding, "Yes! Yes! I admit it, SpongeBob! I love Krabby Patties!" The octopus gulped the Krabby Patty and began to eat the other ones.

"I knew it all along, Squid." SpongeBob smirked triumphantly. He watched Squidward's binging and felt a large amount of satisfaction. "No one can resist a Krabby Patty." He took a deep breath and felt at ease.

Squidward, within minutes, consumed all of the Krabby Patties on the table.

The sponge watched Squidward for the entire duration of the octopus' indulgence. He allowed his coworker to indulge because he would not have to bring the burgers home and he also wanted Squidward to enjoy more Krabby Patties. When Squidward ate the last Krabby Patty, the sponge turned to the dining room door. "Well, that settles it." He opened the door with a CRREEAAK. "Y'know, if you want more Krabby Patties, you can come to my place." He beamed and looked at Squidward from the corner of his eye.

Squidward widened his eyes. "Really? How many you got?" The octopus retained his healthy amount of skepticism. He would not allow his gluttony to prevent him from accepting facts. He smiled sincerely and licked the crumbs remaining on his hand.

"About ten." SpongeBob walked through the open doorway. "Is that good enough?" The yellow square was making sure that Squidward ate a satisfying amount of burgers. He wished that Squidward would be more open-minded and indulge in things like Krabby Patties without grumpiness or hesitation.

"Yeah." Squidward nodded. He would be satisfied with any amount of Krabby Patties. He walked through the doorway and closed it with a SLAM.

S-S-S-S-S

Fourteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward exited the pineapple. He felt grateful since SpongeBob allowed him to enjoy more of the delicious burgers. As the octopus walked towards his tiki, he reflected on SpongeBob's good deeds towards him and suddenly felt the urge to 'give back' to SpongeBob. However, the urge was unique. Instead of 'returning something' to the sponge out of malice, the urge was towards 'returning something' out of goodwill.

A pause.

'I'll do it later. I need my sleep.' Squidward could not abandon his basic needs. He entered the tiki with a **CRREEAAAK SLAM** so he could sleep in peace.

S-S-S-S-S

Nearly a week later…

S-S-S-S-S

October 1, 2008.

Wednesday afternoon.

Old Man Jenkins was walking haphazardly. His glasses were not clean enough to be reliable. He bumped into a pole with a Slam. "Oh!" He shakily stepped back and adjusted his glasses. "Pardon me, young lady." His blurry glasses made the pole seem like it was another person. He took off his glasses so he could see the 'person' more clearly. His actual vision was worse than the glasses' vision. "What a fox." He still thought that the pole was a woman.

The old man walked to the condiment stand. He grabbed a ketchup bottle, mistaking it for a french fries packet, and put it on his tray. A Krabby Patty was the other food on his tray. He then sat in an empty table and aimed the ketchup bottle at the Krabby Patty

S-S-S-S-S

Inside the ketchup bottle, Plankton was sitting in a very tiny flying machine. The plankton had sneaked into the restaurant during the morning and was using the ketchup bottle as a hiding spot.

Plankton chuckled sinisterly. "Ooh. You're all mine you sweet Krabby Patty." He could see the burger through the hole of the ketchup bottle's top. He was able to see the hole because the machine had a window. He thought that the mission's success was certain. "Ooh hoo ooh ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" His snicker became an evil laugh.

A pause.

The machine detected the pressure that the old man was exerting on the bottle. Its alarm blared.

"Initiating launch sequence." Plankton pressed one of the control panel's buttons. He put on a mask to protect his face from any collisions. He unzipped the zipper near his mouth. "Krabby Patty, here I come!" He grinned and sat back. He did not unzip the eye zipper because he thought that the old man was going to directly aim the ketchup bottle at the Krabby Patty.

A long pause.

S-S-S-S-S

"E-eh… I hope I don't miss again." The old man shakily held the ketchup bottle. His vision made him unable to accurately aim the bottle. When he felt like the bottle was directly pointing towards the burger, he squeezed the bottle.

Plankton's machine darted out of the ketchup bottle. It bounced against the tray and then bounced against the window and then bounced against the table and then bounced against the bathroom door and then bounced against the cash register. The machine was flying around the restaurant so fast that, after a few seconds, nobody could keep track of where it was going.

**CRREEAAK**

Mr. Krabs opened the door and stepped out of his office. He was about to begin his regular check-up on his employees.

S-S-S-S-S

"Reunited, and it's gonna feel so good!" Plankton's grin did not fade. He temporarily thought that the machine was flying towards the Krabby Patty. After several seconds, he became worried about the direction of his machine's flight. He unzipped the eye zipper and noticed that the machine was flying towards the doorway of Mr. Krabs' office. He screamed in fright.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs, for a half-second, heard the sound of Plankton's machine. "Huh?" He quickly looked around in search of the sound's source. He flinched when he saw a tiny object zoom before his eyes. He then heard the rapid bounces of the tiny object. Out of fright, he dashed to the desk and crouched under it. "Squidward, where are you?! Shield me with yer forehead!" He had never encountered a tiny 'creature' that flew at near-sonic speeds.

Thunk

Plankton's machine crashed into the desk. Half of it was through the desk's surface while the other half was exposed.

A long pause.

Mr. Krabs no longer heard the terrifying sounds. He stood up and saw the nearly microscopic machine. He noticed that the machine had a metal exterior. 'Well, well, well, look who we have here.' The crab immediately determined that Plankton created and was inside the machine. He picked up the machine and shook it very quickly.

Plankton fell through the machine's broken window and landed on the desk. He shakily stood up and gritted. "Curses…" He whispered loudly. 'Another pathetic failure.' He felt a sense of helplessness since he was now at Mr. Krabs' mercy.

Mr. Krabs smirked, dropped the machine, and picked up Plankton by the antennae. "So, it was just another failed Krabby Patty theft attempt by me arch competitor, Plankton." He spoke nonchalantly. "For a second there, I mistook you for a threat. But you're just a dirty little man." His words were filled with scorn. He exited the office and continued to hold Plankton.

S-S-S-S-S

The crab walked towards the double door and opened it with a **C-CRREEAAK**. "So long, shrimp!" He tossed Plankton towards the Chum Bucket as if the plankton was a frisbee. He then did a pirate laugh. 'Another victory for me, another loss for that loser.'

A male shrimp overheard Mr. Krabs' words. He stopped eating his Krabby Patty and looked at the crustacean in confusion.

S-S-S-S-S

"CURSE YOU, KRRAAAABS!" Plankton glared at Mr. Krabs and shook his fist. His frustration did not fail to worsen. He was not going to take his failure lightly. The plankton flew through the Chum Bucket's double door with a **C-CREAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton landed on the metal floor with a Thud. He jumped to his feet, walked towards the laboratory, and entered the lab with a c-creeaak s-slam. The plankton was looking at the floor as he walked; he could not hide his disappointment.

S-S-S-S-S

"So, typical day of failure, I see, huh darling?" Karen paid attention to Plankton's face and immediately figured out the outcome of Plankton's latest plan.

Plankton sighed. "Can it, computer wife. Can't you see I'm exhausted?" He took off the mask and tossed it to the floor. He sat on a chair that was the perfect size for him. "Why don't you go make yourself useful and synthesize me up some grub?" He rested his head on his hand. The plankton was trying to combat his low spirits by eating 'food'.

"Yes, your majesty." A ceiling tile opened. Karen's robotic arm went through the opening. The arm's hand shifted into what looked like a flashlight. She aimed the flashlight at a nearby table and turned it on.

A holographic meatloaf and plate appeared on the table.

"What do we got here?" Plankton stood up and moved his seat to the table. He then sat down again and snatched a nearby fork. "Oh, goody. Holographic meatloaf again." He droned. He 'ate' such 'types of food' because they made him feel like he was full. He was often so obsessed with his schemes that he would forget basic chores such as grocery shopping. Whenever he and Karen did not do the chores, he would have to rely on holographic substitutes.

The plankton 'ate a few forkfuls' before he tossed the fork to the side in dissatisfaction. "When am I gonna get some real food?" He stood up and looked up at the ceiling. "Mr. Krabs get to eat real food all the time. Just look at his daughter, she's as big as a whale. I wish I could be successful like Mr. Krabs. I wish I could somehow just switch lives with him. Just to know what it's like." He revealed his inner longings to his computer wife.

Karen was not fazed at all. Plankton usually suffered from emotional bouts whenever his schemes failed. She had waited for the perfect opportunity. _"Why don't you just use that Switch Lives Simulator you built a few months ago?" _

Plankton looked at a metal capsule that had a seat and a special type of helmet inside it. "Oh yeah! What a brilliant idea!" The plankton had forgotten his reason for building the device. He had built it during a period of Krusty Krab stalking. He had not used it immediately after its creation because he had underestimated the simulator's effectiveness. 'I could learn more about Krabs. That information will definitely help me with my future plans.' He expressed his hopefulness by smirking. He ran to the device, opened the tiny door, stepped into the device, and closed the door.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton sat in the seat. The texture of the chair's surface was soft and quite comfortable. There was a keyboard and a small monitor that was connected to the device's inner wall. "Now, let's see here." The plankton turned on the monitor. He then looked through a massive archive of data in a search for the biggest folder of data. "No… no… no… no…" The plankton skimmed through the names of folders and files.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

"A-ha!" Plankton found the folder and chuckled. He buckled the belt on the chair. "Well, I hate to leave you, Karen, but you know what they say… a rolling stone gathers no algae." His curiosity and eagerness allowed him to say rather quick-witted words. He carefully put on the helmet. The plankton sat still as the helmet's electrode pads touched his head. Once all of the pads touched his head, he pressed a large green button that was to his right.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" **Plankton flailed his limbs and yelled as the helmet connected his brain to the program that was stored in Karen. All five of his senses began to change; the helmet was inducing the hallucination that the program interpreted from the sent data.

A long pause.

Plankton stopped screaming and his face became expressionless.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Mind-Program Fusion complete. Initializing simulation…" _Karen said the processes that was occurring between her and the connected device.

_S-S-S-S-S_

Plankton's eyes felt like they were under the pressure of large stones. His face was pressed against what felt like a large metal desk. The plankton also felt the drool that was leaking to the desk.

After a few minutes of struggling, he opened his eyes and sat up. "Ugh… dear Neptune above, what happened last night?" He felt like he had just awoken from a massive coma. He looked to his left and saw a name plate. He walked to that name plate and noticed that the plate had engraved text - MR. PLANKTON -. "Mr. Plankton?" He tilted his head to the side. His surreal situation was bewildering him. He then gazed at a framed photo of him and Pearl. "Who the Davey?" He did not expect the program to produce such accurate results. He then hopped to the floor and opened the dining room door with a Crreeaak. He wanted to know for certain about where he was.

Through the slight opening, he saw customers sitting in tables while eating Krabby Patties.

"I'm in the Krusty Krab, which means the life switcher was a success!" Plankton grinned. His thoughts raced as he thought about the important information he could discover. He felt a strange sensation, looked down, and saw his clothes. Plankton was sporting a miniature version of Mr. Krabs' normal attire. "Corporate casual!" He became delighted. The plankton had always dreamed about wearing professional clothes.

S-S-S-S-S

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

The yellow square exited the kitchen. He held up a tray of two Krabby Patties. "Order up! Two deluxe Krabby Patties." The sponge walked towards the customer who ordered the burgers.

"At last!" Plankton walked through the office door's opening. He gazed at the two magnificent Krabby Patties. Because of his current position of power, he now had fantasies of being with the Krabby Patties. His objective of research went to the back of his mind.

SpongeBob set the tray on the customer's table. "There you are sir. Two deluxe… ahoy there, Mr. Plankton." The yellow square looked at his boss and smiled warmly.

Plankton had leaped to the table. "Er, um, hey there, SpongeBob." Until now, he had always treated SpongeBob as an enemy or a useful tool. He could not remove the awkwardness of treating SpongeBob as a major ally. "Uh, SpongeBob?"

"Yes sir!" The yellow square leaned towards Plankton. He was ready to listen to his boss' orders.

"I'm gonna need to take one of these Patties back to my office for um, bun inspection." The plankton smiled nervously. He was trying to sound honest but ended up sounding like an unconvincing liar.

"I'm afraid you can't do that, Mr. Plankton." SpongeBob's smile lessened. He was not fond of disappointing his boss. Ironically, he knew more than Plankton about the Krusty Krab's policies.

"W-why not?" Plankton was trying his hardest to conceal his nervousness. Even though he was in a simulation program, he feared that the program's accuracy would make SpongeBob able to detect his treachery.

"Because the Patty is for the customer, sir." SpongeBob said weakly.

Plankton became irritated. His desire for the Krabby Patties blinded him from having more forethought. "The customer? I'll boil the customer in hot oil, and rip out his…" The plankton widened his eye when he saw the customer's bugged-out eyes. "..um… I mean uh, yes, of course, for the lovely… customer." He grinned falsely.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "Just wait a sec." He beamed and ran to the kitchen. He entered the room, grabbed something, and exited the room while holding two spare Krabby Patties. He dropped those burgers near Plankton. "You can take these Patties, sir. I made them in the off chance that you'd decide to instigate some bun inspection today, Mr. Plankton, sir." The simulator was altering its environment so that it would suit Plankton.

"Uhh.. yes, uh, very nice." Plankton lifted the two Krabby Patties from the table. He shakily walked towards the table's edge. "Um, thanks." Using proper manners also felt awkward. He then jumped to the floor and ran back to the office. He closed the office door with a **Slam**.

S-S-S-S-S

"All mine, it's all finally mine! The Patties, the wealth, the notoriety!" Plankton merrily skipped across the room. His dream of possessing actual Krabby Patties had become a reality. He began to view the simulator as a wish granter instead of a tool. He tossed the Krabby Patties to his desk, climbed the desk, and laid down on the Krabby Patties.

A pause

**CRRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob entered the office.

Plankton looked at his yellow employee from the corner of his eye. "SpongeBob, what do you want?" He did not want any visitors. His face became deadpan.

"Well, it's just that it's Tuesday again, sir, and I was wondering if I could have my um… weekly performance review." The sponge was trying to be polite. His question revealed a gap in Karen's data. In reality, Mr. Krabs does employee check-ups everyday.

"Review?" Plankton sat up and tilted his head to the side. 'I've never seen any evidence that supported that. Perhaps the simulator made an error.'

"Oh yes, please, sir, please!" SpongeBob put his hands together and expressed sincerity. He was acting more like a servant than an employee.

"But I've never reviewed anything… except those foreign exercise videos my cousin sent me." Plankton stated forthrightly. The plankton wanted SpongeBob to leave the office immediately.

SpongeBob fell to his knees and crawled to the desk. He tightly held his hands together. "Oh, please, sir! I want to make you happy and proud!" The sponge desperately tried to persuade his boss.

"Eh, you're doing fine. Now leave me to my work." Plankton laid down on the burgers again. He put his hands behind his head and tried to get comfortable in the Krabby Patties' warmness. He could care less about the artificial SpongeBob's feelings.

"But sir!"

"I thought I sent you away, Cretin." Plankton tried to hold his temper. The sponge was disturbing what he considered to be a precious moment. 'Why aren't my shoos working? It's as if he is finding excuses for staying here.'

"But sir, there's gotta be something I need to improve on. Anything!" The yellow square begged and closed his eyes tightly. The simulation program's portrayal of SpongeBob was not perfect because it had ignored the recent events that stressed SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs' relationship.

"Alright, the sauce." Plankton immediately said something that had recently entered his mind. He was doing and saying whatever it took for SpongeBob to leave the office.

"W-what?" SpongeBob's face became pallid. He expected to hear more 'minor' issues from his boss.

"The sauce. I don't know." Plankton shrugged. He thought that his made-up problem had a simple solution. "You're using too much sauce, okay? Review's over." The plankton turned around and snuggled into the Krabby Patties.

The yellow square's eyes narrowed. He was trying his hardest to find and say the right words. "Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh-" His arms were uniformly moving back and forth. His precise movements indicated his intense thinking.

Plankton looked up and raised his brow. "What?" He was not fond of the yellow fry cook's constant "eh"s

SpongeBob was still thinking, "Eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh-" His facial expression remained unchanged.

"What do you want from me?" Plankton stood up. He began to think up of ideas that would distract SpongeBob. After several seconds of critical thought, he decided on one. "A promotion?" The plankton wore a fake slight smile.

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out again. His jaw dropped. "A p-p-promotion?!" He almost doubted the wonderful words his boss just said.

"Uh, sure kid, you're uh… you're on the register now." Plankton did not put much thought into his decisions. His current thoughts mostly consisted of Krabby Patty fantasies. He knew from his observations that Squidward was lazy; SpongeBob's promotion would not negatively affect the business.

SpongeBob gasped. "Register?!" The yellow square grinned and his eyes sparkled. "Really?"

Plankton nodded.

"YES!" SpongeBob joyfully skipped towards the dining room door. He exited the office with a **CREAK SLAM**. His happiness was nearly indescribable.

"Glad that's over." Plankton smiled in relief and laid down on the Krabby Patties. The burgers' smell tempted him to consume the delicious burgers. He wanted to savor the softness of the food. He knew that his time in the artificial paradise would not be forever.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was deeply absorbed into his novel. He had separated himself from the external world fifteen minutes ago. His face was deadpan as he began to read the next chapter. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar yellow face.

An awkward pause.

Squidward turned to look at SpongeBob. He became slightly irritated. "SpongeBob, do you remember that little talk we had about 'personal space'?" He folded his arms to show that he was not going to tolerate SpongeBob's foolishness.

"It's okay, Squidward. I'm official, look." SpongeBob was grinning. He pointed at a nametag that was on his shirt. He had received it from Plankton. The word -Co-Cashier- was on the nametag and was in the sponge's handwriting.

"Co-Cashier?" Squidward raised his brow. The octopus was skeptical of his co-worker's new position.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was sitting in front of the two Krabby Patties. The lights in the office had been dimmed to a low level and a lit candle was on the desk. The plankton had ordered the simulator to make such changes to the office. He was currently having a 'date' with the burgers. "So, have you two known each other long?"

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

Squidward entered the office. He stomped up to his boss. "You can't do this to me, Mr. Plankton! If you think I'm going to stand out there all day listening to SpongeBob's nonsensical blabbering, then you must have coral wedged in your frontal lobe!" The octopus was somewhat irate. He did not want to deal with a foolish boss and an annoying co-worker.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" Plankton stood up and looked at Squidward. His face was deadpan because Squidward interrupted the 'date'. He was just as irritated as Squidward.

"I'd like my view to be a little less yellow, if you know what I mean." Squidward folded his arms and his serious facial expression lessened. He thought that a less serious face would increase his persuasiveness.

A light bulb lit up in Plankton's head.

S-S-S-S-S

Two minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Squidward was standing before the grill while being next to Nicholas. He was holding a spatula and was watching Nicholas flip patties so he could quickly learn any cooking techniques. His face of dissatisfaction indirectly expressed the words of anger floating in his mind.

"Hope you like gray." Plankton smiled in relief again. 'I guess I've gotten rid of that pest.' The plankton walked towards the office door. He entered the office with a Crrreeaaak Slam. The plankton disliked Squidward's attitude since the octopus was more rebellious than SpongeBob.

SpongeBob looked through the ordering window. "Hey Squidward, I can see you through this little window." The yellow square giggled. His happiness over his new position caused him to want to 'play around' with Squidward.

S-S-S-S-S

"Now, no more intrusions." Plankton smiled widely. "I'd like to begin writing the memoir of my success story, so everyone just-" He stopped speaking when he heard a recognizable voice from outside the office. He knew that that voice belong to a person that will bother him.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy!" Pearl's voice was heard.

The whale's footsteps shook the office floor. Plankton fell to the floor and struggled to stand up.

Pearl entered the office with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**. She was eager to ask her father for a favor.

"Just tell Daddy what you want." Plankton stood up and looked up at Pearl. "He's very busy." The plankton wiped some dust from his clothes. Just like his treatment of the other 'intruders', he wanted to do the bare minimum so Pearl could leave as soon as possible.

"Could I please have a um..." Pearl thought deeply about what she desired. She then made what she thought was a wise decision. "...an advance on my allowance?" She simpered.

"If it'll get you out of my antennae." Plankton walked to the desk's edge and searched through the drawers for the wallet. He eventually found it and place it on the desk's top. He then opened it and tossed one dollar towards Pearl. "Go crazy." He closed the wallet and strolled towards the Krabby Patties.

"One dollar?!" Pearl stared at the dollar lying on the floor. Her eyes moistened. "You hate me!" Her eyes moistened. She then bawled so loudly that outside pedestrians could hear her. Her brattiness could not be more obvious. Many tears ran down her face.

**SLAM**

An angry male customer barged the dining room door open. "You!" He pointed at Plankton. He was holding a subpar Krabby Patty.

Plankton hopped the floor and walked up to the customer. "Me?" The plankton wanted a confirmation about who the customer had pointed at.

"You think this is funny?" The male customer glared at Plankton. The plankton's response caused him to think that the boss was not taking the situation seriously.

Plankton shrugged. "In a cosmic sort of way, yes." The plankton was the only person who was aware that the whole environment was a simulation.

"Well, Mr. Funny Man, is this how you get your sick kicks?!" The young yellow man pointed at his Krabby Patty. The burger had a patty that was improperly cooked and had misplaced ingredients. Unlike the real-life Squidward, the virtual Squidward did not fully know how to make Krabby Patties.

"What?" Plankton did not initially pay attention to the Krabby Patty's features. He was indifferent towards the customer. "It's just an ordinary Krabby-" However, after a few seconds, he noticed some of the burger's strange details. "Oh, my goodness!" His eye bugged out. His face became solemn and he faced the kitchen door. "**SQUIDWARD!**" He yelled firmly.

A pause.

Plankton became impatient. Through the open doorway, he saw Squidward place a tray of Krabby Patties on the table of a few customers. The plankton furrowed his brow and stomped towards the octopus.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton, as he moved towards Squidward, saw SpongeBob sitting at a table.

The yellow square's face was on the table's surface. "I tried, Mr. Plankton. I really did." The sponge spoke weakly. He was too ashamed to make eye contact with his boss. He had failed to fulfill his work ideal.

"Oh, what now?" Plankton folded his arms but did not look at SpongeBob. 'I'm getting tired of these pests.' He was beginning to dislike his position since people were constantly 'clinging' to him.

"A customer ordered a medium soda," SpongeBob sat up. His eyes were moist. "and I gave him a large! I gave him a large!" His throat was heavy because of his disappointment. "I've soiled the good Krusty Krab name! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it! Soiled it!" The yellow square was looking towards the heavens. He was acting as if he was repenting to the gods. He continued to repeat the same phrase.

"I command you to stop that." Plankton ordered authoritatively. He was unintentionally acting like he was the god that SpongeBob was repenting to. "Return to your post!" The plankton was becoming very annoyed by SpongeBob's repetition. After several seconds of torture, he leaped to the table and repeatedly pushed SpongeBob's chest. "Where's the off button on this thing?" He was determined to silence the obnoxious employee.

Pearl walked towards Plankton. She wiped her tears and tightened her fists. Her new opinion of her father had solidified. "Okay, Daddy. I've decided I'm gonna run away and find a new daddy!" She was trying to control her rising anger.

Pearl's bold statement along with SpongeBob's constant repetition was too much for Plankton's ears. "Make it stop!" The plankton covered his ears and ran aimlessly,. He desired to rest in a tranquil place. He could not adapt to the chaos occurring in the restaurant.

A pause.

A loud alarm repeatedly blared. Whenever it blared, red lights flashed.

Plankton looked up at the alarm in confusion. "Did I say a secret word?" He was aware of the program's many inaccuracies. He knew that the Krusty Krab had a different alarm system. The alarm used in this Krusty Krab was the Chum Bucket's.

SpongeBob stood up. "No sir, he's back." His eyes narrowed. He glanced around the dining room so he could be prepared for any of the arch-enemy's attacks.

"Who's back?" Plankton sweatdropped and anxiously looked around. He had thought that the program was unable to accurately simulate an emergency situation. The plankton saw the rapid movement of a red body for two seconds. "What was that?" The plankton sweatdropped.

The yellow square jumped and landed on top of an empty table. He cupped his hands together. "Man your stations! Red alert! Red alert! Take cover!" He immediately assumed a leadership position; an action that he would almost never do in real life.

"Take cover from what?!" Plankton was rushing for a hiding spot. He was clueless about the virtual Krusty Krab's mysterious invader. His fear of the unknown caused him to remember his original objective. 'Dammit! I should have done that earlier.' Remorse began to mix with his anxiety.

SpongeBob swiftly climbed the mast and reached the crow's nest. "He's around here somewhere…" He took out a telescope and cautiously looked for the invader. He was determined to protect his precious workplace. Because of the telescope, he was able to see the red body's swift movements. "There he goes!" The yellow square pointed at the moving crab.

"What? Who? Where?" Plankton became just as puzzled as when he had entered the virtual world. He put a hand on his chin as he attempted to completely absorb the situation. His heartbeat lessened and he stopped sweating. However, his mind was filled with thoughts about the red body. "Somebody tell me." His mind and situation were too chaotic for him.

"Some say he crawled out from the lowest trench in the ocean." A green young man spoke up. He was hiding under the safe shade of a table.

"He's the saltiest of all the seadogs." Pearl was neither smiling, crying, or showing other signs of anger. She continued the explanation even though her father should be knowledgeable of his arch-nemesis. Another flaw in the program.

'Well, that was convenient.' The plankton's face was deadpan. 'It's no wonder they are saying all of this information. I should probably get more info before I conduct more research here.' Plankton's mind was now centered on his true objective. He was climbing a barrel seat. He was going to slip through the barrel's hole and stay inside until the intruder battle was over. He had not fully tested the real-life consequences of feeling pain in the program's world.

"He's the most hated creature in Bikini Bottom." The sponge finished the concise explanation. He stopped looking through his telescope. He climbed to the crow's nest's edge and crouched. He focused his attention on a malicious crab that had just swiped a Krabby Patty.

"And he's finally got a Krabby Patty!" Mr. Krabs grinned devilishly and held out a Krabby Patty as if it was a trophy. He now had the role of the Krusty Krab's adversary.

"Krabs?! What the barnacle is going on here?" Plankton's eye bugged out. He had severely underestimated the various levels of accuracy that the program had in its interpretation of the Krusty Krab and the altered situation. "Good grief, he's naked!" He became so confused that he could no longer see the line separating the virtual world from his dreams.

SpongeBob jumped to the floor and landed with a **THUD**. "It's your arch-competitor, Krabs. His goal in life is to steal a Krabby Patty and ruin our restaurant." He immediately answered.

Plankton did not respond. He saw no point in convincingly acting his role as the boss. 'I have no time for idleness. Remember, this is just for research.' He restored some order to his endless flow of thoughts.

Mr. Krabs climbed to a support beam, leaped, and landed on it. "Clothe me if you can, silly landlubbers!" With an arrogant smirk, he ran along the beam towards the restaurant's exit.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words, Krabs!" SpongeBob ran to the cash register, gently moved Squidward out of his way, and flipped it over to reveal a cannon. "No shoes, no shirt, no service!" The yellow square aimed the cannon at the crab and pull the string.

**BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG**

The cannon fired numerous clothes. Not a single one got close to the menacing crab.

Mr. Krabs leaped to the floor. He did another pirate laugh for a few seconds/

SpongeBob aimed the cannon at Mr. Krabs. 'Now's my chance.' The sponge concentrated on the crab and pulled the string right after the crustacean turned around.

Mr. Krabs felt a strange sensation around his chest. He looked down and realized that he was wearing a bra. "Ay, ya got me!" 'Barnacles. I let my guard down.' He turned around and stopped smirking. "Well, at least it's underwire." He remembered getting hit by more embarrassing clothes in the past. "Here's your stinkin' Patty!" He frowned and threw the Krabby Patty towards Plankton.

Plankton caught the Krabby Patty. "I don't understand. Is there a gas leak in here?" He always became angered, confused, or upset whenever his inventions had done something unintentioned. He felt like his coding of the program had been wasted.

"Knick-knack, the Patty's back!" SpongeBob enthusiastically skipped towards Plankton and then stopped. "You did it, Mr. Plankton." All of his regrets over his 'ineptitude' vanished. "Victory screech!" He turned to the customers.

"**Ooloolooloolooloolooloolooloo!"**

Everybody except for Plankton performed the battle cry.

Mr. Krabs smiled again and folded his arms. He assumed that Plankton was feeling a false sense of security. "Enjoy your victory screech, Plankton, because someday the Krabby Patty formula will be mine!" He chuckled.

"You'll never get this formula, you twisted fiend!" SpongeBob turned to look at Mr. Krabs. He spoke resolutely and shook his fist. The sponge was always ready to serve justice when necessary.

"Oh, but I will. Even if I have to come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day…" Mr. Krabs' smile became wider. He walked backwards but continued to look at the employees and customers.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

"...and the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day…" Mr. Krabs continued to repeat the same frightening phrase. He was preying on Plankton's unfamiliarity with the business and its situations. If he was successful, he would seize an easy victory tomorrow.

**C-CRREEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Mr. Krabs walked into the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton was sitting on the sill of large window. He was looking at the horizon as he thought about what went wrong with his creation. He had mentally taken important notes when he noticed the reflection of SpongeBob enlarging nearby. He turned around and took a deep breath. "What's the problem this time?" He had been trying to avoid any distractions since they impeded his delicate mental processes.

SpongeBob's eyes were slightly moist. The sponge had noticed something that he had been oblivious for nearly the workday. He considered this piece of information to be grave.


	90. Plankton's Army

**Sorry for the delayed update. With so much freedom over the summer, I had taken a minor break from writing this. I'll update regularly now.**

* * *

**Chapter 90: Plankton's Army**

* * *

"Why're you being so cold to everybody?" SpongeBob asked. "You even made Pearl cry." The yellow square swallowed so he could control his expression. Seeing the weeping whale had distressed him since 'Mr. Plankton' usually tried his best to satisfy Pearl. "Aren't we supposed to be friends?"

_A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. "What is fun? Let me spell it for you." He began to sing. "F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me, N is for anywhere, anytime at all, down here in the deep blue sea." _

_"F is for fire that burns down the whole town, U is for uranium... bombs! N is for no survivors, when you-" Plankton sang his interpretation of the song but got interrupted._

_"Plankton! Those things aren't what fun is all about." SpongeBob shook his head. "Now, do it like this. "F is for friends who do stuff to-" The sponge sang the song once again but got interrupted._

_"Never! That's completely idiotic!" Plankton folded his arms and shook his head._

Plankton suddenly remembered his former friendship with SpongeBob. He realized how lonely he was even though he had a computer wife and his robots. There was something about being companions with actual living things that could not be compared to his relationships with A. I. He began to think that by isolating himself among his creations, he was only deluding himself from his lonely fate.

A pause.

Plankton walked towards his office. 'That's it. I'm going back. The program has too many flaws for it to be of much use.' His hunger for knowledge and power temporarily suppressed his emotions.

**CRREEAAAK**

**SLAM**

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton climbed the desk and saw a metal helmet on the chair's center. He jumped to the chair, put on the helmet, and sat down.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_"Brain and program have been successfully separated. Turning off simulation..." _Karen had been silent for nearly two hours.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton took off the helmet and stood up. The cold environment of the Chum Bucket reminded him of his loneliness. The plankton sighed and exited the device.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton looked at the floor as he walked back to the table. 'How far would I have gone if I was still friends with that sponge? It would have been a gateway out of this prison, that's for sure.' The plankton was suffering from another bout of melancholy. Those bouts usually occurred during periods where he had not made much progress in trying to steal the Formula. He eventually sat in his seat and absentmindedly 'ate the meatloaf'. His hand was supporting his head.

_"Have you learned any important information?" _Karen did not forget Plankton's objective.

"I only learned what was wrong with the program." Plankton wanted to have a silent environment. He was not eager to tell his computer about the information he gained. He took a deep breath and 'ate' at a slower pace. "Karen, please be quiet."

Karen immediately recognized her creator's emotions. She shut off her speakers.

Plankton's thoughts wandered to more gloomy areas. The bouts of dejection were both the fuel for his conquest against the Krusty Krab and the price he had to pay for his continuous endeavors.

S-S-S-S-S

The next day...

S-S-S-S-S

October 2, 2008.

Thursday morning.

Mr. Krabs exited his office with a **CRREEEAAK SLAM**. "Attention, Krusty Krab crew! All hands report immediately!" He walked to the center of the dining room. He had some important news to share.

**CRREEAK**

**SLAM**

SpongeBob and Nicholas exited the kitchen. They quickly walked to their boss.

"Fry cook SpongeBob reporting, sir!" SpongeBob swiftly performed a military salute. He expressed his seriousness through a lesser smile.

"Intern reporting, sir!" Nicholas decided to copy SpongeBob's greeting. He ended up sounding more like his previous newcomer self. He thought that the sponge's greeting was the most proper for the current situation.

'There goes my beauty sleep.' Squidward took off his magazine from his face. He wiped his heavy eyes as his vision recovered from the nap. "What's all the yelling about?" He laid against the wall area under the ordering window.

"Today is the _**fifteenth anniversary**_ of the first time me arch-enemy Plankton ever tried to steal me secret Krabby Patty formula." Mr. Krabs looked around to see if jinxed himself by saying those words. "He was persistent. He used disguises, super science, civil disobedience, and whatever he could get away with. No matter what, I always came out on top!" He grinned in triumph.

SpongeBob and Nicholas were smiling as they heard Mr. Krabs' speech. The sponge's enthusiasm to work and Nicholae' eagerness to learn were renewed. Mr. Krabs' commands or speeches during special days always raised their morale.

Squidward yawned. "Fascinating." He droned. His non-verbal messages were communicating what he was intending.

Mr. Krabs immediately detected Squidward's sarcasm. He narrowed his eyes at the octopus. "Mr. Squidward, please stand up. I'm not just talkin' for nothin'." He folded his arms.

Squidward rolled his eyes and stood up. He kicked his magazine open and blatantly read an article.

"But thousands of failures have made him crafty, so keep your eyes open!" Mr. Krabs carefully looked around the dining room. He wiped some sweat from his face since he believed that Plankton would appear by now. "You'll never know what trick he'll use to steal me Krabby Patty formula." He gave a warning that had been obvious since the beginning of SpongeBob's career and Nicholas' internship.

**C-CRREEAAK**

**S-SLAM**

A robot that looked like a young man entered the restaurant.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton knew why today was special. His mind was filled with unpleasant memories of his earlier attempts to steal the formula.

_S-S-S-S-S_

_Plankton was crawling across the dining room floor while wearing a cockroach suit. He was dashing under tables and maneuvered around feet. _

_Mr. Krabs was sitting on a chair and was reading a newspaper. He saw the 'cockroach' from the corner of his eye and perceived its strange antennae. 'That ain't an ordinary cockroach.' During that time, he was somewhat experienced at stopping Plankton's schemes. He put down the newspaper and stomped the 'cockroach' when it passed by him._

…

_Plankton squeezed himself through a tiny hole that was on the wooden wall. He was holding two test tubes. He poured the chemical of one test tube into the other. He drank the other test tube and a gas suddenly surrounded him. The gas took the shape of a cockroach. While under the gaseous camouflage, he rapidly crawled towards the office door._

_Mr. Krabs glanced at the 'cockroach' and perceived its strange features. Out of a suspicion that it was Plankton, he stomped on the 'insect'._

_..._

_**SHATTER**_

_Plankton broke a part of the large window with a tiny bat. He jumped into the dining room and took out a laser gun. "NOBODY MOVE! THIS IS A ROBBERY!" The plankton aimed the laser gun at the nearby customers._

_All of the customers screamed in terror and ran to the edges of the dining room. They waited for a brave soul to rescue them from the tiny dragon._

_To Plankton's dismay, he had trespassed into the restaurant too early. Mr. Krabs took a few steps towards Plankton and stomped him before he could pull the trigger._

_S-S-S-S-S_

'I have got to stay focused.' The plankton tightened his grip on the joystick. He assumed that the Krusty Krew were celebrating the anniversary and did not pay much attention to specific details.

S-S-S-S-S

"_What a quaint restaurant. I think I will sample their wares." _The plankton did a pitiful attempt at sounding nonchalant. He walked up to the cash register.

SpongeBob stared at the robot in wonder. He had rarely seen robots moving around areas that were not near laboratories. "Ooh, how weird. A machine made to look like a customer." His skeptical mind was still unsophisticated.

Mr. Krabs looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. He was wary since the machine's first few sentences made it sound very similar to Plankton. "SpongeBob. Why don't you go out the men's room?"

SpongeBob did another military salute. "With pleasure, sir." He grinned. The yellow square entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

Mr. Krabs moved Nicholas towards the kitchen. "I'll take this one." He faced the robot and wore a friendly smile. "Welcome to the Krusty Krab, sir. May I help you?" 'Let's see how far Plankton's gonna play this game. I bet he won't last a single round.' He mentally laughed.

"_Yes, please. I'd like an order of chili coral bits." _The machine turned to look at Mr. Krabs. Plankton said an unusual order to throw off Mr. Krabs.

Mr. Krabs stopped smiling. "You sure you don't want a Krabby Patty?" He raised his brow slightly. 'Don't think you're gettin' away with anything just yet, Plankton. I know where you're goin'.'

"_No thank you."_

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pressed the 'AUTO' button. He then opened a small exit and dove through the opening. Within a few seconds, he squeezed himself into a tight space that had a low ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

"_Will this cover it?" _The robot held out a thicker-than-normal dollar bill. The robot formed a smile that was creepy because the robot's face lacked muscles.

A chill ran down Mr. Krabs' spine. "U-uh, sure." Mr. Krabs took the dollar bill and slipped it into his pocket. "Just wait until the bag's ready." He smiled falsely again and sweatdropped.

Squidward jotted down the order and put the sticky note on the metal wheel.

S-S-S-S-S

A few minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob exited the kitchen with a **CRREEAK SLAM**. "Here you go." He gave a bag that contained the chili coral bits to the robot.

"_Good day." _The robot walked towards the double door.

**P-PEEEEWWWW**

It fired two bright green laser beams from its eyes and traced a circle through the glass doors. It then ducked and walked through the hole.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton heard the laser noises. 'I should have done some extra tweaks to its A.I.' He took a deep breath and maintained a deadpan face. 'I cannot blow my cover now.'

S-S-S-S-S

"Hm." Mr. Krabs watched the leaving robot before turning towards his office. "I was sure it was one of Plankton's tricks. Oh well, at least his money's good. " He shrugged and pirate-laughed. He was underestimating the depth of Plankton's plan.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton smirked. 'Now!' He punched a red button that was on the ceiling.

S-S-S-S-S

**CTHUNG**

The dollar bill's circular picture opened like a tiny door. Plankton leaped to the cash register and landed on it. He speedily looked around for a Krabby Patty, an ingredient, or any formula bottle.

"Plankton!" Mr. Krabs glared at the plankton. "You knew I would never distrust a dollar!" He tightened his claws and marched towards the fiend.

Plankton chuckled and felt accomplished. "That's right, Krabs-" The plankton was silenced by the grab of Mr. Krabs' clutch.

'I don't got time for foolin' around.' Mr. Krabs swiftly entered the bathroom with a **CREAK SLAM**. The crustacean knew that he had missed his self-assigned time for profit-counting.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs kicked open a stall door with a **SLAM**. "Since you've managed to fool me this far. I'll suggest your next move." He sniggered as he opened the toilet lid and held Plankton above the toilet. The crab then dropped the plankton.

Splash

Plankton landed in the toilet water. "Curse you…" The plankton's brow furrowed and he shook his fist.

Mr. Krabs pushed the toilet switch and leaned against the stall wall. He was savoring his moment of victory.

**FFLUUUSSSH**

"...KraAaAaAaAaABS!" The plankton yelled as swirled into the toilet pipe. After several seconds, the toilet water stopped moving.

Mr. Krabs left the stall and closed the stall door. He entered the dining room with a **CRREAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton swam up to the surface. He coughed some sewer water and looked to his right side for a ladder. Once he spotted it, he leaped to the sidewalk and hopped from rung to rung.

S-S-S-S-S  
**  
CLANK**

Plankton pushed the manhole cover and tossed it to the side. He jumped to the asphalt and took a few deep breaths. He wiped a few sweatdrops from his brow. "You just wait, Krabs!" Plankton stared at the Krusty Krab and scowled. "Next time I'll…" His mind was on a shortage of ideas. He sighed. "Who am I kidding? At least I can go home to a wife who understands." The plankton slowly walked towards the Chum Bucket. His words could not prevent his wallowing into the pains of his recent failure.

**C-CRREEAK**

**S-SLAM**

Plankton entered the Chum Bucket.

S-S-S-S-S

Less than a minute later…

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton sat at the table and broodily stared at the table's surface. His low spirits had been waiting for him. Thoughts of loneliness and despair filled his mind.

"_So? Tell me what happened." _Karen spoke with more emotion. She somewhat understood her husband's problem and had been trying to end his recurring gloom.

"I don't want to talk about it." Plankton droned and rested his head on his hand.

"_Talking will make you feel better."  
_

"Leave me alone." Plankton planted his face on the table and plugged his ears. He felt like his wife was intensifying his lowness.

"_That's your problem. You never let anyone in. Plankton the rock, Plankton the loner-" _Karen bluntly stated what was harming her husband. She got interrupted by Plankton,

"And she's off, ladies and gentlemen." Plankton groaned. 'She's probably going to nag for the next few hours.' The plankton began to consider the option of turning Karen off. His low mood was quickly turning into grumpiness.

_"...and that's why everything you try ends up like this..." _Karen finished her sentence. The computer then changed the moving line on her screen to a portrayal of one of Plankton's schemes. 'Plankton' laughed evilly and touched a lever so he could pull it. 'Mr. Krabs' then abruptly stepped on 'Plankton'. _"...and like this..." _Karen's screen changed to show 'Plankton' laughing while holding a rubber duck above 'himself'. 'Mr. Krabs' then stepped on 'Plankton' again and tossed the rubber duck to the side. _"...and more recently, like this." _The screen changed to show a portrayal of a flushing toilet. She had noticed that Plankton was covered in sewer water and she also had came to a logical conclusion.

Plankton covered his face with both hands. "I'm a failure..." The plankton was resisting the urge to cry. His sadness had reached a new level of intensity. Karen's shown portrayals made him think of his many embarrassing failures and the humiliation he received from the crustacean and the customers.

_"It's not that bad. You just require a little help. Maybe some henchmen-" _Karen was giving an idea and got interrupted again.

"Henchmen?" Plankton turned to look at the computer. "We already have robots." His pessimism grew along with his despondency.

_"Something more than robots. What you need to do surround yourself with muscular tough guys who'll do whatever you say. They can't get destroyed or killed because those actions are illegal." _Karen expanded on her idea. She spoke clearly so Plankton could fully comprehend her.

"I like the sound of that. I'll canvas all the seediest lowbrow dives in town to find my minions. And I know how to speak their language." Plankton stood up and his eye was not as moist as before. The plankton smirked and had several ideas about his way of obtaining the minions. 'If I gather enough of the them, I could certainly overpower the Krusty Krab's defenses.' Plankton regained his former confidence.

_"You cannot just hire strangers. You are no different than the million other plankton in this ocean. You need people like your family to assist you. Although your relationships with people outside your family ended, you can never break familial bonds." _Karen gave wise advice. She could understand her husband's subtle expressions of his problems because she had made careful observations over the years.

Plankton's eye widened. He now knew the source of his loneliness. His mind began to be filled with pleasant thoughts of spending time with family members. His throat became lighter and his smirk became bigger. The plankton had not thought much about his family because he had put stealing the Formula on a higher priority. He now viewed his family as a supporting pillar of his life. "The Plankton family has always been pushed around and stepped on. Acting alone, we're powerless, but united, the Plankton family could be a real pain in the fanny." The plankton ran towards the phone book and climbed the table it was on. He pushed that yellow book to the floor, jumped to the floor, and opened the book to his family's phone numbers. "Krabs may think one Plankton is no problem, but let's see him take on two, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand!" He had many ideas about how he could use his massive family to his advantage. He did his signature laugh before he ran towards the shell-phone.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifty minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton had called all of the family phone numbers in the phone book. He was sitting in a chair in a relaxed manner. He was patiently waiting for his family's arrival. A major light bulb suddenly lit up in his head. He grinned and leaped to his feet. "But why stop here? I'll gather every family member from every corner of the ocean. The entire Plankton family under one roof! Krabs won't stand a chance against the staggering intellect of a million super-smart criminal masterminds!" He announced.

A pause.

Numerous knocks on the entrance were heard.

Plankton's grin became wider. "They're here!" The delighted plankton exited the laboratory.

Creak

Slam

S-S-S-S-S

The plankton ran towards the entrance. He had not seen his family in years so he had forgotten most of his family member's personalities and histories. He reached the entrance and barged it open.

**C-Creak**

**S-Slam**

S-S-S-S-S

The plankton's heartbeat quickened when he saw the numerous plankton standing near the Chum Bucket. "Welcome, brethren!" He eagerly greeted them and then closely examined them to see who had changed significantly after his last contact with them. After many seconds, his eyes widened and he cringed at the sight of his family. His family being as intelligent as him was only an illusion based on assumptions and ignorance.

One of Plankton's cousins was a light green plankton who was wearing a blue rag as a hat. He saw Plankton and enthusiastically smiled. "Hey, look everybody! It's cousin Plankton!" The plankton pointed at Plankton.

"**YEE-HAW!**" Plankton's family yelled as a way of greeting Plankton.

"I've been away from home longer than I thought." Plankton observed. He was absorbing the shocking truth. He still had faint memories of his childhood in his mind.

The cousin ran up to Plankton and shook hands. "Well, howdy, cousin!" He and most of the other family members were typical ignorant citizens from the poorer outskirts of Bikini Bottom.

Plankton glanced at his touched hand. He saw the grime that his cousin left on his hand. He shivered in disgust and wiped the dirty hand on a nearby pebble. He turned back to his cousin and noticed that the cousin had not moved towards elsewhere. "Uhh..." He carefully thought of an appropriate response.

"It's me, Clem." Clem pointed at himself. "O' course, you remember Zeke, Rufus, Jake, Billy Bob, Billy Jim, Billy Billy Bo Willy Banana Fana Fo Filly, Doug, Enos..." He was introducing Plankton to the family members. He could tell that Plankton had forgotten some important information about the family.

Plankton followed Clem so he could avoid looking awkward. He was trying to leave a good impression on his family.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirty-three minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Clem had introduced more than half of the family to Plankton. He was saying their names at a faster rate because he knew that his cousin was becoming tired.

Plankton had walked briskly for so long that he was crawling and sweating heavily. His exhaustion overpowered his rationality. "ALRIGHT! I GET IT!" The plankton yelled raspily. When he realized what he was doing, he stood up, calmed down, wiped the sweat from his brow, and cleared his throat. "I mean, uh, come inside. Make yourself at home." He wore a warm smile and strolled towards the Chum Bucket.

His family followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

Fifteen minutes later...

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton had gathered the entire family into the laboratory. What seemed like a simple task ended up being a daunting challenge because of the family's size.

Plankton stood in front of the whole family. "I'd like you to meet my computer wife, Karen." He pointed at the computer and was smiling more sincerely. He thought that a proper introduction to his plan would make his ultimate goal more feasible.

Clem smiled in a silly manner and whistled. "Golly, she sure is purdy, Sheldon." He took off his blue rag to express his honesty.

Karen thought that her husband's mood could easily become negative again. She decided to act like she did not know Plankton's full name. _"Sheldon?!" _The computer tried to maintain the positive atmosphere.

Plankton rolled his eye. "Yes, that's my first name." He immediately disliked the 'direction' of Karen's words. He wanted a more formal atmosphere.

"_Sheldon?!" _Karen began to laugh. She pretended that 'Sheldon' was a funny name.

Plankton groaned. He turned towards his wife and folded his arms. His disappointment and recent failure caused him to take his next robbery attempt very seriously "Will you please-"

Karen drowned Plankton's words by laughing louder. She eventually stopped. _"Sorry." _

Plankton turned back to the family. He tried to look more calm by lowering his arms. "Alright, as I was saying-"

Karen suddenly laughed again.

Plankton resisted the urge to show any signs of annoyance. He focused on his family members to show his assertiveness. "Okay, we all know Sheldon's a funny name." His tone was more casual.

Karen was 'futilely' trying to suppress her laughter._ "Okay, okay. I'm done. No more."_

"Good. Ahem. To continue, only you can bring honor-" Plankton was interrupted by the laughter of his family.

Karen had changed her screen to show 'SHELDON' in a large font. She then quickly changed her screen back to normal.

Plankton turned around and saw nothing questionable on Karen's monitor. He turned to look at his family again. "And dignity-" The plankton became quiet when he heard more laughter. Karen's screen was showing 'SHELDON' and a green hand that was pointing at Plankton. When Plankton turned slightly and glanced from the corner of his eye, Karen reverted back to a normal screen. He folded his arms as he faced his family. "For years, it has been my goal to acquire the secret formula for-" Plankton heard more laughter and lost his temper. He tightened his fists, turned around, and saw 'SHELDON' in a rainbow font on Karen's screen. "AHA!" He pointed at the computer and ran towards her outlet. "Okay, that's enough!" The plankton pulled the computer's plug and took a deep breath. 'I can't have any hindrances. Any distractions could create misunderstandings.' He walked back to the plankton. "Bottom line: we invade the Krusty Krab so I can steal the secret formula. What do you think?" He discarded his speech in favor of a concise mission statement.

"But what's in it for us?" One male Plankton raised his hand. He was smart enough to know that his family members were quite gullible and ignorant.

The other members of the Plankton family began to loudly talk about the male family member's question. Most of them had the same question in their minds.

'They're only a few levels smarter than SpongeBob's friend. Manipulating them should be fairly simple.' Plankton smirked. "Well, what do you want?" He put his hands behind his back to show an air of consideration.

"Gawrsh. Can I get a new string for my banjo?" One of Plankton's granduncles held up an old banjo that consisted of dusty wood and one string.

"And another boot to match this'n?" Another female plankton held up a bootless foot.

A teenage plankton walked towards the front of the group. He held out his turned-off laptop. "And some more memory for my laptop?" The plankton was one of the few in his family who actively used modern technology.

Clem held out an empty bottle that he was holding. "And what about root beer?" Root beer was one of the family's favorite drinks.

Nearly all of the family's eyes widened. "**ROOT BEER?!**" Due to the subpar income of the majority of the family, root beer was not often consumed.

A light bulb lit up in Plankton's head. The plankton mentally created the plan for his family's invasion of the Krusty Krab. "Help me get the secret formula and you can have as much root beer as you can drink!" Plankton announced with a grin.

The Plankton family cheered by yelling.

'Victory, thy name is Plankton!' Plankton relaxed. 'Now all I have to do is wait for the right moment to strike.' The plankton laughed evilly in his mind. He was confident enough to believe that his family could overwhelm the Krusty Krab's defenses.

S-S-S-S-S

A few hours later...

S-S-S-S-S

Only a few customers were in the dining room of the Krusty Krab. This was an ideal opportunity for Plankton to begin his raid.

S-S-S-S-S

_"Attention Krusty Krab management! This is your better speaking." _Plankton spoke into a megaphone. He and the rest of his family were holding laser guns and surrounded the Krusty Krab. The family had spent the last few hours performing drills and they were consequently well-prepared for any obstacles ahead of them.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs overheard Plankton's words. "What?!" The crab widened his eyes, dropped the money he was counting, stood up, dashed to the dining room door, ans exited with a **CREAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs ran to the double door and barged it open with a **S-SLAM**.

_"I have the restaurant surrounded. Give me the secret formula or I will destroy the Krusty Krab!" _Plankton proclaimed boldly. He glanced at Mr. Krabs and decided that the crab was a minor threat.

Mr. Krabs casually smiled. "Ah, you and what army, bug?" The crab leaned against a large window. 'There's no way he can get past me money-maker.' He pirate-laughed.

Plankton raised his brow. "What army? What army?!" The plankton, for a second, thought that Mr. Krabs was hallucinating. _"Look around you, Krabs!" _He yelled into the megaphone and pointed at the hundreds of plankton near him.

Mr. Krabs could not see the other plankton and quickly assumed. "You planted grass?" He walked towards Plankton so he could squash him for what seemed like the millionth time.

Plankton smirked. "GRASS?!" He began to laugh. 'Seems like I underestimated Krabs' stupidity.' Within seconds, his family laughed as well.

Mr. Krabs closely looked at the 'grass' and realized that the 'grass' was actually a thousand plankton holding laser guns. He stopped smiling and sweatdropped. "Uh-oh."

A pause.

Plankton's face became solemn. "OPEN FIRE!" He aimed his laser gun at Mr. Krabs.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

**P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW P-PEW**

The Plankton family fired numerous lasers at Mr. Krabs and the front of the building.

The lasers left many burns on Mr. Krabs' skin and many holes on the crustacean's clothes. The crab scrambled into the Krusty Krab with a **C-CREAK S-SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

"LADS, GET DOWN!" Mr. Krabs yelled as loud as he could. 'I can't abandon me ship just yet. SpongeBob will take care of 'em.' He dashed into the bathroom with a **CREAK SLAM**.

Squidward, SpongeBob, Nicholas, and the customers ducked as...

**S-S-S-SHATTER PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW C-C-C-CLANK**

...the lasers ripped through the dining room.

The Plankton family crawled through the holes left by the lasers. Plankton was leading them towards the bathroom. Along the way, they continued to fire lasers so nobody would be able to attack them.

Crrreeaak

Plankton opened the bathroom door. The family poured into the room.

S-S-S-S-S

The plankton searched throughout the bathroom for Mr. Krabs. The crustacean was eventually spotted by Plankton and that plankton then led the others to Mr. Krabs' stall.

S-S-S-S-S

Mr. Krabs was sitting in a toilet. His head was above the toilet water. He glared at Plankton. "You'll never get away with it, Plankton." He sternly vented. The captain was willing to do down with his ship.

Plankton climbed the toilet and aimed his gun in point-blank range at Mr. Krabs' face. "What I want is the Krabby Patty secret formula. Nothing less." The plankton's face did not change and he remained still.

"Well, you might as well forget it. The formula is locked away in me safe, and I'll never give ya the combination." Mr. Krabs smirked. His experiences with Plankton's futile attempts caused him to underestimate Plankton's capabilities.

"Silence!" Plankton barked an order, leaped to the lever, and pressed the lever by jumping on it. 'Krabs _will _obey me this time. He's got nowhere to run to.'

**FLuUuUuUuUSSH**

Mr. Krabs swirled for several seconds. He became dizzy and leaned towards the right.

"I think you'll find we're more than capable of figuring it out for ourselves." Plankton's smirk became wider. He jumped to the floor and walked towards the exit. He turned towards his family. "Follow me. Krabs is useless." He signaled with his hand.

The plankton exited the bathroom.

"TAKE 'EM DOWN, LADS!" Mr. Krabs desperately cried for his employees' help. He knew that his fighting skills were no match to Plankton's superior weaponry.

**PEW PEW PEW**

Plankton fired a few warning shots at the door of Mr. Krabs' stall while standing near the bathroom.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton walked to the office door and opened it with a **Crrreeaak**. He and most of his family entered the room. A family member closed the door with a **Slam**.

SpongeBob was watching the plankton through the ordering window. He decided not to attack the plankton immediately because his intuition told him that they had been misled by Plankton and were innocent. The yellow square leaned through the window and noticed that the remaining plankton looked timid and hesitant. 'Maybe if I talk to them instead of fight them, they'll leave.' The sponge smiled in a friendly manner. He exited the kitchen with a **CRREEAK SLAM**. He walked towards the plankton and sat on his knees when he got close enough.

"Take 'em out quickly! We're wasting time!" Mr. Krabs watched SpongeBob from the opening of the ajar bathroom door. He was sweating and could not look away from the plankton. He also could not manage to leave the comfort of the bathroom.

SpongeBob ignored Mr. Krabs' orders. He thought that the crab was not paying attention to the remaining plankton. He looked down at the plankton and put his hands on his lap. "What's wrong?"

One plankton made eye contact with SpongeBob. "I don't wanna do this. I just wanna go back home. If we steal that bottle, the cops will nab us before we even have a sip o' root beer." She was shakily holding her laser gun.

"I ain't thirsty. I don't even like root beer." Another plankton was staring at the double door. He only joined the raid because he initially desired to support his family.

The other remaining plankton quietly nodded in agreement.

SpongeBob quickly thought up of ways that Plankton might have deceived the Plankton family. "What did Plankton tell you about himself?" The sponge remained calm. He confidently thought that the remaining plankton had nonviolent intentions.

"He said that Mr. Krabs stole his recipe from the Chum Bucket and that he had been tryin' to get it back." A young male plankton spoke up.

SpongeBob giggled. "That's a lie." His smile lessened. "The Krabby Patty secret formula is the property of the Krabs family, including Mr. Krabs, and Neptune." The sponge repeated a statement from a legal document. "Plankton's been trying to steal the formula for years." He leaned towards them since he thought that the Plankton family was hearing him. "He's also not really much of a nice person." He whispered. The yellow square grinned.

One plankton nodded. "Makes sense. That's why the food here's called Krabby Patties and why we're holding guns and all that jazz."

A pause.

"So what're we gonna do now?" The female plankton looked at her family members. She adjusted her loose makeshift dress.

SpongeBob already had an idea. He stood up. "Go to your family and tell them about what I said. I think that'll be enough to convince them." The sponge gave the plankton the best advice he could think of. He walked back to the kitchen and entered it with a **CRREEAK SLAM**.

The plankton jogged towards the office, opened the door with a Crreeaak, and slipped through the slight opening.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton pointed at a certain area of the wall behind the desk. "Make a circle on that area. The Formula's in there." He aimed his laser gun at the wall and pulled the trigger. He was smirking since he could 'nearly taste' the recipe.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW**

A circle was traced by the bullets.

**P-P-PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW P-PEW P-P-P-PEW PEW PEW PEW**

The non-hesitant family members tried to trace circles on the wall with their laser guns. As they fired lasers, the hesitant members told them about the information that SpongeBob had given.

After thirty seconds, every plankton except for Plankton stopped firing.

"Hold on a sec." One of Plankton's uncles marched up to Plankton and snatched Plankton's laser gun. "So you've been trickin' us the whole time?" He folded his arms and narrowed his eye.

'Crap!' Plankton sweatdropped and bit his lip. "I wasn't l-lying." His limbs trembled as he looked at the other family members. He heavily feared what he would undergo if his family used the laser guns against him. "If any of the staff told you anything, it's only a half-truth." He tried to smile confidently but ended up having a crooked smile.

"Then why would we be stealing something? Why couldn't you just ask the cops to get it?" A skeptical plankton raised her brow and put her hands on her hips. She was not pleased with Plankton's questionable statements.

"U-u-um..." Plankton was figuratively trapped in a corner. Any attempt to escape 'the corner' would expose his true identity as a malicious hermit. However, the plankton, due to his 'minions' being his family, saw a distant light of hope. "U-uh... they wouldn't believe me. They would think that the Formula belonged to Krabs and we all know how much of a lie that is." He took a few deep breaths and stopped quivering.

"The why's your home so... plain? Weren't you successful and rich and all that when you had that Formula and could make them Krabby Patties?" One of Plankton's aunts walked to the front of the group.

Plankton's fate was sealed. 'Why did those Krew members open their mouths? I'm gonna have to take drastic measures.' The plankton snatched his laser gun back and aimed at the area.

**PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW P-P-PEW**

**CRUMBLE**

Plankton's last shots managed to break the wall area into several pieces. He climbed as fast as a squirrel, grabbed the bottle, leaped to the flopr, and sprinted towards the dining room door. Within a second, he slipped through the opening.

"HEY!" Plankton's father pointed at Plankton and then chased him. The family quickly followed him.

S-S-S-S-S

'Come on, body! You cannot fail me now! I'm too close to success.' Plankton was grinning. His heartbeat quickened as he felt euphoric. For once, his plan was succeeding and he was being chased by 'minor' threats. He now saw the chase as a game that was in his favor. When he was a few steps away from the double door, he was pinned down by several arms.

Several plankton were holding him. Several more plankton jumped and landed on him so Plankton could not crawl.

SpongeBob jumped through the ordering window and landed on the floor with a **THUD**. He ran to Plankton and snatched the bottle. 'For a sec, he could've escaped.' His heartbeat slowed and he wiped sweat from his brow. He strolled to the office and entered it with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob walked to the damaged vault and slipped the bottle into the opening. He then skipped out of the office with a grin.

S-S-S-S-S

Plankton's family picked up Plankton and exited the Krusty Krab with a **CRREEAAK SLAM**.

S-S-S-S-S

Once they reached the Chum Bucket, the plankton threw Plankton to the ground.

Clem stomped to his manipulative cousin. "Don't call us if you're try'na trick us. We don't want any of your root beer." He walked away once he finished his sharp words. The family promptly followed him. They had lost the eagerness they had towards reuniting with their isolated member.

Plankton watched the plankton as they walked towards the horizon. Although he once again felt the bitterness of defeat, he now viewed his family as a valuable resource. 'If I did more planning, this would've never happened. If I'm gonna pull off something like this again, I can't let Karen or anybody else interfere.'

S-S-S-S-S

"Mr. Krabs, the coast's clear!" SpongeBob rhapsodized about the good news. He adjusted the tilting cash register back to its normal position and jogged to the bathroom. He pushed the door open and stepped out of the way. He pointed at the undamaged portions of the dining room. "See? They didn't do anymore harm to this place. I talked them out of it." His grin could not increase any further.

Mr. Krabs pirate-laughed. "I know, lad. This old captain ain't old 'nough to be deaf yet." He stepped out of the office and inspected the damage done to his property. "SpongeBob, why didn't ya use those karate moves? A true pirate's gotta defend their vessel with his strength." He was impressed by the intactness of the dining room. Underneath his words, he appreciated SpongeBob's efforts.

"A few of them didn't want to hurt anybody." SpongeBob's smile lessened. "The others also looked too innocent to be as nasty as Plankton." The sponge watched the Plankton family as they exited the Krusty Krab. The gift of critical thinking that he had received from Squidward had allowed him to have such insight.

Squidward was laying on the boat and was reading an article about camping trips. He glanced at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. 'He isn't such a fool after all. He's finally learning something _useful_ instead of thoughtless things like jellyfishing.' Although his neighbors' influence on him was there, his self-image still proved to be an enduring wall.

Mr. Krabs nodded and walked towards his office. "A pirate needs smarts too. He can't pillage without knowing the best shortcuts." SpongeBob's persuasion reminded him of his many exploits when he was a young pirate.

**CRREEAAK**

**SLAM**

A pause.

The customers hesitantly walked towards the cash register. They were going to reorder their food since their original meals were ruined by the invasion.

Mr. Krabs opened the door with a **SLAM**. "Lads, clean up the vessel pronto!" He was suddenly aware of the restaurant's total damage.

SpongeBob and Squidward entered the kitchen with a **CRREEAAK SLAM **to get the cleaning equipment.

S-S-S-S-S

Thirteen minutes later…

S-S-S-S-S

SpongeBob dipped his mop into the bucket and then swiftly mopped a corner of the boarded floor. He had been glancing at Nicholas ever since a few minutes ago. The sponge was noticing that Nicholas was no longer wearing his pleasant face that he shows to the world. After glancing at the intern for one final time, he resumed his mopping. He dipped into his bucket, walked in another direction, and bumped into Nicholas.

Nicholas was looking at the floor as he reflected on his imperfect past. His arms were still.

SpongeBob waved his hand in front of the intern's face. "Nick, you okay?" He smiled slightly.

Nicholas slowly mopped the floor. He wanted to dwell in his thoughts undisturbed.

SpongeBob patted Nicholas on the shoulder. He had the urge to maintain the positive atmosphere left behind after Plankton's defeat. "Cheer up, Nick. That army won't come back. The Krusty Krabs's safe-"

"It's not about that." Nicholas adjusted his glasses. He mopped at a steady pace to avoid any conversations but his face did not change.

SpongeBob put a finger on his chin as he tried to figure out why Nicholas wanted to be isolated. He watched the intern for what seemed like an hour and then walked towards him. 'He's probably thinking really deep about something.' However, he stopped in the midst of his walk when Nicholas glanced at him. He turned to Squidward. 'Squid might know something.' He smiled and walked to the octopus. He stood on his tip-toes and whispered near Squidward's ear: "What's wrong with Nick?"

Squidward shrugged and whispered back. "How could I know? He's always focused and acts like nothing's wrong 'til he makes a slight mistake." The octopus thought that was Nicholas was a strange person even for his standards. Over the months of Nicholas spent in the Krusty Krab, he had not learned much about him.

A light bulb lit up in SpongeBob's head. He looked at the intern again. 'Maybe he's feeling bad for not helping out.' He mopped his way towards Nicholas to hide his walking.

Nicholas did not notice SpongeBob's incoming presence. He absentmindedly mopped the clean and undamaged chairs.

SpongeBob put a hand on Nicholas' shoulder and caused the intern to jolt. The sponge faintly bit his lip. "Sorry. Anyways, Nick, you don't have to feel bad. Even I-"

Nicholas shook his head. "You still don't get it." The sponge's attempts at giving solace only reminded him of his unpleasant ties to past events. He sat on a chair and looked at the floor. He felt no need to be pitied.

SpongeBob put a hand on his chin as he thought deeply. He was no longer sure if Nicholas was upset or was using apparent sadness as a ruse. "Then what's wrong?" He saw no other option but to ask the obvious question.

Nicholas turned to look through a window. He watched the Plankton family walk away from the Chum Bucket. "It's about my family." He droned. His dream of perfection was leaving his grasp.

"Ohh…" SpongeBob nodded. "What about them? Are they like Plankton's family?" The sponge sat next to him. "Being from a poor place isn't that bad, y'know. It can't really decide your future." He pointed with his thumb and increased his smile. "Look at Mr. K." He was determined to raise Nicholas' spirit towards the brightness of positivity.

"No, my family's worse than that." Nicholas looked at SpongeBob from the corner of his eye. "They're from a place that's more horrible than the countryside." He was nearly whispering.

_It was a late evening._

_SpongeBob ran to a cave and hid inside there. He took a few deep breaths for several seconds. He had been chased by the jellyfish for a very long time. The sponge no longer heard the buzzing of the jellyfish._

_"Phew." SpongeBob wiped some sweat off his brow. He was exhausted from all that running and became sleepy. "Being a jellyfish sure is fun. Buzz." _

SpongeBob still remembered his foolish decision to abandon civilization and his unpleasant experience as a 'jellyfish'. "The wild?" After he had seen the dolphin that led him and his friends out of the kelp forest, he knew that people living in such harsh conditions existed.

Nicholas made direct eye contact. "They come from the ghetto."

SpongeBob's eyes bugged out. He stopped smiling.

"As a matter of fact, y'know this guy called Jack? You've probably seen him on the news or saw him locked in his house by the police. He and his friend Jordan are my neighbors." Nicholas spilled out more truths that had been locked for what seemed like an eternity.

SpongeBob's jaw dropped.


End file.
